Developer: Deadbeat Productions
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Tested on: PC
Deadbeat Heroes – Review
Crime fighters unite! In 1970’s London there is a lot of crime going on, but luckily there is a secret headquarters located that houses some of the best crime fighters. You, and if you like a friend, can get ready to save civilians, beat up goons and save a part of the world where old-school comic sounds and villains are still very much alive.
Story
London, 1970. The city is getting terrorized by a couple of high priority crime bosses who have tons of baddies at their disposal to rob places, frighten people and give you a hard time. During the game, when you are at your headquarters, your team captain will tell you what’s up at the moment. After that, it’s up to you to walk to any available vehicle that serves as a level selector to jump into the arcade-ridden levels and fight back the forces of evil. At the end of each series of levels, there will be a unique boss with special powers to end the short piece of ”story” given by your team captain who.. surprisingly never joins the fight himself.
Graphics
The game has the looks of a comic book translated to 3D graphics. Which works nicely for the environment, but the characters themselves seem to get a bit lost in their outlines and health bars. The visuals are just not that clear in the enemies and heroes and all of their animations. It’s something you can get used to, but also something that could have been worked out better for a clear communication in what’s going on. The actions themselves can already be a bit chaotic, so in games like these, it can be important to have proper visual queues and clean graphics.
Sound
The sound has what you would expect from a concept that’s supposed to reflect a cliche of superheroes and comics. The ”Swoosh” and the ”Kapow” sounds, trumpets and horns, they are all there. In the background, there are some soulful or upbeat tempo tracks to accompany you and the overall style of the 70’s and old animated comics such as the 1966’s animated Batman show.
Gameplay
Deadbeat Heroes is an action arcade brawler. In each level, you go from room to room, saving poor helpless citizens who give you money (bonus points), and beating up the bad guys. Each level has a certain grade they expect you to get. In early stages, a D will be enough, later a C, and so on. You get more points by making sure there is barely time between hitting one goon and the next one, increasing your points for each hit. Chaining combos like this can be fun, but it’s also a bit the downside of the game since it puts the most focus on this part, not always being able to enjoy the gameplay so much. In a game with a slightly similar system such as Hotline Miami, at least the challenging map layout and combo chains make up most of the gameplay as well. In Deadbeat Heroes, sometimes enemies are tough and you have to dodge or dash them, but it does not always play smoothly enough to give you full control over the actions of your character, making it frustrating at times to try and succeed.
It just feels like some basic moves to combo on are missing, such as a simple ground attack. You can unlock an attack from above when an enemy is on the ground and you jump in the air, but these are just basic things that make it easier and more fun to keep a combo going. Maybe pick an opponent up and throw him to another. Now you basically dash and jump all over the place, trying to beat up everybody while feeling the pressure of the combo timer ticking. Hit enemies also drop blue orbs. Picking these up fill your special meter which you use for a special attack. The special attacks can change if you punch a special enemy and pick up his power like some regular none-pink Kirby, but the number of special enemies (and by that, also the amount of different powers) barely changes, making you sometimes feel like a one-trick pony.
Conclusion
Deadbeat Heroes has some fast-paced old-school arcade action that feels good to play by yourself or with a friend. It can be a bit chaotic due to the lack of clean graphics or effects, but the general gameplay is fun for at least a little bit each day. Longer gameplay gets a bit repetitive and loses its charm because of the core element being chaining combos together. The game lacks a bit of variation, but the fact that it doesn’t take itself too seriously makes it worthwhile.
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