Double Kick Heroes – Early Access Review

Name: Double Kick Heroes
Developer: Headbang Club
Publisher: Headbang Club
Platforms: PC
Reviewed on: PC
Early Access Released: 11.04.2018
Initial Release Date: TBA
Acquired: A copy of this game was provided from publisher for review purpose

I love rhythm games and I have been a big fan of the genre for many years. Actually, I love all kind of music games, combining two of the best things about life into one experience. Double Kick Heroes is a new rhythm game with a twist and I was excited to try it out!

The zombie apocalypse has hit and the band needs to survive. Driving your Gundillac, you have to survive by playing awesome metal music. That’s the short summary of this game, and it sounds awesome, right? At least if you like metal music, and fortunately I do.

The Good

Double Kick Heroes has done a few things right, because the gameplay is actually very fun! Using the keyboard or a controller you press the buttons to the rhythm, like many other rhythm games, and when succeeding you fire your weapons from the Gundillac to kill the hordes of zombies (or other equally deadly enemies) chasing you.

This feels like a fresh twist of the rhythm games in the metal genre, that often follow a band on their way to fame. Here, you follow their journey on a mission to find out what the heck has happened.

On of the things I really enjoy about the game is the subtle humor that is infused in the dialogues in the story. Each character in the band feels like a unique personality. Even though there is a LOT to read in some scenes, I strongly recommend taking the time to read it.

Most of the tracks in the game is quite good as well. As with all rhythm games, you get some you like and some you hate, and this game is no different there.

The Bad

The game has some very bad sides to it as well, as can be expected. One of the main problems is one of the problems almost all kind of games in this genre got, and I will explain this. The Gundillac is driving along chased by a horde of crazy enemies, blasting bullets, grenades and so on to get away. Do I really notice this? No… Why? Because I am staring at the lower part of the screen, matching my button mashing to the dots flying over the screen. It’s sad that I never get to see what carnage my grenades does because I have to stare so intently down there, nothing else really matters in the end. I feel let down and almost cheated of the experience.

Even though the game is in early access and not a finished product, I almost feel it is too soon. I have lost count of how many times the game has crashed on me, and the small detail that the “Report” button that appear on the error messages seemingly doesn’t work (and if it does, I haven’t noticed any message that the error was sent) makes it feel very unfinished so far.

Then to one of the main problems, the one that is completely unforgivable in a game like this. FPS-drops. The graphics in this game is not heavy, it’s a great retro-feel and let’s face it, graphics is not important in a game like this. But why oh why should there EVER be fps-drops in a game this basic? Nothing is more annoying than that! Okay, I lied. The crashing is more annoying.

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