ROBOBEAT is a unique techno rhythm shooter by Simon Fredholm where you shoot and parkour to the beat. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
ROBOBEAT Review Overview
What is ROBOBEAT?
ROBOBEAT is a techno-thumping, gun-blasting rhythm shooter from solo indie dev Simon Fredholm. You play as Ace, a world-famous bounty hunter who has it out for their next target, Frazzer. This mark’s not going down without a fight, however, and you’re going to have to shoot, jump, dash, and slide your way through his madhouse of techno guardians to have his head.
Music is both your enemy and your tool in this grungy electropunk environment. Shoot to the beat and vibe out to various pieces from a collection of artists, or maybe vibe to your own music in ROBOBEAT.
ROBOBEAT features:
⚫︎ Unique Techno Rhythm FPS Mechanics
⚫︎ Dark Electropunk Aesthetics
⚫︎ A large collection of earworm tracks from various artists and genres
⚫︎ Fast-paced parkour mechanics
⚫︎ Challenging skill-based gunplay
⚫︎ Vibe out to your own music through the game’s engine
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about ROBOBEAT's gameplay and story.
 Steam |
 Epic Games |
| $19.98 | |
ROBOBEAT Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Truly Memorable Music Satisfying Combo-focused Gunplay You Can Use Your Own Music |
Progression is Slow and Tedious High Skill Floor Uninspired Boss Fights |
ROBOBEAT Overall Score - 82/100
ROBOBEAT is an amazing addition to a genre that hasn’t found its wings yet. Its highly energetic gameplay and unique electropunk aesthetics certainly make it stand out, although its grindy gameplay and high skill floor might deter those who can’t spare the time to get better. Such is the fate of most rhythm games, sadly. Still, I can’t think of a better way to jam out with guns than this.
ROBOBEAT Story - 7/10
ROBOBEAT’s story is as one-track as a song on repeat but that’s less of an issue for an FPS roguelite. The simple premise works wonders for the variety that each run could have and serves well enough narratively as far as grungy futurism goes. The lack of dialogue and fragmented storytelling might not be everyone’s cup of tea though.
ROBOBEAT Gameplay - 8/10
ROBOBEAT thrives on its rhythm shooter gameplay and it can’t be beat in terms of customizability. The fact that you can jam out to your own music and switch tracks on the fly means that every run can be as personal or mass-produced as you want it to be. The gunplay is tight and the parkour is responsive, although the progression could use some fast-tracking.
ROBOBEAT Visuals - 8/10
The few entries we’ve had to the Rhythm shooter genre have all been high-concept, highly stylized creations with very specific design flourishes and themes. First, it was BPM (Bullets Per Minute) and now ROBOBEAT takes center stage with its dark futurism and electropunk inspirations. It’s certainly a hard look to pull off but ROBOBEAT does so with the finesse and ferocity of a Skrillex track.
ROBOBEAT Audio - 10/10
A rhythm shooter lives or dies by the quality of its music and ROBOBEAT isn’t just living, it’s bouncing off the walls…literally. This game has so many earworms in its OST that I’ve lost count. Such a curated collaboration among artists and genres resulted in a Rhythm Heaven that I can’t help but vibe to. The best part? You can always throw in your music for good measure.
ROBOBEAT Value for Money - 8/10
ROBOBEAT truly a lot for its price and the roguelite aspect of its progression serves to expand its value further through sheer variety and playtime alone. That being said, there are plenty of games with infinitely more content for the same price, although they don’t nearly have as much music. All in all, this game isn’t quite a steal but you won’t regret having it.
ROBOBEAT Review: Definitely Worth A Replay
Rhythm games hold a very special place in my heart in that I love them dearly but I am horrible at keeping rhythm. It happened when Friday Night Funkin’ first came out and when I tried playing OSU! for the first time. Now it’s ROBOBEAT’s time to bat and, well, let’s just say that my FPS skills came in clutch this time around.
Yes, you read that right, FPS skills. ROBOBEAT is a rare hybrid between FPS and rhythm game mechanics where you shoot to the beat to deal damage. It’s the newest addition to a budding genre that many online have dubbed as "rhythm-shooters". As far as pioneers go, you can’t get much better than with ROBOBEAT.
