Editor's Say - "Decent" "It's all about the music!" Find out what i thought...
Brutal Legend review by Simon a.k.a. [TheDevilDweller]
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***** INTRODUCTION *****
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THE POSITIVES:
Awesome soundtrack - It's funny - Awesome voice acting - Performing solos
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THE NEGATIVES:
Driving can feel a little bit clunky - Having to keep performing a solo every time you need the Druid Plow (your car) - To many repeated voice dialog - Strategy elements can deprive you from the game and can be a we bit boring
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Crank up the volume, raise your fists up in the air, play metal louder than HELL!!!… just don't expect to much from the game-play.
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***** PLOT *****
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You play Eddie Riggs, voice by none other than Jack Black. Eddie is a roadie and like any roadie, Eddie's job is to make sure his band is in tip top condition no matter what the circumstances are. The world of heavy metal is surrounded by boyish band pretending to be true metal Gods. Eddie live his life missing the good old traditional, TRUE, metal music that the world has slowly forgotten. After one boring ass day. Eddie's band held a concert. As the concert can to a close, so did Eddie's life. Eddie died on stage after a an accident, which awoke a demon from hell. Upon the demons awakening, Eddie was taking to a far away place where he must redeem the world with metal music in order to save everything, and himself.
The story is pretty decent and funny. There are a few moments where the story can feel a bit sceptical, but it's meant to be funny so it works. As you get into the story you'll meet a few characters, but none really stand out.
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***** GRAPHICS *****
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Not the best visuals in the generation, and not the worst ether. The visuals are pretty decent, and the presentation is quite good. Some minor problems with faecal expressions, awkward animation here and there, bull texture when up close, but overall it's pretty decent.
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***** GAME-PLAY *****
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Brutal Legend is a hack and slash game (with a hint of strategy elements). It's far from the best hack and slash games, but it's certainly not the worst. Overall the game-play is… OK. It can be quite fun at times.
Brutal Legend is pretty much like any other hack and slash, but not as complex as say… Devil May Cry or God of War. There are combos but majority of the time you'll probably find yourself repeatedly smashing down on the X button until everyone is dead. There are two possible attack within the game, Axe attack which is done by pressing the X button, and your Guitar attack by using the SQUARE button. Both attack can be use simultaneously to perform different (but slightly limited) combo attacks. The best thing about the game-play is using Solos. Solos can be used anytime in the game whether it's to aid you in battle, or to access certain areas (considering there fully charged). Performing solos requires you hitting the right button which appear on the screen when activated. Get the solo wrong will result in the solo's effect to fail. There are plenty of solos to unlock as you play through the game. Each solo performs different effects i.e. one solo can be used to melt the faces off your near by enemies which results in instant death. Another solo is used to summon your Druid Plow which is your vehicle in the game. Using the Druid Plow is pretty handy and quite essential in travelling around the world, but it can be quite annoying performing the Druid solo every time you need your Druid Plow.
Brutal Legend consists of a big map that can be quite fun to explore. Completing mission and side quests will grant you with Fire Tributes. Fire Tributes are your currency in the game and you can use them to but upgrades for your weapons, as well as buy new ability and moves, and upgrades for your Druid Plow. As you play, you can command and control units to aid you in game-play. Using the D-Pad you can send out orders to a unit to ether charge, follow, defend, or move to beacon. Throughout your main quest you will be required to fight enemies in a stage vs. stage battle to the death, which is your strategy element. In a stage battle, it is the only time Eddie is able to fly, which is gain later in the game. Stage battles require you to spawn and recruit unit to fight against your enemies in order to destroy and take over there stage. To recruit unit, both you and the main leader of the opposite side, must race each other to find and capture Fan Posts. Fan posts grant you currency that allows you to upgrade your stage and units on the battlefield. Fan posts can also be taking over by opposite stage members, so you'll constantly need to look after your fans. The more fans you have, the better chance you have to win the battle. You can of course participate in the battle yourself, or fly over head and keep your units in control.
Overall the game-play has it's moments as it will probably move up and down in your likeness scale. The stage battle can deprive you from the game as it can drag on. There are some frustrating moments within the game-play such as the inability to jump. Not being able to jump over a rock, or a tree branch can be pretty annoying, especially when it causes you to get stuck. Drive your Druid Plow can also be somewhat annoying, especially when in linear areas. I thought the game-play was OK, but I was honestly expecting more.
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***** ONLINE MULTIPLAYER *****
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Online is pretty simply and there all stage based strategy games like in the campaign. You can ether play against the computer, play against a friend, play against a stranger, or team up with a friend and fight against a strangers or other friends. Multiplayer can be quite fun, but is can lose it's appeal quite quick.
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***** SOUND DESIGN *****
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Awesome voice talent, nice sound effects, great list of heavy metal music. Overall the sound design in the best thing about Brutal Legend.
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***** LIFE VALUE *****
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Brutal Legend will last about… 10 to 15 hours first time around. There are plenty of hidden items, music track to unlock and online multiplayer that is sure to add up a few more horses into the life value.
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***** EDITOR'S FINAL THOUGHT *****
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Brutal Legend is… fun, funny, it's got great heavy metal music, cool game-play solos, but I was expecting a lot more from the game. Brutal Legend tried to emulate it's game-play with some of the big hack and slash games previously released such as Devil May Cry, and God of War type game-play, but in my opinion, the overall game-play felt like something from an older generation. There are some pretty cool game-play features such as performing solos, but that wasn't enough for me to say the game-play was anything special. Once you've played one hack and slash game, you've pretty much played them all, the only different obviously is the story and presentation, but I honestly thought Brutal Legend would be the one that would stand out more. Obviously even if Brutal Legend was a great game, it would have a hard time going up against some of the awesome and classic hack and slash game such as Devil May Cry, and God Of War. The game-play is literally you smashing the X button until everyone is dead. There are combo move, but not as complex as games like Devil May Cry and God of War in my opinion. The inability to jump (like all traditional hack and slash, or like any game for that matter) can be somewhat frustrating when disparity trying to move round rocks, tree trunks etc, that you could easy jump over. Overall, Brutal Legend is a game I so wanted to love, but I ended up loving it purely for the music. It not a bad game, but not a game I would say is a must buy. Brutal Legend is certainly worth the rent, and if you like it… you like it. If you don't… at least you didn't lost out paying full price for the game.
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***** RECOMMENDATIONS *****
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If you like Hack and Slash games, minor strategy, great heavy metal music, Jack Black, Rock Gods like Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford, Lemmy and so on… Brutal Legend is right up your alley.
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*****FINAL OVERALL SCORE*****
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Story - 7/10
Online Multiplayer - 6/10
Life Value - 7/10
Presentation - 7/10
Graphics - 7/10
Atmosphere - 6.5/10
Game-Play - 7/10
Controls - 7/10
Sound Effects - 9/10
Concept - 6/10
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*****EDITOR'S OVERALL THOUGHT SCROE: 7/10 *****
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Brutal Legend review by Simon a.k.a. [TheDevilDweller]
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