Oh jesus, this fucking game. It left me an initial wonderful impression considering it was the closest thing of a videogame fully starring Jack Black as the main character (role that then become full his by becoming Bowser of all characters in an official Nintendo movie, but whatever, I'm digressing).

First off: the game starts really great! Serviceable hack'n slash, apperent open-world exploration and a trashy plot you would expect on a Jack Black metal adventure.

What ruined it completely to me? The strategic segments. Oh my god. It makes you wish you were playing any old Fire Emblem rather than those disasters. And sadly the final one is mandatory since it acts also as the final boss fight. I wasted 3 hours on retry that over and over on an unbalanced mess that I couldn't grasp the fun at a certain point while on paper it sounded pretty promising.

Soundtrack ofc is fire.

A Note: This reveiw is a cleaned up and slightly expanded version of a review I previously posted on Steam.

Brütal Legend, a game so metal-iciously awesome that it gets to add a random umlaut to it's name just to show how fucking Brütal it is.

Now, Brütal Legend(yes, I will add the umlaut to it's name every time it's mentioned, it's FUCKING. METAL.) is an interesting game. While at first you might believe the game to be a pure third person hack-n-slash romp through the world of every heavy metal record cover combined, it's actually a third person hack-n-slash that's been fused together with a real time strategy game that takes you through the world of every heavy metal record cover combined. I know, I was a surprised too. Now, while this may seem off-putting at first, it isn't actually too hard. There's a lot of streamlining of the strategy elements to make it easier to control for people using a controller, so there's not as much need to worry about all the RTS stuff like Actions Per Minute and what have you (in fact, I personally recommend using a controller, for an element I shall mention later).

The story is fairly simple, and yet heavy metal to it's core. The main character, Eddie Riggs(voiced by the always amazing Jack Black) is a professional roadie who, due to the incompetence of the band he works for, ends up experiencing a work place accident that transports him to The Brütal Land where heavy metal music is magic, and joins with a trio of human resistance fighters to help kickstart the heart of a rebellion against the ultimate oppressors of humanity. . . demons in church themed bondage. Kinky.

The cast is filled with rock legends, such as the already mentioned Jack Black, Fellow Tenacious D member Kyle Gass, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Lemmy Kilmister(RIP) of Motörhead, Rita Ford of the Runaways, and last but certainly not least, Ozzy Motherfucking Osbourne. Besides the rock legends, there are a few notable actors who happen to not be musicians, including Richard Steven Horovitz(the voice of Rasputin Aquato from Double Fines previous game Psychonauts, and a mainstay voice actor for the company) and none other than Tim Curry voicing the main villain(more on the villain, and who was originally going to voice him, later)

Now, there are some negatives. The combat can feel a tad samey sometimes, if you're on the back foot in a battle it's sometimes just easier to restart the whole mission than keep trying(especially on the harder difficulties), the fact that your health isn't displayed and instead your screen goes red until you regen enough life is really annoying on harder difficulties, and the physics are pretty wonky sometimes cough coughLIONWHYTES HAIRcough cough but all in all the game ran rather smoothly for a game from 2009. No, my biggest problem is that, while the game is available for PC, it was very much not made with a keyboard and mouse in mind. I've played through the game three times, twice on normal and once on hard, with my first being on a controller, and my latter two playthroughs on normal and hard on mouse and keyboard(that poor cheap controller died because of Ornstein and Smough, the bastards). Having played it twice on mouse + keyboard, I can safely say it sapped the experience a bit. While you can rebind them, they're still not amazing in my opinion, and you're far better suited to a controller if you have one, especially for the magical guitar solos you can perform.

Speaking of magical guitar solo, did I mention there are magical guitar solos? Well there are, and they're awesome. From exploring the world, you'll gain riffs that do everything from buffing your troops, to summoning animals to fight alongside you, to melting fucking faces, to even summoning your hot rod, refered to as The Duece by the menu and riff title, and as The Druid Plow(excellent double entendre right there, I must say), playing these sick and delicious riffs is likely one of, if not the, most important thing you can do during a battle, especially on harder difficulties or in multiplayer.
Side note about the multiplayer, it's a lot of fun, just be aware that a lot of the people playing have been doing so for actual years. It's also where you have a chance of possibly playing against Tim Schafer(the founder of Double Fine) or at least someone who has. You'll even get an achievement!

