Brutal Legend - A Retrospective Review: The Most Metal of Games

The Metal Gods cannot save you from spoilers within this article! But fear not, I’ll try to avoid major spoilers because I want you to play this game.

You are Eddie Riggs – the greatest roadie in the business. Able to fix anything, build anything. Unfortunately, Eddie is stuck working for, perhaps, the worst metal band of all time – Kabbage Boy.

After an unfortunate accident during Kabbage Boy's latest gig, a fantastically metal situation occurs which ends up with our main character transported to a strange land – a beautiful, mysterious, world of heavy metal known as The Brutal Land. Regaining consciousness, Eddie immediately finds himself in peril as three strange, crimson robed monks advance upon him wielding ceremonial swords poised to strike.

Brutal Legend sees Eddie teaming up with a band of resistance fighters, lead by Lars and Lita Halford. Eddie learns that the resistance are fighting against the tyranny of glam-metal loving General Lionwhyte and the General’s puppet-master, the Emperor of the Tainted Coil – Doviculus.

Friendships will be forged, friendships will fail, and friends will be faced on the battlefield as fate decides that now is the time to reinvigorate an ancient, powerful force.

Over the course of this game, along with Eddie, players shall uncover the main character’s true identity, battle the forces of evil and hair-metal, and bring glory to the world of metal! Of course, one cannot expect Eddie to do all of this alone, even if he is the fabled ‘chosen one’. Featuring a legendary all star cast from the annals of rock history, the world’s greatest roadie must ally himself with the real world’s greatest rock musicians and restore harmony to the metalverse. To tantalise you good people, let’s see if you can guess who may voice the following characters: The Guardian of Metal, the Kill Master, The Baron, Rima, and last but not least – Kage the Kannonier. We’ll get onto the voice cast shortly.

I bet you can’t guess which metal legend could possibly be voicing the Kill Master.

Brutal Legend is not simply a hack and slash game. Oh no. There are other gameplay elements at hand here. For example, throughout the game, players will find relics; These relics require Eddie to perform a guitar solo in order to raise them and learn their secrets. Players will notice that these solos are very much akin to Guitar Hero’s note-matching gameplay, though they do not require as much effort as a round of Guitar Hero does, and are so much shorter. As the game advances, Eddie will learn more solos that will allow him to perform multiple feats of awe. Some solos will assist Eddie in battle, while others will simply aide in his journey across the land. Other relics may reveal unto Eddie hidden musical tracks that can be played via his car – The Deuce, offer up a number of fire tributes that are used as this game’s form of currency, or simply present him another portal to the realm of the Guardian of Metal.

As with most open world games, Brutal Legend provides players with a good number of side-missions to take part in and complete. These side-missions can range from competitive racing against a demon called Fletus, assisting Kage the Kannonier with hitting his targets, or just helping out your various headbanger associates. For the collectors out there, you are tasked with scouring the entire landscape in search for special relics that will grant Eddie additional fire tributes, as well as a number of historical monuments that reveal more about the game’s backstory – a fantastic piece of lore, in my opinion. These relics and monuments can be found all across the Brutal Land, so I hope you enjoy driving.

The journey will take Eddie through a wide range of locations that could have easily been pulled straight from the cover of a heavy metal album, such as Bladehenge, the Cleave of the Impaler, the Sea of Black Tears, Thunderhorn, the Temple of the Zaulia, and Death’s Clutch. All of which are breathtakingly beautiful in their own ways. For all the times I have played through this game, I am yet to feel bored with what I see. The scenery is truly spectacular.

I mean, who wouldn't want a giant stone sword monument?

Scattered among the main story missions are several stage battles which see Eddie defending his stage while attempting to amass fans from “fan geysers” by constructing merch booths, all while attempting to complete certain objectives before a battle can be won (such as destroying the enemy’s stage). The player, still as Eddie, will enter a real-time strategy-esque style of gameplay as they must create units and command them to follow him to a particular location, attack enemy units / their stage, or defend a certain area. As mentioned previously, Eddie has the use of a myriad of guitar solos that will be of great help when defending his own stage or destroying the enemy forces. One particular solo I recommend is the Facemelter.

