Double Kick Heroes | Xbox One Review

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn’t at least heard of rhythm games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band. I admit that I fully immersed myself into the world of plastic instruments back in the day. It fulfilled my desire to be in a band without any…you know…actual musicianship. As much as I loved both series of games, one thing was noticeably absent: death metal. Along comes Headbang Club with their latest entry in the rhythm game genre, Double Kick Heroes. Where most games of its time focus on popular tunes, this one is filled with heavily distorted guitars, grunting vocals, and (as the title would suggest) double bass kick drums. As expected, it’s tough as nails for those not gifted with natural musical talented.

 

A 2020 Simulation?

While I highly doubt anyone comes to a rhythm game with the intention of finding a quality narrative, don’t expect it here. You are the drummer of a band during the apocalypse. What kind of apocalypse, you ask? To put it simply: all of them. This game throws in everything but the kitchen sink including zombies, killer sharks, and the Devil himself. You and your band hop on the back of your vehicle, lovingly called the “Gundillac” with your instruments in tow. Hordes of enemies chase you while you escape, and you have to fight them off with…the power of music? Or maybe there are guns mounted on the back of your convertible? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, the music rocks.

Unfortunately, I found the story more of a distraction than a welcome addition. There are several conversations you have to have with survivors along the way. Many of these have good-natured humor peppered in, but honestly by the second world, I skipped almost every piece of dialogue. All I wanted was to jump into the next song to see if I could survive. I do appreciate the attempt, and the humor is welcome. I get the impression that these sections serve as a way to give your hand a break from the intense workout you’ll give them. But I think that in future plays of the game, I’ll avoid the story mode and just play random songs.

Single-Player Split Screen

Thankfully, that’s the only real downside to Double Kick Heroes. The gameplay consists of two simultaneous highways of which to keep track. The first is the action itself as your Gundillac keeps the hordes invading from the left of the screen at bay. The second is your note highway, which gives you drum beats to land in rhythm on your controller (or keyboard). At first, you’ll simply be hitting bass drum notes, but as you progress, the game throws snare drums, high hats, and crash cymbals into the mix. Miss too many notes, and the enemies reach your vehicle, causing it damage.

The trick to mastering this game comes in training your brain to alternate between buttons for each drum hit. Since one button lands hits on the bottom row of enemies and another the top row, you’re forced to go back and forth as often as possible. At first, I attempted to hit each beat with a single button. That proved impossible as the beats came faster with each new song. The game smartly alerts you on the note highway as to which row has fodder approaching, so your eyes can stay locked on the music at all times. Trust me, you won’t want to take your eyes off the notes, as they come at your furiously.

It took me several songs to realize I had to hold my controller in a different position than the the traditional method. In order to complete Double Kick Heroes, you must hit the face buttons with your pointer and middle fingers. It may be awkward at first, but it’s essential to rock these two fingers back and forth to his the flurry of drum beats that get insane rather quickly. The insanity continues when you add the other drums, which make for awkward hand positions. It’s immensely satisfying as a fan of metal, however. I think actual drummers will appreciate this more than most, because it ain’t easy, even on casual difficulty.

How’s the Track List?

As much as I love metal, I’m ashamed to say I was unfamiliar with any of the artists on this list. That doesn’t speak to the quality of the musicianship, however, as almost every track is very well-produced and fitting with the theme of the game. Many of the songs appear to have been composed just for the game, and I appreciate the sheer number and variety of songs present here. I’ve actually been listening to it on Spotify as well. It’s solid.

Double Kick Heroes doesn’t have quite the easy barrier of entry that previous rhythm games have, but it’s a worthy entry in the genre. Even thought the narrative is expendable to me personally, I simply had a blast running through each song and crazy boss. It begs for its own peripheral of some kind, however. Playing on a controller seems counterintuitive to playing on a keyboard, but it’s still doable. If you’re a fan of rhythm games and death metal, this is an easy recommend. Just prepare for your hands to ache after extended play sessions. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to put some ice on my wrist.

To hear me talk more about Double Kick Heroes, be sure to listen to Ep 307 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:05:02 time stamp.

This review is based on an Xbox One copy of Double Kick Heroes provided by PR Hound for coverage purposes. It is also available on Steam and Switch.