Ever wondered what the child of Guitar Hero and Plants vs. Zombies would look like? Well, look no further! Double Kick Heroes got you covered! Let’s grow a beard, put on something black, and headbang our way through this game.
Double Kick Heroes is an explosive mashup of a shoot them up with a frantic rhythm game backed by an awesome Metal/Rock tune! According to its developers, it was inspired by the worlds of Q.Tarantino, S. King, and R.Rodriguez. The primary purpose of the game is to lead your band on an explosive road trip through the wasteland, blast zombies with your Gundillac (Caddilac with guns, I’ll explain later), and crush them with the poMetalf Metal. The game packs in 50 songs, 30 original, 20 from established bands, half a dozen chapters of adventures, and a community level editor that will allow any music to be played to the rhythm of exploding zombie skulls.
Musical Madness:
Established bands, you say? Well, not Linkin Park, Metallica or Slayer, but a handful of other (unknown to me, but I recognized the sound), bands:
Ultra Vomit, Fundamental Wisdom of Chaos, Hell in Town, Antheus, Temnein, Volkorx, Zander Noriega, Louis Godart, Kuabee, The Great Old Ones, Plug-In, Gorod, Sidilarsen, Jinjer, Gojira, Carpenter Brut, Dan Terminus, The Algorithm, Psykup.
Ludum Dare:
Double Kick Heroes was initially created for Ludum Dare #34 in late 2015 (online competition in which you are challenged to create a game in a weekend). The team wanted to make a frantic rhythm game baMetaln Metal and shooting and… well ultimate destruction, no less. They joined their Metal forces together and borrowed inspiration from the works of Tarantino, Rodriguez, the Tenacious D, and, of course, all these Metal legends hanging over them.
With the groove of the epic Elmobo and his 25 years of experience in video game music metal production, they won the Gold Medal for Music and ranked #10 in graphics for the Ludum Dare challenge. The pixelated graphics work well with these type of games since they offer the player a retro-feel, instead of the flashiness of Guitar Hero and Rockband. Many players enjoyed the mix of shooting, crimson mood, and intense action on the beat.
Rework:
According to an interview I read with the studio, the game rocketed to more than 200 comments, and constructive feedbacks overwhelmed them. After delivering an enhanced post-jam version, more than 15 000 people played the game all around the world. They were also the best shooter for some months on itch.io, which in these days of abundant indie shooters is a feat in itself. The crew felt a deep need for a rock-solid metal-rhythm-action-shooting-Gundillac video game! So they decided to deliver a bigger and better version for desktops and consoles.
Double Kick Heroes – Switch:
Fast forward to 2020, and the game launched on the Switch. With its catchy Metal, nu-metal, hard rock, and rock songs, Double Kick Heroes delivers an excellent rhythm game with a great soundtrack. Rhythm games are solid on the Nintendo Switch, and with easy to learn hard to master gameplay + not-everyday-music, this is one to look into. I tested the game in handheld mode since my sense of rhythm is even worse than my spatial awareness. Luckily the ‘normal’ difficulty was easy enough to handle, for the sake of the review I cracked it up to the hardest as well – and I can state that no Nintendo Switch consoles were harmed in reviewing this game.
Conclusion:
So, to conclude, if you are into Metal-Rhythm games and you can’t wait till they finally release a Guitar Hero, Rockband-type game (not talking about Taiko), maybe Double Kick Heroes can scratch that musical itch. It’s a great indie addition to the Nintendo Switch and will even challenge you to broaden your musical horizon. It’s mostly through these types of games that I usually discover new things to listen to; sadly, this was not my type of Metal. Oh, and you can get the OST on Bandcamp right here.
