Dead as Disco Early Access Review
The musical beat 'em up reminded me why videogames are so great .
The highly anticipated Dead As Disco launched in Early Access in the last few weeks, having sold over 100,000 copies in its first week. I've been playing it on and off and am here to share my thoughts. Essentially, what is it, and is it worth your time? My answer to the second part is a resounding yes. I think Dead As Disco is going to leave its mark as one of the indie greats.
This game is a rhythm-based beat-'em-up. Early Access contains four boss stages, a free play mode featuring challenge runs, and the home base you come back to after each attempt. Playing through everything at least once takes only a couple of hours. The content feels like an introduction to what will eventually be the full game, lasting only a couple of hours, but the replayability is high despite its brevity.
While the story is not the main draw here, it is a solid set piece the game builds upon. Charlie Disco sells his soul to come back to life for one more night. He's out to rescue his friends turned enemies from the HARMONY, an evil music corporation they sold out to, and bring the band back together for a final performance He also has another bigger goal, which is to discover what went down the night he died.
Early Access holds no answers about what happened (you're going to have to wait for the full release). Still, the story that is here is delivered with vibrant personalities, snappy dialogue, and a wicked sense of humor. Heck, one of the first characters we meet is a skull that's also a disco ball, which is a pretty clever idea.
The gameplay combines two of my favorite things: theatrical music videos and punching people really hard. Dead As Disco has players fighting to the beat of the music, and that is where the game comes together. While rhythm gameplay can sometimes feel unnatural and forced, this is not the case here. Fighting feels incredibly natural, like tapping the beat in Elite Beat Agents or strumming in Guitar Hero.
As a bit of advice, though -- look up the combo list before diving in, and don't do what I did: look it up after beating all the bosses.
Each of the boss characters represents their own genre of music, such as Dax with Metal or Hemlock with punk. The tunes themselves are extremely catchy -- even the licensed music seems made to enhance the stage experience. (The base game even has a Twitch-friendly mode that can be toggled on, which is a nice touch)
As mentioned earlier, simply defeating each boss is just the start of the experience. There are objects to find in the stages after defeating everyone, as well as just chasing a better score, or even to enjoy the stage one more time. I'd sit down to fight a boss one time and find myself struggling to tear myself away hours later.
While I was working on my article, Brain Jar Games released the Dead As Disco roadmap. There's so much more that the devs want to add, and I cannot wait. I personally am looking forward to the addition of even more music to beat em up to.
I've been kind of in a rut this year with reviewing, putting out almost nothing in the first quarter. Monster Crown: Sin Eater helped me get back on the saddle, and Dead as Disco is helping me remember why I love video games so much in the first place. If you love gaming, you owe it to yourself to try this game. I was hooked
Dead As Disco
If you play one indie game this year, make it this one. Note Early Access games do not get a score until full release.
