Are you ready to rock? Then check out our preview for Brutal Legend!
24 June 2009 | By James Pikover
The gods of rock have finally smiled upon us, gracing us with the chance to play an almighty sonnet of a game, Brutal Legend. From the mind of Tim Schafer, who brought us many a great game, most recently the mind thriller Psychonauts, comes Eddie Riggs, roadie extraordinaire, on his quest through the land of rock.
What we saw was a good 15 minutes of gameplay, which promises to be simple fun with lots of humor. If there's anything from those 15 minutes we've learned, it's that Brutal Legend is not about the gameplay nor is it about the animation style. It's about the story, the acting, and the pretty damn awesome music.
As a game, Brutal Legend seems pretty bland. The face buttons control attacks and blocking and the sticks control movement and camera angle. It plays like an action-adventure title like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, but from a 3rd person view. What's special are the actors, the characters, and the plot. How so? Jack Black is Eddie Riggs, and has over 26,000 lines of dialog. And Jack Black is a comedian.
Not mentioning all the other big names in Rock joining the cast, the story is about Riggs going from roadie to rock god using whatever means necessary. Unintentionally, of course, because he knows nothing about playing guitar, or any other instrument for that matter. It's all about the journey man, and we're along for the ride.
In those 15 minutes, about 5 were cinematics, full-on showing us the world as a story that we play through. The characters feel real, and the acting is top notch (most of the time). While we didn't see any laugh out loud moments in the demo, some did bring smiles, to us and to onlookers.
However, we may not see the game for some time, considering the mutual unfriendliness between Schafer's Double Fine Studios and original publisher Activision, who have recently filed a lawsuit for Double Fine to not release the game. Electronic Arts, the current publisher, says the lawsuit is ridiculous, and that the game will be released on schedule. We can only hope and pray.
Brutal Legend is set for release this Rocktober on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
What we saw was a good 15 minutes of gameplay, which promises to be simple fun with lots of humor. If there's anything from those 15 minutes we've learned, it's that Brutal Legend is not about the gameplay nor is it about the animation style. It's about the story, the acting, and the pretty damn awesome music.
As a game, Brutal Legend seems pretty bland. The face buttons control attacks and blocking and the sticks control movement and camera angle. It plays like an action-adventure title like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, but from a 3rd person view. What's special are the actors, the characters, and the plot. How so? Jack Black is Eddie Riggs, and has over 26,000 lines of dialog. And Jack Black is a comedian.
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| lMeet Eddie Riggs, a poor slum of a roadie who's about the get the adventure of a lifetime. |
That, of course, doesn't mean he won't get the snot beat out of him. |
Not mentioning all the other big names in Rock joining the cast, the story is about Riggs going from roadie to rock god using whatever means necessary. Unintentionally, of course, because he knows nothing about playing guitar, or any other instrument for that matter. It's all about the journey man, and we're along for the ride.
In those 15 minutes, about 5 were cinematics, full-on showing us the world as a story that we play through. The characters feel real, and the acting is top notch (most of the time). While we didn't see any laugh out loud moments in the demo, some did bring smiles, to us and to onlookers.
However, we may not see the game for some time, considering the mutual unfriendliness between Schafer's Double Fine Studios and original publisher Activision, who have recently filed a lawsuit for Double Fine to not release the game. Electronic Arts, the current publisher, says the lawsuit is ridiculous, and that the game will be released on schedule. We can only hope and pray.
Brutal Legend is set for release this Rocktober on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
