Brutal Legend - Gamefreaks Review

Someone asked if Brutal Legend would be fun if "you weren't a metal-head?" The answer is a resounding "Yes!" and that's one of the cool things about Brutal Legend, you don't necessarily have to like Heavy Metal music to get enjoyment out of the game (but it doesn't hurt).

With famous maestro's of the metal music scene such as Ozzy Osborne from Black Sabbath and the lead singer of Judas Priest Rob Halford making an appearance, one can only gasp in awe at the fantastic scope of the game (not to mention where the slightly twisted storyline might take you).

And fantasy is very much the reality for our lead character, Eddie Riggs, a burned out veteran of the Heavy Metal music scene who gets just a little more than he signed up for during a gig one night. Eddie (who is voiced by the totally wild and multi-talented actor Jack Black) awakens to find himself locked in some sort of twisted alternate reality (could it actually be hell?), where all things dark, evil and metal come to life - the perfect place for the metal-loving Eddie.

The storyline is basic in the sense that you play as Eddie who finds himself alive in this strange world suddenly realises that his destiny is heading towards defeating the evil that exists there. As the hero, it's your 'calling' to fight, even though you don't quite know why. As you progress through the storyline, bits and pieces begin to fit and you uncover more about Eddie and his history.

Brutal Legend is anything but your ordinary adventure/action type game. Much in the same vein as 'Overlord' which mixed action with RTS elements, Eddie not only gets to battle it out solo with a myriad of weapons (including his guitar 'Clementine'), but finds himself hopelessly out-numbered and that's where Brutal Legend gets really challenging. To defeat the evil hordes, you'll meet other characters along the way who will do battle alongside you. During combat you'll also be able to execute special combat moves to 'double-team' your opponents. Just like any fighting game, combination moves need to be made in quick succession. And just like any good RTS, you'll be expected to have an army and to lead your troops into battle against the evil hordes.

Creating your army is generally easy to do, but not so much when you're under pressure to replace defeated fans during the heat of battle. There are several different types of 'units' to choose from all with specific abilities such as ranged attack and fire attack, and you'll need to work out exactly which combination will defeat the opponents you'll face.

The integration of music puzzles in the game pulls the focus off all the action but only briefly. And the one constant throughout Brutal Legend is the seamless inclusion of great metal music. Not only will you get to listen to heavy metal music all the way through and you can even pick and choose which tracks you want to play when you're cruising in the car.

SUMMARY:
Hacking n' slashing your way through a twisted heavy metal arena of death just about sums up the brilliance of Brutal Legend. Not to mention the great voice acting talent included. Action fans will rejoice with this refreshing new look at the genre and Heavy Metal fans will be transported into a gaming world they could only imagine in their worst nightmares. Sounds pretty perfect to me.