Beat Saber (2018), arguably VR’s most popular game, is celebrating four years since it first launched on VR headsets with free tracks that remix two super recognizable songs from the game’s first OST.
The new tracks are remixes of Jaroslav Beck’s ‘Escape’ and ‘100$ Bills’, respectively dubbed Escape (Tokyo Machine Remix) from EDM DJ Tokyo Machine and 100$ Bills (Camellia’s ‘215$-Step’ Remix) from Japanese composer Camellia.
Here’s a quick preview of Camellia’s remix of 100$ Bills:
There’s also a new anniversary themed environment, which Beat Games says in a blog post includes cakes and banners. Called ‘The Second’, the new level is a remake of the original OST 1 environment (aka ‘The First’).
Over the last four years, developers Beat Games was acquired by Meta (then Facebook) which saw a near-constant release of paid and free DLC. Meta’s deep pockets allowed the studio to cut deals with record labels which has seen content from high-profile artists such as Skrillex, BTS, Green Day, Timbaland, Linkin Park, and Imagine Dragons, not to mention the Interscope Music Pack featuring tracks from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, OneRepublic, Limp Bizkit, and Maroon 5.
The most recent release was the game’s Electronic Mixtape which brought tracks from Madeon, Deadmau5, Fatboy Slim, and more.
Available across all supported devices, including Quest 2, SteamVR headsets and PSVR, you can find both songs in the ‘Extras’ section of your song library.
Somehow, Beat Saber is already turning four years old. To celebrate, there’s some new free content.
Well, kind of new, at least.
Two remixes of tracks from the game’s original soundtrack have been released as part of an update today. They’re mapped by Camellia and Toki respectively. Check one track out in action in the video below.
Beat Saber Free Anniversary Tracks Released
We promised you an anniversary gift, and here it is! Update your game to kickstart the celebrations with 2x free remixes of our OG tracks by @cametek and @tokyomachine.
This looks like a great way to revisit some of the game’s original content and refresh what’s come before. In particular, we’ve pointed to how some of the difficulty of the original tracks hasn’t been maintained as new songs have been added in the past, and these remixes could remedy that.
As these tracks have been revamped, they also get the visual overhaul treatment, introducing some of the new lighting effects that made their debut in the game earlier this year.
These new tracks continue Beat Games’ hot streak for its ever-popular VR rhythm game in 2022. So far this year we’ve seen a pack for Fall Out Boy and a new Electronic Mixtape as well as the game’s fifth free OST pack and even new gameplay elements in the form of new block types. Most recently the game added a revamped level editor on PC, too.
All of this was enough for us to go back and re-review Beat Saber in May. Unsurprisingly, we still think it’s one of VR’s most essential games, though there are one or two areas we think need to be addressed going forward.
Are you going to be checking out the Beat Saber free anniversary tracks? Let us know in the comments below!
With regular updates, DLC releases and changes to the game since launch, Beat Saber remains VR’s poster child. Read on for our updated Beat Saber review for Quest 2, PSVR and PC VR.
Years of Dominance
It’s hard to understate Beat Saber’s influence on the VR industry. It was one of the earliest success stories in VR gaming and became a catalyst for the now-oversaturated market of VR rhythm games. After launch in 2018, it catapulted itself into the spotlight as the must-have VR game for any headset owner and became one of the only VR-exclusive titles to gain brand recognition in the wider gaming industry. As starting points go, it was a good place to be in.
Perhaps more amazing is that in 2022, four years post-release, Beat Saber remains dominant as ever and has never properly faded from the zeitgeist. Meta acquired the studio behind the game, Beat Games, in 2018, but Beat Saber remains available on almost every major VR headset – Meta-owned or otherwise. It consistently holds a near-unbeatable position around the top of most VR store charts, as it has done for several consecutive years now. With consistent free updates and paid DLC releases, there’s now a wealth of content to work through as well.
