This may be plainly obvious but rhythm action videogames in virtual reality (VR) are quite popular, very popular in fact. Back in the day, Harmonix was a leader in the genre thanks to Rock Band and then entered the VR arena with Audica for PC headsets. Today, Harmonix has confirmed a Playstation VR version is in the works and due out by the end of the year.
Unlike the most popular rhythm action title at the moment Beat Saber, in Audica there’s no hacking and slashing, instead you’re armed with two guns, one blue one orange. It’s pretty much about precision target shooting to a beat, hitting a variety of single and multiple colour shaded targets to a soundtrack featuring some of the best artists in the pop and EDM space.
Harmonix plans on having four arenas and a selection of blasters to choose from, as well as a suite of customisation options to personalize the gameplay experience. There will also be a fully complete campaign mode including over 30 songs:
- 1788-L & Blanke “Destiny”
- AU5 & Fractal “Smoke”
- Alison Wonderland “I Want U”
- Donna Summer “I Feel Love (Afrojack Remix)”
- DJ Fresh ft. Ms.Dynamite “Gold Dust”
- James Egbert “The Space”
- Jeff Allen “Lazerface”
- Savant “Splinter”
- Noisia “Collider”
- Zedd & Grey “Adrenaline”
“Audica has been a passion project created by a small team of dreamers within Harmonix who set out to answer one very important question: Wouldn’t it be awesome to feel like an action movie star with the coolest soundtrack choreographing everything you do?” notes Jessa Brezinski Product Manager, Harmonix on PlayStation Blog.
Harmonix has still to reveal the exact date, price and song list for the PlayStation VR launch, just that it’ll happen later this year. When that occurs VRFocus will let you know.