Currently, no one has any info about the upcoming Xbox 360 and PS3 game Br�tal Legend besides Game Informer, which ran a feature article on it in their current issue. The article does a great job of selling the game, but I think simply a black cover with the words NEW TIM SCHAFER GAME would have made me shit my pants in anticipation (I have a condition).
I really shouldn’t have to tell you more than that, either. Tim Schafer and his Doublefine production team working on a new game should be should be more than enough to get you excited, but fact is that not enough people are aware of his stuff, and it’s a damn shame. Sure, critics and adventure game fans around the world know him, but this is one of the greats, a guy who has made nothing less than a classic game each and every time. Ironically, none of them have been perfect. Psychonauts‘ platform adventuring got tiresome after a while (check Slater’s great review here), and it has the control issues in common with Grim Fandango, one of my favorite games of all time. But what elevated each and every one of his games above and beyond their flaws is an absolutely hysterical plot. No game will make you laugh as much, or be as much fun to experience. If you’re not already a fan, become one, quick, because I have the sneaking suspicion that if you don’t like Day of the Tentacle you must not like games. Or life.
Br�tal Legend looks at first glance to be a throwback to Full Throttle, due to the leatherclad warriors. But this story is not about a biker, it’s about a roadie named Eddie, a guy who somehow ends up wearing a cursed belt buckle. He gets injured during a show one night and blood ends up in the buckle’s demonic mouth, and it comes to life. After that, like any good metal demon, it throws him back into the mythic land of rock and roll, where great metal gods live and demons rule over humanity. Along the way Eddie discovers his proficiency with a huge battle axe, and teams up with a crew of equally gifted individuals to reclaim the world.
In other words, it’s just as weird as any of his games. It’s also a 3rd person action game with your very own mosh pit. That’s right, recruit headbangers and you’ll have your own crew of moshers to deal with enemies around you, using squad commands assigned to your d-pad. One can only hope that we get more hardcore fans than death metal heads- would you rather have people spinkicking enemies, or just pushing them around? The game will also have a full-featured online multiplayer mode, which is a first for Doublefine.
It’s obvious at first look that metal fans will get even more enjoyment out of this game. Beside Tenacious D frontman Jack Black voicing the main character, metal legends such as Lemmy, Rob Halford, Ronnie James Motherfuckin’ Di, and plenty more will be lending their vocals to unnamed characters. The music will be brutal as well, featuring tracks from most of the artists lending their voices to the game as well as original material, like new guitar solos from Judas Priest’s guitarists.
There’s also a billion references to all things metal, from character names (Lars Halford?) to the very environments, which are lit by stage lights and include mountains made out of amplifiers. If you’re looking for all the details on the game and would rather not buy the waste of paper that GI is (if you didn’t get suckered into getting a subscription at Gamestop, that is) you can check it out via 1PStart here.
This is going to be a good one. You can just smell it.