Jack Black still has some acting chops left in him
I’ve expounded on my love of Monkey Island and Full Throttle in previous posts, so it’s with optimism I downloaded the demo for Brutal Legend, made by the same Tim Schafer that made those two games. Schafer has long been famous for making critically acclaimed games that sold terribly at retail - Psychonauts being the prime example. Activision did not have much faith in Brutal Legend either, so they shed it during the Vivendi merger and EA picked it up. Will Schafer finally score a hit with critics AND the mass audience? We’ll find out “Rocktober” 13th, but before then I was curious so I checked out the demo.
Brutal Legend is an action adventure game with a twist: it’s a heavy metal epic. The game stars Jack Black as Eddie Riggs, a roadie who gets drawn into some sort of heavy metal world. The demo is pretty short, so it’s tough to get a feel for the game, but I was just playing to see how the presentation was.
Simple stuff first, the gameplay is pretty standard fare for a 3D action adventure, except you can’t jump. The A button swings your axe (a literal one) while the X button plays your axe (the guitar one) which essentially casts magic spells. There is also a Guitar-heroish type mechanic where you “play a solo” by hitting buttons rhythmically which can unleash spells as well. The gameplay is passable – it has the potential to get as deep as Batman but also could just end up being super shallow. We’ll see about that.
What I really wanted to see was whether the game was funny and how Jack Black did as the lead. Firstly, when the demo started, I was struck by the graphics and the presentation. There are metal songs playing throughout, and behind them the graphics and art style really are quite impressive. There is a great opening cut scene, and Jack Black (who I’ve gotten sick of on film) lends the proper tone and attitude to Eddie Riggs’ character. I love the look and feel of the game and the “trailer” at the end of it makes me excited to see what else it has to offer. It also has that touch of Tim Schafer flair, style, and humor that I remember from Full Throttle (a biker gang epic), so I can see how this game can really work.
Will I be buying this game on launch day? Probably not. But pending reviews, Brutal Legend definitely is on my wish list. Here’s hoping Tim Schafer finally pulls it off.