There is a multiplayer element to this game, but only those of you that enjoy the aforementioned stage battles will be likely to play this often. The only real unique aspect to the multiplayer mode is the ability to play as one of the villainous factions from the main game – the Tainted Coil, or the Drowning Doom. Just as when you are playing as Ironheade, players will take control of the leader of chosen team – Doviculus for the Tainted Coil, and… someone else for the Drowning Doom (look, I don’t want to spoil the main story for you, okay?) in their attempt to overwhelm their foe(s) and bring glorious glory to their team. The multiplayer mode can be played both online against other players, or offline against computer controlled opponents set at one of the five levels of difficulty available.

As players progress throughout the main game, they unlock a number of combat units that Eddie shall utilise during the game’s Stage Battles. The Headbangers, the Razor Girls, Bouncers, Roadies, and Metal Beasts. What can I say? This game is metal as fuck, it’s amazing! But while Eddie and the forces of Ironheade have their legion of loyal supporters, so too do the Drowning Doom, Tainted Coil, and the Hair Metal Militia. Brutal Legend sees to it that you have an endless supply of monstrous creatures to slaughter in order to cleanse this most holy of unholy, badass lands.

A sexy nun, or a big ugly demon? …A big ugly sexy nun demon? You decide.

Saying that this game is a metal album cover would actually be sufficient when discussing the artistic aspects, I reckon, but as this is a review I suppose I best expand this section a little.

First off, just look at the images included in this review. How fucking awesome are they? What you are seeing here is but a fraction of the beauty offered in this game. The outstanding nature of this game’s appearance is to be expected as the world of Brutal Legend is heavily inspired by the work of Frank Frazetta (a terrific artist. I highly recommend you check out his art). Sure, there are the occasional issues with clipping through models, or models vanishing when struck rather than exploding, for example; but remember, this game was released in 2009, and considering the fine work done on the rest of the graphical aspects of this game, one could easily forgive these minor indiscretions (especially since such things also happen in today's games).

Nobody can fault the character designs presented to us in Brutal Legend. From the common headbanger, to the Ratguts of the Drowning Doom – the designs are truly inspired and do not feel out of place within this Brutal Land. I mean, some of the enemy units look truly disgusting, which is exactly what they should look like, right? So many subgenres of rock are represented throughout this game and its grand cast of characters – such as General Lionwhyte’s world of glam-metal (also known as hair-metal, which is most definitely evident when you see the his faction), the Drowning Doom’s appearance based heavily upon death metal, and the Tainted Coil, whose style is based on industrial and alternative metal subgenres ( which include more than their fair share of BDSM and gore aspects). Seriously, those of you with a weak stomach may be slightly grossed out by this game.

Finally, let’s talk about the scenery in this game. I've touched upon it very slightly already, but it is, in my opinion, astoundingly beautiful. It really is enjoyable to drive from one location to another just to explore this wondrous world – from its serene fields of green that are littered with awe inspiring sculptures and remnants of the past; and dark, gloomy dead lands littered with the fallen; to a tropical-esque jungle, with so many more unique locations that are sure to please anybody who absolutely loves album artwork. Props to the world designers, and to all of the asset artists that have worked hard on making this game so very stunning.

How awesome does this mountain of bones look? Seriously!

Okay, I won’t leave you hanging any longer; let’s get onto the cast. Naturally, the first person you’ll recognise will be Jack Black. If you couldn’t tell that was him from the featured image of this article, well, damn; but you will have surely spotted him before you actually play the game as he appears in a rather good pre-main menu intro scene (guys, I’m very fond of the labour of love that went into making Brutal Legend). As mentioned above, this game is stacked full of voice talent from the world of rock music, and joining Jack in this metalverse is the iconic Ozzy Osbourne as The Guardian of Metal; Rob Halford as General Lionwhyte and The Baron; the late, great Lemmy Kilmister as the Kill Master; Lita Ford as Rima; and Kyle Gass as Kage the Kannonier. See, what did I tell you? Epic. It won’t take fans long to notice another well known voice among this list of greats – the wonderful, talented Tim Curry adds his rather distinctive voice to the game in the role of Doviculus (who else would it be?). From the world of voice acting comes Zach Hanks as Lars Halford; Kath Soucie as Lita Halford, Jennifer Hale as Ophelia; and finally Alex Fernandez as the stage manager Magnus, all to provide voices for the integral characters in this story. I mean, c’mon now – if this cast list alone doesn’t make you want to play the game, I don’t know what would.

