Random Video Game Review: Brutal Legend (PS3, PC and Xbox 360)

Brutal Legend is one of those games that is in some way, a gem that since it's launch, was long forgotten. It was another one of those disastrous games that end up doing well in the end, because Activision were originally going to publish this game, prior to the merge with Vivendi Games, but it was dropped from their portfolio and the project then went over to EA which caused a law suit from Activison and Vivendi Games, which in the end was settled out of court. Now (and this is very rare to happen so enjoy it) I give EA credit for picking this up, because it is a great game that is very creative and has a strong empathises on the world of Heavy Metal. So let's get started:

The game begins at a gig for the fictional band, Kabbage Boy where our main protagonist Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black) serves as a roadie for (despite being the best roadie for the worst band). Scenery begins to fall and blood gets onto Eddie's belt buckle which unleashes the demon, Ormagoden (the belt buckle by the way is an amulet for Ormagodent) who transforms the stage into himself and kills the band and takes an unconscious Eddie to the Heavy Metal world. There, Eddie meets a woman called Ophelia (voiced by Jenifer Hale) (which is his love interest in the game) and the two of them battle against the forces of Doviculus (voiced by Tim Curry) before coming across writings on the wall which allow Eddie to create his car, the Deuce, which they escape in. From then on, Eddie is then part of a rebellion that battles against Doviculus forces in an attempt to give peace to the world (although there isn't any peace when heavy metal music is playing and i may have that wrong, but that's how I remember it). Now as for the gameplay, you basically have an open world environment that allows you to explore this heavy metal world that's inspired by various album covers and other Heavy Metal elements. During this, you can learn new musical notes that when completed in a sort of Guitar Hero styled way, will do whatever it's purpose is, whether it be summoning Eddie's car, defeating your enemies, uncovering relics, or whatever else. In addition to the main missions, you can also do a few side missions which although repetitive at times, are constructed well. The main missions will mostly involve what's known as a stage battle, where you have to use strategy to claim the opponents stage and you can do this by gaining fans (which can be done by setting up a merchandise store where a flow of fans are in a sort of spirit form), sending out your own forces (you'll start with a few, but you'll gain more as the game progresses) and upgrading your resources to stand a better chance against the enemy (there is a store that you can go to for upgrades, but you don't have access to one, until later on in the game and its run by Ozzy Osbourne).

Overall, it's a great game that has some of the best gameplay out there and pays tribute to the world of heavy metal, very well. Anybody who loves games and heavy metal music will love this game a lot, but I strongly recommend playing it on a console instead of a PC for controlling reasons, but that's just personal preference. Nice job Double Fine and thanks to EA for picking this great game up from Activision (again, this is a very rare moment so enjoy it). 9/10