Rhythm-based shooters are a genre on the rise. From BPM: Bullets Per Minute to Metal Hellsinger. These titles offer an interesting blend of FPS thrills, shooting in time with the beat. ROBOBEAT aims to take this core foundation, but also remixes it a little, adding in a few rogue-like elements. There’s also a middle eight of procedurally generated content and arena-style shooting. ROBOBEAT aims for, and delivers, something truly different.
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Developed by Simon Fredholm, ROBOBEAT is very much built on gameplay. That said, there is a light tale to pull you through each level. You fill the boots of Ace, a famous bounty hunter who is after the eccentric robot-showman Frazzer, your latest target. And that’s basically it for tale.
And this paucity of narrative leaves the stage clear for the unique gameplay loop to shine. You just won’t care why you are wielding an interesting arsenal of weapons ranging from pistols to shotguns and even a table tennis bat. You’ll care even less when you are dual-wielding them.
Timing is Everything
The core of the combat is timing your shots with the beat of the game’s soundtrack, which can change up during a level by swapping out the cassette you are listening to, meaning you can sort of tailor the rhythm to your own play style i.e. faster or slower.
The key is to nail that beat. Do this and your bullets will do a lot of damage. Miss the beat and you’ll be all but firing blanks that will only do a tiny amount of damage.
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It’s a bit of a shock to the system at first, as we are programmed to just hammer that trigger in an FPS and not stop doing it till you are out of ammo, or the room is empty. However, ROBOBEAT flips that script and rewards a more timed, maybe even strategy-driven brand of blasting where planning and timing are king.
Procedurally Generated Content
Each level you tackle on your way to Frazzer is procedurally generated, which is a double-edged sword in ways. You never get the same layout, but you do get an endless run of very similar looking levels – which I’ll not lie do end up blending into each other they are visually so similar.
Movement is smooth as you wall-run, slide, and jump around the place. Though, with so many options to move aiming, it does take a bit of time to master. It can be a bit floaty in ways and quite challenging to hit targets at mid to long range.
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ROBOBEAT is striking and visually unique. The muted blue colour palette seen in the environments only helps the neon enemies and their projectiles pop. The look may have been constrained by budget issues, but the artistic vision is strong enough, and well enough implemented, to carry the game.
Sound, on the other hand, is a mixed bag. There are no licensed tracks from what I could hear, and the unlicensed music is just okay.
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It’s enjoyable and exploits the gameplay well, but you won’t be adding it to your Spotify playlist. You can import your own .wav, .mp3, and .ogg files for the personal touch, but only on PC. This particular loss hurts the console version considerably.
ROBOBEAT is an interesting take on the rhythm-based shooters, bringing something new to the mix while also feeling familiar and that is only let down by the controls a little and the samey feeling to the world, due to is procedurally generated roots.
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