Beaterator

November 6, 2009 by Alex Seedhouse
Filed under Reviews, Sony PSP

Whilst Rockstar Games may be more instantly recognised for developing the hugely successful Grand Theft Auto series, it doesn’t stop them from venturing into new genres – the most recent of which, is a new collaboration between both Rockstar and music producer, Timbaland. The result is an incredibly effective piece of music production software, that will provide gamers with a very unique experience on PSP.

The title provides you with the tools to mix loops of tracks together, and is based upon a previous Adobe Flash music mixing tool that was released back in 2005 which had also been created by Rockstar. Here though, we find an improved version that contains new original loops and sounds produced by Timbaland. The game itself splits into essentially two parts, Live Play and Studio Sessions, with Song Crafter being an addition to latter.

Live Play essentially amounts to being the quick approach to track creation and will have, for those that have been following the title, been the section that has been presented most within trailer footage. It is here that you will find an animated version of Timbaland himself at the centre of the screen, alongside the ability to add in pre-recorded loops at any given time within eight categories; Ambience, Backing, Bass, Drums 1, Drums 2, Hihats, Lead and Piano. There are four options per category, so it is relatively easy to begin to get going on creating your own music. The simplicity of being able to get all of these to blend is commendable, although you never really feel overly involved with what you’re making – it’s fun for a while, but soon begins to feel rather too basic. Inevitably, once you have experiemented within this mode you’ll crave more option and move across to Studio Sessions.

Many will be completely overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of options within Studio Sessions, which in complete contrast to Live Play provides a seemingly never-ending depth of customisation that will absorb many hours as you fine tune your creations. Even if you are initially confused by the set up, the game fortunately features an extensive Help menu accessed via the options by pressing the Right trigger in-game. You will find both video and text tutorials that will aid you in getting started and utilising the strengths of the software to create your own unique tracks – Timbaland voices these himself which is a great addition. You’ll have eight channels at your command, to which you can add whichever loops you like.

You’ll be able to map out loops over a period of time, or even edit them so that they are completely indistinguishable from their original forms – meaning that even if you don’t upload your own loops, you can still get a lot of originality within your own tracks.

New loops can be loaded up either from those within the game, or those you make yourself using a microphone – easiest for those with a PSP-3000, PSP Go or the microphone attachment.

Within Studio Sessions you can also freely switch between both it and Song Crafter. It is here that you will find all available loops listed along the left hand side of the screen to which you can then draw out coloured blocks allowing you to plan out which elements you want to mould within your songs. This is easily where you’ll spend most of your time, cutting and altering the order of your loops.

The title also allows integration with the new Rockstar Social Club, meaning that you can export tracks to your PC to then upload those that you have created onto the site and share them with others within the community. This is certainly a nice touch, and provides opportunites to not only unveil your masterpieces to others with similar interests, but also to receive constructive feedback and share ideas. The game is also set to be released on iPhone/ iPod touch later this year, which will surely be worth checking out.

Beaterator was designed to place a remarkably deep music creation kit into your hands and undoubtedly succeeds, and is even more welcome due to the fact that there is nothing of its kind out there currently. Those that are willing to really get to grips with the software, and maintain a keen creative interest in the genre, will easily get the most reward for their time and efforts to which the results easily become quite astounding. More casual users will still find plenty to enjoy here, but it will be only those that commit to fully experimenting that will get the most out of it.

Lost Gamer Verdict: 8/10