Kickbeat (PSN/PS VITA)

Out of all of Zen Studios video game creations "Kickbeat" could have easily been the game to outsell, and outdo their famous pinball tables. The key phrase in that statement though is "could have been". While the game looks absolutely stunning, and has an awesome music feature that I'm all for I found the gameplay to be flawed to a point that having fun while playing the game was almost an impossibility. Instead of easing the gamers into the gameplay Zen Studios almost immediately has them hammering out button presses to fast paced songs that honestly should have been used in the much harder difficulty settings. It is these combinations of hard hitting songs, and  extreme challenges that have made the review process frustrating for me.

While I could (barely) complete the first two songs on the 'Normal' difficulty setting in the story mode I found trying to repeatedly get past the first boss battle to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Not being able to get past a boss, because the actions onscreen don't seem to be in sync with the button presses makes the seemingly badass boss encounter a trying experience.Very rarely will I choose to not continue playing a game, but this playthrough has been beyond rage inducing for me. I just don't see myself being able to make it any further any time soon. As much as I hate to I'm going to have to go ahead, and post my review with my limited knowledge of the game. I apologize to my readers, and to Mel of Zen Studios, but a full playthrough of this game is just not possible for me.

Kickbeat is a rhythm based game that uses in-game features which are very similar to Silver Dollar Game's "One Finger Death Punch", and CoolBeam Game's "Beat Hazard". Like those particular indie games you will be required to not only defeat waves of multi-colored enemies who each have different attack patterns, but must also do so to the rhythm of music. Unlike the two indies previously mentioned though you will find that there is a fully fleshed out story included to go along with the kung-fu music based action. As one of the select few apprentices of Master Fu ("Order of the Melodic Fist" Leader) you have been let in on an age old secret about a relic called the "Sphere of Music". Supposedly it is this mystical sphere that contains, and releases all the music that ever was, and ever will be heard. For your knowledge of this ancient item you have found yourself imprisoned by an evil rival clan, and have been made to perform on a dance floor made for combat until you spill the beans about your secret knowledge. Ultimately it is this illuminated dance floor where the main action of the game takes place, and where the story of "Kickbeat" unfolds.

The dance floor, as I referred to it is the place where the 18 chapters of the story mode take place. Between animated cutscenes, and boss battles you'll find yourself (Lee/Mei) in the middle of a dance floor in a variety of different locales (Wrestling Arena, Monestary ...). On these dance floors you'll find that directly underneath your feet lies a yin-yang symbol that represents your life, and your chi. As long as you can keep up with the music, and press the appropriate buttons in time with the enemies attacks your health will stay intact, and your score will continue to rise. This in turn will progress the story at hand. To successfully complete a dance floor performance though you must defeat all the enemies that try to attack you, and must last the entire duration of the song that is being played as well. You'll find that the waves of enemies, and the music track lengths both go hand in hand in this particular game.

Along with your basic Kung Ku strikes that play out with the press of either the D-Pad directional buttons, or the (SQUARE, TRIANGLE, CIRCLE, X) buttons you'll also find help in the form of power-ups that can be obtained by defeating enemies with icons above their heads. Simply double tapping the required button at the appropriate time will reward you with the power-up (Shield, Chi, Blast, Bonus Points, Point Multiplier, HEALTH). Once a power-up is collected you'll have to press (R1) to activate it. The collected "Chi" power-up on the other hand can only be activated by pressing the (L1) button. The Chi power-up basically acts as a points booster which will last until you get hit a certain amount of times while the other power-ups have different effects.

As far as enemy types go you'll find that they come in a colorful assortment of Red, Yellow, and Blue. As I mentioned earlier each enemy has it's own unique attack pattern, and will always attack accordingly. The red enemies for example come in pairs of twos, or threes and will require simultaneous button presses to defeat. The yellow enemies on the other hand come in two varieties. They'll either attack you alone, or will come connected with another yellow enemy via a yellow light wave. To defeat them you must strike the first yellow enemy, and hold down the appropriate button. After that you must release the button to defeat the next yellow enemy. Last, but not least are the blue enemies that come in pairs. One of them will attack first, and will be immediately followed up by the next blue attacker in rapid succession.

Game modes, and features in this rhythm based brawler are plentiful. Aside from the multiple difficulty settings in the story mode you'll also find that there are three other unlockable modes of play including an optional tutorial that is a must for people just getting into "Kickbeat". The other modes which include "Free Play", "Beat Your Music", and "Survival" all become available after your successful playthrough of the 18 music track based chapters of the story. What each mode entails is unfortunately a mystery to me though as I cannot beat story mode, even on the lowest difficulty setting. Through the names though it should be somewhat obvious as to what they are about. As far as extra features go they come in the form of additional characters, a visualizer, trophies, playable in-game cinematics, and rewards. Like the additional modes, these extras remain a mystery to me though. Only the extra character "Mei", the "Cinematics" (playable cutscenes), and PSN trophies were within my reach.

For those of you interested in the music tracks that are included you'll be glad to know that there's some familiar tunes available. Among the artists that are most familiar are "Rob Zombie", "Marilyn Manson", "P.O.D.", "Celldweller", and "Blue Stahli". For those of you looking to go beyond the provided tracks you'll find that this score based game also includes a mode (Beat Your Music) that will allow you to use your own downloaded MP3 music tracks in the game.This is a plus, and is definitely a feature I would have enjoyed had I been able to get past story mode.

Now on to the verdict ...

Kickbeat looks amazing, and sounds amazing. There's no doubt about that. Unfortunately though I found that it's too difficult too early on to be really enjoyable. That is my opinion, and I stick by it. While some may say that it simply requires practice to master I beg to differ. The visuals which are often times hard to follow make progressing through the more fast, and hardcore music tracks more difficult than it should be. If you miss one enemy often times you'll find yourself lost to a brutal gang attack by multiple assailants before you can regain a proper handle on the situation. While the core gameplay is definitely flawed in this manner it is the boss battles that sent me over the edge. During the boss battles the action is shown in a distant point of view that obstructs a lot of what is going on. Not only that, but Master Fu's laser attacks do not feel as if they connect like Lee's, and Mei's strikes do. This in itself makes the boss battles more challenging than they should be. The fact that you must also last until the end of the song during a boss battle even though you have killed off all of the boss's life only complicates the matter even more. It's a feature that definitely seems out of place. The developer should have made the boss's life last until the end of the track, or at least make it so that the boss battle ends once you have depleted all of the boss's health.

As far as recommending the game goes I'd love to do so, but I just don't see this being an experience that all gamers will really enjoy. If you are one of those rare gamers who prefer a challenge though then "Kickbeat" is definitely worth getting. You'll find that the graphics are amazing on both the PS3 console, and the PS Vita handheld. The fact that you get both games for one price (Cross-Buy) is a plus in itself. The Kung Fu action seems to be authentic, and is shown in a way that adds emphasis to the fighting visuals included. I even loved the tracks that were made available with the game. While I didn't know all of the songs I knew enough about the artists to know that their music would be a worthy selection for Kickbeat. The fact that you can also use your own music later own adds a significant amount of replay value to the game. Being a hardcore gamer you'll be glad to know that "Kickbeat" also contains global leaderboards/scoreboards for those players who love to always be on top. In that sense Kickbeat is definitely a game geared towards the more dedicated/hardcore gamers, and will be better received by such a community. I'll leave it at that. If you're a casual gamer you'll probably want to avoid Kickbeat, but if your a hardcore game who's up for a proper challenge then I say get this beast!!!