SOUNDART

SOUNDART
N/A
Metacritic
75
Steam
49.5
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$19.99
Release date
2 April 2020
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
75 (56 votes)

Become one with sound and beauty...Pound, swing, and thrust away! A revolution in VR rhythm games!The automatically generated "scores" are literally infinite... Make - no, BECOME art, together with your favorite music!Show off your skills live as you play and get the audience rocking!

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SOUNDART system requirements

Minimum:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 7, 10
  • Processor: Core i5 4590
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: GeForce GTX 970
  • Storage: 1 GB available space
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Reviews
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painfulbunny
painfulbunny

I can most confidently say that, after playing this game, I am now a professional drummer.

A Trikicat
A Trikicat

This game is a mix between Audiosurf and Beat Saber. Just put the "sticks" in the right "petal" to match the boxes to the beat of the song and bam, done, easy. There's no loss condition, just play for the high score and have fun! You can be sitting or standing, because the game auto-corrects your height before a song, heck you can easily use it as a party game (Although it's not really made for that) ! It has the plus side of being able to use your own song library: no need to wait for someone to MAYBE make a beat-map. The game is VERY bright and vibrant, and a great sight to see. Just the "use whatever song you want" makes it more unique than Beat Saber...

However...

There are definite optimization issues that I've noticed. My computer can run Monster Hunter World (with DLC) on the highest settings, and still stream with no hiccups (at least on the game end, the video end was a different matter). This game however, chugged on the lowest settings and continually hiccuped and had some major freeze-ups while streaming; no other game I have does this. A 16-Core Threadripper and a 2080Ti (64Gigs of RAM) struggles to plays this while streaming on the LOWEST settings? My computer's a bit on the overkill side for games atm, and this isn't enough power? -- I haven't seen these kind of hiccups and problems since the first computer I built. ========= These hiccups have also occurred while not streaming. They just aren't as frequent.

Even if you're not a streamer, the optimizations still need a bit of work. There is no clear exit; even behind you. Sometimes you swear you hit the "petal" at the right time, but the box just soars on by. Some of the weapon models are SO BIG or flashy, that they obscure your vision (no option to turn off those particles). There's no option to change the resolution of the game, just the quality. Even then, the quality options all look the same and don't have that much of an impact (15ms on the headset on Low and High "quality"). Very basic menus when someone has long lists of songs. World Records seem random (especially when I have a music file that's mine and mine alone), And other minor inconveniences. ========= I have found the resolution options, but they're only on the computer-side of the game (PC Screen: On). This does not seem to make a difference in performance.

Lastly, by doing a rhythm test with a Rhythm Heaven song, the song didn't have a perfect rhythm. Granted, this is an auto-generated beat-map, created by using a specific algorithm, placing boxes in logically good spots, for most music (rock songs, pop songs, etc.). But when the song mostly consists of claps on beat, the boxes shouldn't be offbeat; that includes the thrusting mechanic.

------------------

That being said, I'm excited to see where this game goes when it gets more optimized and has more features. at the moment, it's just going to be my go-to game when I just want to chill with some of my favorite songs (and still want to excersise a bit). Is it the greatest game in the world? Heck no. Beat Saber is still a lot more structured and hardcore than this. And Beat Hazard 2 is the same price and more engaging. But you will be completely free with whatever song you want to listen to. However, if you're a streamer looking for a game to be unique, this is not the game to get (yet). If you have a low-end computer barely scratching the surface to be able to play VR, this is not the game to get (yet). Wait for the developers to optimize the game more.

========= There is a limit to how long audio files can be. I tried to use the entire "Ghost Love Score" song (10 minutes long) and it denied it. =========

If you have a decent rig, and don't plan on streaming, this is a game to chill with. It's not the greatest price, but it scratches that itch of a rhythm game that I (anyone) can use my (their) own music on.

Starfish
Starfish

Take air tone and beat saber and bang them together. =]

jokes aside, holy cow this is everything any could want in a rythm game. in my opinion this is more fun than playing beat saber. Being able to play your own maps makes this game already a+, but the dev's didn't stop there....somehow it can take literally any song you own and generate a playable map, no labor required....just insane.

Edit 4.6.20 6:17 am - Also VRM avatars are importable, which is a plus as well. I recommend pulling avatars off "VRoid Hub" (google it). They offer really cool avatars for free, simlpe as 1 click! Then just Move the file into:
steamapps\common\Soundart\Soundart_Data\StreamingAssets\Avatar
and rename / replace the existing file of avatar.vrm

10/10 quality
- game offers what you expect and more.
End of review

godisnowhere
godisnowhere

Love the work. Don't rest on your laurels.

The fun of dance is to match strikes to the beat (rhythm).

In my opinion the cubes or targets are on a set pattern regardless of the custom music playing.

