Review: Brutal Legend

Or: DECAPITATIOOOOOOOON

Brutal Legend is the newest offering from Double Fine studios, maker of the highly acclaimed Psychonauts, and headed by the legendary Tim Schafer. Starring the voice talents of Jack Black, Ozzy Osbourne, and others, the game is set in an alternate pre-history where metal music is the center of all life.

The game puts the player in the shoes of Eddie Riggs (Jack Black) who is the greatest roadie to ever exist. He can fix anything, build anything and tune any instrument. After disaster strikes, and Eddie is killed, his magical belt buckle transports him to a mystical world where heavy metal influences every aspect of life.

After being transported to this world, Eddie learns of a struggle between the demons who currently rule the land, and the humans who are revolting against them. Eddie, of course, joins the humans in this struggle.

Eddie’s main weapons in this world are a sweet axe and an even sweeter guitar. The axe works like you would expect it to, while the guitar can be used to summon lighting strikes or fire.

The guitar also allows you to perform ‘solos’ (once learned) which you can play anywhere at any time and let you do things like melt the faces of your enemies or summon a giant flaming zeppelin to come crashing down to the ground at your feet. Seriously.

Of course, Tim Schafer’s signature humor returns in full glory. I was laughing from the very second I put the disc in the system, so that’s a good sign. Jack Black also brings a nice touch, with his fine voice acting complimenting the jokes perfectly.

The game is as much a tribute to the heavy metal musical genre as it is a tongue-in-cheek satire. However, if you can’t at least tolerate the genre then you might not be able to spend much time with the game. Metal music plays throughout the entire game, and the soundtrack features one of the best collections of the genre ever. Aspects of metal can even be seen in the beautiful visuals.

Speaking of visuals, art direction is top notch, truly helping to immerse the player in a world that is so heavily influenced by heavy metal. Everything from the animals to the vehicles to the monuments all feel like they belong there, and they all look terrific.

Gameplay-wise, it’s a pretty typical hack-n-slash at first, with some free-roaming car driving thrown in---until you get to the stage battles, that is. Here, a bit of RTS seems to have made its way into the game. During a stage battle, you can build different units from your stage to help you attack your enemy’s stage. In order to build these units, you have to “spend” fans, and in order to gain more fans you have to build merch booths at fan geysers. Rest assured, the whole thing is a ton of fun, which is a good thing, because the stage battle is also the multiplayer part of the game.

As the game progresses, you unlock more of the map, and are able to travel to more areas, but this is where the game has a slight fault. The first half of the game seems pretty dense, with plenty of side missions and collectibles scattered about, but the second half seems a little more sparse, and so you’ll end up driving around a lot.

It’s a small complaint though, especially considering just how much stuff there is to do. Between all the collectibles and side quests (and multiplayer), the game definitely has plenty of replay value. Overall, another fantastic game from Double Fine studios.

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