Dungeon crawler meets rhythm in GRIDbeat!, an upcoming game from developer Ridiculous Games and publisher Acclaim, Inc. GRIDbeat! puts you into the world of hacking, if hacking was a rhythm-based dungeon crawler with puzzles and turret systems. A mysterious client hires you to break into a big bad corporation’s system, one that really, really doesn’t want you to steal its data. The game has a simple concept with a stylized vibe, but how well does GRIDbeat! actually keep up with its own rhythm?
Volatile Systems
Aptly named, GRIDbeat!‘s setting is entirely on a grid, one you only make progress if you move on the beat. Energetic techno music blasts through each dungeon, giving you a different song to time your movements to on each level. If you miss the beat, you get out of Sync, locking your skills and graying out the world.
Sync is almost its own currency in the world, tracked on a bar at the bottom of your screen. When you’re out of Sync, collectibles and certain skills are unavailable. And when you move while out of Sync, each step eats at your Data instead, which is your health. No data equals game over.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking GRIDbeat! is just a lovely jaunt through a digital maze. It’s a lovely jaunt through a digital maze… with turrets that want to kill you.
That’s right, this mysterious system you’re hacking is armed to the teeth. Most turrets you can just run away from (on the beat, of course), but some you have to hack to defeat. Though you have unlockable skills to defend yourself with, external pressures (like glitches and bullets) make escaping the grid an exciting challenge.
Juggling Beats with Brains
At first, keeping the rhythm sounded like good, easy fun to me. But remember, you’re not always moving in a linear line. In the demo, each grid became more mazelike, with boarders forcing you to go in unexpected directions, or other obstacles appearing. So not only are you moving to the beat to stay in Sync, but you’re simultaneously solving puzzles, surviving in combat, and navigating the maze.
This duality of gameplay was an interesting challenge that was not nice to my caveman brain all the time (which is no fault of the game’s). Obviously, running out of Sync throws everything out of whack, leaving me to pace around in 2-3 spaces until I can get my Sync bar back up. When I had my crap together, juggling rhythm with navigation/puzzles could be satisfying. I’d be head-bobbing to the music while clacking on my keyboard like a real-life, Bonafide hacker girlie.
If there’s one thing I will say, it’s that the tutorial does throw a lot at you at once. There were at least three different kinds of hacking minigames to learn, in addition to some puzzle concepts. None of the minigames or puzzles are difficult on their own, but when the player has to learn so many new concepts back-to-back-to-back, it makes them difficult to remember. If the game were to pace out the tutorials with opportunities to practice each skill before learning a new one, it would make GRIDbeat!‘s learning curve more accessible.
This Annoying Bugger
It is now time for me to air my ultimate grievance about GRIDbeat!‘s demo. The AI companion. This little bugger will not stop talking. In a game that’s supposed to be about being in a rhythm, I felt like I couldn’t get into any kind of rhythmic groove. The AI just kept interrupting, forcing me into a dialogue box that stopped the game entirely.
This was especially bad in the tutorial. My annoyance was also likely linked to my critique from above about the tutorial. Since GRIDbeat! teaches you all the skills one after the other, that means a lot of the demo is listening to the AI chatter on. I’m sure the AI is a nice person and everything, but dang.
Once I escaped the tutorial, I thought to myself, “Finally. The AI has nothing more to teach me. I am free to explore the world of GRIDbeat! uninhibited! Hooray!”
Yeah… so it keeps interrupting you after the tutorial, too. In a game like GRIDbeat!, which is entirely in a digital maze, I understand it would be hard to get the plot across without a character explaining it. I’d imagine (and hope) that in the full game, once the plot is fully established, the AI will interrupt a lot less.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, GRIDbeat! has a solid concept and execution. It was fun and energetic, and the rhythm aspect introduces a strategy different from other dungeon crawlers. Once the AI shut up, levels kept me on the edge of my seat. Overall, GRIDbeat! is challenging, but is a unique and exciting rhythm game worth checking out.
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