If you have a virtual reality system and want to scratch that rhythm game itch, Maestro may be the game that you are looking for.
Maestro places the player in command of a full orchestra. In this immersive VR experience, I found myself positioned on stage in front of the orchestra with an audience behind me watching from the seats of the huge opera house.
Thankfully, the game doesn’t drop you right in the deep end. Instead, a tutorial led by a dandy-looking fellow, complete with a powdered wig, introduced players to the nuances of conducting an orchestra.
Maestro supports hand gestures on PlayStation 5 and Meta Quest 3 (the two platforms that I tested the games on), but you can use controllers if you wish. Whilst you use both hands, in only one do you hold a baton. With the baton, you direct the musicians by following directional prompts on the screen. Heavier beats may require your other hand as well. Otherwise, your baton-less hand is for pointing to the sections of the orchestra and controlling the volume of the instruments.
It’s pretty easy to get to grips with. And you don’t have to move your hands by much for the movements to register.
You select your music and hand it to the guy with the powered wig. From there, you are off. There’s a range of difficulty settings, so everyone should be able to play.
Success is rewarded, not only with the adulation of your audience, but also with new costumes, backgrounds and props. Of course, miss too many beats, and you will literally get pelted with tomatoes.
Being the sort of game that encourages outlandishly entertaining movements from participants, Maestro makes for a great party game. The PlayStation 5 version, which duplicates the action on the TV, or the Meta Quest 3’s casting to TV, makes the game an excellent spectator sport and a lot of fun among friends in the living room.
The base game comes with fifteen pieces of music, including Wagner’s The Ride of the Valkyries and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, all but guaranteeing to add a bit of culture into your life.
The recently released All Aboard! DLC pack adds a few new pieces of music to the game, including two by Hans Zimmer from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The pack also features new costumes and a dramatic set decoration that places the orchestra on the deck of a pirate ship.
This new DLC joins the epic free DLC expansion La Crème de la Crème, featuring music from Mozart, Brahms, Holst, Bizet and Beethoven, which is available for everyone to enjoy.
Complementing the above are the three previous premium DLC packs. The Star Wars DLC, features John Williams’s epic Duel of the Fates from Episode 1, as well as a lightsaber-inspired baton and a suitably dramatic stage background. The Secret Sorcery DLC pack features the John Williams theme to Harry Potter, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Fantasia, along with others. The Doom Bound DLC pack add even more music to the game, including pieces from the Game of Thrones TV show and The Lord of the Rings movies.
The game is out now on PC VR via Steam, Meta Quest 3 and PlayStation VR2. The good news is that demos for the game are also available across all the VR platforms, allowing you to download and try out Maestro for yourself.
The base game and three of the premium DLC packs were provided by the publisher on PSVR2, with the author purchasing the game on Meta Quest 3 and the recently released All Aboard! DLC pack.
Rating: Great!