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    Brütal Legend

    Game » consists of 10 releases. Released Oct 13, 2009

    Brütal Legend is a humorous heavy-metal, open-world, action-adventure game with light real-time strategy elements. As Eddie Riggs, lead the people of the Brütal World to rise up against the Tainted Coil demons who rule the world, and their leader, the sinister Emperor Doviculus.

    numbthumb's Brütal Legend (Xbox 360) review

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    Brtual Legend Review -- All Metal, No Glam!


    Brutal Legend Review

    BRUTAL LEGEND REVIEW

    XBOX 360, PS3

    There are not a lot of times when you can say there’s no good comparison to a game. If media ages, then gaming is probably in its teens, or at least coming up to it, and there’s been sufficient enough time to feel out most genres in gaming. Brutal Legend isn’t a new genre, per se, but it’s highly original in its own right. Following Psychonauts and Grim Fandango is no easy task, and Tim Schafer may not exceed expectations, but he does exactly what he’s know to do; offers you something you haven’t seen before.

    You play as Eddie Riggs, just a roadie, a guy not meant to be seen or heard from. What makes Eddie likeable is that he knows that, loves it, and realizes that people like him are needed to help make stars what they are.  Jack Black does the voice, and that’s either good or bad depending on how you feel about him. But it’s hard to imagine anyone else doing it with so much gusto or bravado for the lifestyle of a true metal lover. And don’t be fooled, he sells it well and that’s what this game is about. There’s a genuine love for the music and culture of heavy metal and Brutal Legend makes damned sure that you know the difference between nu metal, glam metal and the real stuff.

    The voice acting all around though is quite good, which both helps pull off the story and the humor. The game is really a riot, so long as you’re in on a lot of the jokes, but even if you’re not you’d be hard up not to find at least something to laugh at. The game takes place in the past, in the Age of Metal, where Eddie Riggs is transported after a stage accident. The characters live and breathe this world while Eddie see’s it like one big rocking tour of hard metal, the juxtaposition is nice and carries the story on its own.

    The game itself is a mixture of styles. It’s an action game, with some RTS elements during epic stage battles. There’s also a ton of driving around in the Deuce, Riggs’ vehicle that he can summon at any time with a sweet solo. You read that right, a solo.  The combat uses both ranged and melee action when you’re on the ground by way of an axe for close up and a guitar that shoots lighting for ranged combat. What else? The RTS side of things is rather simplistic, easy enough to follow for anyone that’s apprehensive about the genre, but maybe too shallow for anyone that plays them often. This is something that Brutal Legend suffers from, but more on that shortly.

    While driving or traversing the lands on foot you’ll find all sorts of bad guys to fight, from simplistic porcupine ground urchins to roaming glam-rockers that need a good beat down to demonic wraiths and reapers. The world is filled with distinctive environments, filled with all things metal like cliffs of amps or metallic spider roots. There are some obvious nods to conventions here, but they pull it off extremely well never taking anything too seriously and feeling free to poke fun at itself.

    While some missions are simple enough in the ‘get to this point and fight’ nature, they areas usually culminate with some type of escort missions, which are surprisingly fun, or the RTS battles that I mention. During those battles you’ll have a stage build from which you some recruits, and geysers which you’ll use to generate ‘fans’, the currency needed for new units. Of course there’s an opposing side sending troops over for you to fight, or trying to secure their own fan geysers. There’s not much in the way of true micromanagement, the game is just a step up in complexity than, say, Spore. It’s a nice deviation from the rest of the game, but it does make you wonder if they could have done more in the way of building your own buildings and having a more to choose from. If they ever do a sequel this is a must, because these over-simplified ways of doing things make it feel like a half-hearted gesture.

    You’ll be pleased to know that you still can control Eddy up close in these battles, which helps make you feel a lot more involved. By the end of the game you’ll also have a handful of Solo’s that can help you in battle. These are easy enough to play, and can shift battle in seconds when used right. It’s a small mechanic but a solid one that’s both funny and helpful.

