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Beat Saber

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Beat Saber
Developer(s)Oculus Development Team
Publisher(s)Beat Games (Previous), Oculus VR
Designer(s)
  • Ján Ilavský
  • Vladimír Hrinčár
  • Peter Hrinčár
Artist(s)Jan Ilavský
Composer(s)Jaroslav Beck
EngineUnity
Platform(s)PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Meta Quest
ReleaseMay 21, 2019
Genre(s)Rhythm
Mode(s)Single-player, Multi-player

Beat Saber is a virtual reality rhythm game developed by Slovaks Ján Ilavský, Vladimír Hrinčár, and Peter Hrinčár. The game was published by Czech game developer Beat Games. It takes place in many different surrealistic neon environments and features the player slicing blocks representing musical beats with a pair of brightly-colored sabers. Following an early access release in May 2018, the game was officially released for PlayStation 4 and Windows on May 21, 2019 (supporting both Steam VR and Oculus VR APIs), and for the Meta Quest in standalone mode.

Gameplay

The player uses VR controllers to wield a pair of glowing sabers, which by default are colored red and blue for left and right respectively, although the colors are changeable to any color. In each song, the game presents the player with a stream of approaching blocks laid out in sync with the song's beats and notes, located in one of the 12 possible positions of a 4x3 grid. Each one may also be marked with an arrow indicating one of eight possible directions in which the block may be required to be cut through. There are also blocks with dots instead of arrows, which players may hit in any direction from the sides (not poked through the dot). When a block is properly cut by a saber, it is destroyed and a score is awarded, based on the length and angle of the swing and the accuracy of the cut. In addition, there are sometimes bombs that the player should not hit, and obstacles in the form of oncoming walls that the player's head should avoid. The term “map” refers to the layout of these blocks, walls, and bombs in a song.

Underneath the path where the blocks travel is a white “energy bar,” also called “battery”. At the beginning of every song, the bar is halfway full, slowly filling up as the player hits notes correctly. If the player makes mistakes, such as hitting a note in the incorrect direction or with the wrong saber, hitting a mine or running into a wall, the bar will decrease. If the bar becomes empty, the level will end.

Since the addition of Original Soundtrack (OST) 5, two new mechanics were introduced to the game. One of them features a new block called a Chain, which starts with a "slice" which indicates which direction to cut. After the lead slice, there are several smaller "slices" which can be cut. The other new mechanic is the Arc. An Arc is a line showing the recommended path for your saber to follow. It is connected to a block and continues on until it either connects to another block or stops altogether. Both of these new mechanics also calculate score differently than the original blocks.[1]

Before the start of each song, the game offers the option to enable Modifiers. These are options that affect different aspects of gameplay, such as the presence of bombs, or the speed at which the song plays and in return these can either increase or lower the player's points depending on the impact on difficulty.

For example the "No Fail" modifier allows the player to complete the song without fail if the energy bar depletes but the final score will be lowered. The "Super Fast Song" modifier will increase the players score, but the song will progress at 150% speed.

In 2024, songs with explicit lyrics were added to the game. Players ages 13 and over may choose to remove or include uncensored explicit songs in the game settings. Players between the ages of 10 and 12 using a child account have explicit songs removed by default.[2]

Game modes

Since its early access stages, the game included a single-player mode as well as a party mode. Single player sees scores being submitted to global leaderboards. Party mode features a leaderboard with the player's names, which are entered after each song is played. Additionally, the game includes a practice mode that allows the player to alter the song's speed, or start playing it from any point in time, and not just the beginning. The game added a multiplayer mode, called 'online', in which anywhere from two to five players can play a level together, with the person with the highest score winning. In online mode, the game awards the player with badges based on performance.[3]

Beat Saber shipped with ten songs, but has been expanded with several downloadable content packs and updates which include new songs. Several of these include original songs, but many more packages(often abbreviated to “packs”) are licensed songs featuring music and special stages from various artists and record labels. In addition, the community has created modifications for Beat Saber, allowing user-made songs and maps. Each song has five levels of difficulty: the easiest being Easy, then Normal, Hard, Expert, and the hardest being Expert+.

Points

Points are used to evaluate performance on a level, and thus placement on leaderboards. The better the swing is, the more points are awarded for the swing. One hundred points are awarded for a 100° approach to the note and a 60° follow-through. Up to 15 points are awarded for cutting the note more accurately. This means the maximum amount of points a player can score by cutting one note, before multipliers, is 115. If the player cuts multiple notes correctly in a row, they can create a combo which awards more points.[4] The combo affects the score multiplier, which multiplies the point value awarded for each good cut by either 1, 2, 4, or 8.

The multiplier goes up to the next level when the player makes a sufficient amount of good cuts. After 2 good cuts, the multiplier goes up to 2. After four good cuts, the multiplier goes up to 4, and so on, capping at 8. Breaking the combo (making a bad cut) reduces the multiplier by one level.

Continuing a combo for the entirety of a level awards the player a Full Combo.

