Take on the roads with your band to take on hordes of killing monsters in this action rhythm shooter. The only defense against the hordes of monsters is the power of heavy metal from your band on the road.
AS THE GAME IS RATED M – FOR MATURE. WE ONLY TESTED THIS TITLE WITH GAMERS THAT ARE OVER THE AGE OF 15 – THIS GAME CONTAINS LANGUAGE.
General Gameplay
Double Kick Heroes is an action shooter that has a rhythm style to the games action as you must match the notes to the songs to fire your weapons against the monsters that are chasing you. It is all about matching beats to the weapons fire against enemies. The Game Visuals are done in a 16-bit style of visuals. The graphics are created in a stylish fashion to show the game being in a throwback style. The characters, enemies, bosses, and backgrounds are done in this way to show Double Kick Heroes to be more of an action game. Even though the game is done in a 16-bit style, it is noticeably clear and sharp in motion. The colors are in more bright and vivid so they can be easily seen on the screen, even on the Nintendo Switch screen. As the game does not offer a colorblind mode, however the game colors can be easily seen. In our play testing outside of the animated violence, and language we did not see anything that would be offensive to gamers over the age of 15 playing the game. Audio in Double Kick Heroes is also done very well. As the game is a music-based action game, Double Kick Heroes has a soundtrack with heavy metal sound to it. As the game is an action/shooter style, you hear the expected sound effects such as enemies on screen, gunfire, engines, and the music that you must match to during the game. The game soundtrack (We will cover this more in our Family Friendly Section of the review) is where the game shines. Double Kick Heroes is in 5.1 surround sound, as well in 2.0 stereo and sound environment you hear it in is fine, however we do highly recommend hearing it with a gaming headset as the soundtrack is the star of the game. In our play testing, outside of language in the game, there was nothing offensive to hear for any gamers that are over the age of 15. Controls in Double Kick Heroes are also quite simple and easy to learn. As the game is about beat matching, there are two buttons used to do this on the bottom of the screen. There are different modes for the controller settings so if you decide to move the car at the same time, you can do so with the left thumb stick. The game is quite easy to pick up and play and for both veteran and newer gamers, the controller setup is amazingly easy. As this is a rhythmic based game, there is no need for a special controller to be used to play the game, as the standard controller is fine for the game. In our play testing of Double Kick Heroes, we did not encounter any issues with the game default controller settings and found the game quite easy to control and play.
“Take heavy metal and easy controls and you have a great game for those that are fans of music-based games. Double Kick Heroes is like Rock Band and a road shooter had a child but in a 16-bit era.”
Family Friendly
When we had a chance to review Double Kick Heroes, we honestly did not know what to expect. Was this game a shooter? A music-based beat matching game? A 16-bit throwback? Well, it is a little of everything. Take part 2D action shooter, add heavy metal, and make it rhythm-based button mashing to fire your weapons, and what you have? A serious great and hard game. As the game is all about your band on the road taking on the forces of evil, it is a great ride from track to track, battling enemies on the highway with the beat matching and a boss battle that are both challenging but still stay fun throughout the game. There are over 30 levels and different tracks, enemies, and bosses to go through, trust us this is a fun game. Double Kick Heroes does get challenging in later levels, but as the difficulty can be adjusted, it can be playable for most gamers. Graphics on screen are easy to follow, and the game flows well between levels, the game can become hectic in later levels, but this is expected as you progress in the game. Controls are quite easy to use, but there are more advance controller settings for those looking for a challenge. If you yourself or someone in your gaming family is a fan of heavy metal music (mostly indie bands) then they will genuinely enjoy this game and the soundtrack. Now as we were playing through the game, as the action on the screen is all about firing the weapons at the enemies, at times our attention was more focused on the music notes coming across the level then the action going on the screen. Now after playing several levels you will get the hang of this and be able to enjoy the whole game but for the first several levels keep this in mind when playing the game. The only complaint that we had about this game and it was such a minor one was that our fingers were sore after playing the game for several levels. Overall this is a great game for both shooter fans as well music fans, the heavy metal music may not be everyone cup of tea, but it is a great balance to the game soundtrack and gameplay. In our special needs game testing, we did not run into any issues with the game visuals, audio, or the controls, outside of strong language and animated blood in the game, Double Kick Heroes is very special needs gaming friendly.
Closing
Double Kick Heroes is a fantastic rhythmic shooter that is a joy to play. If you are a fan of games like Rock Band and heavy metal music, you will really love this game. This is a game that needs to be in your digital library.
NOTE: At the time of writing this review, The Medium is available for free download for any gamers playing on the Xbox One Series X/S through the Game Pass.
#doublekickheroes #headbangclub #plugindigital #familygamerreview #videogamereviews #specialneedsgaming #xboxgamepass
