While BEATABLE's foundation is solid, there are areas where it could expand
BEATABLE represents a fascinating evolution in VR rhythm games, cleverly incorporating your physical environment into its gameplay mechanics. Instead of swinging virtual lightsabers or shooting targets in space, BEATABLE turns your real-world furniture into a musical instrument, creating an experience that bridges virtual and physical reality in an innovative way.
At its core, BEATABLE is refreshingly straightforward. The game presents four lanes where notes travel toward you, requiring different interactions: palm taps on a surface, claps in the air, and finger snaps. This simplicity in design makes it immediately accessible – anyone can understand how to play within seconds.
The genius lies in using a real surface for tactile feedback. Whether it's a table, desk, or ottoman, that physical contact adds a tangible dimension that's often missing from hand-tracking experiences. The game calibrates to your chosen surface, creating a personalized play space roughly the size of a keyboard.
The note patterns start simple but quickly evolve into complex sequences that test your rhythmic abilities and coordination. You might find yourself tapping with one hand while snapping with the other, creating a satisfying sense of flow when you nail the combinations. The game offers multiple difficulty levels, from approachable Easy modes to challenging Expert arrangements that demand precise timing and quick reactions.
BEATABLE truly shines in mixed reality mode on Quest 3. The game seamlessly blends virtual elements with your real environment, creating an MR experience that feels natural and immersive. The visual effects and particle systems that accompany successful hits add flair without being distracting, making the experience feel both grounded and magical.
The game's reliance on Quest 3's hand-tracking technology is both its greatest innovation and biggest challenge. When it works, the tracking feels responsive and natural. However, the technology shows its limitations during more intense sequences. Fast-paced sections can sometimes fail to register inputs, particularly during rapid combinations of claps and snaps. This becomes more noticeable at higher difficulty levels, where precision is crucial.
The developers have implemented clever solutions to address tracking latency, including input and audio delay compensation. While this helps, there's still room for improvement in tracking reliability, especially during complex sequences requiring quick hand position changes, but I don't know if it's even possible to improve that as that's probably the best that the Quest 3's hand-tracking technology can do.
The current track list, which will definitely expand in the future through DLCs, includes 13 songs that you've probably never heard before, including some EDM, hard rock (maybe they are metal, I don't know my music genres) and some of the songs from XRGames' Zombieland VR: Headshot Fever Reloaded. While the selection might feel limited, each song offers multiple difficulty levels and variations to keep you engaged. The progression system encourages replaying tracks to improve scores and master more challenging arrangements. However, as I said before, the harder difficulties do not work as well as they should due to the hand-tracking technology.
Visually, BEATABLE strikes a beautiful balance between simplicity and style. The interface is clean and readable, crucial for a rhythm game where split-second timing matters. The visual feedback is clear and satisfying, with effects that enhance the experience without overwhelming the player's vision. The mixed reality implementation deserves special praise for how naturally it integrates the game elements with your physical space. It's one of the more polished uses of the Quest 3's color passthrough capabilities I've seen so far. I have to mention though that I experienced a weird issue where when I record gameplay in MR mode, my IRL environment is not visible in the video. Now I don't know if this is a bug with my Quest 3 recording options or a bug with the game, but I would like for it to be addressed in a future update.
One of BEATABLE's strengths is its accessibility. The seated gameplay option makes it playable for extended sessions without fatigue. The calibration system adapts well to different play surfaces and player heights, though optimal lighting conditions are crucial for reliable hand tracking. The game also includes a thoughtful feature like mirror mode, which helps players who might have difficulty with certain actions on a particular hand along with another option where you can change the note speed. This kind of accessibility consideration is welcomed and helps make the game more inclusive.
BEATABLE represents an exciting direction for VR/MR rhythm games. It cleverly uses Quest 3's capabilities to create something that feels fresh and innovative while remaining accessible and engaging.
While the current song selection, even though varied, feels modest and technical limitations of current hand-tracking technology create some frustrations, particularly at higher difficulty levels, the core gameplay loop is satisfying and fun. The game successfully bridges the gap between virtual and physical space in a way that feels natural and intuitive. I highly recommend it. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a Quest 3 via a promo copy provided by the publisher. BEATABLE is available on Meta Quest.
