Brütal Legend: More metal than the industrial revolution
Kyle Wilson, '10 | Senior Editor
Issue date: 10/30/09 Section: Lifestyle
|
Eddie Riggs, as voiced by Jack Black, is a roadie, the best in the biz. He knows that it's his job to stay in the shadows, to make sure the stars of the show look good, to fix any problem no matter how great it may seem. It just really sucks then that the band he's making look good is a bunch of poser rock star wanna be's with tight shirts and emo hair. That all changes, though, when the god of fire and metal, Ormagöden, transports Eddie to a mythical world that is ripped straight from the cover art of all the heavy metal albums of the 70s and 80s. Eddie must now take the spotlight and lead an army of head-banging, ripped jeans wearing, bike riding rebels against an army of monsters and demons and bad rock cliches, led by the demon lord Doviculus, voiced by Tim Curry.
The most interesting thing about Brütal Legend is that it is a mish mash of several different styles of gameplay. Most of the time Eddie goes around with an enchanted ax known as the Seperator, which is quite handy for taking body parts off of where they should be. He also has his magic guitar, Clementine, which is able to call lightning and fire from the sky. You can also play brief Guitar Hero-esque mini games to summon greater spells, like the always amusing Face Melter that does just what it implies.
That's the on-foot part of the game. Eddie can also drive around in his hot rod of death the Druid Plow. You can summon this mighty machine from the ether at any time using your guitar to help you explore the massive world of the game. It also obliterates any unfortunate enemies or small furry animals you may encounter on your travels. Later in the game you can buy upgrades for the Plow, as well as new attacks and guitar upgrades, from the Guardian of Metal, voiced by Ozzy Osbourne.
And then we get to the massive, epic stage battles. Throughout the game Eddie is building an army to combat the forces of darkness and bad music. Head-bangers, girl groupies and bikers join your gang, as well as Amazon warriors designed to resemble the rock band KISS. They each have their own special powers as well, with head-bangers being able to swarm the opponent and bikers being able to heal other characters. During stage battles you take control of this army in a sort of real time strategy lite form of gameplay. You have to attack enemy strongholds to harness geysers of pure, concentrated bubbling fandom. You then harness this fandom through merchandise booths which allows you to create more soldiers for your army.