The collectibles have a reason for existing, as collecting them will either give you new riffs for your guitar, increase your health, gives you access to the Motor Forge which lets you upgrade your car and your both your axes(literal and musical), and gives you new rock and metal songs for your radio, which are all excellent.

Finally, not a negative so much as a sad fact and realization. So, in mid-June of 2009, the original voice of Doviculas, the main villain, was recast to Tim Curry. At the time, it was stated by Double Fine that they felt "Tim Curry was a better fit for the character", while fans believed it was due to the original voice actor having a feud with Ozzy Osbourne. However, a few short month later, on November 25th that same year, the original voice actor announced that he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, and sadly died on May 16, 2010.

Who was the original voice actor for Doviculus? Well it was none other than Ronnie James Dio.

Now, I don't know if Dio dropped out of voicing the main villain because of his cancer or not, so at most this is an unconfirmed theory that seems to align fairly well with the facts.

Despite this sad thought, Brütal Legend is an absolutely fucking amazing game, that oozes with charm and heavy metal. If you want to have a headbanging good time, then there's only one game that can truly deliver, and it is Brütal.

For the guitar guy like me, this game is perfect and I absolutely love it, even tho it has its flaws.

So, it's an open world game with some RTS elements, thematically about metal in general. Map is not super big, but not that small either. Although the game has its years, it still looks pretty good. The visual design of scenery is really well done and is enjoyable to look at.
Great characters and humour, including the legends like Lemmy Kilmister and Ozzy Osbourne.

Absolute banger of a soundtrack, just driving around with your car listening to music and obliterating everything on your path feels so good.
The only downside of the game for me would be the stage battles, they sometimes get little frustrating, but nothing that would made you rage quit.

All in all, for people who likes that kind of music this game is must play.

Exploring this game will scream how much passion has been put into it. It's love for metal and hard rock has been woven into every aspect of gameplay.

The world is absolutely beautiful despite its limited graphics due to the art direction being inspired by many metal album covers and lyrics. The story and dialogue is pretty corny but it is reminiscent of old 70s movies. The gameplay is fairly clunky with the RTS and hack-n-slash components not blending well together, but I can appreciate what they were going for with the rhythm-based hack-n-slash with guitar riffs.

Most importantly, you can never go wrong with the music. All the music are either songs from famous rock/metal bands or originals from legendary artists. This game is what got me into metal as a music genre.

I certainly do not regret exploring and playing this game. It completes its objective in making you feel like a rockstar in a metal world. It's simply awesome.

very interesting setup. it's an RTS where you fly around and command troops, but you can get in on the action with them. The game also slowly introduces the mechanics, but to a point where the main gameplay loop doesnt start until an hour or two in, which can mislead players. Combined with the licensed metal soundtrack, it's honestly a great time, even tho it has 7th gen jank and most people would call it mid. Would recommend if you have nothing better to play. Also the licensed soundtrack carries this game HARD, so if youre not into it, youll prolly hate this game.

This is a godlike game. A dark fantasy world based on metal music. A hack and slash RTS game. Didnt think it would work, but it does. The first couple of hours of gameplay feel like a tutorial for the RTS parts. Then when they start doing the RTS segments, the game becomes only that and flys by. I wish the game was longer and wish there was more between the RTS segments. I still love this game very much. I pray every day to Tim Schafer and Jack Black for a sequel. I will sacrifice my first-born for another one!!!!!!!!

Первые 5 часов игры вызывают восторг. Одно только лайв вступление очень кайфовое. Забавные диалоги и очень креативное окружение оставляют хорошее впечатление на всё последующее прохождение. Серьёзно, первые часы я улыбался как мальчишка.

Душноватые активности опенворлда спасает отлично сделанная машинка с кучей крутых песен в плеере, но которые хрен дослушаешь до конца, если не имеется такой цели. В целом коллектаблсы душные и особой мотивации их собирать попутно сюжетке я так и не нашёл.

Ниочёмная боевая система, для которой ещё зачем-то продаются новые комбинации (возможно проявляют себя лучше на сложности выше "средней" и онлайн режиме). Может быть я просто не разобрался, но зная дабл файн (привет психонавты 1-2), я готов жать "x to doubt".

