Brutal Legend

Blog Post: Tim Schafer creates a beautiful (If not Heavy) Metal wonderland.

Robert Rimini — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 05:44:00 GMT

Initially, the game Brutal Legend may not be love at first sight. What with this game not being part of a blockbuster franchise and the fact that the creator Tim Schafer isn't very well-known outside of the Video game industry may block people from gaining much interest in this game. Please, do not try to join this group, as they are missing out on one of the most creative and imaginative experiences in a very long time.

The game starts out showing you the story of lead protagonist Eddie Riggs (Voiced by Jack Black) who is labeled as the "Best Roadie", yet is stuck working for the worst Nu-Metal band ever. (The band name is Kabbage Boys, need I say more?) In a freak stage accident, he is taken to a whole new world that looks like the best Heavy Metal album covers all put into one world. The result is a beautiful landscape filled with wonderful landmarks. While the graphics may not look extremely realistic, (One of the design artists worked with Pixar) most people will be too immersed in the amazing world to even care. With the insane vehicle "The Deuce" and the game's +100 Metal soundtrack playable in the car's radio system, this marked the first time I looked at art while banging my head to Heavy Metal Artists including Black Sabbath, Tenacious D, Motorhead, Megadeth, and 3 Inches of Blood!

As you might tell from screenshots and previews, Brutal Legend isn't a serious game. While the plot may head in a slightly serious direction halfway through, the whole game is a great laugh with some cleverly well-written jokes and some Metal references that hardcore Rock & Roll fans would understand. Also, the game is filled with voice acting including Metal Masters Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, and Kyle Gass, all of which perform amazing performances.

Unfortunately, the main disappointer is the way the game is organised. While the gameplay itself is not an issue, (although the inability to jump may be an issue for some) the story mode and multiplayer have their faults. The story mode is great, and each story mission helps you grasp the RTS style of the multiplayer, while the side-missions help you practice coming up with strategies for the multiplayer session. Unfortunately, the side missions are rather repetitive, especially after racing the same demon-thing 20 times, and the main missions are actually great and offer a diverse experience, but there are so few story missions that if you ignore the side missions and hidden collectibles, it may take you about 4 or 5 hours worth of work until you're completed. As for the multiplayer, while the gameplay is good, you can only play with friends, and there is no progression in this section of the game(Unless Trophies and Achievements count) so unless you really enjoy the RTS portion of the game, the multiplayer may not keep you immersed for long.

Despite some faults in the game, it still remains an excellent adventure from start to finish. Thanks to the creative mind of Tim Schafer, the team at Double Fine, and the wide pool of extremely talented voice actors, for once we are given a game that isn't afraid to shy away from the usual bland Hack & Slash games that are prominent in this generation of gaming. Hopefully, the team may see the true potential of the game and take it to the next level in a sequel or add-on missions. However long the wait, I will be patient.

Wiki: Brutal Legend Guides

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 07:20:00 GMT

Guides for Brutal Legend

Wiki Page: Brutal Legend Guides Jack Black

MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER JOHN SPARTAN -117 — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:21:00 GMT

Unlockables

Increased Nitrous Power - Complete all Racing Missions.
Spike-Quilled Axe - Complete all Hunter Missions.

Achievements

Armchair General (20) - Won a Stage Battle by yourself against the AI without attacking
Beast Master (15) - Rode every animal in the world
Boar Bather (50) - Rode a Razorfire Boar into the Sea of Black Tears and live to tell the tale.
Chicks n' Booze n' Stuff (15) - Completed "Sanctuary of Sin"
Co"nquerer (50) - Won 50 ranked multiplayer matches
Coolest Thing Ever (15) - Jumped over a Hextadon in the Deuce
Death From Above (15) - Killed 20 enemies with one Bleeding Death
Dollpocalypse (15) - Hit 6 enemies with the explosion from a Brood's Double Team
Euthanasia (15) - Hit 15 enemies with one Agony Ball using the Pain Lifter's Double Team
Favored (30) - Acquired 3,000 Fire Tributes
Fistfull of Fog (15) - Completed "Dry Ice, Wet Graves"
Flowerslave (20) - Summoned all Motor Forges
French Kiss Instructor (15) - Completed "Pilgrimage of Screams"
Got a Car and a Date (15) - Completed "Welcome to the Age of Metal"
Groupie (25) - Completed Campaign mode on Easy
Hair Remover (15) - Completed "Battle for Bladehenge"
I've never touched an axe before (30) - Personally smote 300 enemies - any mode
Iron Fist (20) - Won an AI Stage Battle - Brutal difficulty
Legend (25) - Completed Campaign mode on Brutal
Loyal Customer (25) - Purchased all upgrades in the Motor Forge
Master of the Blood (20) - Double Teamed with every Tainted Coil unit
Master of the Flame (20) - Double Teamed with every Ironheade unit
Master of the Tear (20) - Double Teamed with every Drowning Doom unit
Metal God (50) - Achieved 100% completion on the stats screen
No More Tears (15) - Completed "Sea of Black Tears"
Now You Must Tell the Tale (20) - View all Legends
One Hit Wonder (5) - Purchased 1 upgrade in the Motor Forge
Overkill (20) - Completed all hunting secondary missions
Painkiller (15) - Killed 25 enemies with the grinder of one Rock Crusher
Practice Bloody Practice (10) - Won an AI Stage Battle - any difficulty
Protector (20) - Completed 20 ambush, outpost defense, or mortar secondary missions
Quill Tosser (20) - Killed a Tollusk using only Ground Urchins
Ran to the Hills (15) - Completed "It's Raining Death"
Ringleader (15) - Trapped 15 enemies in one ring of fire with the Fire Baron's Double Team
Roadie (25) - Completed Campaign mode on Normal
Sellout (30) - Spent 250,000 fans - any mode
Serpent Samaritan (10) - Freed 40 Bound Serpents
Serpent Savior (25) - Freed all 120 Bound Serpents
Serpent Spanker (15) - Freed 80 Bound Serpents
Silence, groundwalker! (10) - Gained 5 or more seconds of hang time in a single jump - any mode
Six Degrees of Schafer (15) - Played with or against another player who has this Achievement
Some Demon Flesh on your Bumper (20) - Slayed 150 enemies with the Deuce - any mode
Squeal Like a Chicken (20) - Completed all racing secondary missions
Start a Revolution (15) - Completed "Exploited in the Bowels of Hell"
Subju"gator (20) - Won 10 ranked multiplayer matches
Thick as a Baby's Arm (15) - Completed "Lair of the Metal Queen"
Tourist (20) - Viewed all vistas
Victo"r (10) - Won a ranked multiplayer match
Virtuoso (20) - Learned all guitar solos
Voices From Beyond (20) - Unlocked all songs in the Mouth of Metal

