$14.99Brutal Legend Heavy Metal Made Real
A roadie named Eddie Riggs wakes in a world of demons, amp mountains and cover bands, armed with a broadaxe and a guitar that shoots pyrotechnics. Chop up monsters, drive across a metal album cover come to life, and command armies in battles where the power of rock is a literal weapon.
Is Brutal Legend worth it?
Brutal Legend is worth it if…
- you want a funny, story-driven action game that takes its metal seriously and nothing else seriously
- you love heavy metal and want a world built entirely out of it
- you enjoy open worlds you can cross on foot, by car or in the air
- you like action games that surprise you by turning into strategy battles
- you want to hear Ozzy, Lemmy and Rob Halford in one cast
Screenshots
An axe, a guitar and the power of rock
Eddie Riggs, the world's best roadie voiced by Jack Black, fights with a double-sided broadaxe in one hand and a demon-slaying guitar in the other. The axe handles melee, the guitar handles ranged attacks, and neither is the strangest tool you carry: play a guitar solo mid-fight and you can summon objects, buff your allies or cripple your enemies. Picture it: you're surrounded, you shred a solo, flames erupt from the stage of reality and your enemies are the ones on fire. Combat mixes hack-and-slash action with real-time strategy, so you swing the axe yourself and also command legions of metalheads into battle. It is deep enough for the hardcore and approachable if you just want to hit demons with an axe.
A world built from metal album covers
The open world looks like the most gloriously ridiculous metal album art ever painted: mountains made of guitar amps, chrome and leather everywhere, fire-breathing beasts wearing studs, vistas straight out of a Frank Frazetta painting. You can walk, drive or fly anywhere in it, and driving matters: blasting through the map with the soundtrack at full volume is its own kind of thrill. The setting sits somewhere between Lord of the Rings and Spinal Tap, a fantasy world where humanity is threatened by demons and the resistance runs on heavy metal. It is colorful, gothic, absurd and completely committed to the bit, and the atmosphere is what people remember most.
The music and the legends who show up
The soundtrack alone is worth the trip: 108 tracks from 75 bands spanning every era and subgenre of metal, from 1970s classics through 1980s hair metal to the darker 1990s stuff. The cast is just as loaded. Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford and Lita Ford all appear, alongside Jack Black as Eddie, and the voice acting is a genuine highlight. Even the guitar solos you play were performed by Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest.
What should you know before playing?
Does the game really turn into a strategy game?
It does. Partway through, the combat opens up into real-time strategy battles where you command armies of metalheads while still fighting on the ground yourself. The idea is fun and the battles get satisfyingly chaotic, though the controls for directing troops can feel awkward, especially if you are used to mouse-and-keyboard strategy games. If you come for the axe, the world and the music more than the strategy, the rest carries it.
Do you need to know metal to enjoy it?
No. Knowing the bands and the references adds a layer, and metal fans get the most out of the cameos and soundtrack, but the game works as a funny fantasy action-adventure on its own. The humor, the world design and the story carry it even if you cannot tell hair metal from doom.