Song packs

See also: List of songs in Beat Saber

Base game

Pack Songs Release Date
Original Soundtrack Volume 1 10 May 1, 2018
Original Soundtrack Volume 2 5 November 21, 2018
Extras 8 Extras is a place for all songs that weren’t released as a part of a large whole. Thus, release dates vary from song to song. The first song released in Extras was released on December 14, 2018. It was moved to Extras at a later date, once the Extras pack was officially created. The title of the most recent Extras release is shared between 2 songs, both releasing June 14, 2022 to celebrate Beat Saber’s 4th anniversary.
Original Soundtrack Volume 3 6 August 28, 2019
Camellia 6 The first 3 songs were released on July 25, 2019 as a part of Extras; the second 3 were released on January 29, 2020 and went into their own pack, pulling the first 3 songs along with them.
Original Soundtrack Volume 4 4 March 18, 2021
Original Soundtrack Volume 5 6 March 8, 2022
Original Soundtrack Volume 6 5 The first four songs in the soundtrack were released on December 5, 2023, and an additional song by Boom Kitty was released on December 11, 2023. It is the first original game soundtrack without a song written by Jaroslav Beck.
Original Soundtrack Volume 7 5 June 4, 2024
Pack Songs Release Date
Monstercat Vol.1 10 March 14, 2019
Rocket League x Monstercat 6 November 7, 2019
Green Day 6 December 13, 2019
Timbaland 5 March 26, 2020
BTS 12 November 12, 2020
Interscope Mixtape 7 May 27, 2021
Skrillex 8 August 31, 2021
Billie Eilish 10 September 21, 2021
Lady Gaga 10 December 9, 2021
Fall Out Boy 8 March 31, 2022
Electronic Mixtape 10 May 5, 2022
Lizzo 9 October 6, 2022
The Weeknd 10 November 8, 2022
Rock Mixtape 8 December 13, 2022
Imagine Dragons 12 February 28, 2023 (originally released on June 10, 2019)
Panic! At The Disco 10 March 30, 2023 (originally released on October 4, 2019)
Queen 11 May 24, 2023
Linkin Park 11 October 5, 2023 (originally released on August 17, 2020)
Linkin Park x Mike Shinoda 8 October 5, 2023
The Rolling Stones 11 October 30, 2023
Daft Punk 10 March 7, 2024
Hip Hop Mixtape 9 The Hip Hop Mixtape was released on April 9, 2024, and was the first hip hop music pack for the game, as well as the first music pack to include explicit lyrics. It is rated Mature 17+ by the Entertainment Software Rating Board and 18+ by the International Age Rating Coalition.

Development

Beat Saber began after the completion of Beat Games' (Hyperbolic Magnetism at the time) previous title, Chameleon Run. Vladimír Hrinčár and Ján Ilavský began creating demos and prototypes, and some of these were posted on Facebook. The composer, Jaroslav Beck saw some of these prototypes and met the team in Prague in order to convince them to let him create the soundtrack for the game. After around two years of development, the game was released in early access on May 1, 2018.[5]

Release

L-R: programmer Vladimir "Loki" Hrinčár, head of marketing Michaela Dvořáková, and composer Jaroslav Beck at the Game Developers Choice Awards 2019

The game was first released in early access on Windows on May 1, 2018.[4] The game was released on PlayStation 4 on November 20, 2018.[6] An editor was announced for release in May 2018, which would allow for the creation of custom user songs, but it was postponed,[7] and added in May 2019.[8]

In March 2019, Beat Games released its first paid song pack, featuring 10 songs from electronic music record label Monstercat.[9] "Crab Rave" was added as a free update on April Fools' Day that year.[10] On May 2, 2019, to celebrate the game's first anniversary, a prototype version created three years prior was released to the public as Beat Saber Origins.[11] The game was fully released out of early access on PC on May 21, 2019.[8] On January 29, 2020, the game received a free pack featuring three songs by Japanese artist Camellia.[12] Many other songs and song packs, both paid and free, were released afterwards in updates.[13]

Facebook via Oculus Studios acquired Beat Games in November 2019. The company stated that the purchase would not affect future development of Beat Saber on third-party VR platforms besides Oculus.[14] Beat Games will continue to operate in Prague as an independent studio, although under the umbrella of Oculus Studios.

Reception

During its early access phase, Beat Saber received numerous positive reviews, becoming the highest rated game on Steam less than a week after its early access release.[7] The game sold over a million copies by March 2019.[24] By February 2021, the game had sold over 4 million copies and 40 million songs have been sold through paid DLC.[25]

Edge thought the game was an excellent fit for VR as a medium, writing "At this point in virtual reality's development, it's still rare to encounter a game that feels native to the technology. Beat Saber is an exception."[17] IGN noted that while the game "doesn't push the limits of [VR tech] too far", it is extremely effective at communicating the appeal of VR, and considered the game "a go-to for introducing anyone to virtual reality."[19] GameSpot noted that at launch the supported song library was "slim", but nevertheless concluded that "Beat Saber is an exhilarating rush and an exhausting game to play in the best way."[18]

