OneMetal.com REVIEW:
Brutal Legend

In todays IP (Intellectual Properties) starved world, where clones, cheap knock-offs, cheaper imitations and even crappy official squeals drag a franchise way beyond their enjoy-by-date, I made a mistake. I dismissed ‘Brutal Legend’ as a cheap hack and slash game, probably by some unknown developer, riding out on the back of the current ‘Guitar Hero’ induced Metal excitement. I looked no further. I was wrong, I was soooo very very wrong.

Eddie Riggs, the ultimate metal roadie, remembers the glory days of metal, while looking after some pop-band who perform under the façade of Metal. After an on-stage accident Riggs is magically transported to a new world, a world of magic, a world of monsters, of babes and bears…a world of Metal! Armed with his now super powered mighty guitar ‘Clementine’ and a mighty magical Axe ‘The Separator’ he sets out to explore this new world.

Unlike many characters thrown into a strange magical world, what follows is not some long tortured battle to get back home, where Riggs will confront some inner truth and learn a valuable lesson, hell no, didn’t you hear what I said .. the world of Metal baby!

Brutal Legend ticks so many boxes on my personal ‘Oh-my-god-this-is-so-freakin-awesome’ list that its kinda hard to believe how much under my radar it was. Firstly, its been developed by Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions’ who made probably one of the most awesome games of all time that hardly anyone knows about, ‘Psychonauts’. Formally of LucasArts, Schafer worked on titles such as The ‘Secret of Monkey Island’, ‘Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle’ and ‘Full Throttle’. Frankly his ability to tell great stories, packed with humour and imagination through the medium of a great computer games is second to none.

Another big thing for me is that Brutal Legend is a true hybrid. Its gameplay ranges from melee, hack and slash combat mixed with guitar based attack powers and combos, to squad based combat, to real time strategy, to car racing and chasing and everything in between. This is all played out in a beautifully rendered world, every inch of which is a homage to heavy metal music, art and lifestyle.

Essentially Brutal Legend is an open world game, and there are a ton of missions and side missions not to mention things to jump over, kill, collect and explore. Everything you do earns you ‘Fire Tribute’ (think cigarette lighters in the air), which operate as the in game currency. You spend this Fire Tribute upgrading you car, axe and guitar as well as unlocking new moves etc from the Motor Forges.

The art style is simply stunning, and you will spend more time then you might expect just driving around for the fun of it, seeing what there is to see. Every inch of this game world has been lovingly crafted and looks stunning, rich in humour and metal references. Based on the work of Frank Frazetta, the art team only considered the adding things if they felt it would be something that could be seen on a metal album cover. From the open deserts to lush forests to creepy grave yards and snowy mountains they all look amazing, day or night. In the latter stages when you have the full map opened up driving around the whole island and watching the landscapes change really hits home the technical achievement and exemplary attention to detail that Double Fine have brought to this game.

The world is populated by over 80 unique characters, animals, monsters and babes. Some of these creatures go to make up units for the three distinct armies in multiplayer, and others are just there to populate the world more fully. The number of creatures and enemy units types is quite staggering. Some of my favourites included Black Panthers that shoot laser beams from there eyes (now on my Christmas list), Gangs of gun toting babes, Doom Dorks and the amazing Battle Nuns!

The real time strategy elements are perhaps the most surprising, not least of all because they are there at all. Not usually an element you see thrown into the mix with racers and hack and slash adventures, but it stands out because they are so well executed. The RTS elements are not an after thought.

In many ways the single player games is almost like huge tutorial for the multiplayer game. Every encounter adds something new, a new unit, new control mechanic or even new enemy. This constant adding of new things keeps the game fresh and compelling, keeps you interested and keeps you guessing. Things aren’t randomly thrown in either, the additions are all part of the single player story. The problem is that whilst I want to tell you about all the cool things in this game, they are inextricably attached to the story elements, and so inherently they are spoilers. I shall try and tread carefully.

During the ‘Stage Battles’ all the basic RTS elements are there, resource collection, different unit types, base upgrading. All have been vastly simplified, and are the better for it. You each have a stage, this acts as your HQ and your objective is simply to destroy your enemies stage. For resource you have fans, which appear from magical wells spread across the map. Uncontested fan wells can be captured by putting merchandising booths on them, and thus converting them to your fans. The fans you collect from these booths can be used to generate troops. The more booths the more fans, the bigger your army the more powerful you become. But that’s not an end to it, its not just a race to see who can get the most booths, the troop dynamics ensure that battles need to be thought through, encounters can be very short lived if you use the right, or indeed wrong, combination of troops. On top of that you are there on the ground to mix things up also. For the ‘Stage Battles’ you are able to fly above the battle field to get a tactical view and be better able to issue commands, or you can land and get hands on with the combat. As well as your Axe and Guitar combos, you can unleash an array of devastating solos that can turn the tide of any battle if deployed correctly. These range from bringing down a burning Zeppelin to cause huge damage in a area, to blocking the enemy’s unit production for a time to tethering you opponent to the ground for a time. The mechanics may have been simplified. but this is not a dumbing down, there are a lot of tactical options here.

In multiplayer games there are three armies to choose from. Unlike many RTS games, each army is unique having its own playing style and very unique unit types. The Ironhead’s are the good old metal heads lead by Riggs, The Tainted Coil are the dark bondage, leather clad army lead but the wonderfully sadistic Doviculus and the dark Gothic Emo powered army of the The Black Tears lead by Ophelia.

