Upcoming VR game ‘Beat Saber’ is basically Guitar Hero with lightsabers

If you’re like us, you’ve always felt there was one thing missing from the Star Wars movies: Interpretive dance. As exciting and dramatic as the duels and dogfights are, we’ve been itching for the chance to boogie to the beat with a lightsaber in each hand, and when the new virtual reality game Beat Saber releases, we’ll be able to do just that. Beat Saber — unaffiliated with Star Wars — is a rhythm game similar in design to Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution. With two laser swords, you must slash color-coded blocks as they fly toward you, with red blocks handled by your right hand and blue by your left. They also have a direction labeled on the front, so you must slash accordingly in order to keep your score combination going. As you can see in the gameplay teaser video, the result resembles tribal drums, with a sense of power and weight we don’t typically see in virtual reality. Developed by Czech studio Hyperbolic Magnetism, which previously worked on the auto-running game Chameleon Run, Beat Saber is designed to be played both in short bursts or over longer stretches of time in the included career mode, and each stage is “handcrafted to emphasize the music rhythm.” Though the studio compared the game to Fruit Ninja, Beat Saber appears to emphasize precision and sharp, fast movements in a way the cartoony fruit-dicing series never has. It looks like it will be difficult at higher levels, though Hyperbolic Magnetism is adamant it can be learned by newcomers, as well. “Anyone can understand [the] basic game principles and play the game in just a few seconds,” the studio said. The visual style Hyperbolic Magnetism has chosen for Beat Saber is almost hypnotic, resembling the game Thumper in its use of dark reds and blues. Sparks and the glow of the swords helps to give it the classic Star Wars lightsaber look, and we hope for some sort of battle after racking up a high enough score. Beat Saber is scheduled to arrive early this year to HTC Vive, Oculurs Rift, and PlayStation VR. It’s an early December afternoon in Stockholm, Sweden, where I’m sitting in a fancy office suite eating falafel amid a small group of journalists and VR content creators. This is my third day in the office-lined Norrmalm district of Stockholm, just a stone’s throw away from scenic Old Town, where approximately 200 game developers from all over the world commute each morning to work in Resolution Games’ labyrinthine three-story studio. It’s shockingly easy to get lost here amidst the chaos and excitement surrounding each of Resolution’s various virtual reality projects, but the atmosphere is so warm that you’d be unsurprised to discover the studio contains two rooms specifically designated “nap rooms” in accordance with Swedish law. Unfortunately for me, I don’t get much time to nap — at all, actually, given the extreme jetlag one experiences when traveling from Portland, Oregon, all the way to the snowy Nordic realm of Sweden. But that’s okay because I’m wired from my own excitement in anticipation of one thing: a unique mixed-reality arena shooter called Spatial Ops, which I and 10 others would finally get to test against one another only a few moments later. The VR game, which is out today, may very well be the tech’s next big hit, showing the true potential of mixed-reality gameplay.
Parallel space
If you’re unfamiliar with Resolution Games, the studio is best known for creating highly original and somewhat quirky VR games like Demeo and Blaston, the former of which is arguably VR’s most faithful recreation of Dungeons & Dragons, simulating everything from the tabletop experience (allowing you to share a simulated space with up to four players across several platforms, in and out of virtual reality) to the miniatures on the board, which you can pick up and place by hand, giving them a lifelike feel. Meanwhile, Blaston is a physically active shoot-’em-up where you face off against exactly one other player in a duel, but the twist here is that each gun shoots very slowly and you have to outsmart your opponent by blocking off their ability to evade your bullets while they try to do the same thing to you. News on Apple’s upcoming mixed reality headset has been accelerating in recent weeks, with several fresh reports shedding further details on the project. Now, reliable reporter Mark Gurman has chimed in with his thoughts on Apple’s vision for the device. In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple’s headset will be used primarily for short bursts of activity rather than prolonged sessions. This contrasts with other companies that are seeking to build a “metaverse” of immersive experiences that replicate real life in a digital realm. Apple’s rumored VR headset wasn’t mentioned in today’s “California Streaming” event, but we did a learn an important detail about the rumored product. Very little is known about the experimental device, but according to The Elec, Apple’s upcoming VR headset could reportedly feature “micro-OLED” displays boasting 3,000 pixels per inch. Upgrade your lifestyleDigital Trends helps readers keep tabs on the fast-paced world of tech with all the latest news, fun product reviews, insightful editorials, and one-of-a-kind sneak peeks.