Just to be clear, though, ROBOBEAT isn’t the first rhythm-shooter—that distinction goes to BPM (Bullets Per Minute). It is a pretty darn good second act, however, one that added to BPM’s novel idea and refined it to a cutting edge. Let’s hit play on this track and go over what exactly makes ROBOBEAT an electropunk rhythm heaven.
Let’s start with its premise because ROBOBEAT actually bothered to have one and it’s not half bad. You play as Ace, a bounty hunter going after their next mark, an eccentric showman named Frazzer. He’s got you trapped in his techno house of horrors, however, and a persistent army of beat-crazed henchmen stand between you and your bounty. You’re going to have to shoot through them and reach Frazzer, all to the groove of the house’s tunes.
Right off the bat, this is a simple "reach the end" premise that would usually be unworthy of a mention if this game wasn’t also a roguelite. The simple premise helps with the innate variety of each run without fading too much into the background. I can’t give it any awards for complexity or story writing, but it serves its purpose well and doesn’t get in the way.
Next on the playlist is the game’s mechanics and—oh boy—do we have a lot to go through. The simple idea of shooting to the beat is true, though ROBOBEAT takes it up to 11 by introducing a whole arsenal of unique weapons. And when I say unique, I do mean unique.
They’re mostly standard-fare firearms and melee weapons when you look at them, but each one is run-defining and potentially useful with enough skill. Here’s the best part, you can have two of them at a time and shoot them alternatively to the cadence of the music.
There are guns that obliterate foes while you’re airborne, guns that destroy enemies with headshots, guns that bounce projectiles, guns that launch enemies into the air, and even guns that straight up explode. The melee weapons are just as varied, but their range is far more limited.
Each of these guns also has unique moves and shots that you can trigger by inputting a specific set of commands before firing (all to the beat of course). The unique moves vary, but the most basic one for the pistol involves parrying an enemy attack, charging twice, and firing. All this triggers an aimbot for a few shots, making sure you don’t ever miss a headshot while it’s active.
Speaking of parrying and charging, you can perform those moves to negate enemy damage with perfect input and increase the damage of your next shot, respectively. As stated before, stringing these together with other commands will activate certain effects, though Aimbot is just the tip of the iceberg.
If you’ve played ULTRAKILL or, heck, even Devil May Cry, then the concepts of style points and tricks aren’t new to you. They’re also here in ROBOBEAT, although they aren’t as important. They give you more points for combining your various weapons with mobility options to get awesome kills, but your score is just for show.
If you really want to, you can be more efficient than stylish and still come out on top. They’re fun to experiment with, though, and I’m always a sucker for a challenge. In any case, it’s fun to have the option and I’m never going to turn down a chance to be stylish.
Parkour is another aspect of ROBOBEAT’s gameplay and it’s serviceable. I won’t go as far as to say that it’s excellent because Dying Light and ULTRAKILL have it beat in that regard. It’s perfect for the cramped rooms and railings of ROBOBEAT, however, and the added mobility helps with the inherent difficulty of rhythm-based gunplay.
The roguelite aspects are also fun and add to the game’s variety between runs. It’s not the most diverse or complex roguelite system, comprised only of new guns, abilities, and room types, but the rhythm aspect of the game is more than enough to make up for it.
The true star of the show, however, is the music. Oh, how wonderful these tunes are. It’s such a great collection of earworms of all tempos and genres that there’s legitimately something here for everyone. Actually, the game doesn’t even need that kind of variety to cater to everyone because you can straight up just import your own music and the game turns it into a rhythm map.
It’s a great idea that was executed well and I’ve run with it to the best extremes I could think of. From fast Japanese rap singles to Friday Night Funkin’ music, all of it ended up beautifully translated into a beat map for my enjoyment. Nothing quite like listening to Kendrick Lamar roasting Drake while racking up style points.
Visually, the game is very dark and industrial, down to the brutalist architecture and the tangle of wires often associated with punk aesthetics. Specifically, ROBOBEAT has both cyberpunk and electropunk designs, coalescing into a grungy feel that accompanies most of the game’s tracks.
It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially when you consider the game’s many flashing lights which may affect those prone to seizures, but it’s a distinct look that ROBOBEAT made its own. It certainly differentiated itself from BPM, which opted for a more heavy-metal Viking look.
Overall, ROBOBEAT is a great rhythm shooter that I’d be happy to have spearheaded this new genre. It’s rhythm heaven with guns, essentially, and the option to vibe to absolutely any song gives it a novelty that other rhythm shooters don’t have (not that there are many other ones, to begin with). I’m absolutely hitting replay on this.
