God of Rock – Review – by Zokinns (Thistle’Do Gaming)

Written by Zokinns (Thistle’Do Gaming)

Introduction

In a post Guitar Hero world, it can be tricky finding a game that scratches the musically inclined itch. And yet more recently we’ve been spoiled with games such as the Doom-esque Metal Hellsinger, or the recent shadow drop of the popular rhythm based title Hi-Fi Rush. However, I was given the opportunity to play the brand new God of Rock, released this week.

What is God of Rock?

If you missed the announcement in August of last year, and you haven’t yet seen the trailers that originally dropped in December last year, you might be wondering what this game is. God of Rock is a rhythm based fighter game with an animated aesthetic reminiscent of Street Fighter V, boasting a variety of original soundtracks on a spectrum of difficulty. 

Gameplay

When you first open the game you’re offered a tutorial which will give you the basics, but it isn’t until you start playing with an opponent that you realise you learned nothing! Choose Arcade and you play as one of 12 characters, each with their own unique storyline as to how they’ve fallen into this competition. You’ll start on an ‘easy’ track, although your own sense of rhythm will dictate just how easy that actually is. Using A, B, X and Y as your notes, your aim is to hit the correct note on the correct beat, in a sequence of notes. You can also use the D pad with the correlating notes. Using your sticks and RT you can send special attacks at your opponent, similar to special moves in other well known fighting games. This is easier said than done since the standard notes you’re required to hit take up much of your concentration, so time this well.  You can build up your SPECIAL and ULTRA attacks which damage your opponent leading you to a faster victory. Battle your way through the stages to meet THE God of Rock, and defeat him to have him grant your characters desires. 

Replayability

The options offered are Arcade, Online and Local. Having played both arcade and online, the overall replayability lies solely on each player wanting to master each song in their individual gameplay. Some of the achievements to unlock are to win 100 online matches, play a match as every character, play every song etc. which may be more achievable for the casual player. There are also achievements such as ‘Leave your opponent dizzy’, and ‘Execute a reversal on your opponent’s reversal’, which at 5 hours gameplay has no meaning, begging the question how much time does a player need to put in before they can 100% this title? If you want to try your hand at creating custom matches to battle it out you can hit up the level editor and become the master of your own beats. This will add extra replayability for others who want to increase the challenge, or just want a bit of fun. 

Conclusion 

God of Rock is a fun and easygoing fighting game, with more appeal to the musical gamer or  those with a sense of rhythm. With a variety of difficulty levels, 8 stages to choose from and each stage having their own set of songs, lovers of music and fighters alike will find great fun in this game. The characters and their backstories and lines are a fun addition to the gameplay also with quirky moments between each fight, and character interaction similar to the different voice lines in games like Injustice.

The only con for me in this game was that once all songs had been played and I reached the end of Arcade mode, I felt that most of the replayability was repetitive. I recognise however that most fighting games could feel repetitive so if you like to master a track on rhythm games or master that move combo in a fighter, this con is unlikely to apply to you. Personally, I can see myself jumping into God of Rock for some arcade rhythm fun from time to time with friends, but it is not a game that would be at the top of my “to play list” after completing the main arcade mode.