Beat Saber 2022 Review – The Facts
Platforms: Oculus Quest, Quest 2, PC VR, PSVR Release Date: Out Now Developer: Beat Games, Meta Price: $29.99
Even the skeptics would have to admit that Beat Saber is still the biggestVR game in terms of availability, omnipresence and recognition, especially with more casual audiences. But a lot has changed since 2018 – not just advancements in hardware, but also our understanding of solid VR design principles.
The standard is higher than ever, so how well does Beat Saber hold up?
Surprisingly well, is the answer. But before getting into the nitty gritty, let’s cover the basics.
Easy to Understand, Hard to Master
Beat Saber is a VR rhythm game with an easily-understood core concept. Set to music, the player will use two ‘lightsabers’ – one red and one blue, by default – to slice through blocks as they fly through space towards the player. The colour of the blocks – red or blue – correspond to which lightsaber to use, while directional arrows on each indicate whether you should slice up, down, left, right or even diagonally. If you’re confused, think Fruit Ninja… but with music. In VR.
The blocks are aligned to the rhythm of the music – the more on-time and accurately you slice, the higher your score. Slicing consecutive blocks without mistakes builds combos. Missing blocks or making mistakes resets your combo and can stack up to result in a level failure.
There’s other twists as well – walls you have to avoid, bombs you can’t hit, double blocks or cross-armed slices – but overall it’s a conceptually simple game with a very high skill ceiling. Even though the upper echelon of players compete at an insanely high level, everyone can play Beat Saber – the large variety of music, modes and difficulty levels means it’s enjoyable for newcomers and experts alike.
Old Genre, New Platform, Same Feeling
Rhythm games are a popular gaming genre, no matter the platform. But not only does Beat Saber execute the rhythm game tropes well, it also exhibits an expert understanding of what makes a fantastic VR experience – especially impressive for 2018.
Beat Saber’s gameplay isn’t just addictive, it’s tactile. Every move you make lines up perfectly with your expectation for how that action should feel. In other games, actions don’t always align with the virtual world, like putting your hand up against a virtual wall only to realize that your physical hand falls through it.
There’s no such disconnect in Beat Saber. There’s cohesion and responsiveness between your actions in real life and VR, because slicing blocks is designed as an inherently weightless action. Your brain never expects feedback from your actions, so everything just feels right.
This unsolved hardware problem – generating realistic feedback and resistance against actions – is likely to stick around for quite a while. By avoiding the problem entirely, Beat Saber has positioned itself as a timeless experience, at least for the foreseeable future. Even across generations of different hardware, Beat Saber feels incredibly satisfying to play – just as much now as it did in 2018.
Games Modes, Accessibility, Modifiers
Compared to launch, there’s now a lot more on offer in Beat Saber as well. The music library has been massively expanded (more on that later), but there’s also several different game modes to keep you entertained.
The classic mode is Solo, the stock-standard high score mode that lets you play through any track you like, with many optional modifier options. There’s also now a multiplayer mode, which lets up to five players compete against each other for a high score, either in public or private lobbies.
A campaign mode does technically exist, but feels neglected and overdue for a complete overhaul – it’s not worth your time over Solo mode. An upgraded campaign with better structure and some form of progression might be interesting (and perhaps is on the way), but the fairly neglected state of the existing campaign isn’t exactly a huge loss.
Accessibility options and gameplay modifiers are abound in Beat Saber, which let you tailor the game to your needs and wants. You can enable different options to make the game easier, more accessible, harder or just completely different, adding a lot of depth for people who want to mix up gameplay or cater to specific needs.
There’s also special 360 and 90 degree levels that see you turn on the spot as blocks come from different directions – a fun gimmick, but nothing mind-blowing.
An Expansive Library
Given how big the library has grown since launch, Beat Saber’s music selection should have something for everyone by now, provided you’re willing to pay extra.
Humble beginnings saw only a few original electronic tracks included at launch, composed by Beat Games Co-Founder Jaroslav Beck. New free tracks and additional original music from Beck still arrive in updates from time to time, but it’s the paid DLC releases that offer the most exciting selections, featuring some prominent and legendary artists – Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy, BTS, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Panic! At The Disco, Billie Eilish, Imagine Dragons and Skrillex, to name a few.
