Background
Have you ever wanted to be a punk rock band member who must battle his way out of the pits of Hell and become the greatest rocker of all time, while defeating an old adversary who refuses to stay away? This game features some of the most uncomfortable stages and boss fights, but ones you will fight through out of pure interest. Charlie Murder was developed by Ska Studios and released to the Xbox 360, via Xbox Arcade, on August 13, 2013. Ska Studios is known also for the “Dishwasher” series, and this helps to cement the dark riotous feel that just screams Ska Studios. This game takes a very violent genre known as the great “beat ’em up” genre and mixes it with RPG elements and adds a story and tone that only supplements the violence with… wait for it… more violence!
Gameplay
The joy of the “beat ‘em up” genre is that there is usually non-stop violence and action. This game is no exception. It puts the player in control of 1 of the 5 members of the punk rock band Charlie Murder. Including the vocalist Charlie himself, or the band’s extremely large drummer Rex “The Rexecutioner.” You play as the band members as they fight their way out of Hell after being killed and must fight to become the greatest band out there. Throughout the game, you will unlock powers which are gained through getting some sweet tattoos that give each band member different powers. You level up through gaining followers on this game’s version of Twitter and allocating skill points into different stat categories. The game may require a bit of grinding as you get further in the story, as some bosses are way more difficult than others. For instance, The Lady in Tatters, who you fight in an abandoned psychiatric hospital, can only be seen when she is attacking you, accompanied by a terrifying scream. The game has some sweet combos too; the combat flows very well even allowing for ground combos to easily become air combos and even finishers. The gameplay is fun and the combat is fast and varies for a fresh feeling. The animation and graphics, however, are not as nice. The art style is enjoyable though and fits the anarchistic feeling the game is trying to invoke. You will also be doing yourself a huge disservice by not playing co-op. Each character is fun in their own right and you should check it out.
Story
This game features an incredibly unique and odd story. You play as one of the 5 members of punk rock band Charlie Murder and you start the game by literally fighting your way out of Hell and onward towards fame. Along the way, you will encounter many enemies who will be absolutely ruthless towards you; zombies, witches, gentleman potatoes and of course ninjas will try to combat you. However, they are not the only opposition you’ll face on your journey as you will face off against many deadly bosses that are definitely not lacking in imaginative design. Bosses such as The Lady in Tatters and Vlad: the Eternally Cold offer a dark macabre feeling between their design and the music and sound effects that play while fighting them.
Then you have bosses like The Baffled Homunculus and Big Oscar the Nth, who are a little more comical in their design and mannerisms. The game definitely tackles some dark topics such as drug use. The drug use in question comes in when you must take some pills in a campground and go on an intense trip, killing enemies. This happens while you traverse a very colorful and trippy location only to sober up and see a group of dead hippies who had been massacred and one surviving hippie who screams and runs at the sight of you. This would probably lead one to believe that the player killed did it while tripping. This game’s antagonist, Lord Mortimer, is the lead musician for the opposing band known as Gore Quaffer. It is revealed later in the game that he is not only Paul, the past guitarist of Charlie Murder, but also the person who killed the players in the beginning of the game. The game features multiple endings and depends on the player’s actions and whether or not they have collected the body parts of the monster Smockula. Smockula is the dark entity controlling Paul and it is revealed that he is the reason for Paul’s transformation.
Characters
As previously stated, the characters are the 5 Charlie Murder band members. Certain characters fill certain roles. My personal favorite, Berserker Charlie, is a very “in-the-mix” style brawler, with powers that effect enemies and are activated by his crushing vocals. Then you have Shaman Tommy, whose powers come from his sick bass riffs, whether it is slinging saw blades or summoning some acid rain to melt your enemies. Tommy is also adept at making totems out of decapitated heads to buff his teammates. Then there is Mage Lester, who is the band’s guitarist, and just oozes elemental rage. The game also has unlockable characters in the form of alternate reality versions of the band members. One such reality has the band members possess different ice-based powers. While their core gameplay remains the same as the other variants of the characters, they feature different powers making for a very different feeling character. If your struggling in co-op, don’t worry, there is always the band ability that combines every player into a giant attack. Not strong enough for an enemy? Go back and try to earn some new gear to better boost your stats. At first, the game seemed to offer a very little amount of character customization. However, after 3 playthroughs, I realized there was way more than it seems.
Verdict: 7/10
Charlie Murder is a pretty good game for Xbox 360 owners with it’s fun and energetic combat, unique and interesting characters, that scream personality. It contains some of the most visually disturbing bosses and story moments of any game I have played in recent years. The very violent aesthetic of the game is very well packaged with the combat and music. The game can become monotonous when playing over and over again in an attempt to unlock all the characters. If you really enjoy “beat ’em ups”, then this should pose no problem for you. I think the animation could be better and its hardcore content can be a turn off for some audiences, but this game is a great one nonetheless. Charlie Murder is a fun game to have in your collection if you are looking for mindless violence and violent themes.
