Gaming as a media is a beautiful thing. You never know what’s coming next and sometimes something will take you by total surprise. God of Rock by Modus Studios Brazil did just that as it takes a rhythm game and blends it with a fighting game to create something most unique.
And to their credit, God of Rock is one hell of a bold statement for the studio’s first game.
A Premise
God of Rock gathers the universe’s greatest musicians to clash for musical supremacy in the ultimate fighting tournament and that’s it for story. While there are back tales to each brawler. Each has their own dreams and drives and each is handled in a light-hearted way.
There are twelve fighters to pick from at the moment, each with their own style and look often aping on different music tropes. Each has their own “move set” which means it’s worth spending time seeing what each can do.
But it’s the gameplay that’s the star of the show as its takes the Rock Band formula of pressing buttons in time to the beat – a beat which gets more complex and faster as things go on.
God of Rock blends this rhythm game with something akin to Street Fighter. Missing notes leaves you open for attack, but also epic combos sees you delivering the pain.
Original Soundtrack, For Better or Worse
The game comes packed with 40 different rocking tracks to battle to, so there is plenty of different beats to perfect on that front. Though worth noting all tracks are instrumental affairs with no vocals to be found. None of which are licensed, so you won’t be duelling to any of your favourite hits, sadly.
Fights are fast and frantic as you keep in time with the track while also try to throw in a few fighting moves to put your opponent off and break their rhythm. But it’s at this point things start to jar a little. God of Rock can sometimes feel like you have two very different titles trying to get your attention.
Tale of the Tape
As you try to keep one eye on the track bar and one eye on the attack and to land the win you have to perform well in both areas so getting your head around it does take time.
Plus, you will learn when best to throw a punch and when best to build that combo with the ebb and flow of each track.
Once you nail the gameplay loop you can try your skills on the couch with mates or online where you’ll learn quickly what a superstar is, often in a painful way going head-to-head in casual or ranked multiplayer.
Eventual Competence is Eventual
God of Rock is something truly fresh and exciting. However, it’s also a true head f**k of a title, pulling you in every direction at once and throwing EVERYTHING at you at the same time. The basic actions required to play the game will take quite a while for you to get to grips with.
God of Rock is fun when you find your feet. But I wonder who is it aiming for. Music fans? Fighting fans? Masochists? All of the above? It’s a strange game that needs to be played to be believed. That said, God of Rock will probably find a player base somewhere and likely become a cult hit.