Customer Reviews

Brutal Legend

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Let me start this review by saying I really wanted to like this game. Being a huge fan of previous Tim Schafer games and a long time metal aficionado I had high hopes. I even pre-ordered the game from Amazon which is rare for me. I give the preface since someone without the same expectations might enjoy it more.

The Good:

Story, Soundtrack, Voice Acting, Artwork, Humor, Metal References and Credits

All of the above are incredibly good. From the introduction through the credits the production values and choices the team made were excellent, within character, and true to intent. I liked the credits which is usually a pet peeve of mine. Rather than drag them out and force you to watch for 10+ minutes (and tempting you to quit out), they went along at a good clip. The soundtrack is well balanced with old and new, major (Ozzy, Scorpions, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest) and less well known but excellent (Ministry) artists, and styles from melodic to death growls (not a fan personally). The Legends and overall storyline are quite entertaining and well thought out.

The Bad:

Length, Flow, Gameplay, and Achievements

The game is very short. Unless you want to spend lots of time after the main story on either hunting through the environment for missed objects (without any map indication or "object finder") or want to play the pseudo-RTS online multi-player, you will be lucky to get more than 10 hours of gameplay out of this game. For a next gen price of $60, the entertainment/price ratio doesn't work out (and is one of the reasons for the 3 stars.) The flow of the game is somewhat disappointing as the major story points are somewhat disjoint and don't always flow smoothly together. The achievements frustrate me as >60% of them are from either the endless object search or the multi-player component. I don't have a problem with some tedium for attaining a full 1000 points, but I really feel a majority of the points should be achievable in playing the main game reasonably carefully. This is one of those games where the achievements feel set up to force the game to be artificially longer rather than to add to your enjoyment. Finally there is the gameplay itself. Another review (sorry I don't remember the reference) stated it best. In having the open-world/action/driving/RTS game models, the game is really a "Jack (Black) of all trade and master of none". None of the modes are bad but none of them are good. Taken together the whole isn't greater than the sum of the parts. The enjoyment in the game is from the story, the world, the soundtrack, the humor, the metal, and the artwork. The mechanics don't add to the game.

Bottom Line:

Worth a rent or buying a used copy, but with all the holiday games there is better value out there. I hope TS continues to make games though and the next one has the publicity/plish of Brutal Legend but is more like Psychonauts/Grim Fandago in fun.

First off, this game pokes fun at current "metal" trends while attempting to tell a story worthy of the 70s metal bands that meshed mythology and modern culture. The game succeeds, in my opinion, in just about everything it sets out to do, and does it so well that it makes the endeavor of this mixed-genre game look natural and easy to accomplish.

You can't discuss this game without the tongue-in-cheek-yet-serious storyline. The quirky characters and the fact that this is all being done in over-the-top fashion makes it hard to take seriously, but that hint of humor is what lends the game's story its sense of urgency. If the game took itself seriously and didn't play these over-the-top characters for laughs, it would become tedious and overwrought. The fact that they copped to their own camp value is what keeps it from being pretentious.

The game itself is actually a realization of Action games, Exploration/Free Roam games, and Real-Time Strategy. Fans of one or two should have no problem with this game (though people who dislike RTS will find this game least agreeable as most major plot points revolve around RTS battles.) You drive around the landscape in your upgradeable car, doing open-world missions and races. If you upgrade your car for weapons, you can also shoot things instead of hopping out of the car to fight people (which, oddly enough, my axe kills things faster than lighting something on fire, shooting it with a chaingun, running it over, then backing up over it.) Some of the missions will see you fighting things solo, but this is rare. You will usually have minions helping you out (similar to Dynasty Warriors.)

Finally, the big thing is the RTS element. While it couches it as a "battle of the bands" kind of rockshow, it is a serious (if a little bare-bones) strategy battle. In true Rock-God fashion, you have to play some epic riffs and get your hands dirty leading your troops for the most part, and you can either fly around the battlefield or take your car (which is a bit of a disappointment, as stated above, for the damage it does compared to a few whacks with your axe.) to explore your options and set waypoints. Each unit can also be "teamed" with to create a different or enhanced effect and, later, you can upgrade your main base and your basic units as well.

For all the wonderful setting and awesome music (which, admittedly, should appeal to anyone who is considering this game,) all the quirky characters and cool cinemas and events and so-on and so-forth ... the game is depressingly short (figure 8-10hrs at most for the core story.) Like most free-roaming explorers, the game depends on your desire to "catch 'em all!" to keep you playing, either looking at all the cool setting or finding all the collectibles. Admittedly, I'm interested in the fascinating metal-style mythology of this epic world, so I'm hunting for that now.

The game's brevity would seem to be an unfortunate decision to include RTS multiplayer in the game. This has very little interest to me, and I would've much rather seen them incorporate the coding into additional story missions rather than saving it all for multiplayer (with no way to familiarize yourself with the other factions' units and abilities other than playing against a typical AI which substitutes higher resource and production rates for actual skill.) I would have loved to, instead of playing multiplayer RTS, had to play a mission or three as the goth faction or the demon faction, especially because it would've fleshed out these adversaries just a little bit more and made it a little more satisfying to beat them.

Other minor gripes include the often-used mechanic of "water is deadly," in that if you end up driving your car into the ocean or off a cliff, rather than just have a quick cinematic of your character crawling, annoyed, out of the surf, you go back to the last mission you accomplished after a brief death sequence. Another minor issue is that I found it hard to give intricate commands to my troops (though I suppose that kind of fits given my troops.) Also, re-used voice-clips during the missions and RTS tend to get a little old.

In all, this game is definitely a rental, but metalheads on a mission to relive the days of epic albums should probably pick this up ...

Brutal Legend is a great game. So great in fact it's only down fall is it concludes very fast. The saying goes "Time flies when you're having fun" and no quote could be more genuine when summing up Brutal Legend.

To be honest I was excited about this game until I found out that in addition to the action oriented hack n slash game play it was also a real time strategy game. RTS has never been a genre that appealed to me. I'm more about being a loner or in a small group as opposed to dictating the actions of up to 50 or so troops with different strengths and weaknesses. Yet somehow Double Fine had me addicted to the RTS "battle of the bands" set up as well as the driving escort missions, gunning death rack tower segments, and even helping my head banger bros score beer and babes. Getting a gamer to be captivated by genres he normally dislikes is no easy feat. As a matter fact to date I'd say Brutal legend is the only title that had me enjoy types of game play I'd normally be insanely frustrated by.

While Brutal Legend is influenced by Heavy Metal I don't necessarily think you have to love that genre of music to be enthralled by what is offered. It tells a decent fantasy tale with its' own unique mythology. Despite the fact Brutal Legend throws Grand theft auto, God of war, Zelda Ocarina of time, and Over lord into a blender it retains being original and non confusing.

Starting off Eddie Riggs is a likable hero. When I saw the first Brutal Legend trailer I thought maybe Eddie would end up being like Kratos aka a dumb enraged testosterone jock covered in leather and spikes. Instead Eddie cares about others, refuses to be a glory hog, and is more akin to that lovable best friend you knew in high school whom despite looking "scary" was very charismatic, generous, and optimistic.

However Eddie does not start out our tale as a happy camper. Pretty much the game drops us into a scene where Eddie's talents as a roadie are being exploited by a tween pop band trying to pass themselves off as the new equivalent of heavy metal. Eddie's awesome stage is referred to as "ironic in a retro sort of way" and one of the rockers gleefully enjoys breaking guitars just so Eddie has to fix them. In a humorous kind of way the scene reminded me of Cinderella only Eddie is a guy and instead of having 3 wicked step sisters he has to contend with three jerk wad step brothers. Most of us would understand if Eddie cussed out the manager and quit on the spot but instead he selflessly saves one of the band members from plummeting to his death. Eddie's heroism is ironically rewarded by having a stage prop fall atop his burly frame. Riggs' martyred blood mingles with his magic belt buckle summoning an angry yet noble monster of yore. With a mighty roar Omigodan the fire beast slays the blasphemers stopping their terrible music than it whisks Eddie away to an enchanted dark fantasy world influenced by the awesomeness that is "True Metal".

Yes, I realize this sounds cheesy. We can draw parallels to it being similar to Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonder Land. However the rock n roll death metal studded presentation of the tired "Stranger in a strange land" plot device works perfectly.

Upon arriving in an alternative lifestyles version Never Ever Land Eddie slays a bunch of blood thirsty occultists with an axe he finds then meets a sweet yet fierce young woman named Ophelia. She tells Eddie the robed weirdos he decapitated are the servants of the demon emperor Deviculous and that there is a human resistance trying to over throw their evil master. Equipped with his battle axe and electric guitar that can raise relics of ancient power or melt faces Eddie constructs a hot-rod on the spot, riding off into the sun set with the mysterious yet hot Goth girl to save mankind.

You will proceed to interact with the lovable yet eccentric guardian of Metal Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy the hellacious biker healer, Lita the spirited Amazon, and Lars the golden haired hero who fast becomes your new best friend. If these famous real life cameos were just thrown in to sell a bad product I would have felt cheated. As it stands they are woven in seamlessly with the world they are apart of. Every person in the game has good motivations for being the way they are and they seem more concerned with contributing to a good yarn than with out-staging each other.

Brutal Legend has a sand box world. In truth you can blow through the story line as fast as a guitarist riding the lightning but if you go that route you are going to miss out on a lot of land marks, extra missions, hidden music tracks to play while driving around in your Druid Plow, world folklore, and secret guitar riffs which grant Eddie arcane war-spell techniques whilst battling making victories come much easier. Unearthing these mementos of the forgotten age likewise increases "fire tributes" which you use to upgrade your hot rod and fighting combos within Ozzy's motor lodges.

The thing I really hope developers learn from Brutal Legend is its' perfect balance of campy humor and emotionally driven sincerity. While it can be stated Tim Schaefer's newest offering doesn't take itself too seriously it also doesn't undermine itself with an over abundance of bad ham and moldy cheese. Jack Black whom voiced Eddie walks the delicate line between satire and tragedy with perfect harmony. I honestly have more respect for him now. I'm hoping future movie producers see Jack's true potential and stop giving him roles that undermine his hidden talent.

By this point I've explained enough. I cannot say anymore without edging dangerously close to spoiler territory. This game is one that has to be experienced instead of merely read about. Words alone fail to express the creativity, awe, and mirth packed into this sour yet sweet nostalgic road trip through Heavy Metal heaven!

Pros

+Breath taking twisted yet beautiful world to traverse.

+ Good blend of RTS, driving, exploration, fun mini games, and visceral combat.

+ Acting and sound track are the best in the business.

+ A tale that is not too grim yet not ridiculously silly either.

+ Fun multi-player RTS battles over Xbox live

+ The enemy types are scary yet outrageously hilarious at the same time. Every creature encountered is some sort of parody or tribute to the various kinds of heavy metal music.

Cons

-Game is a bit short but to its' credit the ending brought a smile to my face. (Unlike Fable 2. Cough.)

-The upcoming down-loadable content is "meh" if you are more intrigued by the single player story line than you are the RTS aspects.

-Tim Schafer is not renowned for making sequels. For those like myself who want a sequel we may have to bite off a bit of bad tasting disappointment.

-Side missions get repetitive and there are only around 4 types of them. For what its' worth these mini quests extend the game and they're fun for what they are.

-Though I took to the mish mash of game styles some may be more puzzled than pleasantly surprised by BL's patchwork Frankenstein of genres.

To best describe this game, you have to imagine a time before the internet and when MTV and radio played no metal music at all. I would bring my allowance to a Camelot records shop every Friday and look at the covers of tapes in the metal section then buy the one looked the coolest. Ah metal in the eighties... takes me back to when coping a tape from a friend or a Metal Edge magazine was the only way to discover new bands.

This game is like taking a romp through my favorite metal covers come to life. A world of grossly distorted large engines and god like effigies all in the name of metal.

The game play itself is a miss mash of modes that mostly feels like Grand Theft Awesome. You drive around a large sandbox environment doing things like helping to ambush enemies, save friends in trouble, doing special jumps in you car, hacking up enemies with your axe etc... The main thing that separates this game is a real time strategy mode that is involved with all of the games major plot points. You become the on battlefield general for you army of headbangers. This means that you are hacking enemies and commanding troops at the same time. This is a little tough to get used to at first, but none of these parts kept me from progress for more than 2 to 3 tries on the hardest difficulty.

With a sound track of over 100 great songs and Ozzy, Lita Ford, Lemmy, and Rob Halford doing voice over, Brutal Legend is a unashamed tribute and celebration of all things metal.

If you like metal you'll love it.

You can always count on Double Fine when you need a game that really deviates from the norm. Run by the legendary Tim Shafer, their games are about as unique and funny as they come and Brutal Legend is no different. Sometimes, however, Brutal Legend can seem to be a style-over-substance affair, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This game's style is so completely rad and over the top that it can't help but overshadow the gameplay at times, and that is a good thing.

First off, the game's strength: the art direction. Imagine taking every epic metal album cover you've ever seen, combined with Frank Franzetta's paintings, Norse Mythology, Conan the Barbarian, and anything else you can think of that is metal related. If you associate it with headbanger music, this game has it in some form and it is a very faithful, loving tribute to all things metal. Then, dial up the testosterone to 11. Seriously, this game is epic! The environments really steal the show, and there's a lot of variety. Metal music is a huge category of music, with tons of sub-genres that all fall under its umbrella. This game features it all, from 1970's Black Sabbath era attitude and visuals, to an area that is all goth-black-death-metal. The characters and creatures all appropriately represent all of heavy metals's variety as well. It's pretty cool.

Since the premise of the game is hugely based on a genre of MUSIC, the soundtrack is pretty awesome. I personally enjoy SOME styles of Metal music, but not all. In general, it isn't a kind of music I find myself seeking out in my personal life. Still, I really enjoyed it in this game. It also features the voice talent of Jack Black as the main character. He did a really great job at furthering the charm of the game. It also has some of Metal's biggest figures in real life as well. Lemmy Kilmister(Motorhead), Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Lita Ford (The Runaways), and Ozzy Osborne are all in here, and they do a fantastic job at bringing life to their respective characters, who are already very likable and fairly deep. I was pleasantly surprised. The writing, as you would expect from Double Fine, is both charming and hilarious. The story in this game is campy and funny at times and surprisingly poignant and touching in others. I was very impressed by it. Great job Double Fine!

The gameplay is by far Brutal Legend's weakest point. It's not bad at all, but it really isn't that great. Brutal Legend is a long island iced tea combination of gameplay ideas. In this game, you'll be playing an open-world game, a real time strategy game, a hack n' slash, a music rhythm game, a racing game, and several others. It all really comes across as s a jack-of-all-trades but master of none, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't match the quality of the rest of the game. It is worth noting that fact going in.

Now for the problems I have: There is hardly any variety to the tasks to do outside of the story (hunt this animal, race this guy, shoot a mortar at these bad guys, defend this base, and of course, collectables), but the game sort of requires a bit of it. The tasks aren't poorly executed or bad in themselves, but there's hardly any variety and you'll quickly tire of performing them. Unfortunately, if you want the points to level your magical guitar, axe, hot-rod, character, etc, you have to do them. Also, this game is very, very short without the paltry diversions, about half the length I expected and would have liked. Still, these are minor qualms, and overall this game is one worth enjoying.

Overall, this is a game that exceeds in its art direction, audio, story, characters, and falls a bit short in its gameplay execution, gameplay variety, and length. Does that mean this game is not worth getting? Absolutely not! The strengths of this game are so excellently implemented that the good definitely outweigh the bad, but not enough to keep it from losing a single star. I'd still buy this game and recommend doing so for anybody out there that is interested. For metal fans, this game is a no brainer. Get it. For those that are a fan of Double Fine, get it. For the greater number of people who aren't fans of metal or don't know who Tim Shafer is, I'd still recommend it. It's a very lighthearted, unique experience, and a breath of fresh air from the constant barrage of sameness in games these days. Buy it, headbang to it, bring the enemies of metal to their knees with its awesomeness!

