Become the Maestro. In this VR experience, you lead a full orchestra on the grand stage of a historic Paris opera house. Every performance is a grand spectacle of style and sound. Dress for the occasion with stunning period costumes and set your stage with monumental decor. With Playstation VR2’s true-to-life hand tracking, set the tempo, give cues, and sculpt soaring crescendos just like a real conductor. Tackle multiple difficulty levels and ever more intricate scores that will literally test your skill, ensuring every composition feels alive in your hands...

Master the art of conducting

Maestro is an incredibly immersive VR experience which sees you mastering the art of conducting (No. It's not just waving a stick about in time to the music). Whilst I've long been a collector of classical music, the art of conductor wasn't one I'd ever really thought too much about. But, after playing Maestro, it's certainly given me an appreciation for the art.

You start off with a simple tutorial which explains the basics to allow you to give cues to the members of your orchestra. And once you begin the game proper you soon realise what a truly immersive rhythm game it is.

Complete a performance with a five star performance and you'll unlock a new piece of music, or maybe a new baton, scenery, hands or costumes for your orchestra. The levels of difficulty help to ensure that you'll be playing for quite some time. I have to admit that the easy mode was really just to whet the appetite, you don't really feel like you are fully conducting, but moving up to the harder levels really gives you a feel for what it must be truly like.

Bask in your audiences adoration.

You can use the controllers, or use Sony's hand tracking for an even more immersive experience. You can also check how your performance compares to the online leaderboards.

There's background information on each track and the composer. I was particularly impressed with John Williams' music here (he was the reason in the '80s that I begun collecting soundtracks, after I picked up the LP for Raiders of the Lost Ark). Considering there are a handful of his pieces included, I'm hoping that there will be a John Williams DLC in the future.

At launch there were already a number of DLC packs. Duel of the Fates includes the iconic ‘Duel of the Fates’ theme from 1999 Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace. This pack also includes a lightsabre baton. Doom Bound includes music from Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings. And Secret Sorcery has music from Harry Potter and Disney's Fantasia.

Engage in a journey through Lloyd's dreams.

It's quite exhilarating to complete a level satisfactorily to have the audience go wild, and of course you can turn around to face them and take a bow as you bask in their adoration.

Currently there's classical music, jazz tracks and soundtrack music. There's quite an impressive list of well known works. From Beethoven and Mozart to Stravinsky and Ellington. I'm just hoping that the developers add additional DLC and regular intervals.

This is a wonderfully engaging, and incredibly uplifting game that is great to unwind with.

10

Darren Rea