No Straight Roads was one of my favorite games during last year’s Gamescom and I was eager to find out if the full release would live up to my high expectations. Well, after playing it for a couple of hours, I can certainly say it did. It’s by far one of the most original and fun games I’ve played in a while, let me explain.
Welcome to Vinyl City
No Straight Roads is set in Vinyl City, a city where EDM has taken over. Playing as MayDay and Zuke, it’s your mission to bring Rock music back to the city. Of course, it’s far more than just a battle of EDM versus Rock, it goes way deeper than just that. What looks like a simple battle of genres at first, slowly evolves into a dystopian future where one corporation controls everything. It’s not only MayDay’s and Zuke’s quest to bring back rock, but they also need to bring back the normal life and freedom that comes with it. The story itself is extremely entertaining thanks to the stellar style of the game.
The world and its characters are all created in a gorgeous cel-shaded style. Created with the help of Daim Dziauddin, Street Fighter V’s concept artist, the result is breathtaking. Right from the start, I fell in love with the art direction, especially the character design and craziness of the bosses. The style of the game is extremely unique and it reminded me of games like No More Heroes, where the crazy visuals really added something to the overall gameplay. Since the visuals are totally wack, you can expect the same from the boss battles. From an intergalactic DJ who threw planets at my face in order to stop me, to a digitally created Kawaii mermaid. It’s all there. The more the game progresses, the crazier it all gets, including the stellar soundtrack.
Rock your way to victory
In a game that’s all about music, it’s no surprise that rhythm plays a crucial role in the actual gameplay. Everything around you moves on the beat, including your enemies. Compare it to games such as Cadence of Hyrule, but set in a gorgeously created 3D environment. If you listen to the beat carefully, you’ll know when to attack or dodge at the right time. It’s a great mechanic but you’ll have to get used to it during your first minutes. Luckily, the developers did everything in their power to make it as fun as possible. Besides the rhythm, the enemies will also show you a small visual clue when they’ll attack, thanks to this, you can always simply adapt and find your rhythm again. Once you found the right beat, you’re in for a treat. Fighting on the right rhythm is extremely satisfying as it will put you in a certain momentum, resulting in extremely fluid gameplay. The best part about all of this? You can experience it together!
It really looks like couch co-op is making a huge return to the scene and No Straight Roads offers another great example of how it’s done correctly. Each player controls one character and by rocking out on the beat together, you’ll enjoy fighting all those crazy enemies for sure. Want to play on your own? No worries, you can instantly switch between the two characters and thus use MayDay’s strength and Zuke’s combos as you please. It’s as much fun on your own!
Explore the city and conquer the districts
If you thought battling enemies and crazy bosses was the only thing you’ll do, think again! No Straight Roads is more than just a collection of fights. Between the fights you can explore the city and bring back electricity at crucial points, this will lead up to more fans, and more fans will eventually lead up to better skills. No Straight Roads really want to deliver and be as complete as possible. This means you’ll be able to upgrade your character’s skill tree, earn new and powerful moves, collect several hidden items, and even play some fun rhythm-based mini-games. These possibilities really crank up the variation in the game, keeping it fresh and fun to play in between battles. To make things a bit more fun, you won’t unlock everything at once.
Only if you defeat the boss of a certain district, you’ll take over control of the said district, adding it to your map. This means the more you play, the bigger your world gets. It’s all fun and entertaining and the way the world comes to life visually speaking is just incredibly unique. Although the bosses aren’t the only attraction here, they certainly do offer the most fun and challenge and are the beating heart of your adventure.
Defeat them all
The bosses are where everything that makes this game so incredible comes together. From the interesting mix of EDM music and rock to the great gameplay mechanics both MayDay and Zuke have, it’s all there. A boss fight is like a dream on steroids, expect a lot of things happening and coming at you in gorgeous environments. Although the looks are as sweet as it gets, don’t expect an easy game here. If you want to bring down all the bosses and defeat them all, you’ll need to work for it. Every fight is unique and every fight has its own pattern to learn and eventually overcome. If you’re fighting skills are off-beat, you better prepare for a lot of trouble. I must admit, at first I was a bit surprised by this as I didn’t expect the level of difficulty to be this high. But, practice makes perfect and in the end, every fight is worth your time since it’s unlike anything you’ve seen before.
During the fights, I did encounter small flaws in the game, however. Ranging from a couple of framedrops to hard to control characters. It’s nothing game-breaking but it can take you out of the immersion a little bit. And yet, I felt rather forgiving towards these small bumps on the road. This game is by far one of the more unique and special games I’ve played recently and I’m willing to let a couple of technical hiccups slide in favor of the stellar setting and gameplay.
Conclusion:
No Straight Roads is a work of love and you can really tell from the first second you start playing it. The unique style, the stellar score, and the original gameplay mechanics turn this into an unforgettable adventure. Sure, there are some flaws but those never take the fun out of this amazing adventure. By far one of the most original and memorable games I played in a while, this is a sleeper hit that you need to play as soon as possible.
