Image by Getty Images via @daylifeOctober 22nd, 2009 — crazygamers This will mark the first official review here on the site, and we’ll be tweaking this as time progresses. In general, my personal opinion is that a reviewer play through 50 % of a game before publicly praising/criticizing it, give or take depending on the situation. For the sake of just getting some content up on the site, I will state that my impressions of the games I am reviewing this week are fairly early on, so take them with a grain of salt. For the most part, I will be approaching reviews as a way of letting readers know whether a game is a definite “buy now,” or a “proceed at your own risk” kind of deal, so something can be said upon the game releasing instead of playing the whole thing and delaying reviews months after a game has fizzled out. With that being said…
Brutal Legend (Xbox 360, PS3) EA, Double Fine
Fun Factor—>4/5
From top to bottom, Brutal Legend is simply a vastly engaging and entertaining game experience. Those who took time to download the demo were given a sample of the endless character, charm, and sense of wonder that the game exudes from the get-go and, for the most part, retains throughout the course of its progression. Jack Black is fantastic in his role as the determined roadie Eddie Riggs, on a rock-of-ages quest, hell bent on defending the sacrament of all things heavy metal.
Double Fine brews a diverse concoction of game-play genres, with each ingredient contributing to a fairly balanced structure of tasks and mechanics. One minute you’ll be hack ‘n’ slashing enemies with your piercing axe guitar, electrocuting oversized arachnid bosses using powers bestowed upon Eddie via the unholy Gods of heavy metal, and the next you’ll be issuing commands to your minions RTS style in a reasonably simple mapping of the D-pad in order to organize and plan precise attacks and strategic battles. So far, I have found these interesting blending of styles to complement each other effectively; the game does not have a habit of stressing one or the other, and the quest objectives allow the player to perform these functions for just long enough before transitioning to something different, lest they experience overkill. The combat has more in common with the swordplay of Fable II as opposed to a Devil May Cry or God of War, although the fluidity of motion is increased due to the seemingly steroid infused nature of Riggs’ character, and the gore is gruesome enough to satisfy those who crave heavy splashes of crimson arterial outpourings. Also similar to a game like Fable is the conspicuous absence of a jump mechanic, although due to the bulky, cumbersome physique of your playable character, jumping doesn’t seem like a believable action to pursue. The player will notice this for sure, but in the long run I didn’t find this design choice to limit the overall experience or ability to advance. Decapitating evil monk-esque foes is a blast, although I can see the RTS elements potentially leaving some players with an unpleasant aftertaste. Fans of the Overlord games will feel right at home as they lead their head banger allies into battle; others perhaps could feel out of sync and find limited appeal. To summarize, Brutal Legend is absolutely an enjoyable pastime and will keep you glued to the screen with a smirk glued on your face, although repetition can have a tendency to take effect. Quests are short, and once you’ve implemented all of the available styles of playing, the game quickly becomes a “repeat what you’ve learned” process with slight tweaks here and there to your overall goals and characteristics of your opposition.
“Replay” ability: 3/5
Tim Schafer’s heavy metal opus comes packaged with a strongly emphasized RTS multiplayer mode, although as of this writing I have yet to delve into this offering. This is partly due to lack of time, but more due to a lack of interest. The strategy elements of the single player story wear tiresome after awhile, and I personally found myself more invested in the outstandingly rendered cut-scenes and character development that I’d watched Double Fine build. As fun as the game play is initially, eventually I found myself caring more about how well the characters and environment were realized, and less about the tasks I was actually supposed to be performing. To an extent, the game play does a disservice to Eddie’s personality, and some of the quests/tasks come off as trivial or silly in respect to his character. Yes, I am aware this is an over-the-top mystical heavy metal fantasy; however game play and story should mirror each other in their level of dedication. Mindless game play and mindless story go hand-in-hand, but Double Fine’s obvious strong suit is story and character. I felt it was a shame that some of the sequences of the game made me roll my eyes in a *sigh* “ok if I HAVE to” type of manner, when the character animations and delivery were so high quality and praise worthy. For this reason, I don’t see myself popping in Brutal Legend after a first complete play-through; as good as the best parts of the game are, once you’ve seen them you’ve seen it all, and the urge to continue the weaker parts of the game aren’t in high demand.
Emotional Investment/Worth Playing? : 4/5
You’ll be intrigued by this game. The characters are well defined, it’s thematically compelling, and not as silly and outrageous at times as you would presume based on its concept alone. The enormous and vastly rich open-world environment leaves the player with plenty to do, and the extensive upgrade system allows gamers to enhance and outfit their weaponry, vehicles and arsenal. Side quests and mini-games abound, some of which are uniquely rhythm derived (spawning a vehicle), and because the quests aren’t too time-consuming you won’t find yourself getting bored before you get another splendid demonstration of cut-scene enabled plot development. The game-play in between does unfortunately become borderline rote at times, and a little less repetition would better suit the game’s effect on those playing it.
Polish/Quality/Presentation: 5/5
The VO performances are stellar all across the board, as Black’s character portrayal is loyal to a unique character concept as opposed to any aspects of his persona in his band Tenacious D or any of his bizarre comedic roles. To be concise, this is not a “Jack Black” game. Celebrity “cameos,” if you will, are widespread with the appearances of Judas Priest front-man Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne, Tim Curry, Lita Ford, Kyle Gass, Lemmy Kilmeister, etc, and all individuals bring their A game as far as convincing voice acting is concerned. The controls feel tight and work well with the agenda at hand, and vehicle driving left me with little criticism and confidence in managing my challenges. Bugs or glitches so far have not reared their ugly head, and the game is stunning with its open-world visuals. The “go anywhere, do anything” mentality is encouraged, and in general no invisible walls loomed to discourage me. The soundtrack is no surprise, and a variety of heavy metal/hair metal/glam rock acts fill out the experience nicely. There’s nothing better than squashing enemies with your Deuce as you rock out to Ratt. The menu and interface is organized and user friendly, with a save system that does little to spur frustration. Facial expressions and mo-cap are top notch, and characters emote in a highly realistic fashion that help engage the player that much more. Quite simply, this is a beautifully polished game.
Innovation/Creativity: 5/5
Whether it’s the attention grabbing live action introduction of Jack Black in search of a rare album prior to loading the game, the creative menu interface structured to resemble classic heavy metal album covers, or the moment-to-moment game-play which spans a variety of genres, Brutal Legend, more so than any other game in recent memory, will have you saying to yourself “I haven’t played a game quite like…this.” The hilarious unfolding of gore/obscenity settings are a nice touch (as seen in the demo) and periodic mini-games and choices available to how the game can be played are orchestrated admirably.
Consensus/Final Score: 4/5
Brutal Legend is admittedly not the game I was expecting, perhaps many of us were expecting, but that can be just as much of a positive as a negative depending on your approach. The game’s charm, polish, and innovation set it apart from the rest of the pack, however I feel that the ingenious concepts and ideas suggested here receive detriment because of the sometimes niche style of game play. This is an example of a wide-audience appeal, but limited audience playability. If RTS elements and open world set pieces of all things heavy metal are your thing, snatch yourself a copy of Brutal Legend immediately. Others who have their concerns in these areas may consider borrowing or renting before arriving at a final decision. By all means, download the demo in either case, and let it be known that this is not a throwaway title; it is an epic and finally tuned (excuse the pun) video game journey.
BEATZ
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