Microsoft's exclusive game 'Salvage' combines dubstep and spaceships for one fun blastravaganza

Spaceships, dubstep, lasers, bass and explosions. If that sounds good to you, then you’ll like Salvage for Windows and Windows Phone. Created by veteran developers from the Guitar Hero and DJ Hero series, Salvage combines music with the task of avoiding obstacles, collecting items, and shooting down enemies. The background music helps you understand when to swipe or tap on the screen.

We announced the game the other day, but now it's time for our gameplay video on the brand new Surface Pro 3!

There’s a tutorial in the beginning that’s going to help you out, but Salvage is very straightforward to play. Avoid obstacles by swiping on the screen. There’s an incoming wall to the left? Swipe right. When enemy ships show up, tap on them at the right time, complementing the beat of the music. Salvage tells you if you tap early, late, or just right.

There are three levels in Salvage: Colony, Outworld, and Highway. Colony is playable right away. You need points to unlock Outworld and Highway is exclusive to the VIP Access Pack.

The variety comes from the music and difficulty. Initially, there are three songs available from Noisia, Zomboy and SKisM. You’ll need to get at least three medals in Normal and Hard to unlock Expert mode. To get more tracks, you can buy packs from the store. Track packs cost $1.99 each or you can get the VIP Access Pack for $5.99. It includes:

  • Zomboy Track Pack
  • Noisia Track Pack
  • Never Say Die Pack
  • 2 exclusive tracks
  • Highway environment
  • Super Salvage 2,500,000

Salvage Results

You can update the ship with the money you’ve collected. You can improve the ship’s stability and handling, power-ups, and overdrive. If you’re tired of your ship’s paint job, you can change it too. You’ll need to play several times to have enough coins for the upgrades. You can also go to the store and spend real money to get more coins. For example, 7.5 million coins are worth $4.49.

Salvage Store

Salvage is free to play and can be downloaded from the Windows and Windows Phone Store. Microsoft has exclusive rights on the Windows platform until Q3 2014 when iOS and Android counterparts will be released.

Have you tried Salvage yet? Let us know in comments what you think and how it can be improved!

Mark Guim

Mark Guim is Video Editor at Windows Central. He switched to Windows because the MacBook Pro isn't Pro enough. You can follow him on Twitter at @markguim.