Pros of ROBOBEAT
| Things ROBOBEAT Got Right |
|---|
|
Truly Memorable Music Satisfying Combo-focused Gunplay You Can Use Your Own Music |
Truly Memorable Music
It goes without saying that a rhythm game should have good music. Fortunately for ROBOBEAT, it doesn’t set itself apart in that regard. What I mean by that is that this game’s OST is solid and genuinely catchy.
In addition to any song you choose to add to the playlist, the songs that come with the game are just catchy as heck and are perfect for the beat-heavy gameplay with their steady rhythms. The best part is they aren’t all techno songs despite the game’s overall theme, adding the variety absent from BPM (Bullets per Minute).
Satisfying Combo-focused Gunplay
Let’s face it, high-mobility FPS games aren’t half as satisfying if you can’t style on your enemies. It’s a good thing that ROBOBEAT lets you do exactly that and with a ridiculous arsenal of weapons too.
While the style points themselves mean nothing mechanically, they are incredibly satisfying to pull off and actually aren’t the most difficult to repeat since the game lays out exactly what guns, level features, mobility options, and extras you need to make them happen.
You Can Use Your Own Music
It’s a little thing to add to an otherwise complete game, but the option to use your own music as a beat map through the levels adds another layer of customizable fun. You don’t even have to limit it to music. If you really want to, you can upload podcasts and memes and use those as beat maps if you’re looking for a challenge.
Granted, the songs you put in are never as polished as the ones that come with the game outright, but the game also allows you to adjust its BPM and add beatless sections so you can capture the cadence better. Simply put, with enough tinkering, you’d never think that Megalovania wasn’t included in this game from the get-go.
Cons of ROBOBEAT
| Things That ROBOBEAT Can Improve |
|---|
|
Progression is Slow and Tedious High Skill Floor Uninspired Boss Fights |
Progression is Slow and Tedious
This is where the high-speed action breaks a little bit, especially when you reach the second area. The game’s progression is slow, and that applies to its general progression and its unlocks.
You earn this metagame currency called "Blips", which is used to unlock new guns, rooms, extras, and songs, although you barely get any and you can’t cash them in through the hub world. New levels are unlocked only by reaching certain thresholds in previous ones and there’s no way forward apart from getting better at the game.
This is arguably a skill issue but my point stands. Even if new levels are unlocked so easily, the other unlocks still take forever, which really puts a damper on the game’s momentum.
High Skill Floor
Rhythm games are innately skill-oriented and ROBOBEAT is no different. Not only do you need a good sense of rhythm to succeed in this game, but you also need good aim and spatial awareness. Both can be learned, but those who don’t have the luxury to do so might understandably be deterred by ROBOBEAT’s skill floor.
Uninspired Boss Fights
The boss fights in this game are just boring. It’s usually some variant of a big enemy throwing things at you to parry and shoot back. They have insanely high health pools that practically require combos to chew through, but apart from that, you’d be lucky to find anything special about them.
Is ROBOBEAT Worth It?
Worth It, But Mostly For the Music
ROBOBEAT is in an odd situation where it’s definitely worth its $20 price tag but still isn’t quite the steal you’d expect it to be. There’s plenty of content and amazing music to boot but the gameplay doesn’t increase its value by that much.
I can recommend this game if you just want to jam out and shoot some baddies. If you’re looking for something more substantial, however, there are better games to get at this price range.
| Platform | Price |
|---|---|
| Steam |
Epic Games |
| $19.98 | |
ROBOBEAT FAQ
What File Formats Does ROBOBEAT’s Custom Music Feature Allow?
According to the game’s developer in a general FAQ released shortly after the game’s demo, ROBOBEAT’s Custom Music feature accepts .mp3, .wav, and .ogg audio formats.
Up to What BPM Does ROBOBEAT’s Custom Music Feature Support?
ROBOBEAT’s Custom Music feature can accept songs of up to 240 BPM.
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ROBOBEAT Product Information
 |
|
| Title | ROBOBEAT |
|---|---|
| Release Date | May 14, 2024 |
| Developer | Simon Fredholm |
| Publisher | Kwalee |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam) |
| Genre | Action, Shooter |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | ROBOBEAT Website |
