Few were as excited about Brutal Legend as I was, and having actually played it, I can safely say that this game surpassed my expectations.

In case you haven’t read our preview of the game, Brutal Legend is about Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black) the world’s greatest roadie for the world’s worst metal band. There is a horrible accident, and he is transported back in time to help the human resistance fight the evil Emperor Doviculous. The world looks like it was taken straight from the greatest metal album covers, or  Frank Frazetta paintings, and being a Tim Schafer game, it was a guaranteed hilarious good time.

The Graphics are quite simply amazing. The characters aren’t ultra-realistic, but instead have a stylized look. There are still plenty of wild details, with limited pop-up, and incredible imagery. The world is sprawling, and offers lots of hidden goodies to find. There are monolithic statues, giant skull piles, miles of exhaust pipes, and millions of amps. Some of the more notable locations include places like: Bladehenge, The Sea of Black Tears, The Screaming Wall, and the Temple of Ormagoden. There are ancient relics that can, and in some cases must, be raised from the very ground. These range from ancient stages, to passageways to an underground lair of ‘The Guardian or Metal’ (Voiced by Ozzy Osbourne)

The Characters are full of life and well designed. The main characters are voiced and inspired by some of Metal’s greatest, like Lars and Lita Halford, General Lionwhyte (Rob Halford), Rima (Lita Ford), The Kill Master (Lemmy Kilmister), The Baron (also Rob Halford), and or course Eddie Riggs. Eddie seems to be a cross between Jack Black and Glen Danzig, a surprisingly muscle-bound yet approachably hilarious character, who seems to be not just a roadie but a true fan of the genre. The lesser characters are even more wildly stylized; from the Ironheade, former slaves who had to work in mines by banging their heads against the wall, to the Tear drinkers – skinny goth kids who like to hit things with shovels as they recite angsty poetry. There is profanity in the game, but this can be censored, along with the gore removed. If the Censorship is triggered, someone giving the finger is even covered by a ‘parental advisory’ sticker.

The Gameplay is an experience unlike any other. Though the missions range from high-octane caravan protection levels seemingly inspired by The Road Warrior, to Hack-and-Slash 3rd person RPG-style action, the real focus are the rock battles. It plays out like a simplified Real Time Strategy game, with the player amassing and controlling large armies to take out the enemy, with a metal twist. There are certain ‘fan geysers’ – mythic links to pure energy, which may be controlled by either faction, and provide ‘fans,’ – the resources needed to upgrade your Stage (your base) and call in more troops (more advanced troops are unlocked throughout the game). In the beginning of the second battle, Eddie grows Demon wings that are available only during these battles, which allow him to control the armies from an aerial vantage point, and let him cross the battlefield in moments. Flying is usually the best option, as going headfirst into some of the later skirmishes can get you killed you almost instantly. Dying in this mode doesn’t end the game, instead it respawns you in front of your stage, but your enemies gain fifty fans. These battles can range from simple almost-guaranteed victories to, excuse the pun, brutal trial-and-error aggravations. While some of the battles require simply making sure you just cover all your bases and destroy your enemies, others require a specific plan – and don’t expect any help from the characters; they have less of an idea than you. These battles can take quite a bit of time to finish, and need your constant attention, but offer a new, and exciting way to enjoy video game combat.

The Soundtrack is unparalleled. Over 100 mind-blowing, demon-slaying metal songs – that span the genre from fantasy, thrash, industrial, doom, viking, classic, and the heaviest-of-the-heavy Metal. Now, for those who don’t like metal, this game is not for you, in fact: you shouldn’t even still be reading this. However if you love metal, like I do, you will find at least a vast majority of the songs as amazing and wild as the rest of the game. You might even find a few new favorite bands/songs. The Songs are unlocked as you play, and fit the action like no other genre could. There is a radio in your car, The Deuce, and you can use it to switch between these metal anthems. Also, when the game is paused, the name of the Song and band playing is shown at the pause menu.

The Story is in depth, and offers many plot turns and can take more serious tones than the light-hearted snappy comments made by  the characters. Some of the ‘twists’ were much more obvious than the developers would have liked, but there are some unexpected ones as well. At first the game seems simple enough: Stop Doviculous, but then you have first take out his right hand man, General Lionwhyte. LionWhyte is a glamtasic sell-out, with hair so long that he can use it to fly. After Lionwhyte is stopped, there is another, darker force to be eliminated before Doviculous can be beaten. There might even be a love interest for the greatest roadie in the biz.

The controls are easy to understand, and offer lots to do with simple button-mashing. One button handles melee attacks, while another deals with ranged spells. These are done with an Axe and an ‘Axe’ (a guitar), respectively. The Rock battle controls are done with the bumper buttons and d-pad, letting players choose waypoints for thier armies, and what troops to summon. Also, guitar solos can be played to do a variety of things, and play as a short (usually 4-10 notes) horizontal, mini Guitar Hero, done with the face buttons. You might want to expect running/flying backand forth across the battlefield in the rock battles, but this is normal in an RTS.

There is a mutiplayer mode available, and is done with the same RTS gameplay as the rock battles. Players can choose from three factions to controll, and each has roughly the same types of troops. The Battles are four player skirmishes, but there is an option of using AI bots with one of five difficulties. These are fun, but more of an addition, as the Campaign is the major focus of the game.

Almost everything you use can be upgraded. These upgrades are interchangeable and have different effects. They Can be done at ‘Motor Forges’ by ‘The Guardian of Metal.’ Upgrades include: new axes, guitars, weapons for The Deuce, paint jobs, and Statues.

There are very few downsides to this game. Though the Rock battles could be challenging and rather lengthy, they were fun and interesting. One side note is that Eddie can’t jump, something that seemed strange and overlooked. I had imagined that the world’s greatest roadie could jump, but there were no instances in which it was really needed.

Brutal Legend is a non-stop ass-kicking, side-splitting game that brings forward innovative gameplay and a land steeped in Metal lore. The Characters are lifelike, and the writing witty, but still funny to the layman. The humor starts to taper off at points, but is overall a hysterical experience. The world is the most metal in video game history, and art direction simply beautiful. This Game is the embodiment of all things metal, it rocks harder and louder than any before it. It opens up a whole new subgenre and method of gameplay: a Kind of Music RPG/RTS. There is almost too much to talk about in this game, and if you really want to know about it, play it. For Metal fans, or even those who are interested, this is a must-play.

9/10 Headbanging Demon-slayers

Related posts:

1. Brutal Legend Promises to be Best Metal Game ever I’ve just beaten the Brutal Legend demo for the thirtieth...
2. Most Brutal DLC Ever is Announced Tim Schafer’s metal masterpiece, Brutal Legend, has just announced it’s...
3. Trials HD Review Describing Trials HD to someone who hasn’t tried it...
4. Brutal Legend/Tim Schafer Trailer ...
5. Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Review I had originally intended to write up my first impressions...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.