General Tips

Early in the game, low evel troops are vulnerable to enemy Avatar harassment; make sure you watch over them and protect them if necessary.
USE YOUR DOUBLE TEAMS Don't play timidly. The game is about projecting power and taking control of territory. If you try to play defensively and stay in or near your base, you'll be at a resource disadvantage.
If you set the beacon on a building, your dudes will attack the building until it's destroyed, ignoring any incoming attacks.
The right solo played at the right time can be devastating - don't forget you have those tools at your disposal!

Ironheade Tips

Ironheade is extremely mobile - use this to your advantage.
Razor Girls' Double Team is great for dealing with early-game Avatar harassment.
Remember that you can upgrade your level 1 troops once your stage hits level 3. If you've spent the game massing up those small infantry, an upgrade can really pay off.

Drowning Doom Tip

Gravediggers, while more numerous, have lower health than other basic melee troops. They may need extra support in the early game.
Use your debuffers Bride, Organ, and Dirgible. They're powerful, and the Bride and Organ stack their debilitating effects.
Bride's Double Team is great for dealing with early game Avatar harassment.
Remember that you can upgrade your level 1 troops once your stage hits level 3. If you've spent the game massing up those small infantry, an upgrade can really pay off.

Tainted Coil Tips

Your hierarchy units Nuns, Warfathers, and Overblessers are extremely vulnerable while alone. They're much safer when they're surrounded by minions, because they get a small stacking healing bonus from each nearby minion.
Punishing Parties' Double Team is good for dealing with early-game Avatar harassment.
Remember your Superior and Divine troops - for example, if you build a Warfather, he can then build a Superior Nun, which in turn can produce Superior Soul Kissers and Punishing Parties. Superior and Divine squads are more powerful than the basic troops, but cost the same.

Stage Battle Tips

Here are some tips on how to get the most out of Brütal Legend’s stage battles.

First, one thing to understand right off the bat Brütal Legend: Brütal Legend is not an RTS game.

It is a historical fact that it began its life as an RTS game, inspired by Herzog Zwei. But then as we worked on it we simplified it, and simplified it, and focused it more and more on the player avatar and the combat. Every time we focused the gameplay on the action, it became more fun. The end result is something much more action-oriented, and I think, totally unique. If you try to play the stage battles in Brütal Legend as an RTS game then you will loose. First you will get mad, then you will scream, and then you will lose. But if you are open to a new kind of action experience, you will have a blast.

First, a note on the differences: In an RTS game you float high above the action, making one split-section strategic decision after another. You often command individual units to position them based on their heath and context. In Brütal Legend, you make strategic choices once in a while, but then you jump into the battle and slug it out in person. You can fly, but it’s mostly for quick scouting and transportation. You will spend a few seconds every once in a while popping into a menu to build troops or pick a guitar solo, but then you should be right back in the action. To play the game most effectively you need to be on the ground with your army most of the time, mixing it up with your axe, and your guitar, but most of all using your Double Team attacks.

Double Team attacks are critical to your success in Stage Battles. Every friendly unit in your army has a move that they can only perform in conjunction with the player character. These moves are extremely varied, extremely powerful, and extremely fun to perform. Sometimes you might simply gain control that unit’s weapon for instance, when a Razor Girl jumps up on your shoulders--but when you do so you increase it’s damage significantly. Other units, like the Bride, seem to be just passive, debuffing units most of the time the Bride slows down enemy units but when you Double Team with her she has a devastating lighting attack. More complicated Double Teams include the Frightwig, who Ophelia can pick up and throw onto an enemy unit. The Frightwig then wraps itself around the enemy’s head and causes the victim to join Ophelia’s side in the battle. You can even use this to commandeer the enemy’s Rock Crusher. The Organist is another passive unit whose Double Team attack allows you to gain direct player control over an enemy unit, giving you command over whatever attacks they normally have.

There are important strategic choices to make in Stage Battles. Should I spend my fans to upgrade my stage and gain access to more powerful units, or should I spend it now on cheap infantry? Which fan geysers should I fight for and which should I concede? What is the right time to block my enemies troop production with a Rock Block solo? Would anti-infantry units be better against the current enemy army, or should I switch to anti-vehicle? But these strategic decisions only take a second, and then you should get right back in the action. You should never be up in the air or away from the battle for too long.

Some people find it hard to split up the army and give individual orders to individual troops. This is kinda true, mostly because you shouldn’t be doing it! That’s how you play an RTS game, not how you should play Brütal Legend. True, there are times where you might want to split your army, but it’s not common. I play complete Stage Battles most of the time without issuing a single Individual order. Your army is most effective when it’s together. The AI automatically groups your warriors into battle formations where the troops support each other. Many of the units buff or heal each other. When they are together they can all be enhanced with a single Battle Cry or other buffing solo. And when they are all together and you are in the middle of them, that is when you have the greatest number of options for Double Team attacks.

So to summarize my advice for playing Brütal Legend Stage Battles:
Get in the center of the action
Use Double Team attacks
Don’t stay in the air too long
Use Double Team attacks
For the most part, keep your army together
Use Double Team attacks

Don’t think of it as an RTS game

Blog Post: Heavy Metal Opus Melts Faces, Misses Some Notes in Process

Blake Eaton — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 22:38:00 GMT

Tim Schafer's Brutal Legend is a tough game for me to judge. In some respects, it's everything I could ask for in a video game. The entire story centers around the world's greatest roadie Eddie Riggs as he is teleported into a legendary world of metal. Every character and environment seems like it is pulled from an album cover, and the brilliantly penned script is delivered by music legends like Rob Halford, Lita Ford, and Ozzy Osbourne. And it stars Jack Black! Sometimes, the world just works.

At first, the game seems to be a simple hack-and-slash adventure game where you wander around the game's sprawling world, completing missions and discovering hidden items throughout. There are occasional breaks in this formula - including races and entertaining turret based shooter missions - but it looks like a fairly straightforward game.

Brutal Legend throws you for a loop not too long after the start of the game when the unexpected happens: the game becomes a console RTS. It still retains the hack-and-slash, open world style in between "Stage Battles," but this sudden twist comes out of nowhere considering the ambiguous marketing for the game. This game mode is where Schafer's team hits its biggest problems. While the RTS segments are fine and play well enough, I couldn't help but think "Ugh! Another Stage Battle," before every mission. It's not terrible way to spend time, but when compared to the entertaining hack-and-slash overworld, it comes across as a disappointment.

While the gameplay of Brutal Legend matches Schafer's vision in terms of ambition, it stumbles when it comes to execution. The varied types of missions while fun, don't offer a lot of depth to the experience, and the stage battles are just not up to snuff when compared to standard PC RTS games. Despite this, I found myself loving the game's fantastic world. Anyone who likes metal in any way - not just the hardcore Slayer fans - should try out this game. Its flaws - while noticeable - never eclipse the many, many reasons to love Eddie Riggs's foray into heavy metal legend.

Blog Post: my review of brutal legend

Ryder — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:19:00 GMT

This game is so friggin awesome the music is amazing and the story and enimies and everything is so original and new and just probably one of the best games ive ever played

Blog Post: A World More Exotic Than French Kissing

Shatterhand — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:30:00 GMT

Brutal Legend is the latest game from videogame mastermind Tim Schafer. The visionary game director who always creates quirky, imaginative worlds, memorable characters, and fun although generally by the numbers gameplay. Starting with adventure games like Maniac Mansion and Grim Fandango, then hitting a homerun with the console crowd with fan favorite Psychonauts, this man has developed quite a talent in coming up with unique game worlds that will stay with you for a long time. I am happy to report that Brutal Legend is thankfully no different and one of his wackiest game worlds yet. This is a fun, imaginative, terrifying, and totally badass world that will have you dying to see whats coming next and what kind of gameplay option will open up for you. Most of the time anyway.

Set in a captivating, loud and in your face heavy metal universe, you play as roadie Eddie Riggs who gets sucked into this Heavy Metal universe after one unfortunate incident involving your supposed death. At least I think he died. The story is never really clear. By the end of the game I barely had any idea what really happened in the grand scheme of things other than I killed the badguy and your peaceful crew is free for a while from the evil people's rule. You have a love interest who hints at a grander story yet in the end it feels glossed over and by the end of the game I was wishing the story just had a little more meat to it.

I felt like I knew every camper inside out in Psychonauts, but in this game characters only have a hinted at history. Still, that doesn't stop you from enjoying their personalities because there are some truly memorable ones here like the totally awesome Headbangers you must free from the mines, and the master of healing wounds and talking funny, the Kill Master, voiced by rock legend Lemmy Kilmister.

I loved almost all of the characters but I felt like the story was glossed over and that is partly due to the fact that there are 12 hidden metal lore stories placed around the world that are completely optional to open. They are these little stories that tell you a little bit about the world around you but the game never tells you how to activate these stories! I had to search the internet to figure out how to open them and I didn't view one until after I had beaten the game and by then I had lost interest.

This is probably the worst thing about Brutal Legend. The tutorials, or lack thereof slightly detract from your enjoyment of the game. The game never tells you that you need to perform an earthshaker to unlock the hidden legends, it never tells you that you can mount your stage in the RTS segments to perform additional attacks, and there isn't even a minimap to view when you are driving around. The actual gameplay is very beginner friendly but advanced players will struggle to uncover the more valuable information they seek.

I've talked a bit about the story and the setting but haven't talked about the gameplay yet. Usually people buy Tim Schafer games for the story and unique world and deal with the gameplay because its usually the game's weakest element. Things have changed this time around however. I have to say the gameplay is much more fleshed out this time around. Most Tim Schafer games are of the simple point and click affair and this is the second time the gameplay is fully action focused, but he has made great strides since his gameplay in Psychonauts. Platforming felt a little iffy in that game, so in this he removed the ability to jump entirely. This introduces its own set of problems when traversing the world but you'll spend most of your time riding around in your car anyway. Melee combos are responsive and intuitive and double team attacks are fun to pull off with nearby characters, but the lock on camera could use some work. The action isn't a substitute for Devil May Cry or God of War but it feels almost as polished at times.

Now onto the RTS gameplay. I will say right now that it is definitely simple, but purposely so. There are RTS battles in the single player game called Stage Battles, which you can also experience through multiplayer both local and online. You won't find a lot of matches online now unfortunately as the community has all but died out but it is a fun diversion for a short while if you can find a match. It won't be the mode that causes you to put the disc in night after night, but you will have fun if you boot it up every once in a while.

Very basic strategies are what you'll find in the RTS department but it is a very involved gameplay experience with your avatar personally dealing the most damage. Has your opponent built 20 ground troops and your vehicles can't target them in time? Well, you can just jump in the center of them all and perform a face melter solo to literally melt their faces off and instantly waste his troops he probably spent a fortune on. Likewise his player character can focus on your hard to reach vehicle if his own army can't deal with it and it creates this frenetic mix of light strategy elements of trying to build the appropriate troops, sending them where to go on the small maps, and you personally upsetting the balance with your player character if he is simply better at the hands off Commander approach. Some people excel at managing soldiers while others have better luck with personal combos and tactics 'action game style' and I like how the RTS portions require both for you to succeed. This applies to the single player portion as well so there are fun RTS elements to be had no matter which mode you pick.

At the end of the day, you are going to have a lot of fun with this game regardless of your taste in music or gamegenre experience. A lot of people are saying this is an RTS hidden behind an action game facade but I don't think that is entirely fair. There really are only like 6 or 7 RTS battles in the whole campaign and even though you are required to play them, you are still lopping heads off and mounting turrets in between telling your units where to go. I can definitely see people who are expecting strictly action gameplay or strictly RTS gameplay being disappointed in the end product because it really doesn't stay in one genre too long, but your inital disappoint will very quickly subside when the next hilarious bit of dialogue rolls around or the next jawdropping setpiece unfolds as they are so very well done in Brutal Legend. You will smile at the way they perfectly integrate Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and Flames" into a harrowing car chase and you haven't heard Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley" until you've heard it in the context of Brutal Legend. No game before has used music in such ingenious ways and Tim Schafer has created a Legend you will definitely want to experience at least once.

Concept: Rock your way through Tim Schafer's unique Metal Utopia.

Graphics: Very well done for a modern Xbox 360/PS3 game and while it doesn't set any new benchmarks in terms of visuals, you owe it to yourself to witness the awesome artistry of this beautiful world.

Sound: The best soundtrack ever to grace a single videogame. Voice acting is also top notch and Jack Black really brings the character of Eddie Riggs to life.

(I must quickly mention however that on the PS3 the sound effects during cutscenes are muffled and barely audible and can be distracting to your ears. Voices and music are crystal clear but there appears to be some kind of weird sound effect glitch. I played this game in February 2010 and apparently the ps3 had a patch to fix this problem which was released soon after the game came out but the problem is back again so hopefully Double Fine will fix this glitch for the second time with another patch in the near future.)

Playability: Really tight and responsive action controls and the RTS gameplay is acceptable and good fun if you can get your head around the fact that this is the Checkers to StarCraft's Chess.

Entertainment: Definitely keeps you engaged from beginning to end though I wish the story had more to it especially since this is a Tim Schafer game. Sidequests are available and mostly fun but very repetitive.

Replay Value: It is a short game but totally worth experiencing at least once. I finished in 14 hours but completed EVERY sidequest that wasn't a pointless collect-a-thon like 'Free 109 of these things.' Expect a straight story playthrough to be around 8 or 9 hours if you avoid any kind of exploration whatsoever, which probably won't happen since the world is so fun to explore. I plan on playing through again once the sound issues are fixed so you will probably play through this game a couple of times in the end because the world is so unique.

Final Score. 8.5/10

Blog Post: Brutal Legend is Both Legendary and Brutal

ender2202 — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:03:00 GMT

This game needs to choose an identity. It offers an open world and exploration, actiony combo moves, upgradable vehicles and weapons, button tapping music solos, and large RTS style battles. I am all for mixing genres but ultimately this many directions left me wanting a more polished experience in some areas.

The full-on metal world is terrific. It's fun to explore and there are many side quests and secrets, like dragon statues, to find. Unfortunately the side quests get repetitive by the end of the game. There are maybe one or two unique ones. My major complaint about the exploration is that you must find over half your solos (special moves) in the world with no help. As a result, I ended the game without one of my solos.

The thing that killed the game for me were the RTS style battles. The idea of a huge metal war is cool, but not when your units are this difficult to order. If you have ever taken God-like view of an RTS for granted or wondered what it would be like to be a general on the ground, play Brutal Legend.

The cartoony art style, humor, and music pull this game together. Stringing combos together with my axe and guitar was awesome. And the memory racing through a huge mountain while it falls apart with Dragonforce blazing in the background reminds me that there was plenty of joy to be had in this game.

Blog Post: It restored my faith in the Metal

Frogman1975 — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:26:00 GMT

As far as story line goes, Brütal Legend is amazing. I grew up in the 80s/90s listening to many of the bands featured on the soundtrack, but as the music became more Kabbage Boy, less Motorhead (and as I took off my blinders and broadened my musical horizons), I found myself dragging out those old metal and hard rock albums less and less, until finally the Death Angel cassettes and Faster Pussycat LPs were all exorcised from my collection, left behind in various moves and supplanted by stuff like the Flaming Lips, Morphine, and Medeski, Martin & Wood.

But to quote Tenacious D "You can't kill the Metal!"

As the D does with musical styles in that song, Schafer and Co. do in Brütal Legend, trotting out (and celebrating) every metal cliche to come down the pike, from hair metal to devil rock to goths, whose image has distracted from the glory of a face-melting solo.

My only complaint about the story was that it was too short. I picked this game up on Friday night after getting off work, and didn't quite know what to do with myself after finishing my first play through of the story mode (on gentle) Sunday afternoon. I tried to go back and tie up the loose ends in the various side quests. But you can only listen to "So who are we going to ambush?" "Bad guys! Wanna help?" so many times.

Yes, the side quests are repetitive. They are the standard "help your troops kill their troops", "go kill 'X' number of 'Y' critter", and beat this character in a race from point A to point B. There are a couple of notable exceptions. For instance the Thinning the Herd side-quest is a neat spin on the use of the deuce coupe's various weapon systems, and more challenging than I expected a "chase and kill" scenario to be, but it isn't enough to sustain gameplay outside the story mode, which is the shining core of Brütal Legend. Unless you are a completist, or just want the trophies, after you've completed story mode there is really no compelling reason to search out the rest of the secondary content.

One-on-One fights, or Eddie versus a group, are also a lot of fun. There is nothing quite as satisfying as getting mobbed by a flock of slouching, black clad, guys in mascara and watching all their goth faces melt as your pull off your solo. However as others have noted, the RTS fights are lacking. Troop response is slow, if they even respond, and requires Eddie to flit back and forth within earshot of the troops he wishes to command. He also gets a solo that allows him to summon all troops on the field to his side, and the special attacks that he receives from joining forces with various troops can be a lot of fun, but if you are coming to Brütal Legend for the RTS, you might be disappointed. While I'll concede that RTS isn't one of the genres I play a lot, I just don't see myself queuing up for an online arena match of Brütal Legend while I've got any iteration of Command & Conquer on my PC.

But that isn't the point of Brütal Legend. The point is to tell a funny, original story that pokes fun at while also paying homage to "the Metal". And at that, the game is a resounding success.

Story 10

Gameplay 7.5

Blog Post: Beautiful but Flawed

Steve Nyktas — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:08:00 GMT

Brutal Legend has incredible artwork – the environments are stunning in both their beauty and creativity, the characters were bizarre and fascinating, and the story was clever. I really enjoyed the opportunities to immerse myself in the world, but it always took a little bit of work to ignore the flaws that held everything together.

Many of the missions could have used more checkpoints; too often I had to start over from the beginning. More frustrating – sometimes I got lost or confused during a mission because the objectives weren’t clear. Technical flaws also occurred. I got a motorcycle stuck perfectly atop a flaming pillar after I drove into the wall in front of it. I couldn’t get the bike off of it, so I had to restart. Whether on foot, in a car, or flying about the battlefields, I would get caught on pieces of the environment.

I won some of the RTS sections because they were weighted in my favor and the others purely based on luck; I never got good at the RTS system. I never mastered the battle system either, which seemed to lack a good defensive mode since many enemies could defeat your block function. I found myself running away. A lot.

Still, I’m glad I played the game because there were also great things about Brutal Legend; things I don’t expect to find elsewhere. Even though it had a poor turning radius, it was fun to explore with the car, particularly after I got some weapons for it. Not all of the weapons worked so well, but most of them were great at killing the huge and artfully designed enemies. There were also lots of bonuses to uncover, and the more time I spent wandering aimlessly, the more fun I had. At this point I would say I’m considering keeping the game just to wander about in it, which I think may raise my opinion of it more and more over time.

Perhaps most importantly, the game feels like it was made for and by nerdy heavy metal fans – and despite not being a metal fan myself, I really liked that aspect. It felt like it was someone’s dream to make Brutal Legend; I was glad to support that, and be a small part of that dream. The music, the art designs, the voice acting, and all the people involved – they are all incredible. If those are priorities to you, I think you’ll be happy to play this game, but if you’d rather have a highly polished game that falls comfortably in the mainstream, you should pass on Brutal Legend.

