AVICII Invector Review

It is testament to the life’s work of the late, great Tim Bergling, aka Avicii, that his music has been preserved in video game form. Greater still, Avicii Invector was in production before his untimely demise in 2018. Tim worked alongside Hello There Games to create an experience that connected players with the rhythm and flow of his music, and, much like his hit songs, it will strike a chord with many.

Like the rhythm games that have come before it, Avicii Invector asks that you listen and feel the beat of the music as you hit buttons that correspond with the notes. A succession of timely button presses sees you build your score rapidly, and a bum note will reset your multiplier. You can play either alone or with up to 4 friends locally, and a global leaderboard rounds out the package alongside Easy, Medium and Hard difficulty modes.

Avicii’s songs will live long in the memory, but so too will the visual spectacle that Avicii Invector delivers. In short, it looks phenomenal. The game is centred around a journey through space, with the player controlling a spaceship at various points throughout the song to navigate through hoops. This same spaceship is also what is travelling across the ‘track’ as you hit the notes. At the end of many of the songs, a cutscene develops the storyline with some particularly odd plot points – this proves to be one of the only missteps in an otherwise stellar performance.

Stellar though it may be, Avicii Invector is in need of some fine-tuning. Much like an album of greatest hits, there will always be one or two that aren’t up to scratch and, unfortunately, the same applies here. Some songs lend themselves better to the concept as a whole, either due to the placement of the notes along the journey or the patterning of the song itself. There are moments where the game becomes too unpredictable and the button presses just a little ambitious. It isn’t too jarring when you miss a note, especially as the game subtly reminds you in a way that allows you to continue enjoying it, but it can be frustrating to upset your flow. Finding a rhythm is particularly satisfying, and it is surprising that it isn’t always the more familiar songs that are easier to master.

For a game requiring such fast reactions, there is a therapeutic quality to proceedings that players will enjoy. That is, of course, when the game isn’t suffering from slowdown. It tends to happen during the busier stages, but this, when coupled with the sensitive controls, is detrimental to the overall feeling that the game evokes. When firing on all cylinders, Avicii Invector will have you reaching for the repeat button as you play the absolute bangers from Avicii’s back catalogue over and over again.

Accessibility is a hot topic in the gaming industry, and Avicii Invector comes with a warning: This game contains flashing lights and colour patterns that may cause epileptic seizures. This may seem unwelcoming in today’s climate, but naturally, such vibrant subject matter lends itself to an overall aesthetic that may be hard to replace. However, the same can’t be said for the reaction speed and hand dexterity needed to play the game successfully. There is a natural difficulty progression which makes it fairly accessible at the beginning, but very quickly becomes quite challenging, and these are important considerations to be made when determining if this is a game for you.