10/27/2009 19:52

By Carl Lyon

Tim Schafer has spent his entire career marching to the beat of a very different drummer, crafting game worlds that fly in the face of industry trends. He's given us such peculiar ideas as pirate comedies (the Monkey Island series), biker adventure (Full Throttle), a Mexican Day of the Dead/film noir mash up (Grim Fandango), and a summer camp for psychic children (Psychonauts). For his latest title, Brütal Legend, Schafer decided to transplant the player to a world steeped in the lore and majesty of...heavy metal?

As if playing as a diminutive Grim Reaper in training or an insult-slinging wannabe pirate weren't odd enough, Brütal Legend has you playing the part of a roadie named Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), down on his luck and working for the band Kabbage Boy, who represent every awful metal trend that's plagued the genre over the past decade. Events transpire that leave Eddie nearly dead (and Kabbage Boy very dead), only to be transported to the distant past, where metal ruled. Here, he discovers the human resistance of Ironheade fighting the demonic tyranny of the Tainted Coil, led by the sinister Lord Doviculus (played by the inimitable Tim Curry). Eddie must use all of his skills as a roadie, as well as some others that he didn't even know he had, to bring together the people of the land in an uprising against Doviculus.

The game starts out in a rather typical action-adventure fashion, with Eddie hacking apart zipper-faced nuns and dagger-wielding druids with his axe The Separator, before engaging in some high speed high jinks in a tricked out hot rod dubbed The Deuce. It's all very safe but very, very fun. Then, without warning, the game changes in quite possibly the most unexpected way possible.

As Eddie begins to tear down the dictatorship of glam-rock goon General Lionwhyte (brilliantly voiced by Judas Priest front man Rob Halford) the game starts to add a tactical element, with Eddie commanding squads of liberated Headbangers against the hair-metal hordes. Finally, when you face off against Lionwhyte, the game reaches its full, unexpected potential...as a real-time strategy game.

Sure, it's not as deep as Command and Conquer, but the rudimentary elements of all RTS games are in place in Brütal Legend, with a heavy metal twist. Your main resources are the ghostly fans, who you draw to your home base (your Stage, naturally) with Merch Booths. These fans provide the necessary juice to summon your units to do battle with your opponent and ultimately destroy their stage. These Stage Battles have a very simple mechanic, much like the rest of the game modes (racing, turret shooter, etc.) with little in the way of gameplay depth to speak of. Sure, there are the obligatory "upgrades" that Eddie can apply to his arsenal (handled by talking to the Guardian of Metal, voiced by Ozzy Osbourne), but there's no particular strategy or natural progression to the system.

Where the game truly defines itself is in its fully realized world. Much hype has been built up around Brütal Legend's epic soundtrack, voiceover cast, and its metal-inspired vistas, and the game actually exceeds the hype in that respect. The soundtrack, featuring over 100 hand-picked tracks ranging from 70's hard rock (KISS, Black Sabbath) to symphonic black metal (Mirrorthrone, Dimmu Borgir), literally has something for everyone, and provides a hard-driving backdrop for the game, to the point that I actually felt a rush playing the Stage Battles, especially against The Drowning Doom, the black metal-inspired faction in the game. I never thought I'd be excited managing units and resources, but I suppose a little Cradle of Filth never hurts.

All of this takes place in a sprawling, open world chock full of chrome, fire, and blood. There's even a meaty backstory to the world involving the death of the god Ormagöden and the rise of godlike Titans, told through epic engravings and hammy narration. For something that could almost be treated as a one-note joke, the attention to detail is surprising.

Most surprising is how much Tim Schafer has dialed back his usual penchant for humor. True, there are some classic sight gags and one-liners (the Ozzy-headed bat is pure genius), and the game does forego photorealism for a slightly exaggerated style, but the amount of respect that is shown for the subject matter is refreshing. The cast, made up of metal royalty like Ozzy Osbourne, Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister, Lita Ford and Rob Halford, add additional weight to the proceedings, which are mercifully devoid of irony and snark. Even Jack Black seems to be restraining himself from his usual jackass shtick, portraying Eddie Riggs as a genuinely likable guy. It's obvious that Double Fine loves heavy metal, warts and all, which makes it easy to love Brütal Legend in the same fashion.