Canāt Stop The Feeling!
HIGH Infinite disco allowing custom songs.
LOW Lacking story content.
WTF The sassy German skull.
Disclaimer: This coverage is based on Early Access content.
Charlie Disco clocked out a decade ago, but even death couldnāt dull his dance moves. Heās resurrected (by a godlike German skull) for a single night to reunite his former bandmates and set the stage on fire one last time. Charlieās supernatural swagger reflects what Dead as Disco is all about ā a third-person rhythm-fighting experience currently in Early Access that syncs punches and kicks to the music. While still in development, Brain Jarās debut project has the potential to be an influential title.
Before Charlie can recruit his old friends, however, he needs to defeat them. See, when the group first formed, they all swore to never sell out to the exploitative record label Harmony. There is a certain reality to this, and the parallels Dead as Disco draws with the modern music industry give it surprising emotional weight. Like so many aspiring artists today, Charlieās old friends eventually fold under corporate pressure, and their reasons and beliefs are revealed in short but fast-paced levels.
Each section starts off with a steady stream of weak grunts to beat down. As Charlieās leather jacket and flared jeans spin through the chaos, the scenery changes dramatically, introducing colorful stages and unlocking boss phases. These phases come with entirely fresh movesets and gimmicks, avoiding the repetitiveness trap many fighters stumble into. One of my favorite features were the trains on one level which created moving obstacles Charlie had to dance and dodge around.
Speaking of dodging, Dead as Discoās devs have already mastered their combat. Charlieās moveset has standard punching and kicking, but itās his signature actions ā cross-body flips and relentless face slaps ā that give the fighting its flavor. Landing attacks on beat creates a vibrant visual burst and increases damage, turning every brawl into a deadly extension of each song.
Beating bosses and spending currency (called fans) unlocks devastating new dance moves. Specific inputs unleash these attacks, which range from stunning enemies with electric riffs to creating mini black holes.
Different enemies also have specific gimmicks. Some fire homing lasers, while others charge in with shields. These abilities forced me to perfect my dodging and definitely tested my reaction speed. Once I got down the timing, though, the diverse array of enemies just gave me more chances to kick some serious butt.
While the combat is on point, Dead as Discoās plot fails to keep the momentum going. Besides a few small quests, the narrative just cuts off at a certain point. The premise of a revenge tale is properly set up, but the ideas are not explored thoroughly, offering only brief snippets of dialogue. I sort of expected this for a game still in Early Access, and looking at the developer roadmap itās clear they have more content planned. Still, the entire story is only a few hours long, ending on a cliffhanger that feels very incomplete at this time.
The story shortcomings are partly made up for by infinite disco mode. In this arena, the player gets to fight enemies to the tune of their own custom music. Whatās amazing is that the fighting automatically syncs to the tempo of the selected song. Unfortunately, some songs arenāt synced well and lag behind, but players can use an outside resource, discomaps.com, to show the exact BPM, beat offsets, and time offsets needed to calibrate the music and fight properly. Whether it was the iconic flow of Michael Jacksonās āBeat Itā or the pulsing synth line of āBlinding Lightsā, the combat complements the scores exceptionally and delivers a never-ending groove.
Even at this early stage, Dead as Disco deserves more attention. The catchy riffs and smooth punches blend together to create a stylish, yet energetic experience. Although the story isnāt quite there yet, Iām guessing itāll be fattened up in a future update. There arenāt many games in the rhythm-fighting genre, but Dead as Disco easily makes a strong name for itself.
ā Eddie Guo
Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Brain Jar Games. It is currently available on PC with plans to expand to console. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 7 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: This game is currently unrated by the ESRB, as it is still in Early Access. This is a fighting game in which players assume the role of a revived musician. Players use punches, kicks, and other violent actions to subdue and possibly kill enemies. There is no blood or gore. Curse words appear in the dialogue, both bleeped out and uncensored.
Colorblind Modes: colorblind modes are present.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Dialogue is communicated through text subtitles which cannot be resized. A large part of this game is centered around music and rhythm-based fighting. Audio is not necessary to complete the game but is a crucial part of it, as moves deal the most damage when hit with the beat. There is a ābeat indicatorā toggle that allows players to visualize the beat timing with a metronome-like bar. Still, the indicator itself does not fully replace the audio, so in my view this is not fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: This game offers fully remappable controls.
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