Although not officially affiliated with Star Wars, it feels oddly perfect that Beat Saber has become the highest-rated game on Steam on Star Wars day (via Road to VR). You know? May 4 — as in: May the fourth be with you.
When we say the highest rated game on Steam, we mean the highest rated game — of all time. Things could obviously, and probably will, change, but just a few days after launch, Beat Saber has overtaken Portal 2, Factorio, and other longstanding top of the list powers with a 99-percent positive score across more than 1,200 user reviews. That’s not exactly a small sample size. And the game is still in early access. And did we mention it’s a VR game?
Fittingly named, Beat Saber combines rhythm with lightsabers in a chaotic, engrossing experience that puts the magic of lightsabers to a different use than dismemberment. You can watch the game in action in the video above.
Players slash blocks as they funnel down the screen with red and blue lightsabers, controlled with either Oculus Touch controllers or HTC Vive controllers. It’s also available on Windows Mixed Reality headsets, which combine AR and VR. The video above showcasing gameplay is from mixed-reality company LIV.
As of now, Beat Saber has ten songs and four difficulty modes. Hyperbolic Magnetism, the studio behind the breakout VR hit, has been developing the game since 2016. The studio plans to add a single player campaign with challenges and possibly more modes, too. Additionally, the full version could potentially include an editor which would allow users to make their own songs and levels.
The current track list will also hopefully expand from ten songs for the full release. An exact date hasn’t been given, but Hyperbolic Magnetism is shooting to have Beat Saber out of early access by the end of the year.
Beat Saber is available for $20 on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
To further celebrate Star Wars Day, enter our giveaway for a chance to win a $550 lightsaber from SaberForge. We also have a list of six untold Star Wars stories we think would make great films. As always: May the fourth be with you.