It seems to me that a quick analysis of the beat count within the custom song could generate combinations that "match" the music.

Question: what is the purpose of the stage that requires 20+ strikes (circle barrier) to move on in the song?
Then you enter back into the game where the music continues not to match the custom song. Painful (Vive Controllers).

Makes very hard to "dance". Rhythm matching is essential.
Perhaps a tuning phase just like measuring height but in this case matching beat. Machine learning could be the fastest way to a decent solution.

I love my music and I love your game.

Please advise.

Custom songs c:\music\awesome.mp3 + = Dance!

Is it possible to import Spotify Collections?

Did I mention I can dance?

Top Performer

sgtram1961
sgtram1961

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I love this game. Even Hard and extra hard are fun. In other games its just ridiculously hard, in this one, for me at least it feels very fluid. The auto mapper works well. I can feel it in the custom songs. If you are a fan of rhythm games, this is a great one. Looking forward to updates as it becomes more polished.

VirtualYogi
VirtualYogi

Not at all what I expected, it’s plain looking for something called “sound art” and the mechanics are just as dull as the visuals. In order to distinguish it from beatsaber, instead of swiping the boxes themselves, you hit “pedals” while the boxes cross their path. Like beatsaber minus what makes bestsaber fun and satisfying. Awesome you can add your own music but that’s it. If you want custom music, still the best I’ve experienced for a be rhythm game is boxVR. If you want to slice boxes - stick with beatsaber.

MnemonicEncryption
MnemonicEncryption

It is a very pretty looking game that could have potential, but I really feel like they tried to make a more "advanced" Beat Saber and just took it way to far. It is not even fun or entertaining to play, in my personal opinion it is just a frustrating and annoying experience. I am a VR rhythm game addict and play a variety of them from Beat Saber to Pistol Whip to BoxVR to Viro Move and much more 6-7 days a week. This one just couldn't get close to doing it for me though. Other than it just being too over the top something about it just doesn't feel right when it comes to gameplay and actual rhythm mechanics, I cannot quite put my finger on what it is though.

MayuMiyako
MayuMiyako

Game is very good
- Custom Avatar
- a good Custom Songs System
- is very funny
- no lags or bugs
....
but wish a better Custom Song menu in VR...

9/10 ^^

Jooni
Jooni

Idk how but I got 2nd highest score in the game after having the game for like 6 hours but either way this game is a fucking blast and i definitely recommend it! (links of screenshots for proof; https://imgur.com/66dEyhO | https://imgur.com/4OdufW2 )

Fridge_Pants
Fridge_Pants

Soundart is another VR rhythm game where you hit blocks. The gimmick of this one is the use of the 'petal' interface- you're more hitting petals in time of when the blocks cross them than hitting the blocks themselves. I assure you it makes sense in context. It gives you the ability to play to your own music, which has its advantages, but also its drawbacks- generated maps just aren't as good as curated maps. It's something people complain about endlessly when it comes to Beat Saber, but in general the maps there- both official and user made- are better.

Anyway, it's a good game, buuuut... it needs several quality of life improvements.

- Needs the ability to rotate the play area
- Needs a 'play all' button so it can play through an album with the same settings without returning to the music select screen
- Playing a preview of the song while selecting makes sense but just playing from the beginning is just annoying as you end up hearing the first fifteen seconds of the song twice back to back. Please either make it a random chunk in the middle or make it togglable
- The leaderboards are global rather than song specific (as it is in Audiosurf) which seems pointless, as the top scorer is most likely the person who played the longest song
- Needs at least local high scores for specific songs so I know if I did better than the last time I played any one song
- I'm unsure as to the point of 'dance mode'
- I don't understand the scoring system, how much is a block worth? Does the combo matter?
- I can play my own music, great! However, not enough formats are supported. I understand not supporting m4p, but given the success of Bandcamp, flac at least needs support
- The 'song amplitude' semicircle at the bottom of the display seems unnecessary

While it seems like I don't like the game... I really do, honest! The issues I have with it aren't game ruining and I've had fun playing it so far.

bead
bead

I feel like this is the one of the best VR rhythm games out there. I am eager to see what kind of changes it has in the future!

Shiku49
Shiku49

The advantage is that I can play with the music I have.
It's also that I love the style of playing with gauntlets

FireStoneE
FireStoneE

A very well done Music VR game

Gabriel
Gabriel

Wow!!! I can't believe how cool and awesome this game is.
This is a drum game where the petals are the drums and the cubes are the notes.

At the time of this review there are 34 built in songs but personally I haven't played any of them.

This game shines at how easy it is to put your own music and play on it.
Do not worry if you don't have mp3 songs. There are a bunch of free websites that lets you convert online YouTube videos to mp3 and download them to your PC. Just don't abuse that service because you will get blocked for some hours. Be reasonable and fair use and you will be fine.

