It was a cold winter in New York and I was one of the unlucky few that had to go to work. It had been snowing all morning, and by 2 PM, we had 12 inches of snow. Business was done, and my co-worker and I were sent home. Getting home was not a problem for me since I lived a few blocks away, but my buddy Andrei was totally screwed. So as a gesture of concern I invited the guy over for a cup of coffee. By the evening, the roads had cleared and buses resumed service. Andrei went home but forgot his goodie bag, and out of no fault of my own, I was compelled to open the plastic bag only to come upon something which would change me forever. Andrei had forgotten his very new and very precious copy of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I popped that bad boy in and that was it, my first sandbox-style Action-Adventure.

Being a true metal-head and a gamer, I always felt that video games need more metal, which is probably why I loved Quake II – one of my favorite tracks till this day is “Quad Machine” by Sonic Mayhem. Although Vice City did have ‘V-Rock’ and those splendid tracks by Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth, it kinda left me craving for more. “Couldn’t they have more Metal,” I would ask myself. And then after all that time, here is Brütal Legend!

That said, Brütal Legend is a game that has been inspired by the struggle and endurance of heavy metal. Psychonauts creator Tim Schafer stated that the concept for Brütal Legend came to him some fifteen odd years ago; he also credits a Megadeth roadie named Tony, who had suggested the origin of the main protagonist. Schafer also mentioned that the landscape was been inspired by lyrics and album covers of heavy-metal bands. One look at the game’s environments, and you’d be hard-pressed to disagree. There are over 80 distinguishing characters in addition to the main protagonist ‘Eddie Riggs’, with the likeness of Jack Black and Glen Danzig, based on the Iron Maiden mascot ‘Eddie the Head’ and its creator ‘Derek Riggs’. The score is comprised of a variety of heavy-metal tracks from the 80’s to present day Metal core. Ironically, there are no tracks from rock legends Iron Maiden. Favorites of the heavy-metal community such as Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, Lita Ford, Rob Halford and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D contribute of the voice talent in the game.

The game starts off which introduces Eddie Riggs setting up the stage for the band Kabbage Boy. Eddie is seriously injured and knocked unconscious while trying to save the imbecilic lead guitarist from a fall. While Eddie lays unconscious, his blood lands on his belt buckle which actually turns out to be an amulet of Ormagöden (The Fire Beast/Cremator of the Sky/Destroyer of the Ancient World) – transporting him into the past and leading him to join forces with a small group of human rebels – Ophelia, Lars and Lita, hailing from the town of Bladehenge. Killmaster (Lemmy Kilmister), The Fire Baron (Rob Halford) and the Amazonian Rima (Lita Ford) soon become allies as the game progresses and to join the fight against General Lionwhyte (Rob Halford) and Emperor Doviculus of the Tainted Coil (Tim Curry).

The game progresses as you would expect a normal sandbox-type game to go. Your arsenal consists of three armaments of mass mayhem. An ancient axe appropriately named “The Separator”, a Flying V named “Clementine” and a sweet Hot-Rod called “The Deuce” AKA ”Druid Plow” (Funnily enough, you only get to ‘plow’ druids in the beginning of the game as they don’t make any further appearances for the most part). The side missions are repetitive, barring two or three out of which end up being unique and quite funny actually. The game also introduces you to ‘Fletus’, a comical demon who wants nothing but to beat you… in a RACE! Sadly though, Fletus will be your ONLY competition in the game, if you’re into racing.

Brütal Legend separates itself from other sandbox games and ventures out into creating a new type of play-style, which attempts to implement different genres into its core mechanics. The Stage Battles often shift from open-world action-adventure to a real-time strategy. Although not for the hardcore RTS patron, this does offer an interesting experience (especially to those who are new to the genre). What may get annoying is telling friend from foe. Until you defeat General Lionwhyte, the enemies you meet will remain the same as your allies. The only distinguishing features will be the apparel of your allies who are dressed more ‘metal’, as opposed to the enemy who are dressed more… disco/transsexual. Exploration in the game has its own advantages, collectibles are spread throughout the world and players are rewarded special abilities/stats for completion of these challenges. The game however does not explain how to achieve these goals. Without a proper introduction, it’s quite possible that a player could pass these by and not even know they exist, and that’s assuming even after taking a gander at the manual. A lack of an on-screen map or a more practical waypoint system can also hinder the experience for those who are simply trying to get from Point A to Point B, and then back.

Brütal Legend is NOT perfect and does have its flaws; however, the humor and overall content will have you more indulged than you would care to be (the Main Menu screen is testament to that). The controls are smooth and there are hardly any issues with car handling in general. The voice talent is phenomenal, kudos to Jack Black, Ozzy and the entire crew for unleashing Metal Hell on the gaming community. Fellow headbangers, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. For anyone else, a definite “try before you buy.”

6.5 / 10

Review Copy Courtesy:

Distributor: Milestone Interactive

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