My fellow games journalists had been tweeting about it all morning. When the package from EA finally arrived at my door, I was giddy with excitement. I ripped it open and snatched the disc… FIFA 10. Wait… what?
Fortunately – and no offence to EA Sports, you make a fine football game, and I will play your fine football game at some point, just not right now – an hour or so later another package arrived from EA. Inside was the game I had been waiting for all year.
Brutal Legend.
Of course I’m a Tim Schafer fan. Frankly, who isn’t? With its suite of time-bending puzzles and a nice line in deadpan absurdity, Day of the Tentacle was for me the pinnacle of the classic LucasArts adventure. Full Throttle and Grim Fandango were great, too.
But the reason my expectations are so high for Brutal Legend is entirely down to Psychonauts. Sure, it was a little rough round the edges at times – hello Meat Circus! – but the sheer volume of wit and ingenuity Schafer managed to unload from his brain into the creation of the Milkman Conspiracy, Waterloo World, Black Velvetopia and in fact every tiny nook and cranny of every level still, to this day, blows my mind.
It’s actually a little scary loading up a game that, essentially, is a follow-up to Psychonauts, a game that is dear to my heart like few others. How do I keep my expectations in check? Do I try to not compare the two and let Brutal Legend stand on its own?
It’s a tough question and something I’d really struggle with were I reviewing it. As luck would have it, I can’t really say much more, as there’s an embargo on “reviews” until October 14. But I will be posting some thoughts and impressions over the next week or so; I just won’t be “reviewing” it.
How do you keep your expectations under control?
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