Each pack brings with it a unique feel, perfectly crafted to capture the spirit of the featured artist. It makes each pack feel truly hand-crafted and brings much-needed variety across the library. The only downside for new players will be the cost – when you add DLC to the cost of the base game, things could start to get a bit pricey.
However, the expansion of Beat Saber’s music selection has also had an effect on consistency. The skill ceiling of Beat Saber players has increased dramatically in the last few years, as has the style and variety of track mapping. While the developers have evolved the game’s mapping, it’s now clear that the difficult labels – Easy, Normal, Hard, Expert, Expert+ – can mean completely different things from one track to another. What was considered Expert in 2018, for example, feels like a walk in the park compared to an Expert map released in 2022.
Room for Improvement
Outside of the actual gameplay, parts of Beat Saber’s user experience are starting to show their age. The entire menu system – large, flat and floating panels, with a point-and-click cursor attached to each controller – might have been serviceable in 2018, but now feels clunky and unintuitive. There’s been lots of innovation in intuitive user experience in virtual reality, but Beat Saber has not kept pace.
The same can be said for the game’s visuals. While overall the game looks great on most platforms, it also doesn’t feel like the best possible visual presentation, especially on Quest hardware. Other releases have really pushed Quest’s standalone hardware to the limit, delivering stunning visuals. It’s hard to believe Beat Saber couldn’t do a bit more to impress in this day and age.
Admittedly, the newer DLC and OST releases feature environments that are way more visually interesting. But if anything, this only contributes to the aforementioned feeling of consistency – some levels look breathtaking, while others now look incredibly dated and barebones.
All of these minor issues are a result of the piecemeal approach taken by Beat Games, adding and changing elements slowly but consistently, bit by bit. While it’s an approach that has served Beat Saber well until now, it’s also segmenting the game and beginning to make it feel less like one cohesive package.
It would be nice to see this addressed, preferably in one big drastic update. Even a full on sequel – Beat Saber 2 – might be the best option, providing a polished and ground-up rework of the core game, while introducing some new elements and transitioning existing players over with legacy map and DLC support.
Beat Saber Review 2022 – Final Verdict
For any new headset owner, Beat Saber remains an essential purchase. Even if the genre is not traditionally your style, the game holds such an esteemed place in VR history and remains completely relevant to modern audiences, exemplifying sublime gameplay that puts intelligent VR design first.
Yes, parts of the experience are starting to feel ever so slightly outdated, but those are very minor gripes for what is otherwise a seminal VR game. Nothing has yet to penetrate the virtual reality zeitgeist quite like Beat Saber. If you have a headset, you have to try it. It’s as simple as that.
UploadVR recently changed its review guidelines, and this is one of our new Essential review labels. You can read more about our review guidelines here.
This review was conducted primarily on the Quest 2 version of the game, but applies to all platforms. What did you make of our Beat Saber review? Let us know in the comments below!
Beat Saber’s PC version now has a new 3D interface for level editing. Or it does in beta, at least.
This new editor was built from the ground up for players that want to make their own tracks for Beat Games’ hit rhythm title. You can get a first look at the new interface in the below stream from beatmappers Freeek and Kolezan.
New Beat Saber Level Editor Arrives
At its core, the editor lets you add music and then map blue and red boxes to it. You don’t need to jump into VR to do this; the editor is used from a normal PC display. As you might expect, this also includes support for Beat Saber’s newest features, like the Arc and Chain block types and the new lighting systems we’ve seen implemented in the most recent song packs.
That said this is an early release for the editor and there are plenty of missing features and bugs to iron out. Going forward, there are plans to add support for 360 degree and 90 degree levels as well as waveform scaling, and adding an interactive scrollbar amongst other features. You can see the full patch notes for the new editor right here.
Currently, there’s no mention of bringing the editor to other versions of the game, though mods and customizations have always been a sticking point for the Quest and PSVR editions of the game.
