GODHOOD

Fighting games are always engaging and fast-paced, especially retro beat ‘em ups that feature 2D graphics. However, they also tend to get boring if there aren’t enough combos and special moves one can employ in battle. Thankfully, there are other ways to keep the experience fresh, and it’s not necessarily with more content or with longer battles.

GODHOOD is a 2D hack & slash that features an interesting new approach to the whole fighting aspect: rhythm. Hence, you have to follow the beat of the song playing in the background in order to score combos, which makes the experience a lot more engaging. Besides the fact that you have to stay focused on the beat, it’s also mandatory that you pay attention to what’s happening on the screen, otherwise you get killed in a matter of seconds.

There are only three buttons you need to use in combat, except for the directional keys needed for movement. As such, one of them allows you to attack, one to dodge and one to unleash a powerful explosion when your combo is great enough. Naturally, the only way to increase your combo power is by hitting enemies on the beat, which is tougher than it sounds.

It must be mentioned that the formula is not very refined at the moment, even if this is just an Alpha build. Tapping to the beat and moving around at the same time is very counterintuitive on a keyboard, which is going to cause many problems in the beginning. Everything looks the same, except obviously the great energy explosions at the end of a glorious combo.

Speaking of which, the artwork and the general visual design is actually a bit of a bummer, because everything would feel a lot more cohesive if the game didn’t look like it was drawn by a ten-year-old. It’s annoying that every enemy looks the same, and it’s even more annoying that they are nothing but blackish blobs that are very difficult to distinguish from the environment sometimes.

In the end, GODHOOD certainly has a lot of potential, it just needs to be polished a lot more before it can make players happy. Even if some of the flaws remain, the action is engaging enough to make you forget about most of the bad parts.