Консольная стратегия выполнена любопытно, вот только совершенно не увлекает. Сюжет вышел однобокой хренью про харизматичного, но отсталого главного героя (привет психонавты 1-2), который не то чтобы раскрывается по мере прохождения.

Разнообразие миссий заканчивается примерно на пятом часу игры. Благо, что проходится она всего за 9 часов. Хотя после абсолютно конченого сюжетного поворота (перед тайм скипом), я испугался, что игру растянут минимум на 15-20.

В целом это очень креативная и уникальная игра, в которую я могу посоветовать поиграть хотя бы первые 4 часа. Ровно на один вечерок, да. С большой долей вероятности вы кайфанёте не меньше моего (особенно если вы так же любите тяжёлую музыку).

A typical "isekai" plot about a hero rescuing his lover, who unexpectedly turns herself a villain. It's quite a charming game that never takes itself seriously. Pure self-aware cringe epicness and comedy. Jack Black is the perfect fit to play Eddie Riggs, the main character. The artistic design is astonishing; the landscape breathes Power Metal, everything screams Metal!

But let's face it. This is an open-world, hack-and-slash, real-time strategy GAME. A third-person RTS, played on a controller. Yes, you read that right! No matter how HARD Double Fine tried to make this crazy concept work, it just didn't. The plot doesn’t help either; it fumbles midway through the journey. Suddenly, in the last four battles the game becomes EXTREMELY hard, totally random spike difficulty. You will NEED YouTube at that point.

The second half, at best, is lazy or tiring. The goal was to build maximum hype towards the end, but the opposite happens, the second half is just a shameful anticlimax. This game embodies Metal in a way that no other piece of art could. Brutal Legend is a great homage to the genre. If you view it solely as an RTS, it's a terrible game.

A veces hay que aplaudir la mediocridad y Brütal Legend es fascinante por eso mismo. Es sorprendente como no hace nada realmente mal pero tampoco hace nada realmente bien, esta todo en un punto medio mediocre que para mi es fascinante. Lo primero es que esto parece el fanfic de Tim Schafer con su mundo del Heavy Metal, es un chaval escribiendo su fantasía con figuras históricas de este género musical y con cachondas y cerveza y cuero y metal y todas esas cosas que hacen "grande al jebi". Desde luego es sorprendente que Ozzy Osbourne o Lemmy Kilmister aparezcan haciendo de versiones de si mismos que parecen casi autoparódicas y la larga lista de canciones que contiene el juego, que desde luego es una buena recopilación. En cuanto a jugabilidad pues, como ya he dicho, es mediocre, ni el combate es gran cosa, ni la conducción, ni el RTS que se sacan de la manga al estilo "batalla de las bandas". Tiene su gracia pero se queda a medio camino, en ningún momento es realmente complejo quitando en el combate final que tiene un pico bastante grande de dificultad a la mitad. Las secundarias son el epítome de las secundarias porque se repiten una y otra vez con solo 4 o 5 variaciones: carreras, peleas, bombardeos y cazar. Luego su historia es... En fin, jebi ¿Qué se puede decir? Es lo que es, es una chorrada de isekai o de viaje en el tiempo (no me quedó claro, la verdad) con bromas que te hacen levantar las cejas y otras que casi mejor no hubieran sido escritas. Además a algún genio se le ocurrió que sería buena idea meter a Santiago Segura como voz de Jack Black en la versión en Español, que por suerte se cambia fácilmente en las opciones y no tienes que sufrir la voz de ese señor.
En definitiva, es un juego mediocre, con una estética mediocre, un planteamiento mediocre y una historia mediocre. Ahora, si eres el más jebi de los jebis lo disfrutarás como un niño chico y si no pues tampoco es un juego largo, puede entretenerte durando unas horas.

Brutal Legend is a unique, fun game with a few glaring issues.

PROS:
- It oozes charm and personality, and is a wet dream for every metalhead that also likes video games.

- Elephant in the room - soundtrack is KILLER. I stay on the main menu for 10 minutes sometimes because I'm too immersed in the song to press start!
Plus, this game introduced me to a few new bands/songs that I didn't know about or wasn't familiar with.