Brutal Legend allows those of you that find swearing offensive or distasteful to censor out those particular words, a feature that I actually quite like to be honest. I have only played the game with the censor on once, as I don’t really give a toss about hearing swears, but I must say that there is a certain enjoyment that comes from hearing those familiar bleeps. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is but it can occasionally add to the fun, don’t you think? Mostly though, I enjoy the game best when it is in its full, uncensored glory.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention one of the greatest parts of this game. The soundtrack is completely on point in Brutal Legend with each song being selected by Tim Schafer and the game’s music director Emily Ridgway. You cannot expect the game to have the list of cast members it has without making use of their music – The game boasts an impressive number of metal tracks that will have fans feeling as though they have gone to metal heaven. So many of the greats have a place within Brutal Legend‘s soundtrack, though some players may notice that a certain few iconic bands are missing – sadly, this is due to various legal, and personal reasons. All in all, however, I don’t believe you will be left disappointed with what you have in this game. It is very almost a masterpiece.

Notice that I say “very nearly a masterpiece“. Not all games are without their faults, and Brutal Legend is no exception. The factor that bums me out about this game is the fact that once you’ve completed the main storyline, there isn’t really a tremendous amount for you to do. Sure, there are a the side-missions, collectables and such, but everything seems to fly by rather quickly. I don’t know, really, I suppose that’s to be expected with every game, but I just wish there were a few more additional hidden storylines, as the side-missions don’t really follow any real narrative. I also need to mention Eddie’s inability to jump. I really dislike the inability to jump, something just feels missing to me. Other than these two nitpicks, nah, I’m all good. It’s a beast of a game.

Anyway, let’s not end on a negative. Brutal Legend will always belong in the list of my favourite games, I am yet to tire of playing it over and over again. If you’re a fan of rock or metal music, you should definitely pick up this game straight away and get on it. Hey, even if you’re not really a fan of this type of music and just enjoy Jack Black’s style of humour, check it out. You can all do a lot worse than Brutal Legend, let me tell you that.

So, there we go. I very much enjoyed writing this review, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. Let me know in the comments if you have played this game, and if so, what you thought of it. Oh, and before you go, make sure you check out the original story trailer for the game. Cheers, everyone.

Image credits: Double Fine Productions, Electronic Arts.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Looking Back at a Future Classic

Not so long ago, in a galaxy very close by, is an article that contains spoilers. 

...This, this post contains spoilers, so beware.

 

So, I know it's been out for over a year now, but I felt compelled to write a post in review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I have to start by saying that I am such a huge fan of Rogue One, it being one of the few movies that I have actually gone to the cinema multiple times to see. It has it’s flaws, sure, but I am here to discuss the good and the bad whatever they may be. In this article, I will be discussing the film itself, as well as the most memorable moments for me as a long term Star Wars fan, and the many other aspects of the movie that cement Rogue One as a Star Wars film for the ages.

Righto, so, I reckon by now most of you will know the basic premise of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: Some people and a droid steal the Death Star plans. There you go, the entire movie summed up in ten words. Easy. Okay, so obviously there’s a whole lot more to it than that. What this movie offers is an incredible story based around real people (meaning non-Force wielders), …and a droid, on a mission to bring freedom to a galaxy controlled by tyranny. The Empire is on the verge of a historical landmark; Within mere days, it will have completed the construction of a weapon that is capable of mass destruction of unfathomable proportions, rumoured to be powerful enough to destroy an entire planet. Using this weapon, it hopes to suppress the vast number of rebel-cells that have spawned throughout the galaxy which have now, as seen in Star Wars: Rebels, united into becoming the Alliance to Restore the Republic, A.K.A The Rebel Alliance. The Alliance’s spies have uncovered information regarding the existence of this so called planet killer and it is their duty to ensure this information reaches their leaders post-haste.

