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Review: Brutal Legend
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Cover of "Brutal Legend"
Do you like metal music? Do you like melting the faces off "emo" kids with power of metal bestowed upon you by the Titans? Then Brutal Legend is the game for you.
Brutal Legend is the next game by legendary game developer Tim Schafer and his studio Double Fine. You might remember their previous game Psychonauts for the Xbox.
Brutal Legend is a comedic, free-roaming action game with a few strategy elements mixed in. The game centers around Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), The World’s Greatest Roadie, who gets sent back in time to an age when metal music is pure.
The entire game world is modeled after heavy metal album covers from the ‘80s. He gets thrown into a Lord of the Rings-type conflict where Eddie must help the people of "Ironheade" break free from the oppressive rule of "The Tainted Coil".
Along the journey, you will find new musicians to join your band (or “army”). The strategy portion of the game comes into play when you engage in stage battles, where you must build different unit types (infantry, vehicles, etc.) to try to destroy your opponent’s stage.
You get around a huge map in a hot rod, the Druid plow a.k.a "the Deuce", which you can buy upgrades for with various weapons, nitro boosts and a radio. Numerous guest stars appear: Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead as "Killmaster", Ozzy Osbourne as “The Guardian of Metal” and the list goes on.
But the best feature of this game? The soundtrack: 107 songs from every genre of heavy metal from Def Leppard to Rob Zombie.
The battles break down to your basic hack ‘n slash. The weapons include a battle ax and a guitar, which you can learn solos for that have different effects, such as calling forth a giant flaming "zeppelin" that crashes on your enemies.
There are plenty of side missions to help you earn "fire tributes" to pay for your upgrades along your travels. You will find monuments that reveal the back story of how this heavy metal world came to be; the landscape is fun to explore; there are various locations that are viewable through a bird’s-eye view; the voice acting is great; and guest stars pop up all over the place.
So, if you want a break from the generic shooter you’ve been playing, then give Brutal Legend a try. And "for those about to rock, I salute you".
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