Brutal Legend review
Legendary game maker Tim Schafer, who’s known for taking some wild chances and coming out on top in terms of game design, brings his latest endeavor, Brutal Legend, and alongside it, a piece of Jack Black as well.
Brutal Legend can best be described as an adventure game with a lot of rock elements with the humor from Jack Black, who’s not only known as an actor, but also a rock enthusiast. The game is a third person adventure game where you control Eddie Riggs, a roadie who’s on a mission to save the heaven of heavy metal from an evil lord who’s holding the whole thing hostage. It even includes a great cameo from one of the best known heavy metal characters, Ozzy Osbourne. The feeling of heavy metal is present in every fiber of this game. And even if you’re not into heavy metal, the great story, the funny dialogue and the gameplay will draw you in.
The gameplay is a fusion between 3rd person adventure hack ‘n slash, and RTS, where you command troops (or fans as they’re called) during the main battle. In addition to that, there are sections where you’ll be shooting and racing 
(and mowing down enemies) as well. The levels are huge and well designed, and the art style is consistent throughout — meaning it looks great. You can use different combos to take down your enemies, from playing a particular tune of music — guitar solos — that destroys nearby enemies, to simply slashing your way through with your trusty battle axe. However, quite stunningly, you cannot jump in the game. Seriously. It’s a third person adventure game, where you cannot jump. Last time something like this happened was… GoldenEye… 12 years ago? And that was an FPS. The single player campaign is short and sweet, but the side-missions are rather dull and repetitive, but however, they’re quite easy and will reward you points in the game that you can use to buy upgrades.
The multiplayer aspect of the game includes the RTS aspect of the main campaign, where up to 8 players can play against each other, controlling the monsters and beasts from the main quest. The multiplayer is fun, but it’s not something that’s gonna keep you playing for a long time, as it’s not that varied. You’ll find more replay value in the tons of collectibles and in-game achievements that Brutal Legend offers, where you can unlock new music, concept art, upgrades to your car and so on.
Technically, the game looks great and features a cartoony art style that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The soundtrack on the other hand, is top notch, and comprises of classic songs from artists like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Motorhead. The voice acting, and especially the dialogue writing is top notch as well, and Jack Black not only fits perfectly in the role, he also does an outstanding job as a voice actor. Brutal Legend is mostly an homage to Heavy Metal as it once was, and fans of the music genre should definitely get the game. For non-heavy metal fans, there’s still a lot of fun to be had, especially if you’re a Jack Black fan.
The Good:
Lots of originality
Great soundtrack
Wonderful if you’re into heavy metal
Great voice acting
The Bad:
Short single-player campaign
Side missions are bland
Can’t jump
A few frame rate issues
Overall score: 8/10
Popularity: 1% [?]
- Top 10 upcoming DirectX 11 games
- 20 games to look forward to in 2010
- Top 10 high-res wallpapers of upcoming games
- Top 10 multiplayer FPS games of all time
- Activision shuts down Shaba Games
- Infinity Ward responds to MW2 petition
- NBA Live 2010 review
- MP5 Wiimote submachine gun controller
- DJ Hero pre-order bonuses announced
- Amazon holding buy 2 get 1 free game deal