GRIDBeat! from Acclaim and Ridiculous Games is a rhythm-fueled cyber-dungeon crawler in which each move must be made in time with the beat. Check out our GRIDBeat! review!
GRIDBeat! from Acclaim and Ridiculous Games is a rhythm-fueled cyber-dungeon crawler in which each move must be made in time with the beat. You’re an elite hacker and have just breached into Knoss.OS, the planet’s most fortified corporate network. Your point of entry for knocking down the Knoss Corporation? A backwater public relations office in Bogota. You’ve done everything right and have managed to collect a huge payload of priceless data. You are, unfortunately, still inside. Oh, and you’re being hunted by rogue security protocols and hostile malware. Your only chance of surviving is to sync with the system and move in time with the beat, so that you can get closer and closer to escaping from the grid. You’ll need to move, fight, and interact as the music plays, with every level testing your rhythm skills at all times.
The good news? You’ll be able to find ways to install powerful software tools that will unlock power-ups and new abilities that will make it possible to hopefully stay one step ahead of your enemies. Once you’ve edited your hacker profile and picked between a male, female, anon, or featured avatar, you’ll be ready to dive into action and see what GRIDBeat! has to offer.
There will be a short tutorial for you to complete, which will allow you to learn the basics. This is mandatory, since the client has requested that your test results be uploaded before you’re awarded the job. You’ll be moving through the grid by using the D-Pad or the A, B, X, and Y buttons, depending on which ones feel more comfortable to you. You must move in time with the beat to avoid losing any data. Time your movement to use logic gates to progress further. You can use data vaults to restore some of your data, as well as provide a bonus or two. Speaking of bonuses, you can work on collecting all Bits in each level to receive a bonus once you get to the exit gate. Each level also has a trio of Mega Bits to collect.
You’ll sometimes need to switch between different layers in the grid, for which you’ll have to make the most of the I/O Towers that you find. Just be sure to activate the binary switches that power them so that you’re not left behind! Some paths will have arrows on them, which means that you’ll only be able to travel in the direction in which they’re pointing. If hacking is required, you’ll have to hold down the ZL or ZR buttons and then use the D-Pad or the X, Y, B, or A buttons to hack in the direction you need. Just press and hold the corresponding button in time with the beat and let it go when the hack rings line up.
If you’re going up against an advanced firewall, then you’ll also need to press the displayed button when the circle ring hits it. There might be some spots where you can also slash at code errors to continue. If you run into Black Ice, then you’ll have to work harder to hack it. You’ll need to rotate the outer ring segment by pressing left or right on the D-Pad, as you line up the spike to face you. Press the A button on the beat to lock it in. Lock in the remaining ring segments to complete the ring.
GRIDBeat! is a rhythm-fueled cyber-dungeon crawler in which each move must be made in time with the beat. You’re an elite hacker and have just breached into Knoss.OS, the planet’s most fortified corporate network. Your point of entry for knocking down the Knoss Corporation? A backwater public relations office in Bogota. You’ve done everything right and have managed to collect a huge payload of priceless data. You are, unfortunately, still inside. Oh, and you’re being hunted by rogue security protocols and hostile malware. Your only chance of surviving is to sync with the system and move in time with the beat, so that you can get closer and closer to escaping from the grid. You’ll need to move, fight, and interact as the music plays, with every level testing your rhythm skills at all times.
You’ll have to take on powerful AI gatekeepers as you battle against them in beat-based combat as you aim to reach the exit port that will finally allow you to escape from the Mainframe. The game recommends using headphones for this particular experience, but it does say that you should be using wired headphones instead of Bluetooth headphones in order to remove any potential latency issues. If you are using wireless headphones, the game will kindly let you know that you should calibrate in order to get the best experience possible. GRIDBeat! is out on Nintendo Switch with a $19.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This GRIDBeat! review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Acclaim.
