you make me feel so confused inside
Brutal Legend has looked like a very cool and funny game since I'd first heard about it. There was very little known about it at that time, except that it was a Tim Schafer game, it was very metal, and Jack Black was in it. At least two of those things are undoubtedly good. There are a lot of people who would tell you that having Jack Black in anything these days is a big minus, but I don't feel that way; I'm perfectly willing to judge him and other actors on a project by project basis. With Schafer scripting this project, it seems almost certain that even Black's over-the-top persona can't ruin it.
As months went by, more news and information got out about the game, and it started to look like an action adventure game in the style of God of War, with a humorous and heavy metal makeover. This is what I came to understand the game as, and my excitement continued to grow as guest stars and game mechanics were revealed, well, up unto a point that is. After two years of waiting, everything I'm seeing of the gameplay is telling me that it is not, in fact, an action adventure game at all.
Now, I was just as excited by the 108 track list of metal songs that was released as any casual fan of metal in game soundtracks, but it seems as though Schafer is using these things to gloss over a lot of other elements. For instance, it was revealed that Eddie Riggs, the main character, would have minions to control. That on it's own is fairly innocuous, but in Brutal Legend you need them to complete missions that involve attacking or defending points of interest. That sounds a little familiar. Add to that the fact that there are several minion types that you'll command, and three different factions, and we're not talking about an action adventure game anymore. The revelation that the game was originally built in the multiplayer sealed the deal; this was a real time strategy in disguise!
Before you go saying, "but wait, there is an open world, and you control Eddie personally in battle, and you drive a hot rod!" An open world is just an interface for mission selection, it might look pretty, but it's no different than the stage selection in any other game, it doesn't negate the game's genre, and yes you control eddie and can fight dudes directly with him, but he's still primarily a commander in battle. That would only make it an action adventure game if you weren't responsible for any other units in the fight. As for flourishes like eddie riding in vehicles or on anything else, if you think that changes anything, you're crazy. I don't know how vehicles figure into the game, but if they're in battle, that's no different than what RTS games do, if they're a means of getting around the open world, then it's nothing but an interface convenience, and if you have races or something else asinine, it's a pointless side mission to distract you.
Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with a game being a real time strategy, there are many examples of great real time strategy games, but after so long of being told Brutal Legend was one thing and then discovering through a matter of course that it is actually something else, I'm not pleased. I feel tricked, and I feel as though I was intentionally tricked because Schafer wanted his game to have a broader appeal than an RTS would have. From here, one of two things will happen for anyone who isn't already aware that it's a real time strategy when the game comes out in rocktober: either people will be disappointed by their heavy metal action game turning out to be a strategy game and word of mouth will be extremely negative or the RTS elements are so subtlely layered into Brutal Legend that people won't notice or will get into it and become fans of real time strategy. Personally, I don't think I'll buy it anymore, because I've never been a fan of real time strategy, but I'm still hoping, somewhere deep down inside, that I can be in that latter group and love this game, because dammit, it's just so metal.
Brutal Legend will be released for Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 13th.
Comments
I get the impression you're writing without really having checked out what you're writing about. Have you even watched the videos of this game being played? To me, it looks like a Zelda-style action adventure that borrows combat from God of War and pseudo-RTS elements from pikmin--all great games that should make a nice goulash of a genre bender. To blindly call it a through-and-through RTS is ignoring 67 percent (or more) of what's been shown in the gameplay vids. Starcraft II this game ain't.
It's got elements of an RTS, but no, that doesn't make it an RTS. You're basically saying Grand Theft Auto is a racing game because you spend some time in cars. From what we've been shown there is still plenty of time spent running from A to B and making your way through environs on foot while triumphing the obstacles.
I'm sorry, but you've got no idea what the game will be like.
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