Games don’t come more different than Brutal Legend, I can pretty much guarantee that you haven’t played anything like this game. If you have played any game by Tim Schafer before you will the man knows how to do funny and that is just what Brutal Legend is. Very, very funny. If you grew up with your head set in a permanent nodding motion and lived in a mosh pit then you will have extra fun with some of the in-jokes at the direction that Heavy Metal has taken over the last few years.
In the game, you take on the role of Eddie Riggs, who is a roadie for an alternative Heavy Metal band called Kabbage Boy. At one of their concerts Eddie is injured and some of his blood seeps into a strange belt buckle what Eddie is wearing. This event causes Eddie to be transported into the world of Heavy Metal, which is where the adventure begins. Upon entering this Heavy Metal World, Eddie meets up with a Resistance fighter called Ophelia who informs him of a war between Humans and what can only described as an Evil Overlord called Doviculus.
After a massive set-up cut scene and you can finally play the gameplay is a strange mix. It contains Sandbox, Action/Adventure and finally RTS, which at first glance it really look like a good mix but in practice they all come together into an excellent package. The open world is amazingly involved, throughout the land there are collectibles and side missions galore all of which you can explore freely as Eddie being the amazing Roadie that he is can wheels in the form of a Hot-Rod called the Druid Plow. The Plow is what you will use for the most part to get around the world but you can also use it in battle as well. Unfortunately, there is a small problem with the side missions in that they revolve around three types and those three get repeated over and over again as the game processes.
The Action/Adventure ingredient is well implemented in terms of combat as when you actually jump into battle with Eddie everything seems solid and for filling. But there is also problem with this addition too, this isn’t as big as the last complaint I had but just an annoyance more than anything. Eddie cannot jump at all. Which given his other abilities (which I’ll get to in a sec) seems a shame and could have gotten me out of a number of annoying rock sticking situations. As I just mentioned Eddie does offer some other abilities to battle in the world, he is equipped with an Axe for normal melee damage and he is given his guitar from his natural world, which in the Heavy Metal World is able to cast spells on enemies.
Finally we have the RTS section of the game, this is the one I was most scared about but impressively it is probably the best feature of the game. The battles that you play out in Brutal Legend are all in this style, you command your forces on a battlefield that looks like a massive rock concert. Needless to say it fits so well into the style of the overall game that something that is normally out of place in an Action based game feels right at home.
Something that should be noted is that the game’s name is well suited to it as there is gore aplenty with beheadings and points that faces are quite literally melted off, in fact in just the opening sequence of the game there are three decapitations which pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the game. There is also some very strong language in there too, so this not one for the kids at all, but for the adults that have kids around there is a function to set a filter on both which puts up a block over the not so nice things and bleeps out the swear words.
There is an upgrade system thrown in there too, which works on the game’s currency of Fire Tributes. To gain Fire Tributes Eddie must complete side missions, complete battles or unearth relics, all of which please the mighty Titans who are the gods of rock. The collected Tributes can then be spent in the Motor Forge on upgrading any of your equipment (The Druid Plow, the Axe or Eddie’s guitar) which in turn give you access to new combat moves and paint jobs too.
Brutal Legend is one of the best games I have played this year, it feels better than what the content sums up to which is actually a massive thing. Jack Black and Ozzy Osbourne are brilliant in their roles and bring the game to life in more ways than one. If your one for funny but thinking games then this is one for you. A story that will keep you interested from start to finish and then there is plenty more to do after the credits have rolled.
Nomete.com says: 
