As a longtime gamer, i've played my share of demos that were good and bad, with the final product not always matching up. I'm sure everyone has had the experience of getting hyped for a game, buying it, and being thoroughly disappointed. Thus, I always hedge my expectations even after playing a good demo. Cautious optimism, as opposed to going crazy on either end of the spectrum, is something I partake in. That's why i'm not annointing Brutal Legend as GOTY or saying that it can do no wrong, as some have. I will say however, that it has me more excited for a game than I have been in some time.
 
Of all the things a good demo should do (clear up concerns about the game, give you a glimpse of the final product), the chief concern should be to get you hyped for the game. It succeeded masterfully in that respect.  As a lover of metal, I can see having loads of fun driving The Druid Plow, running over bad guys with Judas Priest's "The Hellion/Electric Eye" blaring in the background. But even if I wasn't extremely excited about the heavy metal overtones, the demo still would have been enjoyable, as it seems to be a fundamentally sound action (and RTS, though that part is not in the demo) game. I'm still waiting to see what this big, expansive world will be like, and minor gripes such as framerate are out there. These are things that can be cleared up in the final product though.
 
Short of curing cancer, I don't think there's anything Brutal Legend could do that would garner it more praise than the demo already has. I am certainly not the 1st or even 50,000th person to talk good about it. But it bears repeating, as in this world of sequels, sequels, and more sequels, truly original games aren't as easy to find. Good, original games even more so. It's games like these that need to be supported. I sincerely hope that it turns out to be as good as the demo is and that Tim Schafer and Double Fine get the credit they deserve. But even if you're turned off by the mere mention of axes (battle and musical), give the demo for Brutal Legend a try. It may open your eyes to a whole new, demon-infested, world.