Following in the footsteps of Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Fall Out Boy, and an eclectic group of electronica DJs, Lizzo will be the next musical star to grace Quest 2 headsets, with nine of her best songs coming to Beat Saber. And her combination of R&B and rap is perfectly suited for beat maps, making it the DLC pack to beat.
Before I get into impressions, here's what you'll want to know. The Beat Saber Lizzo music pack is available today, October 6, on the Quest and Rift. It costs $12 for the full nine-song pack or $2 per song, and as with past DLC, Beat Games designed the background based on Lizzo's latest album artwork for Special.
The Beat Saber Lizzo song list is below:
- 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)
- About Damn Time
- Cuz I Love You
- Everybody’s Gay
- Good As Hell
- Juice
- Tempo (feat. Missy Elliot)
- Truth Hurts
- Worship
That list includes nearly all of Lizzo's most popular and critically-acclaimed songs from the last few years. However, it leaves out some of her earlier rap-heavy work like Batches & Cookies (which would honestly only work as an Expert song with its fast tempo) and collabs like Rumors. Rest assured that even if you don't know Lizzo's discography that well, you've definitely heard some of these on the radio or on your favorite smart R&B playlist.
Lizzo's songs run the gamut from unabashedly sexual trap songs (Tempo) to upbeat, family-friendly pop (2 Be Loved), and that's just one aspect of why this Beat Saber DLC pack is so strong. Each has the singer-songwriter's distinctive style, but spread across a variety of genres and influences — sometimes within the same track. You're not getting a repetitive experience as you do with some other artists' song lists.
The lilting tempo of Lizzo's performances also really helps in making the Beat Maps feel varied, which in turn makes you feel like you're swiping rhythmically to the melody or beat instead of just trying to keep up with fast-paced, unvarying EDM.
Lyrics like "All means nec-e-ssa-ry (Ayy) / My a** is not an acc-e-ss-ary (What?)" lend themselves to frantic, varied swipes. Not just because of the pace but because Lizzo's own words ebb and flow in speed and tone, whereas other artists' more harmonized tones make directional changes feel arbitrary. Easier beatmaps can focus on Lizzo's melody, while harder difficulties can incorporate the beat.
Full disclosure: I'm not a Beat Saber pro, so I spent most of my time on Hard mode. But I did turn on no-fail mode to compensate for my slow reflexes, and expert felt like the definitive way to play (if you can keep up), fully matching the beat of her songs. Beat Saber veterans looking for a challenge should love this pack, in other words. Other DLC packs we've tested, like the Interscope Mixtape DLC, don't fare nearly as well on the higher difficulties.
The Beat Saber Lizzo DLC really benefits from the new arc and chain notes mechanics. Arcs have you maintain your pose after a swipe and follow a line towards another block, adding an extra bit of distraction and choreography while your other hand is chopping away. But it's especially cool for songs like "Cuz I Love You," when the beat map has your hands arced and poised above your head before you slam them down alongside a crescendo of sound.
I've been trying to incorporate Beat Saber into my workout routine as some cross-training with my daily running, and the Lizzo Music Pack has me sweating much more than the free Beat Saber packs available with the base game. Her catchy lyrics keep my mind distracted from the fact that most songs are fairly long, and the arcs and chains make me want to dance to the maps rather than stand and swipe. My fitness tracker had me burning around 300 calories in just one 30-minute session (even if Oculus Move claims it's far less).
If you're looking for individual songs to buy, 2 Be Loved and Cuz I Love You are the more "mainstream" songs that non-Lizzo fans will probably like, while my personal faves were Truth Hurts and Tempo...I guess. It's hard to pick just a couple, and I love the variety that comes from the whole pack.
The Beat Saber Lizzo music pack has me enthused for whatever new artists Beat Games can snag in 2023. We have our wishlist of artists and musical eras that deserve the beat-mapping treatment. In the meantime, Beat Saber's continued evolution and added content only helps it keep its position of one of the best Quest 2 games available today.