I'll admit it, when Disney first announced their plans to create an anthology series for Star Wars, I was unsure of what what to expect. Honestly, I was more than a little apprehensive. I thought "Ooh, here we go, running the franchise into the ground!". The months went by, the apprehension remained. Eventually the title was revealed unto the world as well as a brief synopsis of what the film would entail. I was intrigued, but we were all left to wonder precisely how this film would tie into A New Hope. I don’t really have that much faith in Hollywood, I have to say. Too many of my favourite franchises have been ruined, driven into the aformentioned ground, either by studio meddling, mediocre stories, shitty visuals, and so on, and I was worried that something similar was going to happen here. Then I saw the first teaser trailer. OH MY GIDDY FUCK! The hype grew and grew as each second passed. I cannot describe the excitement I felt. Still, I had my doubts about the film, naturally,. It seemed so different to the other films. There were Star Destroyers, X-Wings, Droids, and Stormtroopers, yet there were no Jedi, no lightsabers. This was a gritty war film, only set in the Star Wars universe. The trailers came and went, new information dished out every so often just to whet our appetite, and it worked. I rarely bother seeing a film on opening night, I’m not one for crowds really, but I was there in the cinema on that opening night all ready to see the next instalment in the Star Wars franchise (along with a rather amazing cup shaped like Vader’s helmet, and a Death Star popcorn bowl) with an open mind. I was not disappointed.

It's a rare opporunity to drink out of a dark lord's helmet and eat out of a planet-killer.

One thing that crops up online quite often is the view that Rogue One drags on a little too much until we reach that awe-inspiring final act. I have to sincerely disagree with this sentiment. Yes, fine, it can get a little slow, but so what? It’s not boring. Bollocks. I was intrigued by the opening scene which introduced us to the Erso family and Director Orson Krennic (at the time of writing, I am yet to read the prequel book of this movie – Star Wars: Catalyst, but I’m looking forward to reading more about these people), I was entertained by Jedha, by the scenes on Yavin IV, and by Eadu. So far, despite multiple rewatches, I am yet to become bored of Rogue One‘s story at all, but that’s not to say I’m blind to certain pacing problems, or sub-par scenes. Naturally, there are a number of scenes that I could happily watch over and over, while others, maybe not so much, but we’ll discuss the film’s issues shortly.

For the most part, characters in Star Wars are either good or bad. Rarely will you see a character in between, in that 'grey' area. Sure, we’ve had falls to the Dark Side, we’ve had redemption, but as far as I can recall, this is the first time that we have seen 'good' characters murder in cold blood. Cassian Andor, a valuable member of the Rebel Alliance: obviously a good guy, right? Well, that’s not entirely the case, is it? While Cassian is indeed one of the “good guys”, he is in no way entirely “good”. I mean, he straight up murders a guy to prevent him from capture, which would obviously risk exposing what he knew about the Alliance. Yes, I know Cassian was reluctant to do this, that he didn’t really feel he had much of a choice, but it’s still murder, c’mon. Still, having said that, he is without a doubt still one of the good guys / heroes of this film, and I think we can forgive him considering he was one of the people that helped secure the plans to the Empire’s not-so-secret weapon. What would you do in his situation? This is something I love about Rogue One. It introduces us to the fact that neither side is truly black-and-white. The Rebels can commit savage acts, just as members of the Empire do. It simply adds to the believability of this wonderfully diverse universe. Tarkin remains an incredibly cruel git though.

Tarkin, seen here about to create yet another desert planet.

