Name: Brutal Legend.
Platform: Xbox 360/Playstation 3.
It’s not particularly traditional that we would publish a game for a non-Nintendo system…. Or maybe it is I don’t know. If you’ve never heard of this game, you are probably in the majority. I only accidentally heard of this game after watching a G4 podcast, and had since been paying relatively close attention to it up until its release. Since I am a fan of Jack Black, profanity and red pixels, I thought I would give the game a shot and see if it was indeed worth my time. Turns out…. it is!
The Legend is Brutal!
Brutal Legend begins as the world’s greatest roadie, Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), working for a crappy wannabe metal band. During the act, one of the band members climbs onto a part of the stage which ends up collapsing and crushing Eddie, causing blood to drip into his magical belt and thus transporting him to an ancient heavy metal themed world. Once there, he acquires a magical axe and teams up with some of the world’s locals to take on the evil General Lionwhyte (voiced by Rob Halford) and Emperor Doviculous (voiced by
Dio Tim Curry).
And he said, let there be ROCK!
The most notable thing to point out about Brutal Legend’s game play is that it will either be loved or hated by different players. It’s essentially an obscure mixture of beat ‘em up, exploration, role playing and real-time-strategy elements. Having said that, all of the aspects work quite well together if given a chance to learn. In order to make it around the massive hub world, you have a car called the Druid Plow which can take you from here to there very quickly. While it is fun to get distracted and start running down the world’s wildlife, the car can control a little awkwardly at times, which often results in you either running off cliffs or trashing it. The core game itself sees you walking around and killing demons with your trusty axe and guitar, but as the game progresses it takes on an RTS twist. Eventually you have what is called a Stage Battle, where you still control Eddie like normal, but you have a gang of units backing you up. You can issue these units orders by using the D-Pad, whether it is to follow you or attack whatever the hell you’re pointing at. The goal of a Stage Battle is to destroy your enemy’s stage while defending your own. By building Merch Booths on Fan Geysers, you are able to purchase more units and upgrade your stage to help you. The game’s multiplayer also works like this. When playing online, you can choose from three different factions; Ironheade, Drowning Doom and Tainted Coil, all of which feature different strategies and abilities. The goal remains the same, destroy the enemy stage.
As this game is very heavy metal themed, you can expect a “cubic-buttload” of metal tunes and cameos during game play. In addition to big names in metal such as Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy Kilmister both supplying their voice to the game, Brutal Legend features a very hefty set list. Not only is the song selection itself second to none, but the parts of the game where they are used fit perfectly. When I heard Dragonforce’s “Through the Fire and the Flames” was in this game, I purely thought it was there to get the attention of the Guitar Hero fanbase. But after playing the game, I couldn’t imagine a better song to have been used there. It’s obvious the track list was chosen to not only be awesome to listen to, but to suit the game, and for that, it ROCKS!
It comes from HELL!
Unfortunatly, it’s not all hugs and kisses for Brutal Legend, as there are a few fair issues that need to be pointed out. For one thing, the core campaign is simply too short. On the easiest difficulty if you skip all of the side quests, you will probably have it beaten in four hours, and with a cast and a story that suck you in as much as this, you will be left wanting more. The multiplayer, while fun, lacks depth to the point where it can become stale and repetitive very quickly. You only have six maps initially to play on and only the one Skirmish mode, where the first one to destroy the other’s stage wins.
Overall, Brutal Legend is a game that is defiantly worth your time. It has its share of issues like any game, but its all-star voice cast, choice of metal sound track, addictive game play and engrossing and sometimes laugh-out-loud story make this one of the best games of 2009 in my opinion. Obviously if you aren’t a fan of metal music you won’t find a lot staying power in this game, but I’d still suggest you check it out. It truly is its own genre of game, and it needs to be played in order to be understood. If there is a sequel (and the ending does hint at it), Double Fine should concentrate on fixing these little issues. If Tim Schafer was to go the GTA IV route and release some downloadable campaigns for a modest price on Xbox LIVE, I would be a very happy gamer. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some bound serpents to rescue.
The Good
- Deep, humorous story will keep you hooked until the end.
- Excellent voice acting.
- Impressive cast.
- Addicting game play.
- Very satisfying metal soundtrack.
The Bad
- Multiplayer lacks depth.
- Campaign is way too short.
- Most likely won’t sell due to lack of exposure/advertisement.
Story: 5/5 – Despite the fact it’s short, the story itself will have you glued to your couch until it’s over.
Multiplayer: 3/5 – While fun, it severely lacks depth. One game mode and six built in maps just isn’t enough. DLC should fix this hopefully.
Graphics: 4/5 – There is plenty of attention to detail in this title. Some pop-up issues in some areas though.
Sound: 5/5 – None of the 300+ lines of dialogue seem wasted, and the choice of metal soundtrack is very satisfying.
Gameplay: 4/5 – You will either love it or hate it.
Longevity: 3/5 – What the game has is good. We just want more of it.
24/30 – B+
Linear Mode
