Reader Review: Brütal Legend

Do you have what it takes to get a review published right here on Kotaku? Mitch does, as he can’t take his eyes off Lars’ sword.

Yes, that’s right, we’re now publishing reader reviews here on Kotaku. This is your chance to deliver sensible game purchasing advice to the rest of the Kotaku community.

And thanks to the very kind chaps at Madman Entertainment, purveyor of all kinds of cool, indie and esoteric film, the best reader review we publish each month will win a prize pack containing ten of the latest Madman DVD releases.

This review was submitted by Mitch Alexander. If you’ve played Brütal Legend, or just want to ask Mitch more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Brütal Legend (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tim Shafer’s long-delayed action-adventure/RTS hybrid finally hits shelves, but is it as legendary as its title?

Loved

Story & Characters: Brütal Legend’s strongest points are its story, humour and characters. The voice acting is top-notch and the characters’ dialogue is as hilarious as it is compelling. The heavy metal in-jokes and easter eggs keep the game entertaining throughout.

Art Direction: While the graphics aren’t exactly cutting edge, the game does look fantastic with character designs and polished cut-scene animations that wouldn’t be out of place in a Pixar film.

Soundtrack: The head-banging soundtrack delivers in spades for the metal faithful. Besides the obvious inclusion of the likes of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, Brutal Legend features great non-mainstream acts like Slough Feg and Testament lovingly mined from metal’s myriad sub-genres.

Hated

Gameplay: The mashup of RTS and third-person action simply doesn’t work. The third-person sequences are like God of War-Lite and the RTS elements are hampered by a simple but ultimately clumsy interface. While I appreciate what Schafer and Double Fine have attempted to do here, Brütal Legend’s gameplay is disappointingly average.

Secondary Missions: Like most free-roaming titles, there are numerous side missions available for explorers to track down and complete. All well and good, except there’s little variation between missions and limited incentive to bother completing them beyond weapon upgrades and collecting more Nerd Points for your Gamer Profile.

Short and Shallow: The story – as great as it is – is incredibly short and can easily be completed in 6-8 hours. The repetitive nature of the side missions and the RTS-based multiplayer do little to improve the game’s longevity.

While the game’s slick production and soundtrack help create an entertaining weekend’s worth of gaming, the flawed mechanics and short-lived story see Brütal Legend falling far short of its hype.

Reviewed by: Mitch Alexander

You can have your Reader Review published on Kotaku. Send your review to us at the usual address. Make sure it’s written in the same format as above and in under 300 words – yes, we’ve upped the word limit. We’ll publish the best ones we get and the best of the month will win a Madman DVD prize pack.

Comments


11 responses to “Reader Review: Brütal Legend”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *