Brütal Legend

Game: Brütal Legend
Format: PS3, 360
Publisher: EA

Brütal Legend is a game defined by the world it has built. Conceived and created by master designer Tim Schafer of Grim Fandango fame, it is a third person adventure game set in a strange universe built from the clichés of classic airbrushed rock music album covers.

You don’t need to be a metal-head to know what that means. Brütal Legend is inspired by images of skeletal motorbikes bursting from flaming graves where bats ride in the wake of gold-plated eagles and women in chainmail perch atop lions with machine gun turrets and ruby red eyes. It’s also a place Mötorhead, Judas Priest, Meatloaf, Poison, W.A.S.P and Saxon would feel right at home.

If you don’t know those bands, or even care for their music, that isn’t a problem, because Brütal Legend is as much a cheek-prodding parody as it is respectful tribute, and so cliché rich is its world, you’ll be able to laugh along with every gag and chuckle knowingly with each cultural reference.

It’s also a wonderfully woven piece of interactive fiction. Set in a strange wasteland that is like the twisted offspring of heaven and hell, Brütal Legend brings to life a place where spiders’ webs are spun from guitar strings and tree trunks can be sliced up into chopper tyres.

The star of the show is dedicated roadie Eddie Riggs, voiced by Jack Black; a passionate metal fan who is consistently nagged by an overwhelming feeling he was born in the wrong age. Thanks to a rock ‘n’ roll on-stage accident involving Eddie’s own blood and a mysterious family heirloom belt buckle, Riggs is suddenly transported to an oddly familiar world where all his favourite album covers and song lyrics have become real, visceral things.

An intentionally convoluted plot quickly unfurls, which sees Eddie and a band of rebel outcasts akin to Mad Max’s foes tackle an ancient lord who has enslaved every last headbanger, forcing them to employ there powerful forehead thrusts to work deep in doom-ridden mines. Ridiculous? Certainly, but this is a game that is played for laughs, and they are something it delivers in plentiful supply.

In essence a comedy combat release, Brütal Legend also combines driving, exploration and strategy elements. Armed with a guitar that doubles as a rift-roaring ‘axe’ and a bona fide bladed axe, Eddie and his cohorts set out to free the slaves, change the world and generally let loose with the spirit of rocking and rolling.

One of the most interesting aspects of Brütal Legend, which also includes an impressive online suite, is the way you can use guitar solos to win the hearts and minds of the hoards of enslaved metal-heads, who you can then control as a personal army, letting you tackle foes and solve puzzles in a way rarely seen in third-person adventures like this.

Brütal Legend’s gameplay is certainly solid and exciting, but it is the storytelling, scripting, atmosphere and style that will win your over, as Schafer’s work in that regard is typically remarkable. If you’re a devotee to the church of metal or a casual fan of rock, this is a must, and for Jack Black fans Brütal Legend is certainly worth the investment. If your ears are more attuned to pop, but you still like a good game and maybe a round of Guitar Hero, then there’s still plenty on offer to justify the time you’ll loose to this brillaintly eccentric release.