Now then, it's time to talk about my favourite moments of the film. Which should I start with? Ah yes, it’s the slaughter of those Rebellion soldiers by the Dark Lord himself. Rogue One are no more, the Rebellion ships have either evacuated or have been destroyed above the planet of Scarif, and in the bowels of a defeated Alliance ship, fear has spread among the troops. A matter of utmost importance is at hand – the gathering of the technical readouts of the Death Star. Once the data has been transferred to a data-disc, their escape can begin. Unfortunately, this ship is fucked, absolutely knackered from the battle, and a door will not open. 
Ignored by the rest of the panicking crew, the trapped troops stop banging on the door as they turn to face the silent darkness. Heavy foot steps approach through the looming blackness ahead, accompanied by the iconic breathing we all know so well. A moment of silence. Suddenly, a lightsaber is ignited, and there stands Darth Vader. The terror of what they face hits the trapped soldiers hard as they unleash a barrage of laser-bolts at the Sith, to no avail. He slices, he dices, he cruelly launches a soldier up into the air and pins him against the ceiling; he passes the trooper only to strike him with a back-swing of that red blade. Holy shit, it’s so intense, my heart is racing just thinking about it. When I first saw this moment, my mouth was agape. It was exhilarating to see Vader so dangerous, so ruthless. We've never really seen Vader unleashed in this way before. This is peak Vader, and is one scene that will stick in the mind of everybody that sees the film. Incidentally, it also adds to Vader’s frustration at the beginning of A New Hope. He has chased, captured, and boarded this ship that he knows for a fact holds the Death Star plans, yet the captain and Princess Leia herself have the balls to outright lie to his face. They know he knows, and here they are denying any involvement. That’s brazen. That’s so fucking awesome. You have to applaud the guts on these two.

I couldn’t talk about the most memorable moments of Rogue One without mentioning the Hammerhead Corvette. Fuck my sides! When we first saw the Hammerhead Corvette appear on screen, both myself, and the friend I went to see the film with were ecstatic (we’re both very big fans of KotOR)! Not only do we get to see the return of these iconic starships into canon, but we actually get to see one effectively used against an Imperial Star Destroyer (arguably the greatest starship in the Star Wars universe). Seriously, hark back to when you first witnessed this moment. Did you get chills? Did your mouth droop open? I did, and mine did. I had such a huge grin on my face. What a beautifully spectacular scene. The saddest part, however, other than the destruction of two Star Destroyers, was the unfortunate demise of the Corvette as well as its crew. If you watch closely as the Star Destroyer plummets into the planetary shield, you’ll see that the Corvette is still attached to the Star Destroyer. I think that every supporter of the Rebellion should take a moment to celebrate the sacrifice made by the brave crew-members that took part in this suicide mission. True enough, Rogue One and their strikeforce were the true heroes of the Rebellion at this crucial stage in the war against the Empire, but without the sacrifice made by the crew of the Hammerhead Corvette, Rogue One’s attempt to secure the Death Star plans would’ve been in vain as they would simply not be able to transmit the plans off the planet.

Of course, Rogue One is by no means a perfect movie. It does have a number of flaws, some of which can take you out of the movie in a flash. For me, there’s the issue of the Bor Gullet. Captured by Saw Gerrera, Bodhi (Riz Ahmed) is subjected to torture by tentacle monster.

I’ve seen enough Hentai to know blah blah blah blah blah…

Right, okay, this is the first thing that bothered me. I don’t know why, but for some reason I hate seeing this kind of giant tentacle monster in Star Wars. They don’t fit into the universe in my opinion. Okay, yeah, the Sarlacc is fine, the Dianoga (that weird little squid thing that attacked Luke in the Death Star’s trash compactor (spoilers)) is fine, but Bor Gullet and those Rathtar thingies from The Force Awakens? Ehh, no. I just don’t like them. What’s worse is that this one can read minds. Maybe this is thing took me out of the movie because all I could think of was The Majestic from that one American Dad episode where Jeff is on board a starship full of Roger’s people and, yes, gets his mind read by a giant tentacle monster.

That is but one minor issue out of a few for me. A second issue I had with the film actually took place not too long after the first. As much as I loved the cameos and various references to the other films in the series, Rogue One just went one or two cameos too far for me. The cameo I’m referring to is from Star Wars: Episode VI‘s very own Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba. During my initial viewing of Rogue One I was fine with their appearance, it brought a little smile, but upon subsequent rewatches and understanding of the movie’s time-frame, it doesn’t sit well with me. I’m not referring to the time between the ending of Rogue One and beginning of A New Hope, but specifically to the time between their brief appearance and the destruction of the holy city. Basically, as soon as Jyn bumped into them, they would’ve had to run from the area, straight onto a ship and fuck right off out of the area before the Death Star erased the city from existence. Again, nothing major, but still worth mentioning. Actually, quickly before I move on, I know a few people have an issue about the fact that at one moment they’re on Jedha, and the next they’re pissing it up in Mos Eisley on Tattooine, but that isn’t really an issue when you think about it: Firstly, we’re not exactly given the precise number of days that pass between their cameo and the ending of the movie, but more than that, we must remember that a number of days pass during the beginning of A New Hope up until their fateful encounter with a lightsaber wielding hermit. That’s actually plenty of time for them to hyperspace away from that doomed city and have a celebratory drink in a dive-bar.

