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God of Rock is a unique game- it combines the rhythm game genre with fighting game elements, creating a game with a skill floor that’s like those dine-in-the-sky situations.
It’s a great testament to the spirit of competitive gaming- if there’s an end state with one person standing and the other not, you can bet there’ll be people who will want to learn to play it.
That being said, there’s something to be said of skill floors- if your game takes too long to get, you run a fear of scaring off potential players, no matter how eager they are to throw money matches. How does God of Rock fair in this respect? Read on and find out:
Beat To The Beat But The Beat Goes On Da Da Dun Da Dun
Conceptually, God of Rock feels like the unholy union of competitive Tetris and Guitar Hero- a praise not to be taken lightly. You compete in what’s essentially endurance matches- hit as many notes as you can to avoid taking damage and pray your opponent slips up before you do, all while the beatmaps get progressively harder the longer you go on.
Well, you could wait it out I guess. But just like Cain wasn’t just gonna wait for Abel to die of natural causes, so too can you take more… direct action in your opponents downfall. Each of the game’s cast of music-themed characters have a variety of special moves, able to turn the tide in your favor.
At their most basic, they fill the note chart with even more notes, meaning more chances for your opponent to miss and screw up. But by Level 3 you start getting insidious with it- characters can start messing with the timing, healing themselves and more. It adds a really complex layer of strategy, since you can’t be throwing out special moves at will either- you still need to keep up with your own note-barrage.
I spent a lot of time with the snazzily dressed Tophat- his entire kit is built around cooldown times, letting him either shorten his own cooldowns or lengthen his opponent’s. It inspires you to pay way more attention to your opponent’s kit- which unfortunately means one more thing to pay attention to in a dizzying flurry of things that require your immediate attention.
Still, its the first step towards playing the way the game is intended- just like a Tetris player not realizing Tetris is about so much more than making sure to clear each line, God of Rock constantly has that feeling that you should be playing it on a higher level.
Skill Floor
Unfortunately, that does bring us to God of Rock’s biggest flaw- it’s a little too unique. It boasts a skill floor higher than many skill ceilings, requiring you to be able to multitask all the things it throws at you while also getting a read on your opponent. It’s a game that’s almost impossible to play against AI, considering you need that human element of screwing up at the worst possible times.
Worse still is that there’s little in the way of transferable skills. It’s very much a rhythm game first, so I found myself frustrated because my inability to keep up with the basic rhythm game aspect means I didn’t get to enjoy the tactical part of using my skills. Meanwhile the fighting game part of my brain was just chomping at the bit for some kind of control, since having to react to so many things feels more akin to playing defensively than going on the offense.
That’s not to say you have to play it like a killer- but God of Rock feels designed to be enjoyed at the highest level, like 3rd Strike or Tekken 7. Its main problem is getting players there- there’s a lot of information to take in, and it all starts once you learn to stop being overwhelmed by the hail of notes coming your way.
Closing Thoughts
At the end of the day though, it’s hard to say I didn’t have fun with God of Rock. It feels like the kind of game you’d run side tournaments for at local events- something everyone just gets into at the same level, as a break from getting bodied in pools.
Its biggest hurdle is definitely selling itself to audiences- there’s some legitimate fun to be had playing it competitively, but that means convincing people around you to put down King of Fighters or Tekken long enough to play a game featuring Totally-Not-David-Bowie doing combos on Totally-Not-Elvis, then getting good enough at those games to reach the fun part.
That being said, just like Tetris, there’s fun to be had just playing people on the same level as you. The game has both online and local play, so you might find your new favorite past time to assert dominance after a couple of drinks. I’ve also neglected to mention that the soundtrack is the stuff of gods, and the fact they go on as long as one of you is still alive is a pretty neat feat of engineering.
I also have to praise the genuine creativity of the idea- like I said at the start of this, the fact you can make anything competitive as long as you add a lose state is pretty great, and I hope to see God of Rock inducted into another of those FGC darlings.
God of Rock Verdict
| Pros | Cons |
| Unique gameplay | ...So unique, in fact, it's hard to learn |
| Banger of a soundtrack | Animations could use a bit of polish |
God of Rock reviewed on PC. Review code provided by publisher.
