Review: God of Rock [PC]

I’ll be frank. From the moment I heard about it, I was rather skeptical about the prospects of Modus Games’ God of Rock. How exactly does one go about marrying the precision required of a rhythm game with the frenetic, no-holds-barred action we associate with a beat-em-up? It can’t be done! Madness, fie and folly! Now, to clarify: I like rhythm titles (a great deal, actually) and brawlers as individual genres. As in, to be savoured alone. Singularly. In isolation. But I feared that, much like bringing together Marmite and ice cream, the combination of two otherwise lovely things would result in naught more than a feeling of regret – and a good look at your face reflected in toilet porcelain come the following morning.

This isn’t to say the idea was dead on arrival, however. We had a fantastic interview with one of the minds behind God of Rock, Derek Neal, where he outlined just how tough the process was. He made it abundantly clear how much passion went into the endeavour. That tenacity absolutely shines through in the final product. Guys, let me tell you: when this thing works, it SOARS. Unfortunately, a few too many bugbears borne of that pesky genre-mashing scupper the overall package – turning what could have been a thriving, jammin’ party into an experience more analogous to a slightly awkward middle-school disco.

Lore of Rock

The general premise and presentation of God of Rock is absolutely ludicrous, and therefore one of its strongest suits. The eponymous deity has risen again, from whatever ethereal green room he was having a kip in and goes about resurrecting the souls of some of music’s most famous faces to do battle. Note that these are all legally distinct, so as to avoid racking up Modus’ lawsuit bill. But it’s easy enough to tell who’s meant to be who. There’s an Elvis stand-in, a Michael Jackson stand-in (now with 90% fewer allegations!), even a couple lasses who err on the side of Beyonce and a more religiously inclined Taylor Swift. She’s named Hilde, and she’s all over the marketing, so I imagine they’re expecting her to be the breakout star.

There’s been a tremendous amount of thought put into these designs. Each character comes with both a backstory and an introductory cutscene, making them feel like more than simple ciphers for the mindless bashing. The pseudo-story-driven Arcade Mode (complete with an OTT selection of seven difficulty settings) is where you’ll get to mingle with them the most intimately, and I won’t give away some of the wittier moments they share.

In fact, visually the entire game is stunning. From the neon-hued interstellar landscapes that call to mind Blade Runner, to the stylish UI with a font that wouldn’t look out of place plastered all over a corny 80’s mall, the vibe Modus was going for is completely down pat. Character models animate uniquely and with fluidity. My personal fave is the brawny Johann, who chucks his considerable weight about with all the grace and decorum of a reversing dump truck.

A garage-band job

Sadly, this spit and polish is only as good as the gameplay framework it’s all hanging (and hanging very prettily, I must reiterate) from. And it’s in this department that God of Rock starts to fizzle a tad. For starters, battles themselves clutter the screen in an unhelpful fashion. While the characters fight and respond to inputs on the top half, there’s an entire separate rhythm game going on in the bottom half. It’s as if someone took Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory or Guitar Hero, sawed a slightly camper Street Fighter in two and then cobbled together the bits.

In slightly less flowery terms, you’re looking at two disparate points of focus welded together; an appropriate visual analogy, I suppose, for the dual-mechanical basis of the game. Notes go hurtling along the chart and it’s your task to hit all those buttons to the beat of whatever electronic track thumps in the background. There are more than 40 prospective bangers to choose from. But disappointingly they aren’t all that memorable and are rather interchangeable.

Time the inputs right, and your character will administer all manner of punches and kicks, which land with a satisfying tactility. Your choice of fighter does have an effect when it comes to how generous the timing is, and to what special moves you can deploy; ensuring that no matter who your main turns out to be, they might have an edge depending on the circumstances. Some specials heal, some totally wipe out your opponent’s health bar, and some even play directly into the rhythm-game integration by twisting their note chart into something absurdly difficult that only a hyper-advanced computer would be able to keep up with. Variety is always a plus, and here it further strengthens that diverse roster, encouraging you to experiment.

Jammed jamming

So in short, there isn’t anything fundamentally ‘wrong’ with the core gameplay, per se. It’s functional, and the often dumb-as-rocks AI is easy enough to overcome with practice. There’s even a great deal of pleasure to be found during the moments when things do coalesce, and you’re hitting your groove, in ‘the zone’ a la the best of Rhythm Heaven. The issue is, again, the clashing elements from two opposing disciplines of game design warring with one another. Despite Neal’s impassioned proclamations of how they managed to nail it, I’m not quite convinced; much as I commend the creative ambition.

Your attention is constantly all across the screen, as you attend to both grooving and walloping. It makes for high-octane thrills to be sure, but also makes reading the fights trickier than necessary. How am I to focus on how much damage I’m dealing, or knowing when to activate a finisher, I ask ye, when the song is about to reach a complex bit that demands I tune into it (and it alone)? This is all to say nothing of the combos, which chuck a further wrench into things by asking that you recall specific thumbstick input sequences, WHILE managing the fight, WHILE continuing to keep to the beat, WHILE ensuring your rival won’t cancel it and WHILE checking your special meter is sufficiently full. Got all that?

Hold the competitions!

By the game’s very nature, it’s tough to quickly respond to an opponent’s maneuvers, leading to an occasional unfair loss. There’s also a quirky mechanic whereby fights go on infinitely until there’s a winner. It smacks of Modus realizing there can’t be an organic ‘end’ to matches once you’ve memorized a song and opting to weed out the loser via fatigue or BS unavoidable specials. Grueling rounds are won often not by strategy, but by merely outlasting your combatant. Methinks many a competitive match may end with the air turning blue. And I ain’t talking about from disco lights.

The rest of the package is serviceable. There are all manner of multiplayer options, and a Track Editor to construct your own note charts; however, there’s a glaring omission. No tutorial! Excuse me, I beg your pardon, Modus. I understand you lads have been at this for the better part of three years. But we players need a bit of direction to get acquainted with composing within the game’s parameters. I haven’t tinkered with it much as a result, but I can imagine it’d be quite powerful if you put the time in. Hopefully this’ll be addressed in a patch.

Final thoughts

Overall, how much you’ll get out of God of Rock depends on your level of tolerance for faff in games. As I had long speculated, the two genres of fighter and rhythm game get in each other’s way more often than they complement one another. To be clear, they DO complement each other fairly frequently, and when that happens, you’ll feel like a god. Of, er, Rock. There were times where I achieved that level of rhythm-game nirvana, and I loved spending time with the charming, eccentric cast of characters.

Ultimately, though, I suspect Neal’s much-vaunted visions of competitive God of Rock tournaments far into the future may be on the rocks. The mindset required for a rhythm game and that required for a beat-em-up are wildly different. Unfortunately, that’s a hurdle God of Rock is never quite able to surmount. Rhythm aficionados won’t want to bother with the brawling/RPG-lite mechanics, and those weaned on Smash and its ilk won’t find sufficient depth to the gameplay shackled by its musical roots. If you can grab it on sale, it’s worth a punt to experience the unique genre-melding. Otherwise, this is one concert you can skip getting tickets for.

God of Rock is available on PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Review code kindly provided by Modus Games. Steam version reviewed.