GAME REVIEW
Metal band Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) teamed up with Subscience Studios last year in October to create their
very own hack n’ slash game named after one of their albums: Hail to the King: Deathbat. This 3rd person
game is available for Android and iOS and is an action-RPG in which you play as the Deathbat (Avenged Sevenfold’s mascot) and battle your way through the underworld. In the game you can select levels, each named
after A7X songs such as Nightmare and Afterlife, from the map of ‘Moros Island’. There are hidden deathbats
to find to unlock bonus levels and once you complete a level you can unlock the next place on the island.
The game revolves around Andronikos (you) having a limited amount of health
and magic (the amounts can be upgraded by spending coins that can be collected during game play). If the health reaches 0 you lose a life and there are 5
lives until it resets so that you no longer appear at the checkpoints you previously got to. Magic can be used to build up and create a large attack or you can
aim it at opponents. You also carry a sword (which can also be upgraded) that
you can swing to attack enemies. At each level there are smaller opponents who
are easier to defeat and there are multiple large ones which you have to defeat
in a confined area before you can complete the entire level.
The game is quite difficult, especially at the start as you only have five lives but once you get the hang of it,
it’s quite addictive! Although some people dislike the graphics on the game, it is styled to look like old console
games so this can be overlooked. Sometimes the controls can be a bit fiddly, especially on smaller screens
and occasionally it is hard to know how to defeat a large enemy. Overall though, it is not too pricy (unless you
upgrade your character to an A7X member which is £1.99) and you can definitely get a lot of hours of game
play for your money. Most importantly though, although this was created by a band, you don’t need to actually like or listen to the band to have fun playing it (although listening to A7X is recommended!).
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Photo Credits: Hail to the king banner: www.geekbomb.net, star rating: www.imgarcade.com, screen shot (left): www.play.google.com, screen shot (right): www.revolvermag.com, hail to the king logo:
www.board.deathbatgame.com, Deathbat icon: www.facebook.com/HailtotheKingDeathbat, app store: www.commons.wikimedia.org, Google play: www.shoulderstheband.com