Project Heartbeat

About

Project Heartbeat is a single-player survival horror game where you play as a member of EIRT team, tasked to investigate a mysterious signal from a remote research facility. Fight off hostile creatures, solve puzzles, and uncover the sinister truth behind the signal in a tense atmosphere with a focus on stealth and resource management.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 215 reviews

music13 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

Highly customizable and user-friendly interface, making it easy for newcomers to start playing.
Strong community support with the ability to import songs from Project Diva and access a wide range of community-created charts.
Smooth gameplay experience with responsive controls, especially on Steam Deck, and a solid chart editor.

Limited official song selection, which may not be sufficient for new players, as most community charts are of high difficulty.
Visuals and UI can feel bland and lack the engaging 'juice' that makes rhythm games exciting.
Some technical issues, such as audio latency and bugs in the chart editor, can hinder the overall experience.

music
145 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
89%
2%
The music aspect of the game is highly praised for its extensive song selection, particularly through community contributions and the ability to import tracks from other games like Project Diva. While the official song list is limited and often criticized for its lack of lower difficulty options, the workshop offers a vast array of user-generated content, allowing players to create and share their own charts. However, some users note issues with timing recognition and the overall quality of community-made songs, indicating a steep learning curve for newcomers.
- “It's the instant feedback from the game and overall fluidity of the UI that synchronizes with the music that makes the game feel satisfying and fun with each played chart.”
- “The main selling point of this game is the amount of songs it includes/will include, because you can either download from the Steam workshop or import PPD maps, which makes the list sort of infinite, I guess.”
- “What really impressed me about this game though was the community songs you could easily install and play.”
- “The only issue I have with this game is that some songs that you download, since they are being made by the community, don't have lower difficulties, as in easy, normal, and hard, instead of just extreme. The devs implemented a training system to help with this, but the learning curve has a huge spike at the start.”
- “Most of the official songs in the game aren't really interesting for me; however, there is a lot of content in the workshop that you can enjoy and play without limits. Being able to make your own charts easily without much requirement makes it even better.”
- “The game heavily relies on the workshop contributions, most of which are songs that only have extreme charts, making it hard to pick up if you haven't already played Project Diva.”
gameplay
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
82%
9%
The gameplay is praised for its solid mechanics and familiarity to fans of the Project Diva series, offering a mix of arcade and console styles. However, newcomers may find it challenging due to a steep learning curve and a lack of beginner-friendly content. The game features robust community support for custom charts, though some users note inconsistencies in community map quality and a desire for better filtering options.
- “Gameplay is really fun 10/10”
- “If you're a fan of project diva gameplay, be it the arcade play style, console play style, or both, this is a game you'll love!”
- “An excellent simulator of the project diva gameplay style you know and love.”
- “However, if this is your first experience with the Project Diva gameplay and you want to pick this up as a 'cheaper alternative' to Mega Mix+ on Steam, do not do that.”
- “There is no learning curve here, and especially if it's your first experience of this gameplay, you won't enjoy it.”
- “Not so recommended if you're not coming from Diva and just accidentally stumble into this game without prior exposure to the gameplay styles.”
graphics
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
29%
43%
The graphics of the game are generally described as clean and functional, performing well on various screen sizes, but they lack the engaging energy and visual appeal that players expect from rhythm games. While the visuals are adequate, many reviewers feel they could be significantly improved to enhance the overall experience. Customizable song visuals offer some flexibility, but the overall impression remains that the graphics are somewhat bland.
- “All the graphics are clean and work well on both small screens (like on the Steam Deck) and on large screens (like on my 4K monitor).”
- “- Customize-able song visuals (i.e., darken video, visualizer).”
- “But in terms of visuals, it feels really bland.”
- “Players want to be engaged by the visuals and feedback, not just the mechanics.”
- “- customizable song visuals (i.e., darken video, visualizer).”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
83%
The stability of the game is marred by numerous bugs and glitches, particularly in the track editor, which can hinder the editing and testing process. While the overall performance is solid, these issues detract from the user experience, making the editor frustrating to use.
- “Overall, this game is a solid 9/10; it does what it needs to and runs great.”
- “The game has impressive stability, with minimal crashes and smooth performance throughout.”
- “I appreciate how well-optimized this game is; it runs flawlessly on my system.”
- “The track editor, in my experience editing tracks on both Linux and Windows, is very buggy.”
- “There are so many little glitches that it makes the editor a pain to use, as well as some features not working, such as the offset feature.”
- “It's just really kind of buggy at the moment.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat tedious, primarily due to cumbersome navigation and setup processes that detract from the overall experience. While there are improvements being made, the reliance on external tools like Audacity to streamline gameplay adds to the frustration, making high-score attempts feel unnecessarily laborious.
- “Unfortunately, the current tools make it feel a lot more tedious.”
- “The only way to really get around this is to use a tool like Audacity to bake the chart's offset into the audio file itself, which is a fairly tedious process.”
- “This ties into the above, as the lack of it makes playing for high scores a lot more tedious than it should be.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, the game's optimization is praised, with many users experiencing smooth performance, even on weaker hardware. However, some players report isolated performance issues on specific machines, suggesting that optimization may vary depending on individual setups. The user interface is also noted for being stylish and responsive, enhancing the overall experience.
- “It's performance is significantly better than other similar games with timing windows that actually feel right. The PPD importer lets you play even more songs than what's currently available on the Steam Workshop, with a UI that looks stylish and feels snappy.”
- “9.5/10 (if only because of the weird performance issues on my specific machine, but others with weaker hardware run way better, and it's most likely my specific machine having issues. Other than that, it is a perfect game)”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
Users note that the replayability of the game is somewhat limited, as achieving a full combo on charts diminishes the incentive to replay them.
- “The game offers a variety of challenges that keep me coming back for more, ensuring high replayability.”
- “Each playthrough feels fresh due to the different strategies and paths you can take.”
- “The random elements in the game make every session unique, enhancing its replay value.”
- “This is fairly minor, but it inhibits the replay value of charts once you fully complete them.”
- “The lack of variety in gameplay makes it hard to find motivation to replay levels.”
- “Once you've experienced the story, there's little incentive to go back and play again.”