C+P Review: Brutal Legend

Written by: Santiago Azpurua-Borras

Since Tim Schafer’s masterpiece, Psychonauts, Double Fine began working on a new project.  As I obsessively read the previews, I was excited about all the aspects of the game. Jack Black voicing the main character? Awesome. A world designed after an entire genre of music? Sweet. An RTS aspect? Ummmm…

So does Brutal Legend deserve a spot in the Schafer hall of fame? Or does it brutally disappoint? Hit the jump to find out.

First, the good. The art design lives up to the Schafer bar. Everything from the character models, the environments and even the enemies are nothing but Metal. Hell, even the flowers are in the shape of the symbolic “rock hand sign.” In fact, everything in the game is about metal. Everything.

Now, I’m no metal aficionado. Actually I know nothing about metal. This meant that there were many jokes, references and attitudes that completely flew over my head, which is defiantly a weakness as opposed to a strength. The game isolates those who prefer other forms of music; if you don’t like metal, don’t even go near this one. The entire soundtrack is metal, metal and more metal.

Now, the gameplay. I just want to say: you can’t jump. Bizarre, considering the only other game Double Fine designed was a platformer, but this can be ignored mostly because jumping isn’t usually necessary.

The game is a third person hack ‘n’ slash with some basic combos and music-based attacks. My favorite aspect of gameplay is a lot like Guitar-Hero-meets-Ocarina of Time: busting out your guitar and playing some solos can call animals to your aid, summon your car for some quick traveling or literally melt the faces off nearby enemies.

There are also RTS-esque portions of the game in which you attract “fans” to your stage with “merch booths” so you can gain more units and wipe out your opponent’s “stage.” Interesting at first, but it’s completely broken and not fun. But then again, the only console-based RTS I’ve ever enjoyed was Red Alert 3.

But sadly, the gameplay gets very boring, very quickly. And the fact that the story looses all luster and interest within the first hour doesn’t help either. Drive to point A, kill some stuff, drive to point B, rinse, wash and repeat. Sure, you can do side missions and find certain landmarks and various collectibles, but if the main gameplay is this forgettable, one can imagine just how awesome these are. (Sarcasm, by the way.)

I like writing good reviews. I really like writing reviews for games that I love and will have a permanent place in my memory (see my BlazBlue and Arkham Asylum reviews for examples.) Needless to say, this is not one of those reviews.

I really wanted to like this game. I really did. But I cannot recommend it. A rental, maybe. This feels more like a Jack Black game than a Tim Schafer game. You’re better off buying Psychonauts on demand.

Copy+Paste Score: 2/5