App Review: Die For Metal

Let’s face it, metal music has one of the most creative and loyal followings of any kind of music. Everyone dresses like a My Chemical Romance music video, the music is meant to induce rage instead of other, often more preferable feelings, and it’s completely awesome. So why not make a game based around that? Well, SinSquid Games has done just that with Die For Metal, a platformer based around the theme of metal. It’s in the Google Play Store for $1.10. As usual, if you’d rather watch, the video is at the bottom.

Game Play

When gamers enter Die For Metal for the first time, they’ll be treated with a simple main menu. You can access high scores, more games from SinSquid Games, and the soundtrack for the game, among other things. It’s nice and easy for those metal fans who happen to not like reading. To begin play, just hit the play button.

Once players start playing Die For Metal, the fun begins. There are only the basic commands. Run left, run right, jump, double jump, and wall jump are about all you can do. The premise of the game is to complete each level while avoiding obstacles that will kill you in one shot. At the end of the game, our main character gets to join an epic metal band.

What makes this game so difficult is the obstacles. They can and will kill you in a single hit, so you will very often actually die for metal. In fact, the game will keep a count of how many times you’ve died along with your score in a fun mixture of trolling and bragging rights.  The developers even mention it in the game description.

Also, as you progress through the game, you can collect skulls. We don’t know what they’re for yet, but hey it’s something to collect. The controls are a little loose so prepare to do a lot of course correction, especially while jumping. This actually makes the game more fun and challenging than annoying, though.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in this game are ridiculous. Not ridiculously good or ridiculously bad, but just ridiculous. Whenever you die from an obstacle, you’ll explode. Similarly, if you decide to replay a level, you’ll explode. The main character in Die For Metal wears the creepiest metal face smile we’ve ever seen. Also, the levels are very dark and there are random things that explode when you touch them. In fact, there is not one explosion caused by fire, it’s all living (or once living) things exploding here.

Die For Metal’s soundtrack is just as metal as its graphics. Gamers will be treated to over a dozen tracks of metal music that’s actually unlockable and accessible in the main menu. So if you just enjoy the music, you can listen to it in the app without being forced to play. The graphics and music work together very well to create a mood.

Replay Value

Like many Android games, Die For Metal goes on a 3-star system. Depending how fast you make it through the level, you’ll earn either 1, 2, or 3 stars. So there is the inherent replay value in completing levels repeatedly to earn more stars. Since most levels are short and quick, playing repeatedly doesn’t get annoying immediately, While limited, it is something to do.

Another interesting aspect is the ability to open the app and listen to the soundtrack without playing the game. Fans of the game’s metal music can open the app whenever they want and access the game’s soundtrack. While this isn’t replay value by definition, it does give the app value aside from the main story line.

Die For Metal Overall Value

When it’s all said and done, Die For Metal is a unique game. The platformer itself is rather fun. However, with the added benefit of a fully metal theme and the soundtrack you can listen to anytime is icing on the cake for metal fans. If you’re a fan of metal, it’s not even a question, the game is worth checking out.

On the other hand, if you don’t like metal, you may not enjoy Die For Metal as much. You could always play it on mute but the theme is still there. Also, if you don’t like platformers, you probably won’t enjoy this game either.