Zen Studios may be best known for their wildly popular Pinball FX series, but lately they've been branching out with a surprisingly diverse line-up of games that has nothing to do with flippers and ramps. Earlier this year, the Budapest-based company released CastleStorm, a fast-paced strategy game that combined Angry Birds and tower defense. Now they're placing their bets on another quirky mash-up, the unfortunately titled KickBeat.
Announced well over a year ago, KickBeat has finally made its way to the PS Vita and PlayStation 3. It takes elements from two of my favorite genres -- rhythm games and fighters -- and creates one of the most intriguing games of the year. Sadly, the game is marred by a truly awful soundtrack and a story mode that locks the best content away from eager fans.
Don't worry; you won't be forced to use either of the PS Vita's two touchscreens like DJ Max Technika Tune. KickBeat uses the four face buttons, putting it more in line with Rock Band Unplugged on the PSP. You use the four face buttons to fight off an army of ninjas, wrestlers, clubbers and other assorted bad guys. As an enemy walks towards a marked direction, it's up to the player to hit the corresponding button. Hit the triangle for enemies at the top of the screen, square button for baddies attacking from the left and so on so forth.
As I'm sure you already know, none of this is as easy as it sounds. You'll quickly discover that there are many types of enemies, each with a different color scheme. For example, the yellow ninjas are slow, while their blue counterpart is quick. Red ninjas attack in teams, so the player will have to hit two or more buttons at once. Sometimes an enemy will require players to hold the button, waiting for their follower to show up.
None of these bad guys are particularly difficult when left to their own devices, especially when there's an on-screen button prompt and a predictable pattern to memorize. But things get tricky when all of these unfriendly faces strike one after another. Suddenly the screen becomes a chaotic mess and perfect timing becomes essential.
The game makes everything a little more complicated by tossing in power-ups. Certain enemies will have bonus points and power-ups floating above their head, requiring the player to double tap the button in order to collect the prize. But beware, it's easy to get used to double tapping a bunch of prize-holding enemies in a row, only to lose your multiplier by not noticing a regular one-hit baddie.
There are also a number of gameplay mechanics that immediately bring other rhythm games to mind. Under our hero's feet is a ying/yang symbol, which displays a life and multiplier bonus bar. Get hit too many times and the life bar will deplete, eventually leading to defeat. The other bar works similar to Rock Band's "Overdrive" (or Guitar Hero's "Star Power," if that's how you roll); once the player meets the requirement, they can unleash a power that doubles the current multiplier.
KickBeat has more than just hand-to-hand battles with large groups of fighters; it also has a number of boss fights. I was surprised that the various boss encounters weren't just harder enemies, but instead involved large bad guys that will test all of your KickBeating abilities. In one stage you leap from statue-to-statue shooting lasers and shocking the boss. Another stage has our hero fending off missile strikes from a helicopter. None of these battles deviate from the standard four-button set-up, but they feel substantially different from the typical stages.
Best of all, these boss fights seem to be paired with KickBeat's best songs. I say that somewhat begrudgingly, as I don't genuinely love any of the 18 songs featured on the soundtrack. The closest I got was Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People" and Rob Zombie's infectious "Scum of the Earth." Even if you count those two 1990s singles twice, I would still be hard-pressed to come up with a list of five songs I liked.
The problem isn't the talent; there is a solid mix of fresh faces and top 40 hits. Big names or not, I found KickBeat's song selection to be endlessly frustrating. It is, for the most part, made up of the same nu-metal hit makers I normally try so desperately to avoid. Nearly every song has these components: Whispered lyrics, a yelled chorus and a section in the middle where somebody raps. And when it's not a who's who of nu-metal's finest, the game pees in the pool with dubstep.
I hate KickBeat's soundtrack in the same way Frosty the Snowman hates the hot, hot sun. There's so much yelling and growling that it made me yearn for a future when my bodiless head is stuffed in a very quiet jar. I feared every single death, because I knew it would mean playing my new least favorite song over again from the start.
Normally music games hope for the best by offering a large variety, from pop to rock to punk. Not KickBeat. This game puts all its musical eggs in one basket, and it ends up sinking the ship. No matter what I think of the gameplay, I will always think twice about playing KickBeat due entirely to the horrible song choices. Obviously, fans of nu-metal will likely disagree, perhaps even hailing this as one of the best rhythm games on the market. Those who don't see Fred Durst's genius need not apply.
Thankfully there's respite from the non-stop nu-metal blowout. KickBeat allows players to import their own MP3s, creating customized levels with your own personal music tastes in mind. The import process is simple enough; though it's missing a way to sort by artist or album (it only displays song titles). Once imported, the game asks the player to account for the beats per minute and set other parameters. After that you're ready to rock 'n roll ... or whatever genre you import.
I tried several of my favorite bands, from mellow to hardcore. As expected, slower numbers by Emily Haines and Sigur Ros proved unsatisfying. On the other hand, early Garbage and The Propellerheads ended up working well, though not as seamless as the charts made specifically for the game. It's also worth noting that choosing a song longer than six minutes will require some unfortunate edits. Even though importing was a bit of a hassle, I had a good time trying various songs out and can see myself going back just to do that.
But here's the rub - the import mode has to be unlocked by playing through KickBeat's entire story mode. Many other modes are also locked from the start, such as free play. What's more, the harder difficulties are also locked, forcing players to go through each difficulty just to play at the "Master" level. While I encourage all beginners to start out with the normal setting, there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to bump up the difficulty at my own pace. No other music game does this.
There's a survival mode that sounds like a lot of fun, but I'll likely never see it because I will need to beat all 18 songs on four different difficulties just to have a chance to sample it. I can understand offering rewards for mastering the game, but holding back core modes is a step in the wrong direction.
I have somehow gone 1,200 words without mentioning the story, which involves Lee on a quest to take back the music that has been scattered around the world. The story plays out through a series of simple cinemas. While not bad, there are several cringe-inducing pop culture references that completely took me out of the experience. Needless to say, game writers should not name drop Justin Bieber.
Despite my adverse reaction to the soundtrack, there's a lot I like about KickBeat. The gameplay is simple and addictive; I had a lot of fun beating up these poor, predictable fools. I also like how the online leaderboard is integrated into each menu page, giving players a sense on how they stack up against the world and their friends. The graphics are also sharp, though it took me awhile to warm to the character models.
With its song importer and fun gameplay, KickBeat proves to be an interesting idea. Unfortunately, the experience is nearly ruined thanks to a terrible soundtrack and core modes that are locked away for no good reason. If you can get past these problems, you'll discover a fun new take on the rhythm game genre. It's not perfect, but KickBeat is worth playing.