Are you going to be diving into Beat Saber’s new level editor? Let us know in the comments below!
Popular block-slashing rhythm game Beat Saber just got an unexpected drop of 12 new tracks in its Electronic Mixtape paid DLC, which includes content spanning nearly two decades of electronic music.
Beat Games, the Meta-owned developers behind Beat Saber, initially teased the Electronic Mixtape at Meta’s Quest Gaming Showcase late last month. Now the studio has surprise-launched the paid DLC across all supported VR headsets starting today.
Beat Saber’s Electronic Mixtape comes with 10 songs for $13, or $2 per song when purchased individually. Check out the full track list below:
Marshmello – “Alone”
MartinGarrix – “Animals”
BomfunkMC’s – “Freestyler”
Deadmau5 – “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff” (feat. Rob Swire)
Madeon – “Icarus”
Darude – “Sandstorm”
Zedd – “Stay The Night” (feat. Hayley Williams)
Fatboy Slim – “The Rockafeller Skank”
Rudimental – “Waiting All Night” (feat. Ella Eyre)
Pendulum – “Witchcraft”
Ok, so Beat Saber is already pretty electronic-heavy. Whatever you may think of the music on offer though, the constant influx of paid and free DLC has kept Beat Saber squarely seated in the top 10 on respective lists for most popular VR game on both the Quest and PSVR platforms—not bad for a game from 2018.
The launch of today’s Electronic Mixtape pack follows what seems like a non-stop push for evermore DLC. Thanks to Meta’s deep pockets, Beat Saber has been able to include content from high-profile artists such as Skrillex, BTS, Green Day, Timbaland, Linkin Park, and Imagine Dragons, not to mention the Interscope Music Pack featuring tracks from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, OneRepublic, Limp Bizkit, and Maroon 5.
The Beat Saber Electronic Mixtape DLC is available now on all platforms.
First announced during the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase back in April, the Electronic Mixtape features some of the biggest electronic artists today. The roster includes Deadmau5, Rudimental, Pendulum and Fatboy Slim among others. There are 10 tracks in total that cost $12.99 as a bundle, or you can pick your favorites for $1.99 each. Check out a brief teaser for the new pack below.
The full tracklist includes:
Waiting All Night (feat. Ella Eyre) by Rudimental
Witchcraft by Pendulum
Icarus by Madeon
Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff (feat. Rob Swire) by Deadmau5
Alone by Marshmello
Stay the Night (feat. Hayley Williams) by Zedd
Sandstorm by Darude
The Rockafeller Skank by Fatboy Slim
Freestyler by Bomfunk MC
Animals by Martin Garrix
Also don’t forget that this is one of the first music packs to launch following the introduction of new lighting effects and gameplay mechanics for the game. That means the Electronic Mixtape makes full use of the new note types.
As always, the DLC is available on Quest, PSVR and PC VR headsets. Combined with the recent launch of both the Fall Out Boy pack and the game’s fifth Official Soundtrack, it’s been a very busy few weeks for the VR sensation. That said we currently have no idea what plans Beat Games has for the future. With 3 music packs released in 2022, how many more can we expect before the end of the year?
Are you going to be picking up the Beat Saber Electronic Mixtape pack? Let us know in the comments below!
Returning for a second year, the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase was an event jam-packed with exciting videogame announcements for the headset. With brand new surprises, sequels and updates, the event proved that Quest 2 has a cracking lineup of titles in the works.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution
The next instalment in the VR franchise, Skydance Interactive’s The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution continues the narrative from the first game, placing you in a post-apocalyptic New Orleans trying to survive the zombie outbreak. This time around there will be more zombies, a new villain to face and even fewer resources. The game is due out later this year.
Among Us VR
The multiplayer game about teamwork and the imposters trying to kill you all will be coming to Meta Quest 1 & 2 and PC VR headsets this holiday season. Rebuilt for VR by Schell Games, Among Us VR will stay true to the original’s design whilst ensuring plenty of interactive elements purely suited to VR. It will be a “stand-alone experience” due to the overhaul.
