Pistol Whip
Year: 2019
Rating: T
Time Played: 4+ hours
While Beat Saber likely convinced many people to jump into owning a Virtual Reality (VR) headset, it should be noted that it is hardly the only music rhythm game out there. Now, imagine if you mashed the rhythm game portion of Beat Saber with the polygon-person shoot-’em-up action of SUPERHOT. The result is Pistol Whip, a full-body workout with great songs and visceral reactions to being shot (and shooting your enemies). With so much free content released for this game, you’d almost be stupid to not get it—even if you already own Beat Saber.
Before some of the later updates, Pistol Whip had the same problem most VR music rhythm games have: boring or repetitive backgrounds. Each song would play, and you’d only focus on the beats you need to hit to progress to the end of the level. However, with the “western” and “sci-fi” updates, there’s at least some variety in the scenery as you ride the rail and shoot the bad guys. Even if none of the songs are easily recognizable (in the base game or DLC packs), they’re still driving enough to get your heart pounding as they play.
The one aspect of Pistol Whip that I think truly sets itself apart from other music rhythm games is the main gameplay mechanic. Beat Saber has its swords and Synth Riders has its orbs, but the guns in Pistol Whip are resources you need to manage as you play. You have to make your own rhythm with each shot, reload, and (literal) pistol whip instead of having the beats fly at you with a prescribed motion. It’s thrilling, satisfying, and about as close that any average Joe like myself has to being John Wick without actually killing anyone.
The best gun-based rhythm game, I give Pistol Whip 4.0 stars out of 5.
