Brutal Legend (2009) Campaign complete review

Well I wrapped up Brutal Legend and had a good time playing it. I laughed (a lot), I cried (a little), I banged my head (and got woozy).

When all is said and done the game is well worth playing; but not worth buying. I polished off the campaign in a little more than thirteen hours. I haven't gotten 100% complete and frankly there's not much incentive for me to do so (I'm at about 91%). There's not much replay value to speak of. The multiplayer modes aren't really my cup of tea anyway. The game just doesn't have legs.

Brutal Legend (2009)

In a dark realm, far from our own, an evil power reigns. That power has turned away from the sacred ways of heavy metal, perverting and twisting the land and enslaving hard rocking men and women. An awesome hero has emerged to combat this evil and free the land from suck. That hero is Eddie Riggs, a "roadie", and he will teach this realm to rock again.

I wasn't excited about Brutal Legend very much. A 360 game coming out in two weeks, based around Jack Black as roadie for a faux-metal band who gets transported into a metal world and has to save the blah blah blah...

I saw the demo popup for download on the 360 and was like, meh, whatever. Then I read the sidenotes...wait, what? It's a Tim Schafer game? Nanidesuka? Fucking sign me up!

I purchased and played a couple of hours last night. Brutal Legend is, for lack of a better phrase, totally fucking awesome. The sheer insanity of driving a hot rod through forests of chromed trees and across fields dotted with ancient symbols of heavy metal (one of my favorites so far are the enormous stone swords buried in the ground) is a blast. The dialogue is funny (Jack Black's style works really well in the game) and what little I've played of the story rocks. Brutal Legend is fun too - in that Tim Schafer "I can't believe this is going on" way.

The heavy metal soundtrack is insanely huge. Most of the bands I've never heard of. Many of the classics are represented: Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Manowar, etc. I also really dig the score, which shifts in tone depending on what region you are travelling through.

More input to follow once I have played more.