PlayStation VR isn’t hurting for good experiences, but it’s time to throw another on the stack. Rhythm kings Harmonix are back with Audica, a VR music experience where you shoot at notes as they fly towards you. While its gameplay may be more comparable to the Persona dancing games, the gameplay loop is every bit as addictive as Beat Saber. However, Audica is a bit more complicated. As such we recommend not skipping the tutorial.
Audica packs in a lot of content with a varied and robust launch tracklist. With 33 tracks -- not counting the four PSVR exclusive songs or bonus unlocks for beating the campaign -- there’s a lot of music to shoot at right out of the gate. And that’s to say nothing of the DLC, of which the first four songs launched alongside the game. No matter the song, the title is unexpectedly tiring. The need to keep your arms pointing outward tires them out more quickly than a game like Beat Saber would, so take care with overplaying.
Though the environments offer intriguing ethereal backdrops to fire from, they're a bit busier than we’d like. Once in a while you’ll lose track of the notes because the environments may briefly draw your attention from the song. In fact, apart from a disorienting moment where the game briefly freezes upon completing every song, this is the game’s only flaw. The difficulty ramps up well, shooting notes is rewarding and satisfying, and you’ll find yourself wanting to go back again and again.
Comments 8
Nice review. This title had me interested but the fact that there is a season pass makes me want to wait for a major sale. $30 base game $50 game with season pass.
@shafedog247 I definitely think it's worth the base price at least for now. The season pass I wanna see if they keep up with how varied the tracks are (the first batch was a good start), but yeah a sale probably doesn't hurt haha
I've been playing it for the past week and absolutely love it. Audica is a lot more forgiving than Beat Saber when it comes to hitting targets, which makes it slightly easier in my opinion, but it's also easily just as addicting.
Highly recommend to any PSVR owners!
@alphadrago5 Huh, really? I honestly found it a less forgiving time, at least when comparing the higher difficulties! I get credit for hitting notes in Beat Saber that I swear I whiffed on, where so far in Audica sometimes I could swear I nailed something only to lose the rhythm completely and miss a few notes! I love both of them though! Wildly different, but equally amazing VR rhythm games
Wasn't on my radar, but now I'm interested.
Loved beat saber.
Kinda fallen out love with vr lately though, to the point that I've disconnected it all.
Needed the USB slot for extra storage, and had to hook up straight to the tv for hdr and 4k.
Hope they make it all a little easier to use come ps5... Can't be arsed to keep swapping leads out to try to get the best setup for each different game I play!
@gbanas92 For me it's the exact opposite. I whiff hits in Beat Saber all the time that I know should hit, and it frustrates me to no end. I've tried changing the position of the camera at least a dozen times but it's still always inconsistent.
Surprisingly though, I've never suffered from that problem in Audica, with the only thing there giving me trouble being the timing, but that depends more on each song map than the game itself.
@DeWiz I love this as much as I love beat saber. And I lovvvveee beat saber!
They made it easier on the PS4 already! the second-gen you don't have to keep swapping cables anymore! I have one where I have to swap out the cables too though. It's annoying so I usually just leave it alone unless I'm playing a new single-player game.
@alphadrago5 I've had that problem a lot as well, but re-positioning the camera usually does the trick. Every once in awhile though, it keeps being bad, and my word, it drives me nuts! I definitely get it haha.
That's true. Yeah, the actual note tracking seems flawless on audica. THat's more what I meant though. I hit notes that I'm absolutely positive were on beat, and the game just feels like it decided that they weren't for some reason. It's infrequent enough that I'd only really call it a minor nuisance though, so that's something!
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