Balita
5 ways Dead As Disco will get you brawling on the dance floor
A
Alan Wen
As developer Brain Jar Games launches the game in early access, here's why you should be strutting your stuff down this brawling dance floor from day one.
A rhythm-based brawler where rhythm isn't essential
Any action game's greatness can be defined by that intangible concept of gamefeel, heightened by responsive inputs and haptic feedback, but it's on another plane when your punch, counter, dodge, or combos land in sync with a catchy tune. Imagine if Batman was beating up bad guys on the dance floor, but with the dark hues replaced with popping palates—that would describe Dead As Disco's combat pretty well.
The wonderful part is that even if you have no sense of rhythm, you'll still look super cool beating down waves of goons because your moves automatically sync up to the song that's playing. However, if you do time your inputs to the beat, your perfect counters and dodges are flashier and more powerful. It's one way to quickly charge up a skull token that lets you perform a takedown that can finish off most foes with even more camera-swirling style.
Get even with musical idols for one night only
You play as Charlie Disco, the former drummer of band Dead As Disco, who died under suspicious circumstances a decade ago. But after making a deal with the devil, he gets to come back for one night only to confront his old bandmates, who have since sold out to Harmony Corp in exchange for becoming larger-than-life idols in their own right.
In the early access release, you'll get to face four of these idols—punk-rocking bassist Hemlock, AI pop idol Arora, cybernetically-enhanced guitarist Dex, and rapper producer Prophet—taking you through elaborate gauntlets against their violent fans as you weave through setpieces, from dodging subway traffic to being surrounded by a sea of AI clones, culminating in epic boss fights. With each idol representing a different music genre, that makes for showdowns with an eclectic soundtrack consisting of a streamer-friendly OST as well as licensed bangers.
Show me your moves
Charlie may already know how to make moves, but you can further enhance his unique martial art of Beat Kune Do with fan power—currency gained from missions. Skill tree upgrades include more hearts added to your maximum health and damage-enhancing attack boosts as well as learning moves like a charged-up windmill kick. Since he was a drummer in a former life, you can even unlock Charlie's drumsticks to throw at enemies, then instantly close the distance with a follow-up attack.
In other words, if you're struggling against an idol's tricky attack patterns, it doesn't hurt to get some fan support before going for an encore. More importantly, once you defeat an idol, you'll gain their special ability, such as Hemlock's Bass Invader, which performs knockbacks that are great for crowd control. Each of these also have their own skill tree, allowing you to further upgrade and customize Charlie's playstyle—all thanks to the power of fans.
Restore The Encore and make it your own
Fans aren't just for the skill trees, as this currency can also be used to unlock all kinds of goodies at The Encore, a dive bar that used to be your band's favorite hangout. Besides giving the place an overdue renovation, you can also unlock new outfits for Charlie as well as memorabilia that gradually helps uncover your band's past.
Your defeated bandmates also return The Encore after your beatdown, so this isn't just a story of revenge, but reconciliation. Who knows, maybe you'll even genuinely get the band back together after all?
Bring your own tunes to the party
Outside of the story, you have another mode called Infinite Disco, which is filled with a growing list of challenges and mods across 30 songs to brawl along to, which also earn you fans to spend back at The Encore.
However, you can also upload songs from your own music library, instantly turning your favorite tunes into a bonafide playable music video. Whether you want to create your own custom challenges or put them together into an infinite playlist as waves of enemies keep coming, this brawling dance floor can go all night long!
Get Dead As Disco in early access now on Epic Games Store.