Rhythm games might be a dime a dozen within the VR fitness space, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less beneficial to helping you stay in shape while you play video games. With that in mind, the growing subgenre is soon set to receive another notable game of this type within the coming month, although the way in which it works compared to some other titles is quite different.
Coming from developer PotamWorks, Smash Drums is a new rhythm game that sees you, well, playing drums. Much like other titles in his genre, Smash Drums sends a wave of symbols toward you that you have to hit in unison with the music that is playing in the background. In Smash Drums, though, those symbols are meant to look like pieces of a drum set. The two controllers that you hold in each hand appear in-game as drum sticks. So basically, you have to drum in mid-air to the beat of the music. In addition, the game features 21 different songs that you can play from some notable indie bands to go along with leaderboards so that you can compete with friends.
What sets Smash Drums apart from other games in this space is that while titles like Supernatural and Beat Saber might have you only facing one direction, Smash Drums sends the corresponding symbols to you that you need to hit from a full 360-degrees. This means that you’ll have to move your body far more than you might in other similarly constructed rhythm games. That being said, Smash Drums won’t require you to constantly be turning in circles and will instead slowly have you maneuver your body around in different ways.
You can get a look at how Smash Drums plays in the trailer below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSqGMeQNZrk&w=560&h=315]
What’s perhaps the best thing about Smash Drums right now is that even though the game isn’t yet widely available, a demo is currently able to be downloaded and played right this moment. Available through the Oculus App Lab, PotamWorks has made available a trial for Smash Drums that should let you get a better idea of if the game might be for you. The demo itself, however, is only able to be played on Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 headsets for the time being and only contains one track to try out.
All in all, Smash Drums looks like an incredibly promising addition to the rhythm genre for those who are looking for new VR fitness titles to play. While it might require more precision than some other rhythm titles, the fact that the game forces you to move around your given environment a bit more means that this is something that should keep you highly active. Not to mention, it will also allow you to fully live out your dreams of being a rockstar, which I imagine will be an excellent selling point for many folks.
Smash Drums is set to release next month on June 17, 2021, and will be coming to both Oculus Quest devices initially. If you’re looking to pick the game up for yourself, the game will retail for $19.99. As for the future of Smash Drums, PotamWorks has also made clear that it’s planning to bring the title to other PC VR devices later on in the year. Additionally, new songs will be coming to Smash Drums as well in the future, both for free and as paid DLC.
