Double Kick Heroes, du metal, des zombies et du shoot

In early access on PC since 2018, Double Kick Heroes was initially developed during the 34th edition of Ludum Dare’s game jam. Created by the French studio Headbang Club, now it arrives in its full version to offer us a happy mix of frenzied rhythm game and shoot’em up. So get in the car of this crazy metal band, the journey promises to be loaded with emotions.

Will you take back a bit of zombie apocalypse?

The story takes place in our world declining in a pronounced apocalypse. Between zombies and demons, you will have something to do against these enemies who are only looking for your skin. So you embody the Double Kick Heroes, a metal band that has not yet succeeded in breaking through. It is in full concert that the members of the group realize that their audience is not made up of human beings, but of bloodthirsty zombies. They will eventually escape in their car and will then be pursued.

Your goal here, to play in rhythm to eradicate the waves of enemies. Double Kick Heroes offers different difficulty modes: Rock corresponding to the easy difficulty, Hard Rock for normal, metal for difficult, Violence for very difficult and finally Extreme. We will not hide from you that the difficulty is there, even for those who are used to rhythm games. Beware of novice players who risk being quickly put off at the idea of ​​even rubbing shoulders with “Hard Rock” difficulty, because this is no small task.

The story mode will consist of 30 levels and add to that some secret levels. Each chapter will be closed by a boss who offers his small share of challenge. Because although the scores are perfectly readable, the difficulty is not necessarily very well balanced according to the levels. It happened to us to pass a boss rather easily whereas two levels earlier, it was difficult for us to be able to finish a track. You will also be able to rub at all levels of the game via a mode Arcade or play all the songs of the guest artists via the mode Hellgate. Finally, Double Kick Heroes offers you a final game mode – Fury Road – which consists in chaining the tracks in a survival style, by collecting some bonuses between each song.

A kick, snare and cymbals to kill them all

In terms of gameplay, depending on the difficulty with which you dare to rub, Double Kick Heroes offers up to three sidelines to play. The yellow keys for the kick (or bass drum pedal for the drums) will allow you to increase your score multiplier. The higher your multiplier, the more impact your shots will have, the easier it will be to clean up enemies that come at you. Then the keys red match the snare drum. The more you validate, the more your grenade gauge increases. Thus, when you have reached a certain threshold, you will be able to throw grenades at the hordes of enemies. And finally, the keys violets for cymbals that will allow you to shoot snipers (accessible only for high difficulty levels), which work the same way as grenades. You will then have to validate these notes in rhythm in the dedicated insert, which will reward you with a “ok” until “perfect“, Depending on your performance.

Another subtlety to underline, each type of note can be validated using two different keys. And this will be especially important for the touch of kick, which depending on the key you press, will allow you to shoot either at the top or at the bottom of the screen in order to clean the entire area.

For metal lovers

Double Kick Heroes is full of references to this musical genre but also to Tarantino films. If you are therefore familiar with these two worlds, it will not be difficult for you to note the references to Tenacious D (group composed of Jack Black and Kyle Gass), Marilyn Manson or James Hetfield (the singer and guitarist of the group Metallica) to recite nobody else but them. We can also highlight the excellent soundtrack that will succeed in mixing the most popular genres of metal, from death at black also through the hard rock (well it’s not quite metal, but that’s another debate). And although the pieces of the campaign are original works, you can always in a quick game, choose from a panel of artists better known as Carpenter Brut, Ultra Vomit or Gojira.

Humor will also have a rather important place in the adventure, bathing at times in the absurd and the somewhat forced cliché. So yes, we will not hide from you that if metal is not your favorite musical genre, it will be difficult for you to fully appreciate the experience. If you are also used to musical games such as Guitar Hero or Rock Band, be aware that not all instruments are compatible yet (we were sad at the idea of ​​not being able to test with a guitar from Rock Band 4 for example). The experience is still playable if you have a guitar from Guitar Hero Live (the last released) which it is compatible with Double Kick Heroes.

Conclusion

Double Kick Heroes is aimed above all at players who are fans of metal and rhythm games. Because yes, there are not many who pay homage to this universe yet so rich (the latest would seem to be the excellent Brütal Legend). Between a qualitative soundtrack, references to the shovel and gameplay with little onions, Double Kick Heroes offers itself a place of choice in the world of rhythm games. To be reserved for a public lacking originality or for the curious who have not yet rubbed shoulders with Satan.

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