You would have to go a very long way to find someone who doesn’t enjoy listening to music. While not everyone shares the same tastes, many people long to be able to create great music as well as passively listen to it. This is the central core of Track Lab, a hybrid of puzzle and rhythm game, which is coming soon to the PlayStation VR.
Track Lab was created with the notion of letting anyone create music, by making it fun and easy to create original tracks, no matter your level of musical education.
The idea was to take music creation beyond simply remixing or mashing together two tracks, or pretending to be a DJ, or following along with a plastic guitar, pressing the right buttons. Instead, Track Lab takes inspiration from professional music tools and gives them a videogame spin.
The player begins by picking up a music sample and putting it in the path of a rhythm ‘pulse’. When the samples are struck by the pule, they sound off their beat. The player can combine various samples in a timed grid in order to create loops and samples.
This grid and the samples become the building blocks with with a track is created. The use of motion controllers means that players can simply grab the beat they want and move it to the right location, allowing players to advance their skills and gradually build up intricate tracks.
The developers at Amsterdam-based studio Little Chicken first had the idea for the project twenty years ago, but are now firm in the belief that virtual reality (VR) brings a new element to Track Lab, and that Track Lab, conversely, complements VR by allowing players to do something they can’t do in the real world.
Pre-orders are due to go live imminently on the PlayStation Store, and Track Lab will be available on the 22nd August, 2018. For further coverage of Track Lab, keep checking back with VRFocus.