Brütal Legend has been one of our most anticipated games since its announcement some years ago. We were at a loss when the game was put on hold, and then rejuvenated when EA acquired it and finally gave it the green light. There’s less than a month left before Brütal Legend hits retail, but we were still giddy to get our hands on the demo. The short version: it rocked our faces off.

Most of you are probably familiar with the game’s plot by now, but for those who aren’t, Brütal Legend stars Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black) who is a roadie discontent with today’s metal, or what passes for it. When the guitarist for the band he works for decides to climb onto Eddie’s stage decorations, Riggs ends up being the one who saves him, only to have the props fall and crush him. As his blood leaks onto his belt-a metallic skull of some mythical beast, the stage comes to life, melts some faces, and transports Riggs to an alternate world; the world of heavy metal.

In the world of metal, Eddie is forced to pick up a broad axe, the Separator, to defend himself from druids set on killing him. Soon after, he discovers the guitar transported to the world with him holds the power to electrocute and shock enemies with but only a pluck of the finger. Both weapons had a standard attack and a charged up attack, and we found ourselves using them in tandem to dispatch enemies. While Clementine, the Flying V guitar, has the more powerful attacks, she becomes too hot if Eddie uses her too much. While Riggs auto targets enemies if you don’t manually do it, the camera can get a bit clunky so you must be vigilant in keeping it centered on the action.

Of course we then ran into Eddie’s assured love-interest—Ophelia, a hot rocker-chick fighting against Lord Doviculus’ evil reign. Eddie can use allies in combat with the Y button to effortlessly mow down baddies. In Ophelia’s case, she would jump into Eddie’s arms, and then he would launch her forward as she spun in a whirlwind of spinning blades.

All the while we were slicing up bad dudes, a distinct soundtrack borne of rock and roll and heavy metal blared in the background. Schafer has expressed that he’s a heavy metal fan, and he proves it by offering a 108-song strong soundtrack full of bands like Judas Priest, Motörhead, Ozzy Osbourne, Cradle of Filth, and Megadeth.

The dialogue—as you expected—already appears to be on par with Schafer games. Jack Black seems well suited to deliver the unique brand of humor, and the quirky characters and metal-inspired environment just add to the atmosphere. The graphical style aims not for cutting-edge realism but appears like something you’d see on an album cover of one of the bands in the game.

The short demo concluded with Eddie performing a solo to extract parts to build a hot rod from the ground, and we proceeded to drive it over druid after druid (Eddie calls it “The Druid Plow”) on our way to an arena set up for an obvious boss fight. Mr. Riggs is pitted against a giant worm-like creature that has decided he and his Hot Rod look like a good meal. After Eddie dodged the worm’s lunges and ran over its three tongues, the demo concluded.

While the demo was ultra short, it gave us a good idea of things to come, and we’re salivating for them (hint: Ozzy makes a cameo). The hack-and-slash gameplay has potential to get tiring after a while, even with guitar attacks and partnered moves with your allies to spice it up. The best way to sum up our impressions is that Brütal Legend is shaping up to be exactly what one would expect from a mind like Tim Schafer’s.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Related posts:

1. Tim Schafer Talks Jack Black’s Gamer Cred & How Guitar Hero Saved Brutal Legend
2. Top 9 of ‘09: #4 – Brutal Legend
3. Impressions: Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360)
4. Impressions: Wet (Xbox 360, PS3)
5. Impressions: Crackdown 2 (Xbox 360)

About This Author: Andrew Giese

I spend more time reading and writing about gaming, but when I do get a chance to grab the sticks, you bet I'll be unavailable for the next few hours. I hope to complete my Masters in Computer Science in a few years and one day actually help make some of the games I love.

Share This Post: