There was once a time in my life where I spent all of my free time alone, standing in the middle of my living room in my boxers clutching a half-sized plastic guitar and was completely okay with ignoring everything else in the world. Like a lot of people who spent their 20’s during the Guitar Hero glory days, I was enamored with the novelty this short-lived genre offered, and like most of the same generation, ignored the opportunity to relive those days once they transitioned to the current-gen hardware; that is, until I was given a code for Double Kick Heroes. 

Initially, the idea of a shooter that blended the rhythm mechanics of Rock Band intrigued me, where I pictured something along the lines of One Finger Death Punch 2 set to death metal tracks. For the most part, my assumption was correct; sadly, the gameplay is not nearly as addicting or enjoyable as the rhythm-based brawler I spent so much of my spring with. The biggest issue I had is it’s more of a button-mashing exercise in endurance than a true test of skill. Unlike the Rock Band titles you’re likely familiar with, you’re never really focusing on hitting the correct note at any given time, but matching the rhythm of the song playing while hitting one of the face buttons that is associated with a specific attack – the titular Double Kick Heroes are stuck in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Each level plays out almost exactly the same, with our group driving like Hell in their tricked out, weaponized Cadillac that is being chased by hordes of zombies, diseased animals, what resembles KKK members, and the list goes on and on, which also includes a few somewhat challenging boss battles.

Because you can free form your selection of attacks based on where the enemies are coming from, there really is no incentive to get tricky – mashing the same button over and over to the tempo while switching up the attack occasionally just to cover your bases will almost always give you at least a passing grade in the 90% range on every difficulty below hard. There is a rather large window for you to still get a passing score that at times doesn’t even match up with the song. As you progress, the challenge ramps up a bit more, but this is largely due to the faster songs, coupled with the default layout that uses the face buttons instead of the triggers/bumpers that just can’t be pressed as quickly as the game asks to nail the perfect score for each note. By the end of the fourth chapter, I was slowly drifting into a state of zoning out, alternating trigger buttons while staring at my wife’s setup as she was doing her own thing, which despite not being able to remember exactly what she was playing, it was more interesting than actually focusing on this game. This is probably the game’s biggest offense because it really is something unique that is much more fun to look at than play. Much of the on-screen action was communicated to me by my seven-year-old because I had to focus my attention on the scrolling notes at the bottom of the screen while he cheerfully described the varied enemies giving chase and ongoing events (special shout out to The Headbang Club for the honor of provoking his first use of “motherfucker” from reading the subtitles).

There are some other minor gripes that could be patched at a later date, or may be tucked away within the options instead of being prompted from the get-go, such as the previously mentioned option to swap the triggers for the face buttons – these do not prevent the game from being playable, they just make it less enjoyable. It’s missing the illusion of playing the songs, or really offering any true gameplay. The experience felt like I was pushing buttons to push buttons and never penalized for it. What was more troubling was the way you’re locked into whatever difficulty you begin with or you are forced to start over, even once beating the song or area in question, essentially forcing you into replaying the entire damn game on a harder difficulty instead of being able to revisit the songs as you wish. The same holds true with the various game modes, which only alter gameplay slightly, either removing or adding a story element (I missed out on a large portion of this, having accidentally selected Arcade mode instead of the story mode, and was only being privy to the intro on my first run and never realized it until I completed the mode), or offering random modifiers in daily or endless modes that challenges you to complete randomized playlists.

While I was really let down by the gameplay, the presentation is immaculate. I loved the heavy metal theme, characters, story, and (mostly) original music provided by the developers. I was incredibly impressed by the different sub-genres that sound almost like songs produced by the biggest acts in their respective fields, from Rammstein to Korn, it was like I was hearing some unreleased B-sides from some of my favorite bands. The same can be said for the pixel art style visuals that moved just as smoothly as any hand-drawn game on the market. It really is a shame that the actual gameplay is so mediocre for me because this is a world that I could get lost in had the meat of the game been a little more immersive. The Headbang Club essentially succeeded in making what would’ve been a fun little diversion in a beat-em-up or retro-styled venture into a full-fledged game, which was a thing in Charlie Murder. 

Double Kick Heroes isn’t a terrible game by any means; it’s just not the best rhythm game on the market. It becomes repetitive quickly due to a lack of depth, whether you’re playing the first or the last level, the experience remains largely the same and is only elevated by the superb presentation that deserved a better foundation.

6 out of 10

Pros

• Heavy Metal Setting and Presentation is Downright Amazing
• Original Music That Spans Every Metal Sub-Genre Flawlessly
• Accessible Gameplay

Cons

• Replay Structure Needs Work
• Bland Gameplay
• Some Sections Feel Physically Impossible to Perfect

Double Kick Heroes was developed by The Headbang Club and published by The Headbang Club in association with Hound Picked Games, WhisperGames, and Kakehashi. It launched on NS, PC, and X1. The game was provided to us for review on X1. For more on Double Kick Heroes, check out the game’s official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

 

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