You can’t wave a VR controller around without hitting at least a dozen VR music games these days, and surprisingly, most of them are pretty good. Obviously, Beat Saber set the standard but clones were quick to follow with just enough variance to set them apart in gameplay, while offering their own signature style of music. Synth Riders is still one of my favorites when it comes to pure physical immersion in the music, and Audica allowed me to live out my John Woo dual-wielding fantasies, and most recently Ragnarock unleashed my inner Viking with some crazy Celtic shanties. I’m amazed at the level of creativity these designers manage to come up with to get players physically engaged with their own music libraries, which leads me to Blast Beat.
Clear some space, put on some loose clothes, and maybe turn on a fan to cool you down because Blast Beat is much more than music appreciation. This game is here to give you a workout with integrated fitness tracking, calorie burn goals, and a whole set of achievements to reward you for hitting those goals. There are even global leaderboards for those that want to compete for best Blast Beater in the world.
It’s hard to lock Blast Beat into any one genre. The musical selection varies as much as the scenery when it comes to choosing your level. There are 24 songs with 11 more dropping soon that range from EDM to rock, metal, and even Celtic. These are all integrated into some really awesome level designs with unique opponents that you will face off against in something that resembles a 3D fighting game taken straight from an anime.
There is a useful tutorial stage that will teach you almost everything you need to know. While it covers punch counters, you’ll need to figure out squat and spin counters on your own – it’s not that hard. Each level plays out the same. You’ll meet your opponent before they retreat to the back of the scenery at which point they will start to fire incoming projectiles at you. These are treated as the “notes” in this musical melee, with some having arrows indicating the direction they must be swiped while other can simply be punched or swiped any way you want. Mixed into these notes are the occasional large objects that you must physically dodge either by sidestepping or ducking down. These objects are scene specific and include things such as trees, sharks, swords, lollipops, and other crazy items. Missing a note or failure to dodge any of these objects will reset your combo meter.
About halfway through the song the enemy will advance on your position and attack you from any of three stances. You need to recognize the stance and dodge left, right, or duck to avoid getting hit. After a few of these attacks you will get a chance to counter using punch, squat, or spin technics. You are given only a few seconds to unleash as many attacks as possible, so in the case of punching (my favorite) you basically punch the enemy on the screen as fast as possible like a boxing speed bag. There is a trophy for 100 hits, but my record so far is only 89; it’s exhausting, and your arms feel like rubber when it’s over. The enemy will then retreat for a final round of note-hitting and object-dodging. You can monitor your progress with the score bar at the top, and it takes almost a near-perfect round to even clear the level on standard difficulty. Thankfully there are plenty of achievements that incentivize playing on the beginner level first.
The level of physical exertion is surprisingly exhausting, and I found myself having to take a break every third or fourth song. The game only allowed me to set a 100-calorie goal despite having trophies for hitting 500 and 1,000 calories in a day. I was able to knock out 100 calories in 2-3 songs. You can also enter in your height and weight, but it’s all in metric with no conversion option for feet, inches, and pounds. It’s super important that you get the height calibrated correctly. I used auto-height and it had me just a bit too low, so I was constantly failing the uppercut moves (notes with up arrows) and getting hit by objects I was supposed to be ducking under. I manually added a few inches and my scores improved dramatically.
There is considerable content in Blast Beat, both in the game as delivered as well as planned upcoming content coming soon. You have unlockable color variations and attack styles for bosses, some truly impressive scenery that totally surrounds you in a 360-degree fantasy world, level specific elements such as notes and dodge objects – imagine punching slices of cake while dodging giant lollipops – and four styles of gauntlets used for punching. The boss designs are incredible, ranging from a female warrior in the woods to a giant horned demon tossing swords or a giant sea serpent tossing sharks at you. There is a lot of detail buried in these stages that you can appreciate when the fight is over. My only complaint with the graphics is that on some stages the direction arrows for punching notes can get lost in the scenery. There needs to be a better way to make those arrows stand out.
I played Blast Beat on both the Vive and the Rift S and found the Oculus to be the superior system for this game. While the Vive does offer room-scale you really don’t need it. Any defensive dodges can be done simply by leaning and keeping your feet planted in one position. The punching and spinning counters feel so much better with the lighter Touch controllers where you maintain a fist-like grip, but no matter which system you play, USE THE WRIST STRAPS. Your hands will get sweaty and…just wear them.
If you love VR music games, especially those with a focus on fitness, then look no further than Blast Beat. I’m hopelessly hooked on this game to the point of playing it “too much” and feeling the physical effects the next day. I was surprised at how much weaving and ducking and punching wears you out. My tolerance is growing, and I am able to play 5-6 songs a session now, and I hope to unlock that 1000 calorie achievement soon. I am impressed with the dedication of the devs who just released a major update a few days prior to this review and have an entire roadmap of upgrades planned through May 2022 and beyond. If Beat Saber and Synth Riders are any example, these games can go on forever as long as fresh content is being added.
I’m not sure if they set out to make Blast Beat a fun alternative to exercise, but I haven’t had this much fun “moving” in a video game setting since the days of Wii Fit. The awesome visual designs for levels and bosses, as well as the energetic and eclectic music selection had me playing this almost daily. It’s a great way to loosen up and get the blood flowing, and how many video games can you really say that about? Highly recommended!
