What do you get when you combine Metal Slug, Guitar Hero, a Robert Rodriguez film and the absurdity of a Tenacious D album?

You get Double Kick Heroes.

Double Kick Heroes is the latest creation from Headbang Club, a group of 4 artists and developers who sought to create a game that combines all things “METAL” — and that is exactly what they did. Head Bang Heroes is a testament to the rhythm games that pioneered the genre in the late 2000s. They take the ferocity of the hardest tracks of those games and throw it all into a Zombie Apocalypse setting for the Grindhouse.

GRAPHICS 10/10

Double Kick Heroes pixel animations are astounding. To compare these graphics with other games simply doesn’t do them justice. There is no doubt a lot of love and effort went into the art direction of this game, especially the character designs (both for the main cast and the enemies). The sprite work done by Guillaume Breton (aka Gyhyam) is phenomenal. The main cast are very Scott Pilgrim esque but with a Brutal Legend spin. Where the sprite art really shines is in the boss fights. Each boss is different, whether it be a Shark man driving a battleship on land or a train straight from the depths of Hell itself, each one delivers on what many would deem “Metal”.

SOUND QUALITY 10/10

Don’t let the 8-bit style fool you. The music is full on face melting brutality. Driving guitars and blast beats keep you on pace as you mow down monsters and demons alike. Many of the tracks are originals by self proclaimed “Composer from Hell”, Frédéric Motte.

Each genre of metal is represented here: from Industrial Metal, to Synthwave, to Chip Djent, to Lovecraftian Black Metal — it’s all there.

There are even a few tracks that I’m sure Tenacious D would love to have on their next album.  Some guest artist tracks include tracks by Dan Terminus and Gojira. Once you complete a song at 100% you can then listen to the song in the discography menu for when you want to give your fingers a break.

GAMEPLAY 7/10

Trust me, you are going to want to take a break once in a while. This game is freaking hard. You control the Gundillac, the bands modified car that enables the drummer to fire upper and lower guns with his drum kit. Other band members join in, controlling a grenade launcher and a sniper when a meter is filled. On Xbox, the controls mainly use A/B, with X and Y added in later on; and honestly, I became frustrated because of these controls. Do you remember that guy in high school that could absolutely shred “Through the Fire and Flames" on Guitar Hero? Yeah, I am not that guy. So playing this  game was frustrating for me. Using a controller felt odd and using a keyboard wasn’t any more forgiving. Maybe I’m just rusty, but I think that playing with a guitar controller or even rigging up a Rock Band drum kit might be better way to experience this game.

Granted, this is just my experience. You can look up others who play this game that are much better than I am.

CHARACTERS 9/10

Honestly, the main cast of this game would fit right into the world of Scott Pilgrim — if they can escape the zombie apocalypse that is. Each character is a pretty stereotypical representation of the instrument they play, but it’s sure entertaining. The side characters you encounter on the bands “tour” shine most. These characters are pixelated versions of notable celebrities from Grindhouse movies and famous metal acts. This is where that fantastic pixel art comes in: personally I’d love to see Danny Trejo and James Hetfield’s reactions to seeing themselves in pixel form.

STORY 9/10

The story of Double Kick Heroes is a blend of Mad Max and Dawn of the Dead if both of those films were scored and written by Cannibal Corpse. It’s delightfully absurd (you are telling me you got 5 band mates to practice for 3 months straight?!). This game hits the major beats of most “apocalypse road trips” like Zombieland and The Walking Dead by sending the band to a prison and a secret lab all while they fight zombies and marauders along the way. Although the band takes it upon themselves to save the world, they also want to become the greatest band ever seen (hence the 3 months of practice). The script made me laugh throughout and the “Metal” aspects of the game gave me the same rush I got when I played Doom 2016 for the first time. 

OVERALL 9/10

Like Metal itself, Double Kick Heroes may not be for everyone. It is absolutely brutal both in theme and difficulty. If you are looking for a new rhythm based game and want to blow up some zombies at the same time, give it a shot. Your senses will thank you with its pleasing pixel graphics and its outstanding metal score. Double Kick Heroes is available now on Xbox One (free with Gamepass) Nintendo Switch, and PC.

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