Power Chord Review (PC)

Bor Ironcast throws up a barrier, saving the life of a band member targeted by a powerful enemy guitar player. His own armor is high enough to ensure that he will take no damage during the next wave of attacks. Grimnir Brawlfist, the guitar player, is not so lucky and will see a slight dip in his health.

But that’s potentially a good thing because he becomes angrier as he takes hits, which translates into more damage dealt to enemies. Vocalist Stich will also be able to heal him a little, making sure that he’s not in danger of going down.

With the rest of my energy, I get Shinobi 13, bass player and toxin enthusiast, to poison an opponent with a lot of armor. It will not kill him but, combined with a weakness card, allows my team to first deal with his other demon bandmates. I will continue to prioritize defensive cards if I can, as there’s a long way to go before the boss battle and there aren’t many healing cards to play.

Power Chord is developed and published by Big Blue Bubble. I played on the PC using Steam. The title takes well-worn card rogue-lite mechanics and connects them with a solid heavy metal-inspired universe.

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The narrative is a little silly but delivered with a lot of conviction. A metal smith created a magic guitar to seal off a demon dimension. But they still found a way in and it is up to the player to lead Earth’s most powerful musicians as they battle the forces of the Helmoth. A drummer, a bass player, a vocalist, and a guitar player will join forces to deal with demonic bands, defeat their bosses and eliminate the rift between dimensions.

The game embraces the heavy metal genre, building the characters, cards, and encounters around it. It’s a fun idea and the game manages to inject humor into it. The writing is mostly utilitarian, with effort dedicated to making cards and their effects as clear as possible.

Power Chord is a turn-based card-driven battler. The four members of the band have well-defined roles. The drummer is in charge of the defense while the guitar player is the best damage dealer. The vocalist is the support member of the band and can heal and the bass player is the poisoner and debuff specialist. There are also plenty of synergies between the members of the band.

Once battle starts, players will get a hand of cards and a limited energy reserve to power them, with classic combat mechanics. The game encourages defensive play because band members have armor that regenerates between encounters while health does not. It is also easier to add armor via the drummer than regain health using the vocalist. Once a character dies, the player loses access to all his cards until he is revived.

The game gives players perfect information on enemy moves. Make sure to hover over the icons associated with each opponent to have a clear idea of their abilities. Power Chord wants players to experiment and develop tactics based on all this information.

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But the most important element of the card battles are combos that use more than one character. The guitar player tends to be the main damage dealer but his real potential is only unlocked when properly supported. Poison is a good way to deal with a heavily protected opponent. It’s mostly a good idea to weaken demons before killing them outright.

For each battle, the band gets to choose a new card and gains some money. On the way to the boss, the game also offers clearly marked healing points (with a choice to heal a third of everyone’s health or one character fully, as well as random encounters (some of which deliver resurrection options), and chests and vendors. Some of them offer equipment, which enhances the capabilities of one band member and often opens up more combo options.

After a few runs, with better card unlocks and maybe even a new character, it is time to face a boss. They are big, have a ton of health and armor, and hit very hard. At first, it might seem impossible to defeat them.

And this is the biggest weakness of Power Chord. A lot of grinding is required to get better cards, unlock the extra band members, and get the synergies required to succeed. Take a look at the Challenges page to get an idea of what it’s possible to achieve and try to aim for the cards that suit a strategy.

The metal band versus demons battles are engaging but the rogue elements need more variety. The development team has a good understanding of the genre but seems uninterested in innovating with anything other than the theme.

Power Chord is a good-looking rogue experience, centered around heavy metal motifs. I like the design of the characters and the demons, even if more variety in the enemy ranks is needed. The interface is pretty standard and communicates all the information players need to make good choices.

Unfortunately, the soundtrack is not up to the standard of the theme. The main theme is good and makes combat feel more exciting. I wanted dedicated riffs associated with combos or changes in the tempo linked to how enemies behave. But the game has too few tracks to sustain the rhythm and I found myself looking into my rock collection for albums to put on while playing.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion