(Editor’s observe: Let’s face it — most metalheads are a buncha nerds. To that finish, Hallowed Be Thy Recreation is a weekly function right here on MetalSucks the place we’ll spotlight a few of the metal-as-fuck board/video/tabletop position taking part in video games we’re taking part in or have performed up to now.)
As a lifelong gamer and metalhead, there have been only a few moments the place the Venn diagram of each these passions turned only one circle. Positive, some video games might be steel, however only a few truly are steel. Few converse to our unmitigated love of the music — in reality, few builders even actually perceive what heavy steel is and what it means to folks such as you and me.
So when Tim Schafer (no relation to Jon Schaffer) and his firm Double High-quality Productions introduced they had been making an online game that paid tribute to heavy steel in all its varieties, I used to be stoked. When Brütal Legend lastly got here out again in October 2009, I used to be excited however unprepared for simply how steel a online game may truly get.
For people who both weren’t round or weren’t conscious, Brütal Legend was checked out by non-metalheads as simply one other motion/roleplaying recreation in an period the place there have been so many third-person motion RPGs. However this one was totally different. On this recreation, you tackle the position of a battle-vest carrying, mullet-sporting, cigarette-draggin’ roadie named Eddie Riggs, who’s voiced by Jack Black. The dude longs for the times of old skool steel however is caught dealing with the on-stage goings on of what appears like a horrific nu-metal band known as Kabbage Boy. It’s simply… unhealthy.
Fortunately, we’re not subjected to their music for lengthy, because the band is killed in an on-stage incident and an unconscious Riggs is transported to a magical world the place heavy steel reigns and each vista is match for an album cowl.
Proper from the get-go, you’re hit within the face with the largest and most vital points of this recreation — the soundtrack. The primary time you achieve management of Eddie Riggs, you’re tasked with killing a buncha murderous cultists. That’s nothing new in a recreation like this, however what is new is the actual fact you’re doing it to “Youngsters of the Grave” by Black Sabbath.
All through your complete recreation, you’re by no means too removed from listening to a badass steel tune. As you drive across the wasteland, you may be jamming out to “Am I Evil?” by Diamond Head one minute after which the following second you’re tearing it up whereas “This Spake The Nightspirit” by Emperor blares out of your TV display. The soundtrack is intensive, covers a number of many years, and spans so many sub-genres of steel. It’s apparent that solely a metalhead like Tim Schaffer may have give you the monitor record as a result of it’s so meticulously put collectively.
Getting again to the sport, Riggs slays demons, groups up with headbanging warriors, and meets some fascinating characters to assist him on his quest to assist destroy the demons that plague the land. And that’s one other space the place the sport reveals its love for steel on its sleeve. Among the most vital characters are voiced by a few of the most vital folks in steel and rock. We’re speaking Lemmy Kilmister, Lita Ford, Ozzy Osbourne, and Rob Halford. Hell, Halford voices two characters. It’s such a visit to hurry right into a lava crammed space in your souped up sizzling rod solely to be nose to nose with a digital likeness of Ozzy a second later.
And whereas the second half of the sport kinda goes off the rails a bit with a sudden shift in gameplay, Brütal Legend by no means loses sight of the steel. I may go on and on in regards to the plot, the characters, the music, the surroundings, actually all the things, nevertheless it’s simply simpler for those who test it out your self.
Brütal Legend is on the market on Xbox 360, Ps 3, and PC through Steam and different on-line marketplaces. It’s additionally on Xbox Recreation Go for consoles, so no purpose to not give it a strive for those who’re a subscriber!