ROBOBEAT is the third one of these new-fangled rhythm FPS games I’ve played – after BPM: Bullets Per Minute and Metal: Hellsinger – and the first one I’ve actually clicked with. The concept evidently appeals to me enough to try out those other two, but I guess that I’m simply too much of a rebel-maverick-disruptor to play to the stiflingly enforced rhythms of somebody else’s drum. Something about ROBOBEAT’s roguelike shooting feels different though.
Maybe it’s the wide selection of differently-tempo’d shootables, or that it lets you pick your own track before a run – including importing your own. Maybe it’s because one of its weapons is an explosive ping-pong paddle, or because you ground-slam freeze enemies in mid-air. It might be the addition of an unobtrusive but intriguing, and also unexpected but welcome, plot this time around, shown through VHS flashbacks and collectables. Either way, here’s a tray-tray below. (I asked the Maw if I should start using ‘tray-tray’ and only one person said “no, don’t do that”, which leads me to conclude the rest of you are jazzed on the idea.)
It might also be, I realise upon watching the trailer, that I’m far more inclined these days toward electronic music than the big emotions and fretboard noodling of symphonic metal. Don’t hate me, metal men. I simply do not have the energy to experience everyday events as if they were epic battles. My anxiety already makes popping out for bananas feel like getting ready to defend Helm’s Deep. Also, the beats are a lot clearer, which helps me wrap my clumsy brain around them. ROBOBEAT is out tomorrow, but there’s still a demo available on Steam at time of writing.
Nic Reuben
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