Cowbell Hero Review
PROS
- Charming presentation; forces its single-minded angle, but does so with gleeful abandon.
- Tight rhythm patterns; challenging despite the inherent simplicity of the gameplay.
CONS
- Uninspired and minimalistic gameplay; reduces an already oversaturated genre without bringing something new to the table.
- More variation on the backgrounds would have helped to curb the feeling of repetition.
VERDICT
If you 'gotta have more cowbell' and you're not already sick to death of the sketch that inspired this game, then Cowbell Hero makes for a fun, casual rhythm-game distraction with a solid track listing to rock along with.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Digital Hero Games can't seem to let go of the Saturday Night Live sketch involving Will Ferrel and Christopher Walken. You know the one I'm talking about, it even has its own Wikipedia entry and haunts the actors to this day. Of course I'm talking about 'More Cowbell' and Cowbell Hero is a singular-minded Guitar Hero clone that (if nothing else) features some rockin' tunes, so I say why not?
We'll not concern you with the story, though it does go to great lengths to justify its protagonist's obsession with playing the Cowbell - it's amusing, but you'll be mostly concerned with the music...
Of which there is plenty to choose from; and they're not cheesy sound-a-like's either. There's "Down on the Corner", "Incense and Peppermints", "Evil Ways", "Rock Me", and yes, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". We are familiar with B.O.C. and it is good.
Delve deeper and you'll even come across some dubstep... so there's that niche covered too (for what it's worth).
If there's any let down, it's the core experience, which is understandably hard to escape from. You're presented with two sides of the cowbell and you'll tap in rhythm until the end of the song. The difficulty is far from lax, but those who consider themselves rhythm game aficionados will want to play 'More Cowbell' mode to make up for the inherent lack of complexity.
Ultimately it's repetitive and uninspired, and attempts to make up the gap by being very harsh when it comes to handing out score multipliers and the all-important 'Fever' mode for a double score multiplier.
If you're a fan of classic rock and rhythm games, this is the game for you; it may not challenge you and the repetition may mean you'll have to step away from it between songs, but it's an amusing title if nothing else.
Screenshots
$6.99
