If f, d, df or b, d, db + all three Punches or Kicks, db~df, db, uf + Kick then f + Punch when close and f, d, df or b, d, db + all three Punches or Kicks mean anything to you then you're just someone who loves a good beat em up and has Street Fighter button combinations permanently burned into your memory or you have savant like symptoms.
Divekick by One True Game Studios seeks to reinvent the beat em up by doing away with button combinations entirely. It's unique selling point is you only use two buttons. One makes you jump and the other makes you dive. If you press your dive button while you're on the ground your character jumps backwards. You do not use the analogue sticks or the D pad for anything. Even the menu is navigated using the two buttons you set up at the beginning of the game.
Each of the fourteen characters is a parody of another fighter from another beat em up. Street fighter seems to be the main victim here with characters like Kung-Pao (Chun Li) and S-Kill (M. Bison). After you have chosen which character to fight with you get to pick a gem. Each gem will enhance one of your abilities:
Yellow gem increases your diving height by 6%, Blue gem Kicking speed increased by 12%, Grey gem Kick Factor meter gain increased by 15% and Double Red gems YOLO all of the above (but the user starts 4 rounds down) 30%.
Each fight is 20 seconds long and the first to win five rounds wins the match. If the match is a draw then the fighter closest to the centre of the screen is declared the winner. If a potential 9 round match sounds like a lot it really isn’t. Each match is a one hit kill. So your attacks will have to be timed to perfection.
As you dive and kick across the screen you will start filling up a special move meter in the shape of your fighters foot. Once this is full you can activate a special move by pressing both buttons together. You have two special moves to use and they vary greatly if you're on the ground or in the air.
The single story mode is overly long and completely pointless. Their ‘humorous’ backstories are just a muddle and seem to be there just so you have an attachment to each character. I love humour in a game but Divekick tries too hard to be funny. References come thick and fast and get boring very, very quickly. After forcing myself through a couple of playthroughs with different characters I found no advantages or disadvantages using different characters at all. This game is all about your timing and patience as all good beat em ups are.
The multiplayer aspect is where much of your time will be spent while playing Divekick and I mean locally with one joypad. I have lost count of the amount of times I have sat searching for an online opponent to play against. Anything from fifteen to twenty minutes at a time just sat searching or setting up my own lobby in case some poor unfortunate would drop in. Online is dead and buried on the Xbox One. Local Multiplayer however is a different story. Matches are of course very, very quick and do create a buzz that the single player game is definitely missing.
Divekick is a strange game and its simplicity is its downfall. The single player is very, very boring and the total lack of online play is very frustrating. Divekicks saving grace is its local multiplayer but the novelty of that will soon wear off. I applaud One True Game Studios attempts at something different but sadly the game falls very short of entertaining.
Thanks to the Xbox Communty Network for all their support and tender love.