Review: Brütal Legend

Tim Schafer's metal opus, Brütal Legend, takes players to a world warped with the visage of heavy metal album covers. While the game world is beautifully designed, does the rest of the game strike a perfect chord or should Brütal Legend have stayed backstage to get more in tune?


Created by Double Fine Productions and licensed by Electronic Arts, Brütal Legend hit store shelves in mid-October.

Video Games | Brutal Legend | Cast of Rock Legends Doc

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The game has players controlling Eddie Riggs, a roadie for a poser metal band, who is magically transported to the world of Brütal Legend after blood touches his demonic belt buckle. Needless to say, Schafer's charm — which could be seen in his earlier works like Grim Fandango and Psychonauts — is easily felt from the instant gamers sit down with Brütal Legend.


Brütal Legend is an action-adventure game that involves real-time strategy elements from time to time. A game, like anything else, should be judged by the sum of its parts, and Brutal Legend falls into the same label as Rocksteady Studios' Batman: Arkham Asylum as it becomes a jack of all trades, but a master of none. While that may seem like a criticism, it is anything but.

Brütal Legend came close to becoming a game that tried too much. Gamers can find better combat mechanics in series like Devil May Cry and God of War. Gamers will also find better RTS elements in games like Dawn of War and Supreme Commander. However, Brutal Legend is able to bring enough gameplay elements from each genre and blend it together into a fluid, cohesive system, that gamers should feel relatively at home.

The combat involves players swinging a battle axe in conjunction with Eddie's signature Flying V guitar, which has been infused with the powers of the metal gods. The system is simple to use, but veteran action-adventure players will find the combos to be lacking.


Personally, as a gamer who avoids RTS games like it's a rat carrying the Black Death, I found myself actually enjoying the many segments in Brütal Legend where I needed to take to the battlefield and command troops. Having said that, it took me half of the game to get comfortable. The game can get confusing when trying to assign different regiments and the absence of a mini map doesn't help either.

But despite the shortcomings of both the combat and RTS elements, I found myself unwilling to put the game down. Flaws aside, Double Fine Productions designed one of the most fun games I have ever played.

The game's sandbox environment is an awesome homage to heavy metal album covers from the 70s and 80s, all of which is easily explored through the use of Eddie's tricked-out hot rod. But the game's fun doesn't stop at the sights and sounds.


The characters in Brütal Legend are just as engaging. While Eddie Riggs is wonderfully portrayed by Jack Black (I'm not a big fan, mind you), cameo appearances by Ozzie Osbourne, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, Tim Curry and Lemmy Kilmister make the game feel like a familiar trip down memory lane. Much like an old friend, the sights and sounds of these brilliant artists steals the show and makes gamers who are familiar with their work feel at home.

The game is a tribute to not only their wonderful voice talents, but to metal in general. The soundtrack is among gaming's best. Even if you combined the track lists from all the Guitar Hero games and Rock Band games, you would still fall short to the greatness of Brütal Legend's sounds.

The game features online multiplayer in the form of the RTS stage battles, if that's your thing.


With lots of unlockables and bonuses for exploration, combined with the ability to purchase upgrades to Eddie's hot rod or additional combat abilities, Brütal Legend is a game with a lot to offer.

The game is highly enjoyable, especially if you are a fan of metal. From the way it pokes fun at glam metal, to the head nods to legends like Kiss, Brütal Legend delivers on the one thing that trumps everything else in a video game, it's pure metal fun.