Brutal Legend Review

[Retep]

The metal gods must be pleased since recently the genre has gotten a lot of attention from games like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and even had one of the most well known Metallica get their own game (its so metal because they have the word in the name!). This trend isn't finished as of yet though since Double Fine well known for the amazing game Psychonauts and Tim Schafer, recently released Brutal Legend a game so metal it includes an umlaut. But jokes aside Brutal Legend includes various ideas that seem amazing on paper and this translates into game play but sadly only for a short while.



The game stars Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black) who is the best roadie in the world, he can fix, build and make anything metal it seems like but one day at a Cabbage Boy concert he died and his belt buckle transported him into a metal heads paradise. From the start the games humor truly shines as it pokes fun at what not only the genre but the music industry itself in various and creative ways from the environments to the cut scenes this game was well thought out story wise but not is all well in the metal world the games side missions fall short as you'll hear the same dialogue over and over again and this will of course grow tedious and what was once funny will be annoying. It also doesn't help that out of all the amazing environments they built the first one is the largest as you'll run through various tropicals such as the arctic and Amazon which look awesome but are smaller compared to the main land which is mainly cliffs and open land this disappointed me as the whole world looks different but only in small sections, other then that the story is the main glue in the game as it draws you in with the characters although I never found myself caring for Eddie rather Ophelia who isn’t the main character thus I think what they may have been going for failed.

The games main land includes various hills and structures of true metal awesomeness.

Once you’re transported you are given an Axe and a guitar which uses a simplistic control system but improves on that with various combos you can use and more you can buy in the Metal Forge which is kept by the prince of darkness himself Ozzy Osbourne, along with him you have Lita Ford, Lemmy Killmeister, and Rob Halford, each not only lend the voice to the character they play but most are modeled after them (even a secret easter egg for Ozzy) this again draws you in as they fight side by side in the story and help you with the second game play sequence which is the Stage Battle which I’ll cover a little later but in the story you’ll come by these frequently and plentiful. You can also drive the Druid Plow in not only the world but the Stage Battles as you move around, besides combat the game also has side missions in between that vary from sneak attacks to races and even hunting for animals these are at first novel as you’ll need them to obtain Fire Tributes (money) for the Iron Forge but as previously mentioned become tedious as you’ll hear Jacks character saying the same jokes many times if you do the missions.

Who else but Ozzy could rule the underworld and sell you a flamethrower?

As I mentioned the game has various voice over talent that enhances the story but aside from that you get a massive and varied soundtrack that any music rhythm game should be jealous about it includes huge artists like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and even artists like White Lion, Motley Crue, Cradle of Filth and Dragonforce, all of which seem to fit and not out of place although they would appear to look like a weird combination. You’ll not only hear the music take on cues in the story and single player but also in the Stage Battle mode which is best summed up as a 3rd person RTS that you can be in the battle. The mode which is played in single player and multiplayer has you obtaining resources from wells that you must build merch booths on, this is like your ores and trees for true RTS fans, from that you create a metal army from 3 faction choices Iron Heade (who you’ll use in single player and are traditional metal look), Drowning Doom (who are gothic and dark) and the Tainted Coil (or the S&M clad death metal). All 3 factions have their advantages and disadvantages but the units themselves aren’t important as you will not only need to control them but aid them by tag teaming with them to do powerful attacks and using guitar solos to strengthen them or weaken the opposing army, to win all you must do is attack the others stage and destroy it. The concept itself is a pretty complex one but works well with the theme and on your disc although when playing online I lagged out a bit (keep in mind this is the week it came out so by now their could be an update) which was disappointing since I then had to play against the computer who was either really stupid or I was really good (which I highly doubt).

As seen here the drowing doom faction and Eddie as many battles in Stage Battle will be similar to this when played,

Overall Brutal Legend has the main concepts of an amazing game but it’s tedious missions, lack of massive environments, and lack of replay ability bring it down which is a disappointment since I loved Psychonauts . Schafer succeeds in bringing me into the world and making me laugh which is hard for a game to do but fails at really dragging me in as a game like Arkham Asylum did which this game could have been to a certain extent. I strongly recommend you rent this game but buying it is a major mistake as you’ll grow bored and instead of being fun and funny it will seem more like a chore to complete.

8

+ Funny story and dialogue

+ Amazing Soundtrack

-Lack of replay ability for the story and tedious missions

-Stage battles didn’t work online the greatest

? What’s more metal then the Cabbage Boys?

Images from Shockwaves.tv, MTV Gaming Blog, EA.com and Stuffwelike.com.

[Flamingcats]

Great reveiw. I bought the game a few days ago and i love it