Awards

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2018 The Game Awards 2018 Best VR/AR Game Nominated [26]
Gamers' Choice Awards Fan Favorite VR Game Won [27]
2019 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Immersive Reality Game of the Year Won [28][29]
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement Nominated
SXSW Gaming Awards Excellence in Gameplay Nominated [30][31]
Most Promising New Intellectual Property Won
Trending Game of the Year Nominated
VR Game of the Year Won
Game Developers Choice Awards Best VR/AR Game Won [32][33]
Audience Award Won
15th British Academy Games Awards Debut Game Nominated [34]
Golden Joystick Awards Best VR/AR Game Won [35][36]
The Game Awards 2019 Won [37][38]

References

  1. ^ Arc And Chain Notes Tutorial | Beat Saber Explained, retrieved March 19, 2022
  2. ^ studio, Ler digital. "Beat Saber - VR rhythm game". beatsaber.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  3. ^ Lang, Ben (March 9, 2021). "'Beat Saber' Update Adds 'Pro Mode' & Four More Modifiers, Multiplayer Badges". Road to VR. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Hunt, Cale (April 5, 2018). "Beat Saber: Everything we know about the VR rhythm game". Windows Central. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  5. ^ "How Beat Saber beat the odds". TechCrunch. May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  6. ^ "Beat Saber". PlayStation. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Horti, Samuel (May 6, 2018). "VR rhythm game Beat Saber, now the highest rated game on Steam, releasing level editor next week". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Cox, Matt (May 21, 2019). "Beat Saber bops out of early access". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  9. ^ Horti, Samuel (March 16, 2019). "Beat Saber releases first paid DLC music pack". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  10. ^ "Crab Rave is the Latest Free Beat Saber Song, Available Now". PlayStation LifeStyle. April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  11. ^ "Beat Saber Releases Origins Early Build To Celebrate First Anniversary". techmoneyfit.com. March 4, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  12. ^ "Three New Free Beat Saber Songs Arrive In New Update From Cametek". January 29, 2019.
  13. ^ "Beat Saber - VR rhythm game". beatsaber.com. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  14. ^ Robertson, Adi (November 26, 2019). "Facebook is buying Beat Saber's development studio". The Verge. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  15. ^ "Beat Saber for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  16. ^ "Beat Saber for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Beat Saber Review". Edge. No. 328. Future. February 2019. p. 120.
  18. ^ a b Barbosa, Alessandro (November 26, 2018). "Beat Saber Review – Bass-Boosted". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  19. ^ a b Stapleton, Dan (May 28, 2019). "Beat Saber Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  20. ^ "Beat Saber Engrossing Musical Swordplay". Game Informer . November 20, 2018. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  21. ^ "'Beat Saber' PSVR Review – Move & Groove as You Slice & Dice". Road to VR. November 20, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  22. ^ "Test Beat Saber : une version PS4 de haute volée !". Jeuxvideo.com. December 21, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  23. ^ "Beat Saber PSVR Review – The Most Addictive VR Game To Date". UploadVR. November 20, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  24. ^ Princ, Zdeněk. "Beat Saber překonal hranici milionu prodaných kusů". www.vortex.cz (in Czech). Vortex. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  25. ^ Verdu, Mike (February 2, 2021). "From Bear to Bull: How Oculus Quest 2 Is Changing the Game for VR". Oculus.com. Facebook, Inc. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  26. ^ Grant, Christopher (December 6, 2018). "The Game Awards 2018: Here are all the winners". Polygon. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  27. ^ "2018 Gamers' Choice Awards". Gamers' Choice Awards. December 9, 2018. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  28. ^ Makuch, Eddie (January 10, 2019). "God Of War, Spider-Man Lead DICE Awards; Here's All The Nominees". GameSpot. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  29. ^ McWhertor, Michael (February 14, 2019). "God of War wins big at DICE Awards 2019". Polygon. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  30. ^ Trent, Logan (February 11, 2019). "Here Are Your 2019 SXSW Gaming Awards Finalists!". South by Southwest. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  31. ^ Khan, Zarmena (March 17, 2019). "God of War Takes Home 'Game of the Year' at SXSW 2019 Gaming Awards". PlayStation LifeStyle. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  32. ^ Good, Owen S. (January 4, 2019). "Red Dead Redemption 2 tops list of Game Developers Choice nominees". Polygon. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  33. ^ Williams, Mike (March 20, 2019). "God of War Wins Another GOTY at 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards". USGamer. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  34. ^ Fogel, Stefanie (March 14, 2019). "'God of War,' 'Red Dead 2' Lead BAFTA Game Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  35. ^ Tailby, Stephen (September 20, 2019). "Days Gone Rides Off with Three Nominations in This Year's Golden Joystick Awards". Push Square. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  36. ^ GamesRadar staff (November 15, 2019). "Here's every winner from this year's Golden Joystick Awards, including the Ultimate Game of the Year". GamesRadar+. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  37. ^ Winslow, Jeremy (November 19, 2019). "The Game Awards 2019 Nominees Full List". GameSpot. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  38. ^ Makuch, Eddie (December 13, 2019). "The Game Awards 2019 Winners: Sekiro Takes Game Of The Year". GameSpot. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
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