    For those OCD gamers there’s a ton of stuff to collect, songs to unlock and upgrade and what have you. There’s also a fair share of secondary missions that aren’t anything new in these types of games, but they are nice distractions and unlock fire tributes so you can upgrade at the motor forge – an awesome place to see some wicked cameo action by Ozzy Osborne (seriously, he’s actually good). There is an annoyance here in the collecting though – without an online cheat map there’s virtually no damned way of keeping track of what you do collect and what you’re still missing. There’s never a map indicator of previous unlocks, and no hints. If you didn’t look into it, you’d likely miss them altogether, which is unfortunate. They don’t justify hunting around for hours, but if you do know where they are they can be a good reason to take a few minutes off your path to collect. Who doesn’t want more songs?

    Brutal Legend doesn’t reinvent the wheel in anyway, but its puts some crazy spinners on and rolls over the guts of those who oppose. It’s unabashedly proud of what it is, a true homage and celebration of all things metal.  A great gateway into the metal genre and maybe even RTS or action games in general. Brutal Legend doesn’t quite succeed in every area better than others before it, but what it does is make sure that no one else has made a game quite like this. For good or ill, Brutal Legend is original in being the kid in the crowd that was never afraid to let his true passion shine through.

    The World: The Age of Metal must have been one kick-ass time. Mountains of amps, metallic trees, demons, metal god effigies – and the guardian of metal Ozzy Fricken Osborne. It plays with expectations and makes them fit into this world, while giving gamers what they expect in landscapes; snow, desert, jungle, marsh…but it’s the flare of Brutal Legend that makes it stand out superbly. 10/10

    The Combat: Sign me up for guitars that shoot lighting, and axes that sever the limbs of emo and glam heads alike. It’s simple, easy to learn and manages to keep with its strengths the whole time. The Real Time Strategy side of things is when the game suffers, only in its simplified take on the genre. It could have taken it to another level and really succeeded in blending the genres. The game does it all serviceably, however.  7/10

    The Story: Brutal Legend is silly, sure, but what makes it a believable heart-felt tale is that the characters, their voices, and their passion really shines through. You can believe that these people walk in their shoes and think the way they do – and it sells the whole thing. As I said before – some people aren’t fans of Jack Black, I’m fairly indifferent, but I’ll give him a ton of credit here for being a true lover of music and metal in general. His enthusiasm is infectious. And the writing is bang on. 10/10

    The Soundtrack: What game about music, that’s not guitar hero, could succeed without being awesome in the tracks it selects to showcase? None. And that’s why Brutal Legend is really a good gateway drug for people unfamiliar with metal. Ton’s of classics, some new stuff, enough selection to keep it fresh every time you get in the car. It makes for a rocking time while playing and for that –it’s one of the few games where I actually muted my playlist on my computer just to listen to the game and nothing else. Points docked for some of the heavies being missed though *(but I’m sure they asked for too much cash). 9/10

    The Freshness: This is important, while not perfect, it must be mentioned that Tim Schafer went out of his way to do what he does best and give you a game you’ve never played before. At times I think maybe he relies on standard play types a little too much, and he could have done more. But I can’t remember a game that I had no good comparison for, and that makes Brutal Legend something that needs to be seen by gamers. It’s unafraid to be something that isn’t a Halo, isn’t a Drakes Fortune, isn’t a run of the mill shoot em up rehash. It might not be for everyone – but we must encourage this type of thinking in the industry. 9/10

    SCORE: 90%

    Other reviews for Brütal Legend (Xbox 360)

      Command the power of rock! 0

       Staring at a heavy metal album cover can muster up many thoughts: why is there a Black Panther shooting laser beams from its eyes? Why do I find that so cool? And what in God’s name does this have to do with the actual music? The answer to the latter is normally ‘nothing’, but the crazy, elaborate heavy metal album covers of old never failed to capture the imagination. They definitely inspired Tim Schafer in his teenage years, and now his team at Double Fine have finally brought it all to life ...

      13 out of 17 found this review helpful.

      I throw up the horns and salute. 0

      Brütal Legend is a great game, and I enjoyed it from start to finish. It's not perfect, but it has the quality you expect from a Double Fine game where it counts. Even if you're not a fan of heavy metal, there's lots to enjoy here.  Story: Everybody knows the basic plotline by now. Eddie Riggs is the greatest roadie in the world, but he's stuck working for the worst "metal" band in the world, Kabbage Boy, who completely dismiss the great...

      3 out of 3 found this review helpful.

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