- The art style is quite good. It maybe won't blow your socks off, but it's very fun-looking and does the job for the game.
I personally enjoyed the stylisation of the characters and graphical fx, UI, etc.

- VOICE ACTORS!! Quite a few of the characters in this game are voiced by metal gods like Lemmy and Ozzy Osbourne, and the titular character, Eddie, is voiced by Jack Black.
All around, great performances and lots to be entertained by.

- And of course, it's made by Double Fine, the same folks who made the cult classic Psychonauts. If you like their games, I doubt you will dislike this one, even if you don't listen to metal.

- Lots to do. Besides the main missions, you can go explore the rest of the world and do side quests, or, if you're a completionist, then there are these dragon statues that you have to free (Kinda like Spyro except they don't talk or anything lol), they give you health upgrades, power upgrades etc. for every 10 statues you free.

You can also go look for guitar tabs hidden throughout the world which give you new guitar riffs to play that have cool effects, like one is literally summoning a giant crashing, burning blimp to rain down fire on your enemies!


CONS:
-RTS strategy gameplay.
The game starts out tricking you into thinking this will be a hack-and-slash game like God of War but turns into an RTS type of game very early shortly after you complete the first 15-20 mins of gameplay.
This can either be a pro or con for you, depending on how much you like the genre. I personally didn't mind it that much, and to be honest, if you like the game's aesthetics, personality and other aspects, then the AI tends to be very dumb throughout the majority of the game anyway so you can brute-force the gameplay by spamming different troops and upgrading your stage as often as you can.

- Weak/Unnecessary Open World
To be honest, I feel like Brutal Legend didn't need to be an open world game. Apart from letting you explore to find some collectibles and to be able to appreciate the environment design in detail, it doesn't do much with the formula, and at times, feels really unnecessary.

- Story
There is a story throughout the game that you follow but it's very lackluster and you'll mostly want to go through it just to see the character interactions rather than properly being invested in the plot. This is a weak aspect of the game but it can be forgiven thanks to everything else it offers.

- Bugs
This is an open world-esque game, where you can go to different areas whenever you like, which means that bugs are almost unavoidable at some point. Even so, the ones I encountered are very mild and were stuff like clipping through objects or floor and other minor stuff like that so it's nothing game-breaking or anything, but you might find something acting a bit odd here and there when you're playing through the game.

All in all, not a perfect game but in my eyes, it offers enough things to keep you interested and makes up for its flaws with its unique setting and personality. Hope it'll get a sequel one day..! :)

É notável o carisma que o Jack Black possui e a trilha sonora do jogo é excelente e cheia de bandas ótimas, mas a jogabilidade dele não clicou comigo, e depois de 3 tentativas, se tornou rapidamente enjoativo.

Achei a ideia do jogo única, mas acho que faltou mais variedade na aplicação dela. E o senso de humor dele se desgasta muito rápido, vai de engraçado pra humor de bêbado chato muito rápido.

(Desculpa, Jack Black, te acho carismático e simpático, mas não tão engraçado)

Fifteen years later, Brutal Legend remains, to me, a fascinating case of flawed gameplay in an otherwise excellent package. Neither its real-time strategy levels nor its third-person action sequences are very deep. You win most battles by building the largest army and waging a war of attrition against your opponent. When you are forced to control Eddie Riggs alone, in the early levels, it’s easy to succeed by jamming the basic attack button with the occasional AOE spell. The gameplay feels like two half-baked games smashed into one.

At the same time, a star-studded cast brings to life a world populated by the iconography of heavy metal music and dark fantasy. Major talent turn in stellar performances, including Jack Black and Jennifer Hale as the main characters, Tim Curry as the main antagonist and metal legends Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford, and Lemmy as memorable minor characters (the less we say about Lita Ford’s lifeless performance, the better). Brutal Legend’s art lies somewhere at the intersection of a Saturday morning cartoon, the doodles of a metal-obsessed teenager in a textbook, and the self-serious parody of This is Spinal Tap and Metalocapyse. Combined, the game treats its source material with humor and honor.

Ultimately, the sum of Brutal Legend’s elements are a net positive. I walked away from it feeling a newfound appreciation for risks in original IP and, well, metal. I ran to my local record store and picked up records by Megadeth and Iron Maiden.