God of Rock is the kind of genre hybrid engineered to turn heads, attempting a mix of gameplay systems that looks great on paper but sounds extremely hard to pull off. And hard it is, as it may be more enjoyable as a spectator sport than to play it. Drawing inspiration from both the fighting and rhythm game genres, Modus Games’ latest is a divisive feast of button mashing, special attacks, and optional gamepad throws.

Dance Fight Club

Down on their luck or simply aiming to achieve a personal goal, 12 entirely not random persons are contacted by a mysterious entity and invited to join the God of Rock cosmic musical fighting tournament of the stars – that drawn-out description is exactly how it is often introduced by the host and predictable end of game boss.

Most characters are original, but you can still find a few homages such as King, an obvious riff on Elvis Presley, or Champ, who may just be inspired by Freddie Mercury, if you squint a bit. Each one has a story mode starting with a stylish short prelude, and goes through various matches until they reach the God of Rock, a larger-than-life being worthy of the moniker. In true fighting game fashion, there’s a batch of special moves that are triggered through different combinations, and while most moves are shared between the cast, it’s worth finding out which ones are more suited to your playstyle, especially when going into online battles with skilled players.

There are eight locations and over forty original songs, but not everything is stardom material here. The arenas look nice, but they aren’t in any way related to the characters, being little more than a backdrop chosen at random. The same goes for the tracks, fully instrumental, some of them quite catchy, but lacking variety and without any attempt to display a bond with the characters. I also found the utter disregard for lip sync concerning, as the characters spurt their one-liners and move their mouths in completely disparate moments. At least, this taunt exchange is related to the two fighters getting ready to battle, but it loses its interest quickly.

A gamepad is recommended to play God of Rock, and while there are various difficulty settings, it’s not that much about note placement but more on the rival’s abilities, as the AI turns from mind-numbingly naïve to a ruthless riffing machine that drains your health in a couple of minutes if you struggle with a few notes. And struggle you will, because God of Rock may be filled with good intentions, but the execution is inconsistent.

The main issue here is that the horizontal depiction of the guitar arm on the bottom section of the screen isn’t very intuitive. As the notes scroll from the edge of the screen across four lines, the player must hit them at the right time, taking a chunk of the opponent’s health bar while simultaneously charging the gauges for various levels of special moves. You can even release a well-timed reversal to foil the adversary’s plans, if you are a true god of timing.

As most rhythm games players know, having the notes scrolling vertically is widely considered as the ideal design choice, the one that feels more intuitive and fun. God of Rock goes for a horizontal take and the size of the note chart is too small for comfort. The button configuration ends up being confusing as well, no matter how much you try to fiddle with the gamepad and keyboard options, forcing you to some extra mental strain as you memorize the button layout and completely fumble in the heat of the music battle. Occasionally, you are required to press two notes concurrently, a feat that may leave you befuddled and wondering how you can pull it off with such configuration.

Since most of the UI is usefully displayed on the bottom third of the screen, it’s a mystery why the all-important health meters were left on the top area. Sporadically peeking at health is essential as to know how well we are performing, but the mere act of averting the eyes from the crucial and unforgiving note chart for less than a second can turn into a disaster. Having these meters at the bottom near the rest of the critical information would have been the logical choice, but perhaps the will to keep the screen visually in sync with the fighting game staples led to this less-than-optimal resolution.

Eyes on the Rhythm

With arcade, local, and online gameplay including ranked, God of Rock has enough modes to get your pitch on, and it can be fun when you find the right mindset and go above and beyond to perform well. However, and for the reasons stated above, it is the odd game that is more entertaining to watch than to play.

The genre mix doesn’t really work, as the players won’t have any chance to watch the fighters doing their aggressive dances in the bigger area of the screen. The movements are flashy and fun to watch and it’s all visually engaging, but you can’t take your eyes out of the note chart for a second or your whole act will be crushed. With no replay option in sight, a choice between appreciating the choreographies or playing the game must be made.

Creating something innovative is a massive gamble, and God of Rock is trying to achieve something like that, but it sadly falls short. Some strange design decisions and a gameplay style that doesn’t really excel at any of the genres make this one an honorable but ultimately lacking effort – this isn’t quite the new challenger we were hoping for.

Score: 6/10

Pros:

• Creative and fun character design
• Accomplished visual style
• Some interesting music tracks

Cons:

• Horizontal note chart and health meter location make it hard to enjoy
• No connection between characters, backgrounds, and music
• Fighting aspect is little more than cosmetic filler

God of Rock review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.