Next up on the Pax East 2018 booth tour was a stop at the Headbang Club booth to see their rhythm game, Double Kick Heroes. Double Kick Heroes is a rhythm game that’s all about heavy metal and shooting up the enemies as they come in waves. This game has a bitchin soundtrack to go along with you taking control of your gundillac to save the day from monsters.
The gundillac is the vehicle your band is riding in while shooting at the monsters as well as playing along to the great music. This game is available on Steam but the demo was played on the PlayStation 4. It can be played on a PS4 arcade-like controller or on a PS4 controller and I would recommend playing the game with a controller like the arcade stick.
The game has simple controls where the attacks/controls come at you as quick as the rhythm of the song playing in the level. You’ll just have to time the attacks right to get good timing on them so you don’t allow the monsters to get too close to your vehicle. If you allow the monsters to get too close, it’s game over for you and your band of misfits.
The developers recommend that you use two fingers to tap the controls to go along with the rhythm of the songs but as the game moves further into the story/difficulty, I felt that the songs moved too quickly to play that way. I had to play by pushing the controller with one hand for all attacks and then during the same tough levels you have to deal with a grenade launcher button as well. During the boss battles as well as some other levels, you have to move the vehicle as well and that adds another level of difficulty to the game. The monsters come at you from all angles and you will have to line up your shot as you move the gundillac.
The major problem you’ll have when you miss too many attacks is your guns will overheat and you won’t be able to attack for a few seconds. Do that too many times and the monsters will be right up against the bumper of your vehicle quickly. There will be wave after wave of enemies coming after you and you will have to quick on the controls or you will be another statistic of the monster heavy metal uprising. The graphics add to the look of a apocalyptic warzone as many of the stages look like you’re driving through hell paired with great music.
As I mentioned before, the later levels have tougher songs to play with and the attack are bound to be missed and overheat the guns/vehicles of your band. In my opinion, that’s a bad design that is created for you to fail more often but that’s the only issue I had with the control design/scheme. Fans of heavy metal music will want to give Double Kick Heroes a look!