Blog Post: v

green day fan — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:11:00 GMT

awsome *** game

Blog Post: My usual Good vs. Bad review (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You have been warned)

that_sterlin_kid — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:46:00 GMT

My usual Good vs. Bad review (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You have been warned)

So, I have been following and waiting for this game almost a year and must say, I have a lot of mixed emotions... This game is good, actually, it's great! But there are some things that kinda make it frustrating and avoidable... Want to know what those things are? Find out in my Good vs Bad review!

The Good:
~ The games graphics and sounds are great, as well as the animations. Each character has many emotions, and all are shown as realistically as possible, meaning there aren't just flapping lips and a straight face whenever a character is talking. While playing I also haven't noticed any of the frame-rate issues I have heard about.

~ While on the topic of sound is the soundtrack, which is personally one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time. However, if you don't like metal, the soundtrack may not meet your liking...

~ The voice acting in the game is as great as you've most likely heard. Starring the vocal talents of Jack Black, Lita Ford, Ozzy, and more.

~ The single player gameplay and difficulty on all modes is pretty fair. The story alone lasts about the average 6-7 hours. Doing the side-missions and finding all the extras can boost that from 15-20. Controls are also easy to get use to and there isn't a lot to press and do if you so choose, even the combos are short and made relatively easy to remember.

~ There are only 2 weapons (the Axe and 'Clementine' the Guitar), but there are many different kinds of them that you can buy in the shop. There are also many vehicle attachments and special moves to buy.

~ The open world of Brutal Legend is pretty epic. It has 5 areas with that home different kinda of enemies, animals, and friendly characters.

The Bad:
~ The multiplayer is bugged. When trying to connect to a match, many times the will disconnect from the game no matter how good their connection is. This only seems to be a problem with the PS3 version, because I rented the 360 version just to try it and there were no problems.
Perhaps it will be patched but for now it isn't so it takes the hit.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this game. Especially if you like metal music, a good laugh, gore, and a pretty decent story. 8.5 outta 10.

Blog Post: You Can't Kill the Metal...

Craigaleg — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:51:00 GMT

Score: 8.25/10

Brutal Legend

Xbox 360/PS3

Developer: Double Fine

Publisher: EA

Release Date: October 13, 2009

Pros: Hilarious voice work and dialogue, unique worlds, fitting soundtrack, relatively enjoyable multiplayer, loads of collectibles

Cons: Targeting can be a pain, repetitive side missions, no custom map markers, curse of the basic RTS on a console, Pretty easy even on Brutal difficulty

Tim Schafer is well known for providing games with unique story and hilarious dialogue. It comes to no surprise that after the completion of Psychonauts, he would have to follow with something just as enjoyable. Taking a step from the Teen rating into Mature territory, Brutal Legend was born. A love letter to any fan of metal, the game proves to be an enjoyable experience fans of Schafer and gamers alike can appreciate.

Story

You assume the role of Eddie Riggs, a roadie for a "metal" band known as Kabbage Boy. After a stage prop falls apart Eddie saves the life of one of the band members, but in turn is killed by the falling debris. The stage prop of the metal god comes to life and transports Eddie to a different time in a world clearly influenced by metal. It's up to Eddie to discover why he has arrived at this time and help a small band of resistance fighters in reclaiming their world.

Schafer never fails in delivering a story that keeps you interested. The characters you come across and worlds you explore are never dull. The plot takes its occasional turn just when you think you know what will happen next. The story of the world you have come to inhabit is expanded by the Legend statues you find scattered across the world. These are actually very well done and work to explain why the world is in this chaotic state as well as expand on key figures frequently mentioned.

Sound

The true highlight of the game proved to be the voicework by the main cast. Jack Black provides a hilarious performance as Eddie Riggs, truly fitting of the character. Jennifer Hale (Bastilla from KotOR) also delivers as the female role of Ophelia. Schafer even managed to nab Tim Curry for the role of Doviculus, the antagonist. He also assembled numerous metal icons such as Ozzy Osbourne, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, and Lemmy Kilmister. As nice as it is to have them on board with this project, a few performances fall flat in comparison to others.

The soundtrack to the game is as impressive as the voice casting. Over one hundred different metal songs were chosen for the soundtrack, and prove more than entertaining when they cue up. Certain songs are unlocked by raising Relics and others unlocked as you progress through the campaign. Songs range from "Rock of Ages" by Def Leppard to "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" by Dimmu Borgir. With such a large variety, you're sure to find your favorites to play over and over as you drive through the worlds.

Graphics

Character Models resemble the cartoon style that Psychonauts portrayed. Not giving an incredibly rendered figure, but one that delivers facial expressions that are on point. Coupled with the cartoon look, this boosts the hilarity of character interaction and makes you reminisce to a day of morning cartoons....except this time with blood and the language of Tarintino film. Bosses are quite a sight, especially the chrome spider queen's metallic luster.

The environments you explore are truly a sight to behold. Every metal album cover you can think of is portrayed in the various lands, ranging from gigantic swords plunged into the ground to trees with eyeballs gazing as you pass them. Little things like chrome pipes for trees and freeing headbangers from "The Pitt" all add to make the game even more enjoyable. Though you lack finding any pre-rendered cut scenes or incredibly detailed pieces, the overall cartoon look and feel of the game make up for it.

Gameplay

Campaign

The campaign functions as both a tutorial for multiplayer as well as a single player story component. The game is generally an open world "sandbox" game, allowing the player to explore and complete missions on their own time. Players can move along with the main story, complete side missions, or collect the number of items available through the world.

