This game by the independent French studio Headbang Club has caught lots of attention because of its striking proposal and its fantastic finish. The game is a title that is defined as 'metal rhythm shooter', which we could be interpreted as 'musical metal shooter' . All with the background of a zombie apocalypse and starring a metal band that must play their most powerful songs to survive.
Musical video games are very rare to see. Although the independent scene continues to have some affection for this genre and continues to propose titles where music is the protagonist of the gameplay. This is the case of Double Kick Heroes , where the title is designed to be controlled with a handful of keys from a conventional PC keyboard but, of course, you can add any other USB driver, such as a guitar from a musical game or, something much more appropriate, a battery. (Although the best is to use an arcade command with joystick and buttons).
About the Game
Double Kick Heroes was developed during the Ludum Dare number 34, back in 2015 , and its playable demo was completed in just 72 hours. The concept of game and much of its visual style (plus a good part of its soundtrack) emerged from that marathon development jam. More than two years after that, with a lot of additions and improvements, the game comes full steam. And along the way it has been loaded with awards and recognitions (such as the Best Indie Game award at the Gamescom 2017).
The idea of its developers was to create a title that would mix their love of heavy metal with a frenetic shooter. And all inspired by the worlds created by Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez or Stephen King. Three great creators who will feel proud, sure, with the result. And to this, and paying attention to those responsible, we must add the inspiration of such an atypical band as Tenacious D.
Storyline/ Gameplay
Double Kick Heroes tells the story of a zombie apocalypse that has devastated the earth but has caught something busy our protagonists, the five components of a metal band that have spent the last three months locked in the rehearsal room. Isolated from the world to prepare their next concert, they have not heard that the world has gone to hell. They will only discover it when the curtain goes down and all its delivered public is thrown against them, but not to obtain an autograph, but to devour their brains.
To flee and save their lives, they ride in their brand-new Cadillac (renamed Gundillac) with all its instruments, but still the zombies are on their heels. The only possible solution: connect a pair of shotguns to the drum's dual drum system (placed in the back of the vehicle) and launch bursts of bullets at the zombies with each hit. Do not you think the most logical solution? Well, at least, the most 'metal'. Of course, only the fastest tracks and the most frantic double hype sequences can provide the firepower needed to repel the hordes of monsters that come their way.
With this background we begin the adventure, with the option of playing the Story mode , which will tell us what is happening to the characters in this peculiar road movie, or the Arcade mode , which presents the different levels immediately, without Tell us any story between level and level. A good way to return to play the levels that we liked the most once overcome.
Each level takes us to the road and presents a fixed screen where we witness the escape of our car pursued by hordes of zombies. In the background, the fantastic original songs composed by Elmobo , a legend of the independent scene, composer of the soundtrack of the legendary Nightmare Creatures . The score will move under the screen and we have to nail each drum hit when it reaches the indicator (as usual in musical games).
At the beginning, we will only have to pull the double bass drum, using the left cursor for the left drum and the right cursor for the drum located on that side. This activates the upper or lower shotgun of the vehicle, which is important depending on where the most dangerous targets approach. Combining both drums and being able to drive the frantic seconds will be the difference between life and death .
Songs / Modes
Thing gets complicated, the songs are increasingly complex, we have to go to control the movements of the car (up and down the road) and come into play the other components of the group acting as enhancers . The guitarist throws grenades and the keyboard player is something like a sniper. Both aids are loaded with the entry into play of two new tracks in the score: the box and the plates . All with songs of metal machacon and zombies increasingly crazy and incredible and delirious bosses end of phase.
In addition, the game has 5 levels of difficulty: Rock mode (with a single track, that of the bass drum, and without penalties); Hard Rock mode (with one or two tracks -box and kick drum or turntables- and the firepower decreases with each failure); Heavy Metal mode (2 to 3 tracks -bomb, case and plates- and the firepower returns to zero with each failure); Violence mode (2 to 3 tracks and the shot combo is reset for each failure); and, finally, the Extreme mode, an impossible mode with the 3 tracks always and the firing combo is reset for each failure. As the game itself indicates, the latter is a mode "for super players or aliens octopuses with a thousand arms" .
And if all the levels of the game (with 18 metal themes) seem too small, the game also has an interesting level editor , which allows you to generate your new challenges: choosing the map, the number and type of enemies to face and , of course, the song that the band will play. Here we can import any song of ours that we have recorded in a musical file. After doing so, we can design the score to the smallest detail, with the tracks that we want from drums, boxes and dishes to our liking.
Of course, here it is not mandatory to choose a 'metalhead' theme, although the development team strongly recommends that we do so. Surely we are going to be amused to see levels of his game sounding to the rhythm of 'Despacito' , but this will be inevitable. And the best thing is that we can then share our levels and download the levels created by the community of players.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Windows
MINIMUM:
OS: windows 7, windows 8, windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i3
Memory: 3 GB RAM
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics
DirectX: Version 9.0b
Storage: 5 GB available space
RECOMMENDED:
OS: windows 7, windows 8, windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i3 4170T
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 2 Go GDDR5
DirectX: Version 9.0b
Storage: 5 GB available space
Mac OS X
MINIMUM:
OS: OS X
Processor: Intel Core i5 1,4 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5000
Storage: 5 GB available space
Conclusion
To finish, we have to mention its graphic aspect, evidently inspired by retro aesthetics and games of the eighties, with a high level of pixel art animations. And what about the soundtrack, an authentic jewel of 18 hard rock tracks that is the true protagonist of the game. Dare to let the spirit of the metal possess your body to become a zombie annihilator with a lot of style.
The game is really fun and is a gift for fans of rhythm games. If you like metal, you're in luck. In addition, the artistic section is impeccable, with a game full of humor and excess, and the editor of levels makes your life endless.
Happy Gaming!!!