Harmonix reveals music-driven FPS, Chroma

Harmonix is trying their hand at first-person shooters with a new free-to-play game called Chroma; but don't worry, Harmonix fully abandoning its roots in the music genre. Given Harmonix's history of games (Rock Band, Dance Central), it's only fitting that they somehow incorporate music into the game. To that end, Chroma is defined as "music-driven FPS" where "music is your weapon."

"Music matters," Harmonix says in its press release. "Chroma features innovative first-person shooter mechanics that tie the game's soundtrack directly to combat, traversal, and more."

"Unleash streams of sound and music with your arsenal and bring the musical landscape to life in battle! From deep wobbling bass to the crunch of an electric guitar, crushing metal drums to poppy synths, choose a weapon load-out that reflects your musical tastes and personal style and take your sounds into battle."

You'll be able to form a band of teammates with friends and master multiple classes, "each with their own unique musical gameplay mechanics and perks." Little else is really known about the game, but a closed alpha will begin this month; sign-ups are available now at PlayChroma.com.

"Chroma has been a dream project of mine for some time," said Harmonix co-founder and CEO Alex Rigopulos. "Watching the teams at Harmonix and Hidden Path begin to bring this vision to life has been tremendously exciting. We're also thrilled to release an alpha version of this game and to evolve it in collaboration with our players. We can't wait to hear what people think of this new approach to both first-person shooters and music games."

Chroma is being developed in partnership with Hidden Path Entertainment (Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Defense Grid: The Awakening). It's scheduled for a release through Steam some time in 2014.