Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands Review for Xbox

After almost three years out in the wild on PC, Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is now available on Xbox Series X/S and the trusty old Xbox One. Players investing in the game will also be treated to Xbox Play Anywhere functionality, meaning you can play the game anywhere your Xbox library is accessible. Those rocking the handhelds out there will be pleased to hear that it has been tidily optimised for gaming on the go. As someone who traditionally strays away from games with turn-based combat, this one actually pleasantly surprised me.

Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands follows a trio of musicians who are very much down on their luck. Fay, Ian the Skeleton and Briff link up to enter a prestigious competition known as Battle of the Bands, all in the hope of making a name for themselves. All isn’t as simple as it seems, though and the world around them is thrown into complete chaos. You’ll be battling rival bands whilst navigating some weird and wacky environments. What I enjoyed most was the writing and dialogue throughout; you really latch onto the personalities of the cast and their humour.

Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands takes the fundamentals of a traditional RPG and goes in its own direction. The turn-based combat is made to feel like a thrash off in a music gig. Using music as your attack, it really is a battle of the bands. Each character has their own unique abilities and attacks. During battle, you can switch your character at any time to lead in battle, which will, in turn, protect those behind you. Action bars for your band and the enemy are shown at the bottom of the screen, and once your bar reaches the middle, you’ll be able to act. Your band shares the bar, and you’ll need to strategise whether you want to attack, heal or use abilities. You can detect from the bars when the enemy is about to attack, so you can react accordingly. It’s all very simplistic, but it works very well. You’ll see various clusters of enemies when out and about in the world; you can choose to dodge them or engage in the fight.

The art style throughout the game won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s right up my street. With comic-book-inspired visuals that are beautifully vibrant throughout, it looked incredible on my 77-inch LG C5 OLED screen. Environments are well illustrated with great attention to detail. Little things like seeing the interior of a building through the window and some magnificent backdrops it’s all presented exceptionally well from such a small team.

Audio is equally fantastic, and the soundtrack is easily one of the game’s strongest points. With music matching the environments and the atmosphere of the game, it blends seamlessly, which becomes a joy for the ears. As someone who loves heavy metal and rock music, it was naturally pleasing to hear the riffs coming through during the gameplay. Whilst there is no voice acting, dialogue is clear and concise on screen and actually intriguing to read and digest. Sound effects come through as you’d expect, with satisfying weight and punch to the attacks. Overall, a blinding job with the presentation, with smooth performance on the Xbox Series X, where I played my entire playthrough.

Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is a game that got its claws into me from the moment I started to play. With an incredibly charming and colourful art style, a humorous narrative and storyline, and silky-smooth gameplay, it is one of the best indies I’ve had the pleasure of playing in 2026 so far. It just goes to show that you don’t always have to invest in triple-A experiences to have a memorable time. This is an RPG that will bless you with 20+ hours of gameplay, and I wasn’t expecting a lengthy playthrough. But they have it just right, and for someone who typically doesn’t care for turn-based combat in games, I really enjoyed my time with it. Don’t overlook this game if you’re looking for an indie adventure that oozes quality throughout; it’s a great time.

If you’d like to pick a copy up for yourself on Xbox Series X/S or even one if you’re still rocking on the Xbox One, you can do so HERE.

Score – 8.5/10

Pros

• Gorgeous comic-book art style with great environment design
• Great soundtrack
• Fantastic writing with hints of comedy throughout
• Memorable characters
• Turn-based combat is fun, quick, and engaging

Cons

• Challenging difficulty spikes later on in the game
• The humour won’t be to everyone’s taste