The main campaign generally holds your hand through the basics. What starts as a simple hack and slash game flips halfway through and becomes a basic RTS. They don't continually consists of these missions however, and mixes it up with escort missions, vehicle based missions, and even the occasional solo venture into a dark cave for a boss fight. The hack and slash aspect allows you to use one button for axe attacks and one button for guitar attacks. Combining these together allows you to pull of other moves. You can also use the guitar to play various solos that give you an upper hand in battle in some way. These are simple button timing commands that prove lenient enough so that even those unfamiliar with Guitar Hero should not have a problem. My main complaint about the hack and slash combat is the troublesome targeting (holding L) and useless block move. If I am attacking and see someone raise their arm, I press block only to roll because the game assumes I am in motion, thus rolling just far enough to be hit by the end of their axe....

The RTS functions much like you would typically expect. You have a base (Stage) and must gather resources (Fans). More fans allow you to send out more troops or upgrade your stage for better ones. The entire time you act as a general, flying over the battlefield and ordering who should attack what location, occasionally landing to deal with a group of baddies personally. Fighting in the campaign has a few variants you must deal with in particular, but nothing requiring a dramatic shift in strategy. Units vary from the typical grunts to gun units to large tanks. Each unit has a "co-op" move they can share with the general, once again showing that you are more useful on the ground with your troops than in the air issuing commands. The units can also be "buffed" by your solos to further their use.

In addition to the main missions, there are numerous side missions to complete in the game. Most of these are very general, like ambushing a small group of enemies or mounting The Druid Plow on a "Death Rack" and playing turret defense. These progressively get slightly tougher, but become repetitive very quickly and feel more like a duty rather than a mission you want to participate in. There are also tons of collectibles to gather such as Relics to unlock songs, serpent statues to free that can upgrade your stats, and jumps to take that can give you more fire tributes. After completing missions, side missions, or gathering collectibles you earn fire tributes from the metal gods. These can be spent at Metal Forges to upgrade your abilities. These range from new weapons to vehicle upgrades. You can also purchase Mt Rockmore faces of various characters...which have absolutely no point other than to have your favorite characters on the side of a mountain. Generally most of the basic upgrades require little participation in side missions to obtain, but if you really want the upper hand you're going to have to do a little collecting. Collecting can be a pain if you see something during a mission and wish to return, as you can only mark key locations on the map.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer maps are much like their Campaign components trimmed to a small arena. There are a pretty decent amount offering a little variety in fan booth placement. You have the option to take control of 3 different factions: Ironheade, Drowning Doom, and Tainted Coil. Each has its own set of unique troops and abilities, not only including different units but different general solos. This adds a bit of variety in play style as you must adjust depending on your faction as each plays differently.

There are no defense towers, there are no key structures...only merch booths and a stage. These are all you can capture/attack. This makes the game suffer from what I like to call, the very basic RTS console game....I'm working on the title. Strategies are limited to what units are in your party. Attacking with a large assault of the same kind of unit won't work, and you must vary them to truly overtake the enemy. Thus the main idea is to gather a lot of big dudes and throw them at this point hoping they overtake the other big dudes placed there. Selecting specific units and forming two separate parties can be more of a challenge than the actual enemies. The controller is limited in how it can issue commands, making it difficult to get units exactly where you want them. Still, it's very manageable and can be pretty fun online.

Overall

Despite its few flaws, Brutal Legend still delivers a truly fun experience. You don't have to be a fan of metal to enjoy the humor of the game. Though the RTS element takes some time to get used to, the campaign holds your interest long enough to keep you playing and the multiplayer proves to be enjoyable. It is not quite as entertaining to me as Psychonauts was, Brutal Legend comes pretty close. The uniqueness of the world and hilarious characters hold up nicely, but the gameplay just felt a bit lacking. A game still worth your time and as Jack Black so eloquently puts: 'You can't kill the metal, the metal will live on.'

Forum Post: Game Informer rating too brutal...

Vakyoom — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:33:00 GMT

To start off i'm not hating on GI at all, i love the magazine, but i think the 8 is a bit too low. Now i know this is just my opinion but not everything is opinionated, especially what is believed to be a clunky RTS system. A couple things were flawed indeed, only being able to upgrade 3 units, not being able to get units to follow you if there are enemies in their path (ignoring them and running by) and having to hold the selector in place while selecting a solo/unit to build instead of letting it rest over the solo/unit you want to select (like the fire arms wheel in bioshock, for example).

While only slightly annoying i would never go as far as to say that "Brütal Legend’s cumbersome command system stretches your patience to wit’s end. If your tactics aren’t sound from the first note there is rarely a course of recovery." Now i think that's a bit (and by bit i mean a lot minus a little) of a stretch: i just went through the game for the first time in 3 days on Brutal mode, only getting stuck on the stage battle in the dry ice mines (and i only did that mission 8 times or so), and i am by no means a so-much-greater-than-anyone-else video game player and that's certainly not the point of this rant here. Any RTS game makes you retry your strategy until you get your tactics "sound from the first note", that's largely the point actually, and if you're not willing to keep trying until you get a strategy then you should play a different *** game. Having trouble with the stage battles on any mode other than brutal means you should be either rethinking your strategy or reading into the tour book a bit more.

