Beat the Beat Review: a brief review of the immersive VR rhythm action experience

'Beat the Beats' could become one of the best new rhythm games in VR. Read on for our full review:

当Beat Saber和Synth Riders继续展现出显著的持久性时，新的VR节奏游戏在这个竞争激烈的marketIt's hard to stand out in. Developed by Parallel Circles, I consider Beat the Beats to be one of the strongest competitors in recent years. By replacing lightsabers and orbs with boxing gloves, it takes a more direct fitness-driven approach, and I quickly found my groove.

While I don't want to keep bringing up Beat Saber, it's an easy game to compare. Beat the Beats is scored by hitting incoming targets and dodging obstacles, although extra points are awarded for accurately hitting vertical slices. I'm not a very good boxer, but by using left and right strikes, hooks, uppercuts, and blocks, I found enjoyable alternatives and gradually got into the rhythm with an easy-to-learn tutorial. Completing tracks awards you a rank and the online leaderboards add a touch of competitive fun.

Consecutive hits will gradually build up the multiplier, but you cannot gradually recover your life points this way. Five misses will end your game, though you can regain life points after clearing segments. A small grace period after a miss means this isn't as punishing as it sounds, and at first, I wouldn't call it particularly difficult. I enjoyed the gradual increase in difficulty through arcade mode, and the unlockable "B-Sides" make the earlier tracks more challenging.

Beat the Beats manages to demonstrate what I consider to be one of the most crucial aspects of the genre: a steady sense of rhythm. Every time I started the game, I could feel myself getting into the groove with each song, instinctively throwing punches as new targets flew at me. The pleasantly dynamic soundtrack further enhances this feeling, and while it's a shame that there aren't any recognizable artists included here, there's some great music in there as well.

I'm also very impressed with the presentation of the game. The minimalist aesthetic feels clean and focused, but my favorite part is how Beat the Beats handles song transitions. The stage doesn't disappear after exiting a song, maintaining a seamless environment. This goes a long way towards immersion, as it always puts you in the experience, even if it's for a brief period of time-which is why I recently criticized Orbeats.

Through the use of boxing moves, Beat the Beats' core mechanic takes full advantage of the physical sensations of VR, which I enjoyed more than Synth Riders. Unlike just moving your arm to a designated area, swinging as you hit a target is much more satisfying. Subtle haptic feedback from the PSVR 2 Sense grip further enhances this, as does the headset's tactile feedback when you're dodging the big red arrows, which also boosts immersion.

My biggest criticism is that I wish there was more to it - the extra content is somewhat lacking. Aside from Arcade Mode, you only have two options, and unfortunately, Quick Response isn't exciting. It's a mini-game of pressing buttons as fast as possible, and you can complete everything in less than five minutes. Daily Mix is much more interesting, combining several songs into one longer stage to provide you with a unique challenge.

I'd also like more options for the main game. Expanded difficulty settings would be welcome, whether it's through modifiers like fail on a single miss or reduced life points, or more predetermined difficulty levels. Different colored squares/gloves might also help a lot.

Beat the Beats Review - Conclusion

Beat the Beats takes full advantage of the physicality of VR and offers strong core mechanics for one of the most enjoyable and original rhythm games I've experienced in recent months. Despite the lack of additional content, the developers have a lot of room for growth in the future, and there are strong core mechanics here to deliver a very satisfying and active VR experience.