Brutal Legend- Review Of The Game
In recent years, Electronic Arts has consistently published high-quality and well-designed games that have crossed genres and broken boundaries because of their accessibility. Their bread-and-butter staple series of franchise sports games set the bar early for the way they build intuitive interfaces for the dedicated followers who keep them in business. Spreading this formula into their “BIG” line (like NFL and FIFA street), they showed that they could do just as much damage with arcade style action/sports combination’s; and the more recent Black Box has further improved the dynamic of the “Skate” series and it’s revolutionary analog control. There latest game is called Brutal Legend.
Teaming up with “Psychonauts” brilliant creator Tim Schafer–formerly of LucasArts–on his second adventure with his growing company Double Fine, EA has again shifted the thinking of the gaming public by combining action-RPG elements with the one-of-a-kind Jack Black against a heavy-metal-and-Nordic-mythology-inspired universe. This is Brutal Legend.
Heavy metal music is known for its definitive sound and flashy, technical solos, and it is with this in mind that this still relatively new team delivers the fast-paced action of their new project.
Combining the raucous energy of a heavy metal show, a hot rod demolition derby, and a classic dungeon crawler, Double Fine has tweaked some fresh ideas and thrown them into the mix, providing a one-of-a-kind gaming experience.
Brutal Legend begins backstage at a rap-metal-emo show where career roadie Eddie Riggs comments on the lost art of metal (which is later than the 70′s, like maybe the late 70′s). Take a look at his big-guitar-wielding, floppy-haired, turn-table-backed performers, and it’s easy to appreciate his frustration. When one of them ignores his warning and climbs the big statue, he falls and though Eddie saves him, he can’t save himself from the crumbling colossus.
He wakes to find himself in a strange, mystical land and must quickly find a weapon to battle some skeletal bad guys. After slashing them with a huge axe, he also attacks with his stringed Axe, “Clementine”–in all her distortion pedaled glory.
Fans of Double Fine–and more specifically Tim Schafer–and their action comics and web-based games will be well prepared for the infusion of humor and action. Brutal Legend captures the spirit of Tenacious D (Jack Black’s musical-comedy duo) with the classic hero-in-a-strange-land legend. It’s a hack ‘n’ slash rock ‘n’ roll action-RPG extravaganza in world that has sadly lost its ability to ‘Rock, ‘ and it is up to Eddie to bring it back to life.