I really enjoyed this game. I found the gameplay quite memorable. Next to "Pure", this is quite possibly one of the most unappreciated games of all time! The multiplayer is very sloppy, but the campaign is very very fun! I played it and got every trophy on the 360 version as well as the PS3 version. At a price under $10, you'd be nuts not to play it! It's many hours of gameplay for a super low price.

Just love how the game plays out and the voices of jack black and ozzie are just classic! a freakin world of heavy metal, and eddie is there to save the day.
I like how the controls are, some take getting use to but one's you got it down, then your good to go

I had been looking forward to this game since I read about it in game informer in about 2006. When I finally got the game about a long time after it's eventual release i was not disappointed. As someone who is more into role playing games, than running around with an RPG (haha get it) killing Germans or whatever you people do in war games, I love a game where I can really get into the story and the character I'm playing. This game has a story and premise that has definitely never been done and is infinitely entertaining. The controls on this game were great, especially the driving controls, and running around killing all kinds of odd demons and people with a big axe and guitar just about made my century. One other thing I found to be absolutely wonderful about this game was it's sense of humor. The writing was fantastically hysterical, and Jack's Black's voiceover just added to the experience.

Growing up in high school, I was not a Heavy Metal fan. I looked askance at the dudes in their black t-shirts and doodling death symbols. I was struggling to be accepted as a gamer, and although the Metalheads played Dungeons & Dragons as much as I did, they came from a very different background.

As an adult it's much easier to embrace this form of counter-culturalism. Heavy Metal was rebelling at a time when 80s conformity was emerging, overhyped, oversynthed, and carefully marketed. Heavy Metal was at turns loud, angry, and violent or melodic, sorrowful, even romantic. But it's not too late. Brutal Legend will show you the way.

A lot of people criticize the short playing time of Brutal Legend, as if tearing from scene to scene, save point to save point, is the only purpose of the game. In fact, Brutal Legend is entirely the opposite - it's a world meant to be explored, a culture meant to be absorbed, a state of mind meant to be embraced. You've got to let go of your hang-ups if you really want to enjoy Brutal Legend.

Brutal Legend follows Riggs as he journeys through this strange land. He finds himself in a familiar role: supporting a better-groomed star from behind the scenes. With its twisty plotline of love and loss, allegiance and betrayal, players may be surprised to discover that Brutal Legend has a strong romantic element - an important part of Heavy Metal.

But mostly Brutal Legend is about music. Jack Black as Eddie Riggs is our comedic tour guide through this insane universe, which occasionally pretends it's part of pre-history but is actually a mad mix of Nordic legend, Heavy Metal sensibilities, and Frank Fazetta and Heironymus Bosch's art. It all ties together through a back-story that can be discovered piece by piece by wandering the land, digging up artifacts, musical solos that act as spells, and releasing bound and gagged stone dragons for blood tributes. On paper Riggs is a roadie, but in practice he's a bard of musical Metal, capable of summoning wild beasts, melting the face of his enemies, or even changing day into night.

Music is its own character in Brutal Legend. Riggs can create a vehicle known as the Druid Plow, an incredibly souped-up car that can drop mines, fire heat-seeking rockets, blast foes with sound, and - most importantly - provides the game's kicking soundtrack. This soundtrack is the perfect mood music for the game itself, which feels like you've been thrust into one of those Heavy Metal album covers.

Brutal Legend is highly original too. Forget the usual fantasy tropes of elves and dwarves. This game features carnivorous deer, porcupines bristling with metal quills, huge steel-headed beasts, monsters made-up like Kiss that breathe fire...and that's just the local wildlife. There's a whole coterie of Tim Burton-esque undead foes, the aforementioned Bosch-inspired demons, fire-trailing bikers, speaker-toting roadies...this game is as much as feast for the eyes as it is for the ears.

In fact, this game turned me on to groups I'd never heard of before: Angel Witch, 3 Inches of Blood, Motorhead, Riot, Omen, and KMFDM. I may not be a Metal-head, but Brutal Legend made me a fan of groups I would never otherwise have listened to. That's the highest compliment I can pay a game.

I haven't played through the whole game (too many games to play, and not enough time) but the bit I played was fun and funny.