Any guesses for what my third and final main issue with Rogue One was? Oh come on, you must have something. Yeaaah, you got it! The CGI in regards to two particular characters. By now, even those of you who are yet to see the film will no doubt know that both Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia make rather impactful appearances in Rogue One. Now, this has been somewhat controversial among the Star Wars community and the world of Hollywood in general; the reason being the fact that Peter Cushing has been dead for almost twenty-three years at this point in time, and some people are worried that this will be the start of a new trend of resurrecting long deceased actors. Honestly, myself, I don’t really have a problem with the digital resurrection of actors / characters in situations such as Rogue One (as it is a prequel to a decades old movie) as long as it serves the story and isn’t done just for the sake of it, and, more importantly, is done with the blessing of the actor’s estate / family. In regards to Princess Leia’s cameo, this particular ethical issue didn’t exist at the time as Carrie was still with us. It’s worth noting that Disney have since stated vehemently that they will not be using CGI to continue Leia’s story past Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Let us talk now about the quality of the CGI characters in this film. To myself, and many others, the CGI simply feels a little jarring. Don’t get me wrong, The CGI is amazing for what it is, absolutely outstanding, but it just does not hit the mark for some reason. There’s something a little off with it, and I cannot tell exactly what it is. It could be the lighting (it’s difficult to get lighting correct), or it could even be the eyes. I do not know. Anyway, so aside from the ethics of using Tarkin and Leia in this film, the quality of the CGI has also been a major talking point for the people that have seen Rogue One. Remember all of that bollocks about that damn dress and if it was black / blue or white / gold? Well, the debates regarding Tarkin and Leia have been in a similar vein, with some people stating that Tarkin looked completely real, while Leia looked fake, and vice-versa. To me, both looked fake (though Tarkin did look arguably more realistic than Leia did. Truthfully, I don’t even think they went with a great soundalike for Tarkin either, but hey, what can you do? You have to work with what you have, and despite the fact I could tell these two characters were CGI, I fully appreciate the effort put into recreating both Peter Cushing and a younger Carrie Fisher by the team. Seriously, kudos to you all.

If her face was the correct length, this could’ve been unnoticeable as CGI, I think they maybe made it slightly too long.

In my humble opinion, the pros massively outweigh the relatively minor issues I have with Rogue One, and all in all, Gareth Edwards and the team behind it should be commended, for they have delivered us one outstanding Star Wars movie. It may actually be my favourite of the whole franchise.

Before we wrap up, I need to discuss both the visuals and the soundtrack. Frig me! The cinematography in this film is on point. There are countless shots from this film that I would love to use as a desktop background! The Death Star firing upon Jedha, the Star Destroyers, the Hammerhead Corvette, Vader’s pre-slicey-dicey stance, and soooooo many other moments, they’re genuinely beautiful. It’s impossible to view this movie and not find at least one shot you like. In terms of the score, I think Michael Giacchino did a stellar job, especially when you consider the ridiculously short amount of time he had to write the music for this film. The man was only given four and a half weeks! Still, this is the genius behind LOST’s soundtrack, so it’s not really all that surprising that he knocked it out the park. There are a number of tracks that I enjoy from the soundtrack, but I have listened to none more than “Your Father Would be Proud of You”. It’s the track that plays during the final moments on Scarif as Jyn and Cassian are atomised. As soon as it was available to buy, it went straight into my music library, it's a truly beauiful piece.

Anyway, that just about wraps this post up. It’s a bloody long one, isn’t it? Trust me, it could’ve been way longer, I can get overly passionate about the things I like. I never even talked about how fucking amazing the battle over Scarif was (absolutely fucking amazing, if you must know), or Mads Mikkelsen’s role in the film. There’s just so much to discuss with Rogue One, but a limit on how much you can write for a post, and I could easily go on and on. But hey, if you want to discuss Rogue One some more, feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to know your thoughts. Until next time, dear readers, you take care.