Loud Review – No strings attached

There’s a certain thrill when you pick up an electric guitar for the first time. It’s (hopefully) tuned correctly, the amp is plugged in, and that first strum of the strings produces several notes of raw musical power. If you stick with it and get in daily practice, those first few licks of Green Day’s Brain Stew eventually evolve into more complex expressions of creativity, eventually becoming an outlet that you can pour your heart and soul into.

In many ways, Loud, from developer Hyperstrange, and publisher QubicGames, captures that hard rockin’ rebellious spirit with its energetic visuals and challenging rhythm-based gameplay. As Astrid, your journey from air guitar hero to axe-wielding icon lasts just long enough to never outstay its welcome as you journey through her life. It’s a simple sound stage to get started on, as Astrid’s wild motions are dictated by various button prompts you’ll have to hit so that her songs remain in tune.

Directional buttons on the left, face buttons on the right, and a few extra prompts to wiggle that whammy bar, hold a string, and smash those tabs depending on the music. You can, of course, amplify the difficulty several times, although you’ll need to unlock those more challenging modes first by beating their gameplay predecessors. Chillin’ is your beginner’s mode, Skillin’ turns up the heat, and Grindin’ rotates the dial to 11.

There’s also some great content on the way, as the first confirmed update for Loud will include additional unlockable guitars, outfits, and stages along with new tracks that will expand on the story.

And that’s it really. Loud is a short and sweet game, and once you nail the groove on your chosen difficulty setting, it’s a surprisingly cathartic blast of musical thrill-power. The punk rock-infused visuals show off some imaginative design, the original soundtrack is a blast of hard-hitting solos that’ll have you reaching for your nearest Zippo, and the gameplay does a terrific job at making you feel like a rock star.

Loud is out now for Nintendo Switch, and coming soon to PC, PlayStation and Xbox.