Story

The game features the character of Eddie Riggs, voiced by and modeled after Jack Black, a roadie who is transported to a fantasy world inspired by the artwork of heavy metal album covers. Eddie becomes the world's savior, leading the down-trodden humans against a range of supernatural overlords using a battle axe, his Flying V guitar that can tap into the magical powers of the world, and a customizable hot rod. The game, a hybrid of the action-adventure and real-time strategy genres, includes Stage Battles in both the single-player and multiplayer mode, where the player must command troops to defeat their foes while defending their own stage. In addition to Black, the game features voices of heavy metal musicians including Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford and other celebrities such as Tim Curry, as well as more than one hundred metal songs selected by Schafer for inclusion in the game.

Review (360)

From the wildly creative mind of Tim Schafer, writer and director of popular cult titles such as Grim Fandango and Psychonauts, comes the much anticipated Brutal Legend. To those not familiar with Schafer’s games, top notch writing and unique backdrops center as the main focus for his titles which give them a more, memorable classic feel compared to other games. Brutal Legend marks Schafer’s twisted rock-metal vision and storytelling debut on next-gen consoles.

The game starts off with a slick, live-action introduction scenario with Jack Black, who also voices the hero Eddie Riggs, setting up story and title screen. Surprisingly enough, the live introduction is directed nicely, without feeling too campy, with Black showing an impressive amount of enthusiasm and energy on par with his films. An good amount of work went into the title screen as well that’s worth noting, with the player navigating through the records slips serving as the different modes. It’s a nice nod to the record medium, paying tribute to the format that started it all.

Brutal’s premise starts off a little shakey, and by the middle of the game, certain plot holes will have you scratching your about earlier sections. The story’s setup is fairly simple, albeit with a metal twist. Our hero Eddie Riggs is an underappreciated roadie working for a tween "metal" band called the Kabbage boys. A freak accident during the concert, however, nearly kills Eddie until his blood from the accident activates a special belt buckle from the metal gods and sends him to an unknown, oppressed past world that’s ruled by the authority of metal. While it essentially works to set up the new open-world, certain aspects never get fully explained and feel more like an excuse rather than a setup which was quite surprising coming from a Schafer game.

Once your settled in the world of Brutal, most of those "huh?" moments from teh story are washed away in the immersion. Insane gothic type architecture, huge swirling mountains, and badass metal-based animals are all but a few of the features you’ll find and what seems like a trade off of story in favor of the setting. And that’s where the charm is at. No game out this year, or possibly this generation so far, boasts as much originality and careful attention to its source material as Brutal Legend. A true testament to the metal genre, it will suck you into its world mission by mission as you uncover different unique metal landscapes each with their own personality.

Delving more into the land of Bladehenge and its surrounding areas, the narrative progresses like a typical open-world game. Metal influences mixed with the story of an oppressed land and forbidden love make up most of the driving force for the narrative. Some may even be a bit surprised at the strong relationship aspect of the behind the story, like myself, thinking it would be more in favor of a more dark and, well, brutal storyline. While it never completely over burdens the narrative, it did make myself question the decision behind this as it can seem like the writers went a bit too far and turned a tale of legend into something of a rescue the maiden fairy tale.

At the get go of the first level, the Temple of Ormagöden, what may seem like a normal hack n’ slash gameplay later evolves into a RTS pacing. Starting off, you’re given a Battle Axe which you can use to chop down your bastardized foes. There’s the typical light attack which you can execute by tapping the A (Xbox 360) or X button (Playstation 3) and a heavy attack by holding down them buttons down.

And it wouldn’t be a proper metal influenced game without your guitar, called Clementine, doing something completely badass. Your other axe can also be used as a weapon to shock your enemies through the power of metal by hitting either X (Xbox 360) or Square (Playstation 3) or light them on fire by holding down the buttons. Other standard moves include a block and roll to dogdge attacks and a powerful earthquake move through intense playing a heavy note. Later on as you progress and gain small units in the RTS sections, you’ll need to pull Double Team Attacks which are used to carry out specific attacks depending on who you are teamed for certain situations.

Other sections will also have you taking control of different vehicles and rides such as a four legged giant land walker and a sweet hot ride which is used to get across the land unless taking long walks in a wild, relentless world of all twisted things metal is your thing. Which is totally fine considering how amazing the world and it’s landscapes are. For every mission completed you also earn “fire tributes” which acts as currency and can be used to upgrade your ride like throwing missile launchers off the sides or increase your abilities for more badass slaying.

As for how well all the gameplay comes together, Brutal offers a surprisingly hardcore gaming experience that’s accessible to casual gamers as it eases you in. The first few missions introduced play out like a typical hack n’ slash. Eddie will wander through enemy infested caves and mountains ripping the faces off anyone who stands in his way. But as the missions go on, the game turns into RTS-light as the player commands armies of headbangers, bikers, and other fellow metal badasses against your equivalent demon enemies.

For the most part, the RTS sequences work well enough but the uneven difficulty can be a bother. Certain missions, if you don’t carry out certain objectives quick enough you’ll be defending your own base more than attacking the enemy. Altogether though, the RTS elements lend a nice pace of strategy that will have gamers thinking. Who saw that coming?

I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of metal. It wasn’t the type of music I grew up around or ever had a deep interest in, but Brutal Legend made me appreciate the classic titles that made metal. The instrumental scores of Halo: ODST or popular mixed tracks of GTA:IV feel like a step below of greatness after listening to Cry of the Banshee while driving across the huge landscape. Or for the Guitar Hero fanatics, (I can hear all you other metal fans moaning already) speeding off inside a crumbling temple listening to Through the Fire and Flames by Dragon Force. There’s no doubt about it, Brutal Legend is a game that sends a boot to the ass of fluffy “rock” bands of today and delivers a bitchin’ soundtrack for true fans of metal and those with an open mind for good music.

While there’s no shortage of star power for the voice acting, the performance behind certain character voices can be somewhat uneven but are mostly very well done. Jack Black, the voice of Eddie Riggs, nails all his lines like a natural and Ozzy Osbourne is amazing and so hilarious, his energy right up there Jack Black. It’s a shame he doesn’t play a more central role in the story.

But other main characters like the Killmaster, voiced by Lemmy from Motörhead, and Lars can sound out of place. Those unfamiliar with Lemmy may be put off soft spokeness and perceive him as being a bit dull, but this is his actual voice in real life, and Lars’ chivalrous, righteous voice doesn’t really fit the part of a badass rock king.Most performances are generally solid and filled with the right amount of attitude and profanity to fit well within the metal theme.

Video

Trailer