It has a PC file explorer where you can browse to your music location drive and folders and click the song you want and it will load it into the game music analyzer. Than you select how to analyze it and choosing rhythm is the way to go. Than it lets you choose the difficulty but, honestly, normal is very challenging and depends a lot on the music you choose. It also makes you choose one of the 5 color patterns of the main game room. Also, you can choose various ways to "play the notes" - hit them with sticks and magic wands, shooting them with double pistols, or even boxing them with gauntlets.
It is a really an awesome workout for your hands no matter what type you choose.

The music analyzer is THE BEST I have seen. In slow paced music like classical you can choose low notes analyzing method, but for anything else use rhythm analyzing method and you will be an awesome drummer.
My advise is to start the game by playing slow songs like ballads because once you are choosing a more rhythmic and dynamic song it will become a very challenging experience. I have tested this with country, jazz, dance, pop, rock, metal. Any type of song will do. It gets the rhythm perfectly although the patterns may get repetitive like in any other rhythm game..

HeX Hyena
HeX Hyena

Okay, so I have one Rhythm game because the problem I have with these titles is they run out of playtime due to the locked out music behind DLC, the boring "Vanilla" music choices, and overall complicated stage editors that other games like this have just to get your own music in.

When you go to the gym, go for a run, etc. you have your own music to work out to with your headphones, how these other games have not solved this problem is beyond me, especially when it is not exactly difficult if you understand how BPM is measured and what a metronome is. the editors they use are cumbersome, tedious, and time consuming to set up any track.

Enter SOUNDART. In one mighty swoop, this game has solved all my frustrations with this genre.

So about my musical taste, I used to produce music, along with DJ, and even worked with some very unique artists back in the day. My musical taste goes beyond the top 100 pop genres and the typical EDM. I do like some of that, do not get me wrong, but I want to enjoy some of the more niche genres out there.

So I opened my external hard drive, dove into my old DJ crate of sets, remixes I've done, original songs, friends songs, you name it.

It just works. I was playing on Normal and threw on Venetian Snares - Befriend a Child Killer, which is straight up breakcore. It has off timing, IDM elements, and weird experimental breaks, drops, and other random bits and bobs. It played perfectly just on a random load up on the Auto feature.

I loaded up Hocico - Altered States, which is heavy industrial music from mexico. Crunchy beats, darkwave elements, and EBM from a lost time. It also played great.

Even more strange tracks that were a bit out there was Angelspit - Vena Cava, Combichrist - F*ck That Sh*t, etc. all generate great.

not every song you pick will fit properly, that is just the name of the game when it comes to what music works and what doesn't.

Some other notable ones that play well is Brave Shores - Never Come Down, Deadmau5 - Hey Baby, Will Sparks Feat. Luciana - Sick Like That, deM atlaS - All We Got, Angerfist - Dance With The Wolves, VNV Nation - When is the Future, And One - Krieger, and many more that I tried for like 2 hours straight.

Honestly, I cannot recommend this enough. The graphics run well on my crappy GPU I have currently. I played it on a connected Oculus Quest 2, and it runs super smooth on my 580.

If you are tired of the crappy music selections, complicated level editors, 3rd party stage makers, etc. then go with this hands down.

I hope the developers keep improving this as I'm sure there is some tweaks that can be made to somehting already pretty awesome. I recommend more glowy bits, maybe an option to use the spining swords in the level as well, and maybe a head to head mode with someone as well for streamers and just people who want to play online with each other.

It is a good buy for the price tag and it is well optimized even for sh*tty graphics cards, so they made it extremely accessible as well.

With a bit more polish, I would say this has its competitors basically beat. Suggestion to the developer to keep the revenue coming in, maybe some stage DLC's, character skins, and weapon skins for it as well.

great buy, im impressed. thank you for making this. 8/10

Felix
Felix

Imagine Hatsune Miku VR, which has terrible gameplay, and take away Hatsune Miku. There is nothing left.
Soundart is that game. Even the 7 euro I paid during the sale was too much.

Triggering the petals feels imprecise, but the automatically placed cubes don't follow the rhythm anyway. I like that you can use your own songs, but the automatic charting is one of the worst I've seen in any “rhythm” game so far.

The game looks pretty cool in the trailers. I like the minimalism and the colors. I was too frustrated with the gameplay to pay attention to that while playing it, though.

The Orz
The Orz

The game plays like a first-person Taiko no Tatsujin only a bit more forgiving. I'm especially impressed with how well imported songs play. Obviously not every song works well but I've had great fun with everything from Berserk's Forces to Don't Know How to Party from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. If a song's kind of a dud on normal try bumping up the difficulty for a better pattern.

I've been running the game through Virtual Desktop to an Oculus 2 without any lag or hiccups.