Developer: Brain Jar Games, Inc.
Platform: PC (Reviewed)
Genre: Action
Publisher: Brain Jar Games, Inc.
Dead as Disco is a rhythm-based beat ‘em up that has an absolutely banging soundtrack to back it up.
I played the early access version of the game over a two-week period on Steam and Steam Deck.
Dead as Disco is a neon and colourful game set in a dystopian world where you beat the hell out of a whole range of baddies who want to stop you in your tracks. You play as Charlie Disco, who rises from the dead and is going after his old bandmates and manager.
The game’s premise is super simple: you play in a wonderful array of neon cyberpunk levels set to some fantastic music where you beat up enemies to the array of songs available. The design (super slick neon dystopian world), the music, and game mechanics make this game a delight to play from the start. The controls are super simple, and you are hand-held through each mechanic and what it can do. The starting levels help you understand the game and the pacing. On my PC, the game ran super slick; the combat was amazing, engaging, and the addition of it being rhythm-based made it more enjoyable. While the soundtrack may not be to everyone’s taste, there is a huge variety of songs, and the game is slick enough to help you ignore songs you may dislike. On the Steam Deck, it didn’t look the best, but I didn’t optimise settings for the Steam Deck; it gave me a decent game to play when stuck in an airport.
The main mode of the game has you explore levels and a crazy bunch of enemies until you get the final boss; building up levels to eventually face several different bosses is super fun. The boss levels themselves are where I feel the game truly excels; it combines the grand nature of fighting a boss, but a brilliant choice of song and transitions in the boss fight make it epic. Other modes include free play, where you can play the songs you have unlocked.
The game also supports a streamer mode where players play this game while streaming with songs that are allowed to be streamed, a huge win for the streaming community here. You may not get all the songs, but at least you can stream them.
The game also has a leaderboard system so you can post your best round scores and see how you compare to others.
A really simple premise done really well in a beautiful-looking game with a great soundtrack and combat that is epic.
Overall: 8.5/10
Enjoys more than the odd game, long time gamer, somewhat a technologist and everything else in between.
Also enjoys a good solid game of FIFA online. Currently PS4, XBOX 360 and STEAM.
