BeateratorBy Michael Ogunnubi - October 06, 2009 Print  EmailFirst of all let it be known this is not your Rock Band, Guitar Hero, or anything else similar to the matter. This is Beaterator; a music creation “tool” that allows user of all skill levels to create quality tracks and easily. This is not a game where you are competing for high scores etc so if that’s what you are/were expecting, do not pick up this game. Now for those who actually know what Beaterator is all about and have the slightest interest in music production and/or creation, you’ll be pleased to know that Beaterator is pretty awesome. Rockstar Games’ Beaterator is a robust music game/suite that allows you to mix and create music on the PSP. Anyone who has ever played a Rockstar game (which should be every gamer on this planet) should know that Rockstar has always been great with music between their games, collaborations, and community oriented competitions. For every game they pump out, they had a perfect soundtrack to go with it from Vice City to San Andreas to Bully then to the Midnight Club series; they always have had such perfect music to go hand-in-hand with the overall game theme. I myself am a musical producer and artist and enjoy creating beats through the widely known Fruity Loops so definitely I was excited when I received Beaterator to expand into new creations on the PSP. Immediately, I was thoroughly impressed by the sheer scope of the game, given that it’s on a portable system. You basically have two main modes to choose from upon starting the game; Live Play and Studio. Live play is easily one of the most fun features of the game. The preset songs are good and are easy to lay more loops on top of. Rockstar did an excellent job in creating these basic songs to not immediately frustrate those unfamiliar with the concept. As seen in some of the videos a group of people who can add a different twist to the looping patterns makes this game a serious threat to free time. Users are guided through experimenting with pre-arranged templates of Timbaland’s loops and sounds to get things going. At the end of this review I’ll include one demo track I made...which came out pretty good if I do say so myself.  Song Crafter is just incredible. The depth of customization in each instrument, loop, and drum can make this feel like a portable version of much larger suites such as Logic, Reason, Fruity Loops etc. While with not as many PSP owners will have experience with these music programs, it’s quite easy to experiment and get the hang of developing instruments to your tastes. The only drawback might be the untapped potential in the game due to lack of experience with production. The loop library is great and is a much welcome addition to the game and can ease that process. I found it relatively easy to get going in the game and create increasingly complicated beats; however I wonder how difficult this might be for someone who has little to no production experience. Beaterator is incredibly deep and it will take hours upon hours of experimentation to discover even half of what you can do. This is where the game shines. Ultimately, the amount of entertainment and overall creation that can be found in the game falls squarely on the individual. One also neat feature is that if you have the microphone (or built in mic with newer PSP models) you can record your own sounds to add to your creations. One of the best things that I liked about Beaterator is the community involvement and the ease of uploading your creations to the Rockstar Social Club. The Rockstar Social Club is the same feature others may be familiar with from previous games like GTAIV, Midnight Club LA and GTA: Chinatown Wars. When you log onto the social club from your computer, you can listen to others songs uploaded by all the other users and filter your search by genres for Hip-Hop, Rock and Roll and much more. Here is one of my creations pulled from my profile over on the Social Club: Overall, Rockstar makes it an overall enjoyable experience, and I definitely recommend this game for all music fans, aspiring producers, and those in between out there. With the added help if music producer Timbaland, Beaterator is filled with tons of loops and sounds to truly make some amazing creations. Ratings |
 Select Choice Award |
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