14 DAY TRIAL // Sentris is among the many clever little game ideas that were backed by fans using crowdfunding website Kickstarter. The game was successfully funded almost a year ago, back in November, and promises to deliver a unique music-based experience.
Music games, as many probably know, aren't so popular nowadays, as the demise of Rock Band or Guitar Hero made the whole genre almost disappear. However, some studios are still trying to innovate, and we've already seen some success with Zen Studios' Kickbeat, and now Timbre Interactive is trying to do even more with Sentris.
The game is currently available via the Steam Early Access program as an early alpha, but users can already buy it. So, does it manage to actually innovate in the music genre or should it be silenced? Let's find out.
Sentris is available as a Steam Early Access game, and unlike quite a few experiences nowadays that only use this as a method of soft-launching a title, it's still very much in an alpha stage. This is quite obvious right from the menu interface, which the developer itself describes as the "Super Awesome Level Selection Menu (which isn't shoddy at all)."
Even if the design is more akin to a piece of software than a game, it's pretty functional and allows players to jump right into the six levels that are present right now in the game. First you select your difficulty, then the song, and then customize different hard-to-understand options, before finally jumping into the game.
Unfortunately, Sentris doesn't have a tutorial just yet, so you're pretty much just thrown into the deep end of the experience, without knowing what you actually have to do.
The gist is a bit hard to explain. There's a rotating 2D disc onto which players can imprint different sounds from four categories. At its core, Sentris is a puzzle game so there are special sections in the so-called disc that must be filled to progress further. You can use the different sound segments to fill them up, either random or by respecting a color that's marked by the game.
Even if it's quite difficult to comprehend without a tutorial, the game does have its charm. Especially if you try out the different backgrounds present right now. On the medium difficulty, your creations really start to sound intriguing although it does require a bit of trial and error.
Overall, Sentris is looking pretty good even in its alpha stage. However, a lot of work is needed to ensure that it gets the idea across to players and that they can comprehend what they need to do and what sort of creations they can actually make.
Check out a video and a few screenshots with Sentris in action below.
