Dead As Disco, developed and published by Brain Jar Games, Inc., is now available on Steam in early access.
Dead As Disco, where martial arts meets music video, a neon-drenched Beat ‘Em Up. Every move you make and combo you build syncs to the music playing. You are Charlie Disco, a fallen icon with one last chance to reclaim the spotlight from idols made up of ex-bandmates and musical legends. You’ll have to confront these idols in incredible boss battles. The story wasn’t the main focus in Dead As Disco; that isn’t to say it’s bad, it just felt more drawn to the gameplay aspect. The cutscenes are well-designed, the voice acting is great, and it’s interesting to see Charlie face these idols and learn about the history between them. In early access, you can only go up against a few idols, but as updates come, more will drop, revealing more of Charlie’s story.
Dead As Disco’s gameplay is where it shines most. The combat reminds me of Batman: Arkham Asylum; it works fantastically. It is satisfying destroying your foes to I Need A Hero Remix or putting your own songs on, like Enter The Sandman by Metallica, it works so well. The timing on each bit of combat is just perfect. When I jumped into the game for the first time took me a while to get used to the systems, but a great tutorial is offered. I did find it a little frustrating at first when I couldn’t match up to the beat. I’d see videos of people absolutely smashing it with responsiveness, and I was lagging behind. As time progressed, I started to master it. However, some might feel a little overwhelmed at first with the controls and the variety in enemy types.
Multiple modes are offered; you can take on the idols or Infinite Disco to see how long you can survive. I spent most of my time in Infinite Disco experimenting with different music. This was where I enjoyed the game most. The music provided is great, but adding your own is just the icing on the cake. Want to Disco to Bohemian Rhapsody? Barbie Girl? You go for it, Dead As Disco lets you, and I feel that’s where the game will become one that people play and make content on for years to come.
The design of Dead As Disco fits the neon-soaked theme; everything about it screams Disco. You can tell they put a lot of effort into designing this around its theme, and I’m here for it. Obviously, being a music game at heart, its music design is important, and I feel they nailed it. Dancing to the music, despite it not being my genre, is still enjoyable. It makes you enjoy songs you’d never usually touch.
Verdict
Dead as disco is an addictive musical beat em up, which will have you tapping your feet to the beat. If you love rhythm games similar to BPM or Kick Beat, this is the game for you. Dead as disco is one of those titles you can play for 5 minutes or hours. While you can add your own music, getting the tempo right can be difficult; the modding community may already have your song covered. As the game is in early access, I am looking forward to where Brain Jar Games Inc goes with its development.
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