➤ Beat Saber, the review 🎮

Before starting the actual review of Beat Saber, we give sincere applause to the small team Beat Games author of the title: despite a double debut (both in the field of virtual reality and in that of rhythm game) that would have shaken the wrists of even the most proven companies, the Czech studio has been able to juggle great, bringing to fruition what is undoubtedly one of the most valid exponents of the genre this year and also one of the best experiences for PlayStation VR in an absolute sense. So let's find out what are the Beat Saber ingredients that have contributed to the creation of such a successful formula.

Gameplay and mechanics

Let's clarify immediately that to play Beat Saber it is essential to use the controller Move, and the reason is soon said: in virtual space, the user holds a red lightsaber in his left hand and a blue one in his right, and these are the only two tools he will need to be able to deal with the 15 musical tracks of which he is composed the package. The gameplay it takes up the classic mechanics a la Dance Dance Revolution that are the basis of practically every existing rhythm game, but reworking them in an absolutely fresh way and building around it a structure that finds fertile ground in the field of VR. Basically, it is necessary to cut with the sword of the same color the red and blue blocks that move to the rhythm of the music towards the player, directing the blow in the direction indicated by the arrow above them.

Sucking hits in succession activates the well-known mechanism of combo and score multipliers, while losing a block or making a mistake in a cut decreases an energy bar which, if completely exhausted, leads to game over. What might seem like a trivial operation is obviously made more challenging by a whole series of variables that increase the level of general challenge beyond the obvious differences between one song and another: they range from the presence of mines that absolutely do not go. touched with the blades to the walls that must be avoided by physically moving to the side or crouching, until you get to blocks that change arrangement at the last moment forcing sudden changes of posture. The software is very accurate in the movement detection of Moves, and rewards with more consistent scores every blow that is performed with a sufficient rotation of the arm and that goes to hit the central part of the block. As it is easy to guess from what has been written so far, Beat Saber is one of those products that are so immediate to assimilate in their fundamental mechanics as they are difficult to master at the deepest layers: it literally takes a few seconds to find yourself dancing, waving your swords left and right, but being able to get to the bottom of the most complicated tracks at Expert level is something really for a select few.

Straight case and neon lights

The mode campaign of the game serves to lead the user by the hand along the Beat Saber difficulty curve, making him face the various tracks several times with the addition of specific objectives or particular modifiers: not always everything works perfectly (certain parameters seem almost counterproductive and there are potentially frustrating bottlenecks), but it's still a well crafted component that infuses some healthy single player longevity into the product. Free play e Party are the other two sections of the main menu, which respectively allow you to dance to individual songs with a handful of customizable settings and to play multiplayer by passing your helmet and marking your name in the rankings at the end of the performance.

Whatever solution you play it, Beat Saber remains a fun and definitely training experience, considering all the calories you burn to move in time with the objects on the screen. However, a rhythm game cannot be defined as such without one tracklist worthy of the name, and luckily also in this case the work done by the Czech team was impeccable: specially composed for the occasion, the songs of Beat Saber offer a good variety (although they are all part of the great ensemble of dance electronics) and are extremely engaging, also thanks to a game design capable of enhancing them to the fullest. Too bad only for their not astounding number, which we hope will be integrated with future updates. One of the roundups closes technical realization extremely functional but very pleasant in its use of neon and that does not disdain some concessions to style, with valuable light and distortion effects and geometric shapes that move on the backdrops.

Comment

Digital Delivery PlayStation Store Price 29,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

8.7

Readers (8)

8.6

Your vote

Unless you hate rhythm games, electronic music and neon colors viscerally, if you have PlayStation VR and a pair of Move controllers you should definitely give Beat Saber a chance: immediate, hilarious and even exhilarating at certain times. , the Beat Games title boasts an impeccable design without forgetting the contents, guaranteed by an intriguing campaign mode and a few but good variants for single or multiplayer free play. A tracklist not particularly rich and a really prohibitive difficulty at the highest levels are the only obvious limitations of one of the most interesting titles currently available for the Sony viewer.