The VR rhythm genre is getting kind of crowded, with many developers looking to replicate Beat Saber’s ‘hit the thing to the beat’ money machine. Enter Beat the Beats, a project indeed inspired by Meta’s seminal block-slashing game, although with its own flair that really seems to set it apart from the competition.
Update (February 27th, 2024): Beat the Beats is now available on PSVR 2. Developer Parallel Circles released a new launch trailer for the game, confirming the launch includes six albums and a range of other features like leaderboards and daily mixes.
The studio has affirmed that Beat the Beats will launch on Quest and PC VR headsets later this year.
Original Article (February 16th, 2024): The UK/Spain-based indie Parallel Circles announced Beat the Beats is set to launch on PSVR 2 this month, with version for Quest 2/3/Pro and SteamVR slated to arrive later this year.
We’ve already played the free demo on Steam, and it definitely proves to not only be a stylish experience, but a pretty great sweat-inducing workout too.
Like you can see in the trailer above, it’s a fairly simple setup: hit the incoming block with either your green or pink-colored fist, block the purple slashes, and dodge the big red and black prisms. Miss a note, and the giant curved display in front of you flashes red.
It’s certainly another thing playing it though, as you start to click into the vibe of the oddly entrancing minimalist environment punctuated by the particle explosions of each block as you smash them from seemingly all conceivable incoming angles. Sound effects are definitely point too, with the red-black prisms throwing out a fun little bassy whizz as they fly past your head, seemingly inspired by the light cycles from Tron.
It’s undoubtedly an impressive first demo, which we’ll be hoping to dig more into when it releases on PSVR 2 later this month, and later on Quest and SteamVR. For now, you can play the PC VR demo too if you have a VR-ready computer and headset, such as a Quest 2/3/Pro, Pico 4, or Valve Index. You can also now wishlist Beat the Beats on the PlayStation Store.