The very best VR music & rhythm video games

Picture: PotamWorks SAS

UPDATE

• Article  revised
• new video games added

Do you need to expertise driving digital beats underneath your VR headset or turn into a VR rock star? We present you one of the best VR music video games for the Meta Quest.

Meta’s cell headsets Quest 3, Quest 2 and Quest Professional are perfect for motion-intensive video games. With no annoying cables, there may be one much less factor to journey over in digital actuality.

The Quest recreation catalog contains quite a few VR video games that, along with testing your bodily health, primarily problem your sense of rhythm and fill the digital world with music. We present you one of the best VR music and rhythm video games for Meta Quest.

Beat Saber: The basic VR music recreation

Let’s begin with the VR hit par excellence: Beat Saber sparked a craze for rhythm video games with VR headsets in 2018 that continues to today and continues to be some of the profitable VR video games ever. In 2021, Beat Saber introduced Meta nearly $100M — three years after launch.

The sport precept needs to be acquainted to all VR headset house owners by now. You employ two digital laser swords to slash completely different coloured blocks that fly at you to the beat of primarily digital music.

Since 2018, quite a few updates have been launched, which broaden the principle recreation with further modes just like the Beat Saber multiplayer. As well as, there are paid DLCs that deliver new music from well-known artists like Billie Eilish, Fall Out Boy, Skrillex, Girl Gaga or Linkin Park into the sport.

The newest launch, Music Pack OST 7, options 5 new free songs for Beat Saber and a brand new atmosphere. As well as, the laser physics has been expanded.

Synth Riders: Dancing in retrofuturistic VR worlds

Synth Riders follows the same path as Beat Saber however focuses extra on rhythmic dance actions. As a substitute of slicing blocks, you contact orbs that come in the direction of you to match the sound. Synth Riders additionally provides multiplayer and gameplay variations like a 360-degree mode the place rhythm balls fly round your ears from all instructions.

Kluge Interactive sends you into completely different retrofuturistic settings. Typically you stand on the roof of a skyscraper surrounded by neon promoting, then you definitely fly previous gigantic robotic creatures.

A lot of the now over fifty playable songs embody synthwave, industrial, EDM, and lots of different digital subgenres. It’s also possible to entry music by Muse, Lindsey Stirling, or The Offspring through partly paid DLCs. The newest launch was the 80s Mixtape Facet A with hits by a-ha, INXS and extra.

Pistol Whip: The VR music recreation with a twist

Pistol Whip brings a very new twist to the style of VR music video games. In line with the developer studio Cloudhead Video games, it was impressed by fashionable motion motion pictures like John Wick or Equilibrium.

Like in a basic rail shooter, you’re pulled by means of a tube-like degree. You shoot at enemies and dodge their bullets. For those who hit them in rhythm with the beat, you may get further factors.

Pistol Whip can be repeatedly up to date with new content material, but it surely additionally has a particular characteristic amongst VR music video games: Story DLCs. With Pistol Whip 2089, Cloudhead Video games delivered a primary mini-campaign with 5 chapters in a cyberpunk world. Later, Smoke & Thunder adopted with a western situation and, most not too long ago, the Voidslayer replace, which brings your energy steel fantasies to life.

Smash Drums: The VR music recreation for actual drummers

Smash Drums is the primary actual rocker on our checklist of one of the best VR music video games for the Meta Quest 2. You are taking over the digital sticks and drum in actual drumming model on the bass drums, toms, snares, and cymbals flying in time.

With a little bit of observe, you may truly get some drumming feeling. Actual drummers should get used to it, although: You hit the bass drum with the stick as an alternative of the foot pedal. Within the complete of 9 digital environments, you play your manner from a jail cell to an workplace room to a rock present to the moon.

Smash Drums now provides greater than fifty songs from completely different rock subgenres. Because the launch of the most recent music pack, you’ll be able to drum alongside to widespread 90s hits in Smash Drums. There’s additionally a combined actuality mode through which the drum package is in your lounge.

Ragnarock: The marginally completely different drum recreation

Ragnarock additionally focuses on drumming, however much less within the sense of a drum package. On this VR rhythm recreation, you turn into Viking captains who participate in a ship race and smash runes with hammers to the beat of the music.

You can be accompanied by epic rock and steel sounds from well-known bands resembling Alestorm, Gloryhammer, Saltatio Mortis and Wind Rose. It’s also possible to combine your personal songs into the sport.

Unplugged: Air Guitar – A unique type of air guitar

Actually legendary names from rock and steel have made it into the air guitar simulator Unplugged: Air Guitar. Weezer, Muse, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Slayer and Pantera are among the many performers of the playable songs.

As a substitute of Guitar Hero or Rockband VR, which isn’t accessible on Meta Quest 2, Unplugged: Air Guitar doesn’t require a plastic guitar. Vertigo Video games totally depends on the hand monitoring of Meta Quest 2.

You strap on a digital guitar and repair it within the VR atmosphere in entrance of you at an appropriate top. The physique hangs on an imaginary anchor, so to talk, whilst you can transfer the guitar’s neck up and down together with your left hand.

On 4 traces, which correspond to the 4 frets of the digital guitar, the fingering directions rush in the direction of you. Relying on the colour, you decide up one to 4 fingers on the proper top and strum them together with your proper hand. You possibly can improvise throughout fast solos and transfer your fingers rapidly inside a restricted area.

The hand monitoring works surprisingly nicely and the small marketing campaign is wittily staged. Russ “Satchel” Parrish, guitarist of the glam steel band Metal Panther, leads you from the again room to the large VR levels of this world in a poster – and does not pass over any rock cliché.

Avicii VR: A music recreation in honor of the celebrated DJ

Avicii Invector is a VR port of the console and PC title of the identical title, which was launched for Meta Quest. The sport incorporates 35 tracks by the late DJ Tim Bergling and allows you to management a spaceship to the beat of the music, urgent buttons and steering by means of gates.

Not like video games like Beat Saber, Avicii Invector doesn’t require any bodily motion and is subsequently extra appropriate for these music recreation followers who are usually not eager on shifting round.

In Virtuoso, you be taught to play VR devices

Virtuoso lets you play music on six imaginative VR devices. The app is geared toward each professionals and newcomers and provides options resembling loops and vocal recordings. You possibly can share your creations on-line and customise a few of the devices to fit your wants.

Meli: You shouldn’t miss this particular combined actuality expertise

• Worth: free (demo)
• Retailer: Meli

Meli is at present solely accessible as a free demo, but it surely already reveals its monumental potential. The combined actuality recreation for Meta Quest 3 combines classical music with hand monitoring.

You conduct a digital orchestra by making actions in time with the music. The sport provides a clean transition between combined actuality and digital actuality by constructing a digital atmosphere based mostly in your actions. You’ll want to strive it out!

Study to play the piano in combined actuality with PianoVision

One other tour into combined actuality is obtainable by PianoVision, a coaching app for Meta Quest 3 that helps you be taught to play the piano.

The app connects to a MIDI keyboard and shows digital notes on the true keys. It provides varied studying modes, together with one with real-time correction, and lets you import your personal MIDI items.

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