Insert reference to famous space movie here. Beat Saber is an anticipated future release and VR rhythm game that’s created by Hyperbolic Magnetism, a development studio based out of the Czech Republic. Beat Saber has been described as a cross between Guitar Hero and Fruit Ninja VR. Equipped with two beat sabers, players will need to coordinate their saber swings to hit the illuminated blocks moving towards them.
How Beat Saber Works
Players will hold a red saber and a blue saber, swinging and hitting blue and red blocks moving towards them on a forward moving platform. On the red and blue blocks are directional symbols that have to be hit up, down, left, or right. Illuminated beat boxes will flow with the electro-music as you hit blocks to the upbeat music and perfectly timed bass drops.
There’s a combo counter in the left corner, so you can tell how well you’re drumming and hitting the beats, or how much you need to practice. In the right corner is a progress and accuracy counter that will track and multiply a players combination scores. The better you do, the more the score is multiplied!
VR Fitness Potential
Beat Saber has been compared to Guitar Hero and Fruit Ninja VR, but I’m going to compare it to Soundboxing, a punch to the beat game, and Audioshield, a block to the beat game. Both have oncoming beat images moving towards the player with accuracy focused hits, and both are great for upper body conditioning. The only downside I can see here is that players won’t get to upload their own music and beat maps to the game, which leaves out personalization and customization.
Fit gamers that want to target their shoulders, chest, arms and upper back need to add Beat Saber to their future VR lineup. The fast-paced and coordinated actions are going to confuse the heck out of your body and shake things up, which is helpful for breaking through boredom and plateaus. Also, if body symmetry is important to you, using two arms to swing beat sabers is going to give you a balanced upper body workout.
Beat Saber also looks like it has a surprising lower body conditioning element. The game is set up so the beat boxes will be moving towards you, but will be spread out in front of you so you’ll have to sidestep your way towards them. Be careful to play this game in a space that has enough room for you to move side to side and swing your arms!
Playing a round of Beat Saber in Quick Play mode for a 10-minute brain boost or a quickie workout is a great way to keep your body fit when you’re on the go. Or play it in Career mode, which is their version of Endless mode, to push yourself through upper body and stamina plateaus.
As with any upper body VR game, the effort a player puts in is what they’ll get out of it. If you lightly move the controllers you’re going to get zilch (zero) out of it physically. But, if you really put speed and force behind your beat saber skills, you’ll get more out of it. Advanced fit gamers who want to stoke the flames of their exercise intensity are going to want to add weights by means of a vest or weighted hand wraps to their game sessions.
Release and Compatibility
Beat Saber is going to be an electrifying VR fitness game when it’s released in Q1 of 2018. Their website says that Beat Saber will be compatible with the HTC Vive, Oculus, and PlayStation VR headsets at an unspecified price.