Its understandable that writers get bogged down by having to review multiple games and things can slip through but to get someone who is (judging by the article) obviously frustrated by an RTS setting to write a review for a game that's HALF RTS is a much bigger issue. I love TPS games and FPS games have never been a favorite of mine, so i would never write a Halo review, makes sens right? Anyway, Battle commands aren't unweildy, they're just specific. The mechanics aren't unreliable, you've just gotta know how to use them properly. Sure, the game's tricky and hard but why would you play the game if it wasn't? If normal mode is too easy for you, then maybe you should be playing on gentle mode or just play a different game. Long story short, there is no reason this game should have gotten as much flak for it's RTS aspect as it did, the RTS gameplay is solid and honestly defending yourself as just eddie on the ground is more frustrating than RTS battles as a whole.

I can complain about many other things like the terrible dodge rolling, blocking being only mediocre, being hit by an enemy completely halting eddie's forward movement, not being able to drive through bushes/poles/small trees, the solo/unit selector making it tricky to select the right unit or solo, the main missions being far too short and the storyline coming to possibly the most abrupt halt of any game i've played... I'll complain all i want about those things because there are actually things wrong with the aforementioned material, but calling the stage battles clunky just because you're bad at it is no excuse for the 8.

This seems like a lot of writing when the whole point is getting a 9 out of GI instead of an 8, but for a game as phenomenal as far as the combination of rts and adventure styles of gameplay, the best driving experience of any game that's not specifically about driving, the most amazing art/landscapes i've witnessed in a game that's not going for total realism and the most metal storyline of any game ever... This game should have- no, it deserves more credit.

I know i can't change the rating in the magazine but at least the subject has been brought to light. Harsh or not, just keep in mind this is the most metal game ever, and deserves more than an 8-- Not a 10, but not an 8 either. And certainly having the decision based on a bad player playing an RTS game improperly then going off and writing a review on it was probably a bad idea as well.

Blog Post: My brutal legend Review

Chris Richardson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:55:00 GMT

This Game is like a metal rockers fantasy come to life as much as it is fun and makes up in RTS gameplay this Game IS like a fantasy I would create anyway. Though The main character of the game is named eddie riggs voiced By None other than Jack black.. And the guardian of metal is voiced By our father of metal ozzy osborn and then while the Ironheade's Build a army to defeat the Vile tainted coil led By emperor Doviculus.

As You fight your way through this beautiful world doing Sidequest and sneak attks and main missons you'll take Down Doviculus and his vile monsters in a Quest for Freedom as this game is good and the upgrades keep me wanting to go Nut *** on whatever i can kill this Game is Awesome and should be played By RTS players anywhere

Blog Post: rocken gameing

brian — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:35:00 GMT

the game is full of metel it is for rockres more then gameres

Blog Post: Brutal Legend is the way of Metal

BigB63 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:26:00 GMT

Finally a game that gives metal heads praise. This game is beyind belief. When will you be able to see Rock Gods like Lemmy Killmeister, Lita Ford and OZZY FREAKING OSBOURNE in a game together. The stage battles are sweet. The creatures look like they were just ripped off a Heavy Metal album cover. The solos are freakin awesome( you get to summon a flamming zepplin to come down and crash into your enemies) to the fullest extent. Tim Schafer I am humbled by your genius to create a game that embodies the true power of rock.

Forum Post: Is this game Metal enough for you?

keo528 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:59:00 GMT

This game is totaly rightous

Blog Post: Now this is Metal !!!!

Mike — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:49:00 GMT

I loved this game plain and simple. It was creative and new. Now yes it was a type of hack and slash but be honest with yourself you have a certain love for those kind of games. Plus how many times can you count that you drove a muscle car around, talked to Ozzy, Killed demons with a awesome rift and saved a metal chick from becoming emo then teaching her the ways of the french kissing all while flying around with demon wing and blowing crap up? O you say never well thats why i gave this game the rating it deserves a freaking 9. Deal with it....I should give it a 10 just because Jack Black did the voice....but i wont go over bored.

Blog Post: Brutal Legen on the Xbox 360

Eli Gee — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:13:00 GMT

Do you love METAL? Do you love playing Strategic RTS-style battles? Do you love Jack BLACK?

Then this is the game for you! Tim Schafer, game director, did an amazing job on this game. The story goes that Eddie Riggs (Jack Black) is one of the greatest roadies that can fix and build just about anything, is sent to a fantasy world of METAL! Eddie is the Hero of Legend that will bring peace to this world and will help the down-trodden humans against a range of supernatural overlords using a battle axe and his flying V guitar that has magical powers of the world.

This game has it all, from dark humor, gore, “roadie” inspirational language to just random moments throughout the game. I personally got through playing the game not too long ago. It’s a good game if you enjoy all these things. I personally didn’t enjoy it much. It was fun and sort of addicting but this game just wasn’t for me.

I would surely recommend this game to those who enjoy Metal. I personally laughed at this game. This is one of the few games that are actually funny. Jack did a great job.

Game play is very simple. Kill with the axe and the V guitar against enemies and you use the car to travel from area to area.

Graphics are very detailed and the characters are very interesting and completely out there.

Blog Post: This was a funny enjoyable game.

Wardlaw — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:18:00 GMT

I played this game and i thought it was extremely fun game to play if you are looking something that is just funny and a joy to play pick it up. Because after a day of playing Gears and getting lag switch all day and being driven crazy...this game mellows me out.