Review: Brutal Legend

It's rare that a game comes out that combines the power and awesome of heavy metal with open world hack'n'slashing.
It was with some caution that I picked up Tim Schafer's (of Psychonauts fame) Brütal Legend, fearful of what kind of a coalition it would be, only to be pleasantly surprised to discover the ultimate combo of music and hack and slash game-play ever to grace my mortal hands.
Hours had gone by before I even realised that the game had completely taken a hold of me. Even the inclusion of Jack Black, whom we've been seeing more and more of in recent years, only added to the experience, which was a great surprise.

Brütal Legend follows Eddie Riggs, a roadie for a heavy metal band. Eddie is voiced by Jack Black, and looks like a much buffer version of him as well. Essentially, as Eddie is working as a roadie (the worlds best roadie, no less) there is a terrible accident, and Eddie is summoned to what can only be a heavy metal fantasy world, in an environment inspired by heavy metal album covers.

Eddie has been brought to this place by Ormagöden, the Fire Beast, to liberate humanity from the demons which have enslaved them, armed with only music as his weapon (his guitar Clementine). Oh and a battle axe (The Separator). Not to mention a pretty sweet hot rod (The Deuce) which spits flames and tears up tracks as you cruise through the open environment.
The world was conceived by the Gods of Metal who created everything, even heavy metal music. In this world Eddie meets up with Lars and his crew, who are already battling the demons.

The world is a gorgeous mix of heavy metal scenes, head bangers and wacky demonic creatures. The dark and brooding colours and exciting creatures set the mood incredibly well. The creatures that roam the world are all a spawn of flesh and metal, and some of these creatures you can even ride once tamed with your electric guitar attack.
The Nordic influence in the graphic style really comes across well, and everything looks polished and awesomely presented. The humour that is in the game is clever and frequent, and suitably presented when combined with Jack Black's voice acting.
It's all typical Jack Black material, with a School of Rock touch. It wasn't until Brütal Legend that we realised how funny heavy metal can actually be. The game, due to the high quality voice acting and some even more stellar cut scenes, plays out in parts more like an epic movie.

The controls are as straight forward as can be, making them easy to use and easy to remember. Most attacks are simply a matter of pressing or holding a button, with combos often requiring only two or three presses and yet unleashing some amazing attacks.
Source stuff.co.nz