ROBOBEAT from Simon Fredholm and Kwalee is a fast-paced roguelike rhythm shooter on PlayStation 5. Check out our ROBOBEAT review!
ROBOBEAT from Simon Fredholm and Kwalee is a fast-paced roguelike rhythm first-person shooter on PlayStation 5. You’ll be taking on the role of famous bounty hunter Ace, who is currently chasing after eccentric robot-showman Frazzer. Because of this, you’re going to have to take on his twisted techno-playground – with a soundtrack to match – as you shoot at everything and everyone in time with the beat. You can’t just stand still in this game since you’ll have to be in constant motion if you want to survive! ROBOBEAT will throw procedurally generated levels at you, so you’ll have to adapt your strategy as you progress further and further. Pick the song that best suits your playing style so that you can match its rhythm and have some fun!
I’ve previously played other rhythm first-person shooters for review, such as the headbanging experience Metal: Hellsinger on PlayStation 5 back in 2022, as well as BPM: Bullets Per Minute on the Nintendo Switch, so I was definitely up for checking out how ROBOBEAT handled things on Sony’s console. In fact, this game features a cross-over with BPM: Bullets Per Minute since this new release includes bonus songs from BPM: Bullets Per Minute, as well as from DUSK and ULTRAKILL.
Once you’re ready to go, you’ll control your character with the left analog stick as you look around and aim as needed by using the right analog stick. You have the option of dashing by pressing in on the left analog stick. Press the X button to jump and double jump and the Circle button to slide. While jumping, press in on the right analog stick for a ground slam. When in combat, press the L2 button to shoot with your left weapon and the R2 button to shoot with your right weapon. Do this in time with the beat, and start building up your combo! Parry with the Square button. Charge your weapons by pressing the Triangle button. Use utilities in your loadout by pressing the R1 button.
What types of weapons will you be using to put a bullet into whoever is foolish enough to try and stop you from reaching Frazzer? There’s the always handy Revolver, which offers quick attacks with a one-beat cooldown while also being able to deal critical hits on headshots. There’s also the Flux, a balanced shotgun that deals a lot of damage at close range with a two-beat cooldown. Another option is the Contact, which can deal good damage while also making it so that one close-by enemy also takes damage. The Contact has a one-beat cooldown. Maybe you want to give the Ping Pong a go? This one will make it so that every third shot in a sequence triggers an explosion, and it will only a one-beat cooldown!
As you defeat enemies and complete rooms, you’ll get to earn Blips. Blips act as the in-game currency that you’ll be using to purchase weapons and upgrades, as well as unlock new rooms for you to run into during subsequent runs. These include the shop room, where you can spend your hard-earned Blips to add some extra arsenal to your loadout; the data-chip room, where you can grab yourself a card for a nice boost; the parkour room, which will test your skills; and the target rush room, where you must destroy all targets as quickly a possible. But before you can unlock rooms or anything else, you’ll first have to find the corresponding blueprint and bring it back to the workbench!
As for the trophies, this release has a full trophy list with a Platinum waiting for you. The list is split into 24 Bronze trophies, 8 Silver trophies, and 5 Gold trophies for you to work on. What are you going to have to do to get that shiny Platinum into your collection? Some trophies will pop as you enter new areas. Others will unlock as you collect keys. You can also unlock trophies by gaining access to the shop room, data-chip room, parkour room, and target rush room. You’ll also have to beat all bosses, complete a target rush room in less than a second, eliminate 6 enemies within a one-second interval, successfully execute 10 parries, die 10 times, reach a 100 beat combo, hold 25000 coins at the same time, and destroy 10 cameras, to name some examples. If you need some extra help, you can check out this ROBOBEAT Trophy Guide.
ROBOBEAT is a fast-paced roguelike rhythm first-person shooter in which you’ll be taking on the role of famous bounty hunter Ace, who is currently chasing after eccentric robot-showman Frazzer. Because of this, you’re going to have to take on his twisted techno-playground – with a soundtrack to match – as you shoot at everything and everyone in time with the beat. You can’t just stand still in this game since you’ll have to be in constant motion if you want to survive! ROBOBEAT will throw procedurally generated levels at you, so you’ll have to adapt your strategy as you progress further and further. Pick the song that best suits your playing style so that you can match its rhythm and have some fun! The game features 38 songs, as well as special cassettes with bonus songs from BPM: Bullets Per Minute, DUSK, and ULTRAKILL. ROBOBEAT launches tomorrow on PlayStation 5 with a $19.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This ROBOBEAT review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Kwalee.
