The Beat Saber Campaign Needs a Complete Overhaul | Review & Thoughts
As it is, it’s Not Worth Your Time.
As it is, it’s Not Worth Your Time.
Beat Saber is a game that I have loved mastering and I enjoy coming back to play it, year over year. There’s always new freebie songs to check out, and it seems like Beat Games is always innovating with new music inclusions, and just a few years ago they invented new block types to go along with some of that. But one thing that’s never changed in all these years of its existence? The Campaign.
I think ‘campaign’ is the wrong name for the mode… As a veteran player, making my way through it a third time, I believe that it should be rebranded into something different, and I’m proposing “Challenge Mode”. This label exudes the actual gameplay style that’s experienced as you play through the stages with their various gameplay modifiers.
Going further, I feel the word “Campaign” makes it seem as though this section of the game must be an essential part of the experience, akin to something along the lines of a ‘World Tour’ in Rock Band, or the iconic ‘Set list’ from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. When the reality is, Beat Sabers campaign mode is nowhere close to a fully-encompassing, engineered experience like those. Players new and old alike might not even realize that this campaign hasn’t been developed further since the release of the game back in 2018.
If you’re familiar with any modern Beat Saber tracks, playing campaign mode will feel as though the vibes are off. What you’re experiencing is how the meta of the map design and note block patterns have changed greatly over time. Additionally, the challenges in the campaign are dated and frivolous. Each passing year, I see better maps and more thoughtful game design, which continues to alienate the campaign and those who play it. To think that new players can buy Beat Saber, put on the headset, and jump straight into the Campaign expecting the full Beat Saber experience… I weep for them. They cannot possibly understand the satisfaction available to them in the newer maps created since 2018.
What furthers my anguish as a veteran player, is looking at the Steam or Backloggd reviews, and seeing players, authentically not recommending the game, because they couldn’t understand the campaign or get into it, and they drop the game. The stronger willed of the bunch will earnestly roll credits after the campaign and assume their journey is over. These players aren’t experiencing even 30% of the free music available to them after this, mind you. Because remember, this hasn’t had a single update to its core since release. We’ve had 9+ free music packs get thrown into the game since. But the non-curious players who focus on campaign alone would never know.
I haven’t even explained why the outdated campaign is terrible. I’ve just mentioned the track list is completely outdated, for one. The mapping of the notes, I mentioned before, is dated which is not ideal, but playable of course. Perhaps most annoyingly, is how some of the challenges are counter-intuitive, forcing players to miss notes but still pass the song, or restrict arm movements to a very small number of meters, both practices I’d argue make you a worse player. I can only imagine the original intent for the mode, long ago. The lessons taught do show important mechanics, but in perhaps the most backwards and unhelpful way possible.
As previously mentioned, this mode has not been updated in YEARS, which means you’re experiencing an older and less refined version of Beat Saber’s core. Even if you’re strong-willed enough to finish every stage, it leaves you stranded at expert difficulty, instead of the ultimate difficulty, Expert+. Restricting yourself to play the Campaign or thinking that the Campaign will give you every experience the game has to offer is incorrect, but that’s due to no error on your part. I really wish the Beat Games would kill the mode altogether, or move it to a smaller or hidden portion of the menu if they don’t have plans for it. Year after year, it continues to become alienated from the modern meta. Year after year, I imagine players continue to be turned away from the game because of it. Perhaps it will go away if or when they eventually release the battle pass model (teased perhaps too many years ago at this point), but who’s to say?
So, what do you do now that you’ve experienced (or will not experience, if you’ve pre-emptively heeded my words) the worst Beat Saber has to offer? Well, play in free play mode, of course! Challenge yourself to become better! You don’t need arbitrary modifiers or restrictions for the game to be fun, and you absolutely do not need the campaign to become good. You just have to enjoy playing the game. Perhaps you’ll start off on Very Easy, but maybe one day that’ll start to feel slow, so you’ll amp it up. Maybe you’ve been playing on Expert for some time, but aren’t ready to make the jump to Expert+ yet. That’s okay! If you know where you’re at, you can make it challenging yourself, rather than let 2018 Beat Games take you though their dated, clunky mess of a “campaign”.
If you’re in between difficulties, try the speed modifier and play some of the early songs in the first and second packs. Mess around with the note offset. Maybe turn on Ghost notes. There’s always a way to move your skill level forward. This is what I feel like the TRUE “Campaign” experience should be centered around. You as the player, progressing through ALL the available tracks on your own journey, towards your own goals. You adapt, you overcome, you reflect on your progress and feel incredible about your achievements. Every session you grow stronger, with every song you hone your instincts, and that’s where the true value of the game comes to play and why I’ve been playing for so, so long.
I have over 200 hours in vanilla Beat Saber alone. If you’re looking for more packs, I highly recommend Imagine Dragons, Lady Gaga, and Rocket League packs (with Interscope, Lincoln Park, and Timberland close behind). Those have PEAK map design, in my opinion, and really illustrate how far Beat Games (and their community mappers) have come over the years. Don’t restrict yourself to the Campaign! In fact, don’t even play it unless you know what you’re in for! Remember that it is filled with truly ancient game design that hasn’t been updated in years! AND Please remember to venture out and play newer maps! Happy slicing!
Originally published at https://backloggd.com.