Dead As Disco: Rhythm and Punches Under the Neon Lights

Music is a fascinating element that offers a fresh perspective on our daily lives. When you have good music, even the most mundane tasks can feel much better—from taking a walk or cleaning the house to even fighting. We’ve seen this in great movies like ‘Shaun of the Dead’ or ‘Kingsman’, where an action scene becomes a visual spectacle when a great song perfectly syncs with every movement, making it unforgettable. Dead As Disco, a title from Brain Jar Games, successfully blends music with combat in a truly unique experience.

Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

Dead As Disco is a game that combines beat ‘em up gameplay with various musical genres to create combat sequences that are all unique. The game follows the story of Charlie Disco, a former drummer who returns from the dead to reunite with his old bandmates. However, they’ve sold out and are now pursuing solo careers, so to bring the group back together, you’ll have to face off against their henchmen and beat some sense into them.

In a way, the gameplay is reminiscent of the combat in Batman Arkham, where the timing of your strikes, your counterattacks, and your reaction time are key. In Dead As Disco, the approach is simpler, with fluid combat that avoids overloading the player with additional systems, focusing solely on the moves and the music. Each of the four available stages follows a different musical genre: K-pop, new wave, hip hop, and metal. Each rhythm has its own speed, which makes every level feel distinctly different from the one before it.

Charlie has a set of basic moves: striking, dodging, and counterattacking. As you attack and keep up the rhythm, a series of bars fill up, allowing you to activate one of the first special attacks, such as increasing the speed of your strikes. Another meter lets you perform finishing moves against enemies or, in the case of bosses, significantly reduce their energy bar. The game presents a fairly challenging initial difficulty, making it uncommon to clear levels on the first try. However, upon completing each level and depending on the score obtained, you earn fans, which function as the game’s “currency” and allow you to purchase new combat skills for Charlie’s Beat Kune Do or increase the number of hearts to withstand more damage.

The learning curve becomes more rewarding with each attempt. Although many enemies reappear throughout the levels, the way the music and level design are integrated keeps the experience fresh and fun. Reaching each boss involves lengthy battles that become the most challenging part of each level. Currently, the game features two difficulty levels, which helps tailor the experience to the player. Upon defeating each boss, their instrument—complete with a special ability—is added to your arsenal, and each instrument also has its own skill tree. As in a rhythm game, you receive a score and a star rating at the end of each level, providing plenty of reasons to try again.

In addition to the story mode, Dead As Disco includes a challenge mode. In this mode, the game presents specific challenges, such as surviving for the duration of a song, eliminating a certain number of enemies, or executing specific attacks while facing constant waves of enemies. It’s a simple mode, but it offers a shorter experience that’s great for both honing your combat skills and continuing to build your fan base. There’s also an endless playlist for those who just want to fight and see how long they can stay alive.

In addition to this mode, there’s the option to use your own songs to fight along to while listening to them. While the idea is interesting, it’s not entirely user-friendly for those unfamiliar with rhythm or beats per second, as it requires fairly precise manual adjustment. Although it’s not impossible, it does take time and involves a process of trial and error to get everything properly synchronized.

A music video like the ones from back in the day

While rhythm and combat are key pillars, the Dead As Disco experience is complemented by a very well-executed visual style. The art direction is spot-on and delivers visuals that are perfectly in line with the game’s concept. Each level feels like a mix of very unique music videos. With Prophet, for example, you get a hip-hop experience featuring cars, massive stages, and words floating on screen, while with Arora, rather than a choreographed K-pop video, the feeling is more like facing visuals similar to those in Anyma, with giant characters dominating the stage. It’s a unique blend, where 3D, 2D, and neon come together in an unparalleled way.

All of this is supported by solid technical performance. Dead As Disco runs very smoothly, maintaining a stable frame rate at all times. There are no performance drops despite the number of enemies or simultaneous actions on screen, ensuring that if a combo breaks, it’s the player’s fault—not the game’s.

Dead As Disco is an interesting title that blends combat and music in a very original way. Its combat, while feeling simple, manages to captivate and gradually give the player tools to make it increasingly distinctive and unique. Accompanied by a visually striking aesthetic, the game—though it has plenty of room to grow as an Early Access title—shows a solid foundation for becoming a game for those who enjoy music games and classic beat ’em ups.

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