People Yearn for Synchronicity and Robobeat Delivers | Review
Robobeat is good vibes and momentum.
WACO, Texas (KWTX) -
*Code provided by Publisher
Guns and music have a lot in common when you think about it. Music has beats per minute and the fire rate of a gun can be seen as much the same. You can control the placement of those trigger pulls to create a lead filled symphony that deafens everyone not wearing earmuffs. Robobeat isn’t the first game to make this connection with everyone from Hellsinger to whoever oversees making call of duty trailers getting the memo that synching up gun noises with music just rules. Robobeat is a wonderful combination of rhythm games, first-person arena shooters and the addictive repetition of roguelites all rolled into one charismatic thumping package. The tracks are absolute bangers that range from your Dad’s butt-rock to electo-jazz fusion offering not only a great variety of songs to jam to but also a fantastic array of timings. So, what makes Robobeat stand out in the growing genre of bullet-hero games? The key is in the movement. A key that the games solo developer Simon Fredholm understands better than most.
As a robot bounty hunter Ace is the exact kind of beep-boopin gun slinger you wouldn’t want on your tail. A hired merc of the Erasure Solutions company, our killer robot DJ is designed to execute a mission target and erase their memories after each one. Allowing them to full focus on the target at hand, and at the beginning of the game that particular crosshair is set on Frazer, the game’s main villain. In a wonderfully done intro you think you’ve got him corned then bam, thrown from the window you plummet to the bottom of the building. Now you have to make your way up labyrinthian structure to finish what you started. I loved this intro cleverly slicing in momentary teases to each of the levels you’ll be ascending showcasing the vibe of each as Ace freefalls to his new starting point. This wonderful narrative device sets up the structure of the game’s levels. Clear a series of roguelike rooms and defeat the boss to move to the next shootout.
When you first enter the combat arenas of Robobeat it can feel a bit overwhelming. Not the levels mind you, if you really can call them that, but the fighting to a beat can get tricky pretty easily if you are not constantly paying attention. What the levels lack in design they make up for in secrets. Each area contains a few waves of varying enemies who will throw their horrendous out of time attacks at you! YOU’RE RUSHING DEATH EYEBALL TEMPO! COME ON!...uh anyway, hidden within these levels are randomly dropped blueprints for new killer instruments of shred and tapes with which to funk up your opponents. Overall, the levels were stylistically brutalist and plain, but it fit the corrupt corporate industrial building that the game is set in. I also thing the simplicity of these rooms helps streamline some of the roguelite gameplay. It’s helpful to find some familiarity in a room after a devastating reset.
Movement system is where Robobeat really shines, offering tons of mobility from short, zippy dashes to slides that seem to go on forever. You can double jump, wall run and even take a note out of the smash bros book and wall stall allowing you to create vantage points off the ground. This fast moving kinetic traversal makes getting around the levels dodging stick figure-esq ninjas and floating death eyeballs all the more fun and fluid. Helped by the fact that only your gun shots have to be on beat NOT your movements. This freedom opens up some creative avenues for escaping tricky situations while keeping with your metronome.
As you rise up the levels of the building for revenge, you’ll find a heap of new weapons that range from sick as hell to goofy but effective. Ping pong balls that detonate a small area, gooey grenade launcher and the most insane 360 no-scope looking sniper rifle called the nuke. Each of these weapons is paced at a different beat. Some fire and have a 1 beat cooldown while others have a 1 beat start up adding another layer of complexity to your beat slaying shootouts. It’s exhilarating finding that flowstate pulse in a new weapon and experimenting with different weapon combos allows for each run to have a unique vibe. Helping to fill out that randomness role of the roguelite, each musical blaster comes equipped with a set of attributes like auto-aim, critical hit increases, and even adding stun or elemental damage.
Robobeat isn’t reinventing the wheel here but instead making the wheel way cooler and more customizable. The veracious speed of the roguelike shootouts set to your own personal soundtrack makes for an addictive loop of trial and error. Gunplay is top of mind in the shootouts with movement right behind it creating a blend of rhythm and Titalfallesq flow. What the game lacks in detailed environments it makes up for in tight knit battles and killer synth-brutalist aesthetics. Robobeat offers a unique take on this expanding genre and one I recommend for any rhythm game fan, landing Robobeat in as a sold 7. Until next time for Hardwired, I’m Andrew Hamilton.
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