I finally got around to beating Brutal Legend. As a crazy metal fan I found the game to be tastefully right up my alley. From the grinding metal constantly to the blood soaked hero (voiced by Jack Black) the game is as close as most metal fans will ever get to drinking from a sea of darkness and slaughtering emo kids.
The game’s story revolves around Eddy Riggs aka. “The best roadie in the biz”. Through a humorous accident at the start of the game, he is transported to the world of metal. The game’s layout is a bit like the Grand Theft Auto series in the sense it has a world map and doesn’t force you to play everything in the same order. Different from the GTA series though, is the car that’s loaded with dual machine guns from the get go. The Duece, as it’s called in the game, is highly customizable allowing for different weapons, nitro boosts, paint jobs, and side attacks. Much of the game will be spent in the car, so I’d recommend getting it pimped asap.
There are two major forms of combat in the game, the first is a basic hack and slash 3rd person view. While the second is a quasi real time strategy game that is a bit clunky to control, but we’ll get into that in a bit. The hack-n-slash portion of the game is competent and has some pretty original moves. Eddy’s main attack is simply a swinging axe attack that gets upgraded throughout the game. While it’s not the most original, I can’t really think of a better metal game slash attack. His “magic” attacks are in the form of guitar solos: from face melting super moves that quite literally melt the faces of nearby enemies to a quick tap of a button that shocks the crap outta baddies, these things rock.
The RTS (Real Time Strategy) portion of the game is a deviation from the typical PC based RTS, and more of an action RTS. You control Eddy while on the battlefield, but through some heavy metal magic you are allowed to fly around and “control” the battle. Overall the control scheme works well, that is until you try to control a focused group of troops. This is where the problems with the console RTS break down. There were numerous instances where I wanted to send a group somewhere only to get super angry that I could aim the cursor in the right spot with the right troops highlighted. This complaint, while very frustrating, wasn’t a game breaker. I loved most of the RTS battles and found myself at home with the simplified controls on the Xbox.
Despite the chunky controls, there is an underlying gem of awesomeness in this game.
The soundtrack:
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
Megadeath – High Speed Dirt
Megadeath – 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
In the entire history of gaming, I have never seen such an amazing lineup of music in a game. The soundtrack is truly EPIC!!!
If you’re a hardcore Metal fan you HAVE TO PLAY this game. If not, it’s ok, you’ll still love it. It’s a fun romp through a foreign world with great gameplay and an effin awesome soundtrack.
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