It may be a late entry coming out early August, but Beat Fever is definitely a top contender for game of the summer 2017. It’s fun, full of catchy beach party-ready tunes and, best of all, smashes together one of …
It may be a late entry coming out early August, but Beat Fever is definitely a top contender for game of the summer 2017. It’s fun, full of catchy beach party-ready tunes and, best of all, smashes together one of the most popular game series of the last decade (Guitar Hero) with last year’s game of the summer (Pokémon Go) through its combination of finger-tapping gameplay and Beat Monsters. What’s not to like?
While playing the songs themselves is pretty straightforward and can probably only be learned through trial and error, what we can do is prepare you to manage the other key part of the game – your beat monsters – like a pro.
Beat Monsters are the adorable, colourful, troll doll-like creatures that live in the keyboard you use to play Beat Fever. You might think it’s you doing all the work, but really all you’re doing as a human is activating them. They are the ones that light up the board and hit all the right notes (and wrong ones if you’re not playing up to snuff).
Your Beat Monsters are neither a gimmick nor a joke. They’re the opposite really. These monsters might be cute but as you start to make headway they can be the difference between making or missing the points-based challenges.
Each Beat Monster has a level. The higher the level, the more points the monster scores with each note hit. The specific number of points you’ll receive for a correct note increases with the quality of the tap – the closer you get to perfect timing the higher your score will be. However, your base score (and thus your bonus scores) are based on the strength of your monsters.
Everyone wants more points, right? The good news is there are two ways you can level up your Beat Monsters.
The first way to level up is through playing. Play – more specifically: PLAY WELL – and your Beat Monsters will gain experience points and level up without you having to put in any extra effort. It’s by far the most enjoyable way to power up your new favourite friends.
While playing increases power of four Beat Monsters at a time, it’s also possible to power up individual monsters through fusion.
Find yourself with a glut of blue or yellow Beat Monsters? In the team screen select the monster you want to power up. Then check the bottom of the screen. If you have an extra Beat Monster lying around they’ll be visible here. Tap on that extra monster then hit fuse. Simple as that!
Every player in Beat Fever starts with four monsters. Because these are the folks you start playing with, it’s likely that for a good, long while, these will be the strongest Beat Monsters in your arsenal. However, as you progress through story mode you’re going to start meeting some wild monsters. Just like finding Pokémon about town on your morning coffee run (though without the whole augmented reality dimension), these Beat Monsters can be captured and added to your team.
Still, they don’t just come along willingly. To capture a Beat Monster you need to beat them in a song challenge. Do that and they’re yours forever (or at least until you fuse them for something better).
As you progress through the game, the wild Beat Monsters you’ll come across will be higher and level and stronger overall. While they’ll also be harder to beat, if you’re successful you’ll be able to start replacing (or benching if that’s how you’d prefer to think about it) the weaker members of the crew you’ve raised up.
Yes! Stack your team with Beat Monsters of the same colour as the song to increase your score potential. Every monster you have that matches the colour of the song you’re playing is stronger during that song. Playing a pink song? So long as there isn’t a massive level discrepancy between your top four monsters and the bench, use four pink Beat Monsters for maximum points.
The colour bonus is a good reason to think carefully before fusing Beat Monsters. Weigh up the pros of levelling up an individual monsters with the cons of losing a monster of that colour. The more monsters you have, the more you can fuse, but in the early stages of the game better to be a little cautious.