Red Matter 2
The atmospheric sci-fi puzzler from 2018 will be getting a sequel this summer Vertical Robot has revealed. Red Matter 2 is going to be bigger and feature more content than its predecessor, adding new mechanics like a jet pack to fly around with whilst injecting some action by giving you enemies to shoot at.
Beat Saber x Electronic Mixtape
The ever-popular Beat Saber will be getting a new song selection adding 10 iconic electronic hits to its track roster as well as a new in-game environment. No release date at the moment but here’s the track list:
Rudimental, “Waiting All Night” (feat. Ella Eyre)
Pendulum, “Witchcraft”
Madeon, “Icarus”
deadmau5, “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff” (feat. Rob Swire)
Marshmello, “Alone”
Zedd, “Stay the Night” (feat. Hayley Williams)
Darude, “Sandstorm”
Fatboy Slim, “The Rockafeller Skank”
Bomfunk MC’s, “Freestyler”
Martin Garrix, “Animals”
Moss: Book II
Released on PlayStation VR earlier in April, developer Polyarc will soon be bringing the puzzle adventure to Quest 2. Taking control of Quill once again in a fight against the Arcane, Moss: Book 2features even bigger threats than before, new items to fight and solve puzzles with and new characters to aid your journey.
Resident Evil 4 – The Mercenaries
The only game announcement from the show that’s available right now as a free update, the VR edition of Resident Evil 4 finally gets fan favourite mode The Mercenaries. Giving you the chance to play as several of the characters from the main campaign, the mode is all about racking up as many points as possible before the timer runs out. This VR version also comes with 20 exclusive Challenges that’ll unlock bonuses including Big Head mode and a Golden Gun skin.
Cities: VR
If you’ve been after a city building experience in VR then look no further, Fast Travel Games has remade Paradox Interactive’s Cities: Skylines for the headset. A city management simulator giving you full control over where to place structures, and how to earn and spend money whilst keeping residents have, Cities: VR is due out next week on 28th April.
Bonelab
Stress Level Zero has finally revealed that its fourth VR project is Bonelab, a sequel to Boneworks. Building off of Boneworks‘ physical interaction engine, Marrow, Bonelab is an action-adventure title set within a mysterious underground lab. With physics-driven interactions forming a core part of the gameplay experience Bonelabs will also support player built mods to further expand the content. The game is expected to arrive for Meta Quest 2 and PC VR headsets in 2022.
NFL Pro Era
An officially licensed NFL videogame for VR, NFL Pro Era is all about immersing you in American football as a quarterback. Featuring all 32 NFL teams, the simulator will put you in command of your favourite team, choosing plays and listening to the chatter inside the huddle. NFL Pro Era will be coming to Quest and PlayStation VR in Fall 2022.
Espire 2
Digital Lode’s stealth combat title returns this November, giving you new ways to sneakily kill enemies without them even knowing you were there, or not, depends how you like to play. Espire 2 will feature two new mechanical units to control, one heavier and more robust whilst the other is smaller and nimble, great for staying undetected. In addition to the main campaign, Espire 2 will also include a co-op campaign with a story set between Espire 1 & 2.
RuinsMagus
Unveiled last year, the showcase provided a brand new trailer giving a better look at the upcoming Japanese role-playing game (JRPG). Developed by CharacterBank, RuinsMagus has players investigate the abandoned ruins below the prosperous town of Grand Amnis across 26 story-driven quests, facing powerful and fearless Guardians on route. RuinsMagus is expected to launch later this year.
Crystal Atrium Environment
Not a game but a freebie for Meta Quest nonetheless, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave his quick address inside the new Crystal Atrium environment. You’ll find it under the Personalization tab of the settings menu, then change the virtual environment.
