Rocking To The Beat On PS VR2

Smash Drums, the drumming rhythm game, debuts on PS VR2 with new bells and whistles. Read on for our impressions.

What makes a rockstar performance true to life? The intoxicating stage pyrotechnics, the blinding light show, and the perfect rendition of a timeless track must all come together to recreate what it must feel like to be in front of a live audience. In that sense, Smash Drums delivers in spades, with a solid soundtrack and drumming gameplay that’s straight to the point with little hand-holding.

Starting with a no-frills tutorial, Smash Drums guides you through the motions of drumming where its mechanics of measuring the strength with which you hit the drum from lightly to “barbarian” are deftly introduced. Committed to the rock and roll bit, it’s easy to perceive that this game does not take itself too seriously. The main menu has you floating in space and looking at Earth from a distance, which is presumably about to explode thanks to your musical prowess. From there, several game modes await to show the world your skills.

Arcade, Classic, and Fusion are the ways to play Smash Drums, and each mode feels rather distinct. Arcade mode is the trademark play style in which snares and cymbals approach your position from the front, from crystal to burning notes, and have you smash accordingly. As a longtime Rock Band player, I gravitated towards the Classic mode initially, which has the usual color-coded notes falling down to the strum bar. That said, Fusion mode feels the most pleasingly immersive after some practice.

As the name suggests, Fusion mode has a full-on drum kit that tells you in real-time when and how many times to tap a note, making it more reactive overall. Once you decide what song to play, the Easy, Normal, Hard, Extreme and Hardcore difficulty levels are the next step before entering the arena. A nice detail is the fact that, depending on how long you have played, Smash Drums hints as to how much you might struggle with each level, establishing its approachable design.

While some tracks can only be unlocked after earning a certain number of stars per song played, that is the sole sense of progression to look forward to. The fact that there is no sort of career mode for those more story-inclined looking for a tall tale to become the best drummer in the world or a narrative in a similar vein, is a missed opportunity.

As expected, Smash Drums entails considerable physical activity, flailing your arms around to hit the cymbal, snare, and toms at the right time. As such, a no-fail mode for those who do not need the added pressure to perform correctly each time is welcome. Just be aware that this also disqualifies you from the competitive leaderboards. Regardless, the Sense controllers’ haptics also make it easy not to lose a sense of rhythm while rocking out.

Though a career mode would be welcome, Smash Drums is perfect for a solid drum session jamming to various rock & metal tracks. No stranger to the different iterations of rhythm games that have come before, the game smartly offers several options to appeal to all of them equally. It’s easy to learn, hard to master gameplay taunts players to hit every note with precision all the way to the end. Luckily, the modes available to tailor your experience make it a rhythm-based joy for casual and hardcore players alike.

Smash Drums arrives on PlayStation VR2 tomorrow, and it’s available already on Quest.