Platform: PC
Genre: Action, Rhythm

If someone were to tell me that 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum’s smooth-flowing ballerina-of-death acrobatic combat system should be combined with a music rhythm title that rewards you with damage if you time your attacks to the beat, I would have said “why hasn’t anyone done this before?”. Technically, we have Malaysian indie wunderkind No Straight Roads and semi-big budget action title Hi-Fi Rush paving the way for action-focused rhythm titles, but not to the gameplay stylings of the Batman: Arkham quadrology.

Better late than never, at least according to indie developers Brain Jar Games with its mash-up of the two game types: Dead As Disco. And while it’s clearly in Early Access form -missing sound bites in some cutscenes, some transitions feel jarring in a few of the boss fights- this action title is clearly Platinum material.

Get Down On It

You play as Charlie Disco, a dead disco guy who ends up getting resurrected by a talking skull. Said apparition gives you one night to find your sellout ex-band members and beat them down so that they join your group. As you play through the game’s boss fights, you learn that not everything is what it seems with our hero. Of course, not much is resolved and more story bits are teased as the devs didn’t put the full story in.

What IS actually in is pure gameplay that’s a lovely marriage of 3D action combat and rhythm gaming. You fight waves of enemies -big ones, small ones, laser-flinging androids even- and you beat them up to the beat of the song. Time your hits right and you deal more damage. Charlie Disco himself practices Beat Kun Do (heh), which lets him parry attacks, dodge and counter-attack with a nifty shadow-trail dash, and even do windmill disco kicks that make him breakdance on the floor while knocking foes down. Whittling down enemies to almost near-death lets you do quick executions, thinning down the wave quick so you can move on to the next target or five.

Much like the Arkham games, you also gain Takedown tokens through repeated attacks & combos, which you can use to instantly execute enemies. You can also use your special meter to pull off fast drum solo attacks -rapid-fire strikes with your drumsticks- that let you negate blocking and evading foes. As you defeat each of the four bosses, you gain their special moves which you can equip or swap out before a fight. Beating 80s guitar anti-hero Hemlock lets you do a Bass Invader area-of-effect swing that knocks down foes and bash down their armour, while Arora’s gravity shot stuns and makes enemies float, making them prime for quick execution attacks. My favourite is Prophet’s giant shield gauntlet; if you time your block to the beat of the song, you can counter heavy attacks with your own metal arm uppercut that sends your opponent soaring through the heavens.

That’s the gist of it, but what makes Dead As Disco feel damn good is its slick controls and how sublime it is to parry and attack. The challenge lies in keeping your health up to par, because you start off with four hit points. Yes, you can gain points and level up a skill tree that gives you attacks, health, and disco meter for your specials, but the start of the game is pretty brutal. This is especially if your rhythm sense isn’t on point. You’ll be retrying time and again getting through Hemlock’s aggressive guitar slams, Arora’s K-Pop star projectiles and mic stand beatdowns, Dex’s electric shocks and cable swipes, and Prophet’s charges and literal rap lyrics slamdown. No really, Prophet has attacks where his rap licks are torrents of projectiles you have to avoid time and again.

Each boss fight in Dead As Disco is structured with a few arena fights, all themed to their respective artists before leading to the main fight which has two to three phases. While some of the transitions to the next arenas feel a bit sudden and jarring at first, you’ll get used to it after repeated play. Pretty soon, you’ll be replaying not for completion’s sake, but to get the best score possible without getting hit while parrying and dodging each attack like a pro.

Daddy Cool

And if you need more, there’s always the Infinite Disco mode where you can either go to freeplay (pick a track, fight waves until it’s over) or Challenge modes. These range from teaching you how to use Charlie’s kit to standard boss rush and survival modes to different tracks. There’s a helluva variety so far soundtrack-wise, from Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” (radio edit and punk version), a K-Pop remix of Real Life’s “Send Me An Angel”, and a dance version of “Holding Out For A Hero”. The rest of the tracks are an eclectic and catchy mix of rock, J-pop, 80s, and dance; anything that’s with a decent BPM to match the action on-screen. You can even put in your own tracks and experiment how they pan out to Dead As Disco’s engine.

If you ever wanted smooth-flowing Batman: Arkham Asylum combat based on the croonings of 80s music, K-Pop, rap, metal, and everything-in-between, with the visual flair of an MTV vignette, Dead As Disco is your jam. True, its Early Access state means that there’s no definite conclusion, multiplayer, and missing sound effects for a few cutscenes. But as an early music-savvy action experience that’s unique in this day and age, it’s on the same level as dancing queen Hi-Fi Rush. Dead As Disco is a Boogie Wonderland you want to have on play all day, err day. It’s a Good Time indeed to be an action and rhythm game fan.

Not-So-Final Score: 80/100

Early Access copy provided by publisher. We’ll be sure to revisit the 1.0 version of the game when it’s out in 2027, according to its roadmap. 

https://youtu.be/raMITz73i6o