With Flashpoint pretty much taking over my life during October I was keen to explore every aspect of the game and after a polite email to a chap at Philips I managed to get an amBX kit turn up at my door so I could experience it in person.
For those of you new to amBX it’s a technology that combines light, sound, vibration and air to fully immerse the player in the full environment of the game. Originally developed by Philips it’s now positioned as a standalone technology able to be licensed to third parties in the same way Dolby Digital has done over the years.
The amBX Set Up I am using the full kit here, which means I have the 2.1 speaker system, two additional lights, a wall washer and a wrist rumbler.
The low power RGB LEDs can create 16 million colour combinations, an 80W subwoofer is tucked away on the floor and each of the satellite speakers packs 40W.
I won’t tell you that set up was easy, its lots of cables, poking around under desks but at least the software was straight forward and easy to install and configure.
There’s a whole list of titles that have been designed to fully support amBX technology and lucky for me Flashpoint of one of them! What that means is that the environment in the game will control the actions of the set, from what colour to display, when to rumble and when to blow air, it’s actually really clever if you think about it!
Over the years I have seen amBX at various trade and consumer shows and I had always thought it was a bit of a gimmick, never taking the time to experience it myself. Luckily my interest in Flashpoint got me this far, as I was really impressed with just how well they add to the sensory experience.
In my first amBX mission I edged slowly through cover and as I came in and out of the dense trees and foliage the lights responded, if I ducked into an abandoned building the lights fully dim, bursting out and running across open ground in the daylight they glow bright white.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that amBX is just about lighting, as a standalone speaker set these things pack a hefty punch, but there is more to come. Just as your getting your head around lighting and quality sound the desk starts to rumble as a platoon of PLA cross the hill followed by some serious looking armour in support. The wrist rumbler sits along the bottom edge of your keyboard and the vibration is enough to add impact without distracting your controls.
As if you needed further reminding that you’re on a battle field the 5,000RPM air blowers (which I had keenly positioned directly at my face!) routinely blow bursts of air at you.
For the full experience your need to try them yourself but if you want to see how I really got along take a look at the video, I hope you enjoy it!
amBX kits are available in the UK from stores suck and Overclockers, click HERE for latest pricing.
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