Eddie Riggs is voiced by Jack Black, Other voice tallents Lemmy, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, The Runaways’ Lita Ford, and notably Ozzy Osbourne does an awesome job as the Guardian of Metal! Not to mention a camio in a side mission from Kyle Gass, as the cannonier. Ronnie James Dio Originally performed the part of “Doviculus, Emperor of the Tainted Coil”, but was later replaced with awesome voice work of Tim Curry. Speculatin that this was due to tension between Osbourne and Dio, Schafer noted they found that Curry fit the role better, citing Curry’s role of the Lord of Darkness in the film Legend as a key factor. Curry considered the role “perfect” for him when Schafer described Doviculus to him as “big and tough, but also has this kinky side who, when hit with an axe, might scream in pain or squeal with delight”.

Brutal Legend has been half-heartedly criticised for being too short and for a lack of variety in its side missions. Both of which are fair criticisms and none of which are in any way significant enough to stop this game from being epic amounts of fun. Anything this well delivered is always going to leave you wanting more, and at any rate the longevity of the game at any rate is really kept alive by the excellent multiplayer. You might not like some aspects of the game dependent on taste, but the experience as whole is what this game is all about.

And now.. the sound track. Early on you get the chance to play music in your car. During the key missions you get and appropriately selected soundtracks for the mood of the mission. The Music is important.. this game is Heavy Metal. The music needed to be good….

The most Metal game soundtrack ever

• 3 Inches of Blood: Deadly Sinners
• 3 Inches of Blood: Destroy The Orcs
• Accept: Fast As A Shark
• Angel Witch: Angel Witch
• Anthrax: Metal Thrashing Mad
• Anvil: March of the Crabs
• Anvil: Tag Team
• Apostasy: Sulphur Injection
• Bishop of Hexen: A Serpentine Grave
• Bishop of Hexen: The Somber Grounds of Truth
• Black Sabbath: Children of the Grave
• Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe
• Black Sabbath: Never Say Die
• Brocas Helm: Cry of the Banshee
• Brocas Helm: Drink the Blood of the Priest
• Budgie: Breadfan
• Budgie: Zoom Club
• Candlemass: Witches
• Carcass: No Love Lost
• Cloven Hoof: Nightstalker
• Children of Bodom: Angels Don’t Kill
• Coroner: Skeleton on your Shoulder
• Cradle of Filth: Her Ghost in the Fog
• Crimson Glory: Queen of the Masquerade
• Dark Fortress: Insomnia
• Dark Tranquility: Cathode Ray Sunshine
• Deathstars: Blitzkrieg
• Def Leppard: Rock of Ages
• Dethklok: Mermaider
• Diamond Head: Am I Evil?
• Dimmu Borgir: Progenies of the Great Apocalypse
• Dokken: Mr. Scary
• Dragonforce: Through the Fire and Flames
• Emperor: Thus Spake The Nightspirit
• Enslaved: Frost
• Enslaved: Loke
• Firehouse: Overnight Sensation
• Girlschool: Bomber
• Iced Earth: When the Night Falls
• Iced Earth: Pure Evil
• In Flames: Goliaths Disarm Their Davids
• Judas Priest: Battle Hymn
• Judas Priest: The Hellion/Electric Eye
• Judas Priest: Leather Rebel
• Judas Priest: One Shot At Glory
• Judas Priest: Painkiller
• Kabbage Boy: Girlfriend
• KMFDM: Free Your Hate
• KMFDM: Rip The System
• King Diamond: Cremation
• King Diamond: Welcome Home
• Kiss: God of Thunder
• Lita Ford: Betrayal
• Marilyn Manson: Beautiful People
• Manowar: Die For Metal
• Manowar: The Dawn Of Battle
• Mastodon: Crack the Skye
• Mastodon: Oblivion Instrumental
• Megadeth: High Speed Dirt
• Megadeth: Tornado of Souls
• Metal Church: Metal Church
• Michael Schenker: Group Assault Attack
• Ministry: Stigmata
• Ministry: Thieves
• Mirrorthrone: So Frail
• Motley Crue: Dr. Feelgood
• Motley Crue: Kickstart My Heart
• Motley Crue: Live Wire
• Motorhead: Back at the Funny Farm
• Motorhead: In the Black
• Motorhead: Marching Off to War
• Motorhead: We Are the Road Crew
• Nitro: Machine Gun Eddie
• Omen: The Axeman
• Ostrogoth: Queen of Desire
• Overkill: World of Hurt
• Ozzy Osbourne: Believer
• Ozzy Osbourne: Mr. Crowley
• Ozzy Osbourne: Diary of a Madman
• Prong: Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck
• Quiet Riot: The Wild and the Young
• Racer X: Technical Difficulties
• Racer X: Y.R.O.
• Ratt: Lay It Down
• Riot: Road Racin
• Riot: Narita
• Riot: Swords and Tequila
• Rob Zombie: Superbeast
• Rotting Christ: Ad Notics
• Running Wild: Riding the Storm
• Sanctuary: Battle Angels
• Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King
• Saxon: Wheels of Steel
• Scorpions: Blackout
• Scorpions: Holiday
• Skeletonwitch: Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery
• Skid Row: Youth Gone Wild
• Slayer: Metal Storm/Face The Slayer
• Slough Feg: Warriors Dawn
• Static-X: Love Dump
• Tenacious D: Master Exploder
• Tenacious D: The Metal
• Testament: For The Glory Of
• Testament: More Than Meets The Eye
• Tvangeste: Birth of the Hero
• UFO: Rock Bottom
• Whitesnake: Still of the Night
• Wrath of Killenstein: Ignisis Dance