War Of Being

About

"War Of Being" is a single-player, sci-fi virtual reality adventure game with stunning Unreal5 graphics and a bespoke soundtrack. Explore six surreal environments, discover cryptic characters and solve hidden puzzles to reveal a progressive metal band's new music. Immerse yourself in a unique experience that brings the album to life in a totally new way.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 152 reviews

music33 positive mentions

optimization4 negative mentions

The game offers a unique and immersive experience for Tesseract fans, beautifully integrating their music with exploration and storytelling.
Visually stunning environments and excellent sound design create an atmospheric experience that captivates players.
The game is praised for its innovative concept of promoting a music album through gameplay, making it a must-play for fans of the band.

The game suffers from technical issues, including performance problems in VR and frequent crashes, which detract from the overall experience.
Some players found the puzzles to be overly simplistic and the gameplay lacking depth, making it feel more like an experience than a traditional game.
There are complaints about the lack of settings options and minor bugs that need addressing, which can hinder immersion and gameplay fluidity.

music
79 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
54%
4%
The music in the game, primarily featuring tracks from the band Tesseract, is highly praised for its immersive quality and ability to enhance the gameplay experience. Players appreciate the unique concept of unlocking new songs through exploration, which adds depth to the narrative and atmosphere. Overall, the soundtrack is described as exceptional, making it a must-play for fans of the band and progressive metal music.
- “As a longtime fan of Tesseract, having a game imagined and developed by such amazing musicians is a treat.”
- “For any Tesseract fan, this game is to experience their music in a completely different and immersive way, letting you discover the incredible world of 'The War of Being' and many more Tesseract gems.”
- “Absolutely one of the best ways to promote the band, fantastic music, and awesome playthrough of the game. Can't wait for the full album and to play through 'War of Being' again!”
- “Mrs. Davidfrio here - I have never worked so hard to hear a song in my life!”
- “Over and over, and when I got it, it was all for a small piece of music unlock.”
- “Currently, the only song from the album is 'The Grey'; however, I'm pretty sure that more are to come in the future. Remember, this is in early access.”
story
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
43%
10%
The story in the game is praised for its thoughtful execution and rich narrative, effectively intertwining with Tesseract's new album, "War of Being." Players appreciate the metaphorical parallels to contemporary socio-economic issues, the engaging gameplay, and the seamless integration of music that enhances the storytelling experience. Overall, the game is celebrated for its beautiful scenery, strong writing, and immersive atmosphere, making it a standout experience for fans of the band and the genre.
- “Overall fantastic experience, lighting, sound, voice acting, level design, the secrets, the new song, the references to previous songs, the writing, told such a rich story in a small amount of time.”
- “The story is thoughtfully executed with a brilliant (metaphorical) parallel to our world's current socio-economic state (without being overtly political).”
- “I tried to play it on my Meta Quest 2 with an RTX 2060 and I couldn't get past the starting room without crashing or freezing.”
- “This is how you effectively build a story around an album!”
atmosphere
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
18%
11%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its stunning visuals and immersive audio, creating a captivating blend of beauty and dread. Players appreciate the intricate environments, atmospheric music, and the overall emotional pull that enhances the gaming experience, even for those who may not typically engage with video games. Despite some finding it a bit too intense, the atmosphere is consistently described as top-tier and a major draw for the game.
- “Visually beautiful game paired with auditory atmospheric dread and bliss.”
- “All the environments throughout the game were phenomenal and the game was incredibly atmospheric even when not playing in VR.”
- “Even without it, this is still damn impressive; the atmosphere it builds is top tier and everything looks surprisingly good for a game made by a smaller team.”
- “Music is great and some locations have this special atmosphere that really pulls you in.”
- “I really liked the game and atmosphere, but the game was a wee bit too scary for me.”
- “Song is killer, atmosphere is killer, graphics are killer.”
graphics
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
39%
11%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their stunning visuals and immersive atmosphere, with particular highlights on the snow and final levels. While some users noted minor technical issues and a comparison to older graphics engines, the overall aesthetic is described as ethereal and visually appealing, with ray tracing enhancing the experience. Despite a few criticisms regarding the gameplay, the combination of visuals, sound, and ambiance creates a captivating experience.
- “The visuals, ambiance, sounds, everything was amazing.”
- “Excellent atmospherics, audio, and visuals.”
- “Beautiful visuals, especially the snow level and the last level.”
- “Definitely has some technical and design issues, but I didn't experience anything game breaking, just some odd physics and graphical strangeness.”
- “Not sure graphics really are better than using Unreal Engine 4, though.”
- “I found this title boring and though the graphics were okay, it reminded me of my old PSVR on the PlayStation 4.”
gameplay
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The gameplay is praised for its engaging exploration and puzzle-solving mechanics, set in a unique sci-fi/fantasy atmosphere enhanced by impressive particle effects. Players appreciate the integration of the band's music, including the ability to unlock a new song through gameplay, and the presence of numerous easter eggs for fans. While some find the game short and experience bugs, overall feedback highlights a strong foundation and potential for future expansion.
- “A great game created by my favorite prog metal band called Tesseract, featuring a strange and crumbled sci-fi/fantasy atmosphere, excellent particle effects for rain and snow, an interactive system, and engaging dialogue with a character called 'The Grey'. The gameplay includes great puzzle-solving functionality and music-triggering elements, making it an amazing early access exploration puzzle solver on Steam.”
- “Don't come in looking for some CS-type mechanics based game obviously, though if a prog metal band came out with a multiplayer game that'd be sick.”
- “Not only are there numerous nods and easter eggs for fans of the band, but the ability to unlock their new song 'The Grey' through exploration and gameplay ahead of its global release is something that I've never seen from a band before.”
- “I look forward to the future of the title, and seeing how Dan and the team are able to further expand the gameplay and its world once the album drops.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game's optimization, particularly in VR, has been criticized for its poor performance, even on high-end hardware like the RTX 3090 and i9 10900k. While the game runs smoothly in non-VR modes, VR users report significant issues that detract from the overall experience.
- “The game runs smoothly.”
- “The game runs smoothly.”
- “Very poor performance in VR, and that's using Valve Index, RTX 3090, i9 10900K, 32GB 3200MHz, and Windows 10.”
- “Optimization is pretty bad in VR.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players have reported minor glitches and issues with invisible walls that detract from immersion, particularly noting these concerns from their early access experience. Overall, while stability has improved, some elements still require refinement.
- “Since I played during early access, there were definitely some small glitches to note, and the invisible walls could have been handled a little more neatly to help with immersion.”
- “Since I played during early access, there were definitely some small glitches to note, and the invisible walls could have been handled a little more neatly to help with immersion.”