Ghostbusters VR (Working title)
Last but not least was the sneaky peek from Zuckerberg of a new game being worked on by nDreams (Fracked, Phantom: Covert Ops) and Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR), Ghostbusters VR. Set in San Francisco, Ghostbusters VR will support up to 4-player co-op as you and your friends try to rid the city of ghosts in this original adventure. No timeline for release has been given just yet.
Meta just announced Beat Saber’s next set of DLC tracks at today’s Meta Quest Gaming Showcase. The Beat Saber Electronic Mixtape will feature 10 hits from artists like Deadmau5, Zedd, Marshmello and more.
Most DLC packs for Beat Saber focus solely on one artist, but this pack will be the second DLC ‘mixtape’ release which features an array of different artists from one period.
Here’s the full tracklist of the Electronic Mixtape:
Waiting All Night (feat. Ella Eyre) by Rudimental
Witchcraft by Pendulum
Icarus by Madeon
Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff (feat. Rob Swire) by Deadmau5
Alone by Marshmello
Stay the Night (feat. Hayley Williams) by Zedd
Sandstorm by Darude
The Rockafeller Skank by Fatboy Slim
Freestyler by Bomfunk MC
Animals by Martin Garrix
As you can see, there are some big names and hits in the pack, but perhaps the most prominent is Sandstorm by Darude. IT’s one of the most iconic electronic songs of all time and a huge internet hit/meme track. In other words, it could be a perfect addition to the Beat Saber catalog.
The Electronic Mixtape release date follows on from the Fall Out Boy DLC, released last month, and has no confirmed release date as of yet. That being said, the time between announcement and release for Beat Saber DLCs tends to be pretty short, so expect to see it sooner rather than later.
As usual, the pack will be available across all platforms — Quest, Rift, PSVR and Steam — for a bundled price of $12.99 or an individual track price of $1.99 each.
This was just one announcement from today’s Meta Quest Gaming Showcase — keep an eye out for news on more releases and updates to come.
Beat Saber, the popular block-slashing rhythm game, is getting a new paid music pack soon that will feature eight tracks from Fall Out Boy.
The American rock band announced the news via Twitter, and included a full tracklist too. Listed below, the music pack spans the band’s early 2000s period as well as more recent tracks from when it returned from its 2009 – 2013 hiatus.
Centuries
Thnks fr th Mmrs
This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race
Immortals
I Don’t Care
My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)
Dance, Dance
Irresistible
Like the band’s live shows, the tracks are said to be “filled with pyro,” with the pack’s trailer showing off a stage, lighting effects, and a stream of fire eruptions.
“That’s why our first VR collab had to have a TON of it… this will be the biggest rock show that Beat Saber has ever seen,” says Fall Out Boy bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz.
The Fall Out Boy Music Pack is slated to release on all supported platforms tomorrow, March 31st, at 10:00am PT (local time here). Individual songs cost $2, while the whole pack costs $11.
This follows the release of multiple music packs over the years, including tracks from Skrillex, BTS, Linkin Park, Timbaland, Greenday, Panic at the Disco!, Imagine Dragons, and a host of artists under the Interscope music label.
A Beat Saber Fall Out Boy pack is on the way soon, and we already know the tracklist.
The new pack for the smash hit VR game was just announced on Twitter with a short video seen below. It showcased new visuals for level themes complete with some of the lighting additions made in Beat Saber’s most recent update. There’s also some pyrotechnics on display.
Centuries
Thnks fr th Mmrs
This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race
Immortals
I Don’t Care
My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)
Dance, Dance
Irresistible
That brings the pack to eight songs total. There’s the usual mix of new songs and classics in here but we’ll be the first to point out that Sugar, We’re Going Down is missing from the list and that’s basically a crime and possibly the biggest omission since I Write Sins Not Tragedies missed out on the Panic! At The Disco pack in 2019. That’s two emo anthems from 2005 missing from Beat Saber and I’m sure you’ll all join me in protest.
Anyway, this will be the first premium Beat Saber DLC pack in 2022 after developer Beat Games released another free OST update a few weeks back. Given that pack also introduced some new block types to the game, you can hopefully expect to see them utilized here, too.
