A genre mashup like few have attempted before, God of Rock is the kind of oddity that you need to experience to believe. Described as a rhythm-fighter game, it’s Street Fighter meets Guitar Hero with everything that is great about both franchises – heart-racing gameplay, a burst of combos to the face, a soundtrack to bang your head to, and a substantial dose of frustration as you fail your timing in succession. This is one for a true rockstar…scratch that, rock legend, as you need lightning-fast reflexes and skills worthy of Jimmi Hendrix on his best days.
We Will, We Will Hit You
The hands-on version that I could experience lacks a few notable features such as the story mode, which is planned for the official launch, but it offered more than enough to grasp the concept and enjoy the inner workings of what might seem a shallow game on first sight. Bolstered by the frantic speed at which notes zip along on the fretboard, this is an intricate game that requires a lot of practice to master. You won’t have to turn into Brian May to take down your opponent, but you must be deeply focused and bring a brilliant display of skills to the arena, otherwise a knockout will come your way.
This playable build included seven out of the planned dozen fighters, each one featuring an over-the-top synopsis that could suit a true rock icon. While most of them seem to be a mix of influences or an original take on a divine rock entity, one of them is a blatantly obvious tribute to Elvis Presley, right down to the voice work and name: King. It’s an eclectic bunch for sure, but it’s not all for looks either; their unique moves could make them more suitable to a particular playstyle, so it’s worth experimenting with the full roster before deciding on who to select.
Contrary to Guitar Hero and Rockband, God of Rock doesn’t include any popular songs in its soundtrack. Instead, it opts for a completely original set comprised of over 40 tracks. From what I could gather, these are instrumental only, so you shouldn’t expect any catchy sing-along chorus; however, there are some hard-hitting tracks with enough riffs to get those speakers blasting and your neighbors knocking on walls, making for a solid trade-off. Despite the laudable work placed on an entirely original and fairly diverse selection of tunes, there’s no avoiding the fact that some of the mainstream appeal is lost along the way, as genre fans might have been anticipating a few radio hits. How this will weigh on the overall public reception is something we’ll have to wait and see.
Nailing the timing for the notes is part of what makes a successful music battle, but a flawless execution of the special abilities is key. This is where the fighting game inspiration comes in with a loud bang, together with combos that you should memorize and fully master to deliver with impeccable timing. There are three levels of Special Moves, a Super, and an Ultra move. You can do a Reversal on your opponent’s Special move by paying close attention to the center dial and delivering a Special of higher level. Bar for the odd exception, every Special has a cooldown time, so spamming these is out of the equation.
Each battle starts with the typical fighting game introduction, as both contenders stylishly walk into the arena and unleash their mighty one-liners. On top of the screen lies the two health bars and the actual factor that defines your victory or defeat, since your goal is not to effectively complete the music, but to take out your rival. The fighters occupy most of the screen, but you truly want to be focused on the bottom part where the fretboards are, the spot where the button prompts come and go in the blink of an eye.
Play It Again, Sam
This is where one of my issues with God of Rock lies. It takes an almost uncanny ability to be able to pay any attention to the fighters, as you concentrate your efforts on the musical notes. Since you technically have no control whatsoever over your character, you might as well disregard it entirely and solely focus on the rhythm part of the game.
Picture the battle scenes as the exact same thing as the bands playing in Guitar Hero – an elaborate but non-interactive choreography that delightfully enlivens the scene for spectators, but you, the player, may entirely ignore it. In fact, this is downright recommended during the first hours of practice since you will need all your focus to fully grasp the mechanics and win some battles in medium difficulty.
And practice you will need because God of Rock is extremely tough to master. Apart from the memory aspect involving all the skills and counters that you must trigger at the right time, the simple act of hitting the musical notes with brilliant accuracy can be a frustrating exercise. It seems hard, almost nail-bitingly difficult, and it can make you question your ability to pull it off. With training and the occasional shift to the easy mode if desperately needed, you eventually start feeling more comfortable and the combos will start chaining in a more natural way… let me stress the eventually part, because God of Rock is a doesn’t take any prisoners and certainly isn’t for those who give up easily.
For Those About to Rumble
There’s an undeniable appeal to this surprising genre mashup that could easily capture the attention of any Guitar Hero fan, as it clearly veers towards the rhythm side of things, leaving the fighting portion as more of a cosmetic choice. With local and ranked online multiplayer, God of Rock ingeniously taps into the wildly competitive spirit of many gamers who will do their best to excel in these battles. Nonetheless, it’s impossible to ignore the lack of any mainstream tracks and the overall high difficulty, making this an even more niche game than it seemed at first. God of Rock ranks high on the originality scale, but despite some potentially exciting showdowns, this rhythm-fighter game still has to prove that it’s more than a one-trick guitar.
MP1st was given access to a preview build of God of Rock for our hands-on session. God of Rock is set to release on April 18, 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch.