Brütal Legend is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, Europe, and Australia. Though Brütal Legend was originally to be published by Vivendi Games prior to its merger with Activision, Activision dropped the game from its portfolio after the merger. It was later picked up by Electronic Arts, though Activision and Double Fine brought counter-lawsuits against each other over publishing issues. The issues were settled out of court. Later, Double Fine announced a port of the game for Microsoft Windows via Steam, which was released in February 2013. macOS and Linux versions of the game were made available as part of the Humble Bundle in May 2013. A physical collector's edition for Windows, macOS, and Linux was released by IndieBox in October 2014.
Tim Schafer, the game's creative director, was inspired to create the game by his own past musical experiences. The game features the character of Eddie Riggs (voiced by and modeled after Jack Black), a roadie who is transported to a fantasy world inspired by the artwork of heavy metal album covers. Eddie becomes the world's savior, leading the down-trodden humans against a range of supernatural overlords using a battle axe, his Flying V guitar that can tap into the magical powers of the world, and a customizable hot rod.
The game, a hybrid of the action-adventure and real-time strategy genres, includes Stage Battles in both the single-player and multiplayer mode, where the player must command troops to defeat their foes while defending their own stage. In addition to Black, the game features voices of heavy metal musicians including Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford and other celebrities such as Tim Curry, as well as more than one hundred metal songs selected by Schafer for inclusion in the game.
Brütal Legend was generally well received by game reviewers, praising Schafer's vision and writing of the heavy metal–inspired world, and the performances of the voice cast, particularly Black and Osbourne. Some felt that the hybrid gameplay of action and real-time strategy did not mix well, however, blaming console control limitations and missing features normally found in games of either genre.
Gameplay Brütal Legend is a third person action-adventure game incorporating real time strategy elements. The game uses an open world that Tim Schafer has described as being approximately in area. The player controls the protagonist Eddie Riggs, a roadie who one day finds himself transported into a heavy metal–themed fantasy world. Eddie acquires three tools that are used for combat and transportation: a broad axe called "The Separator", his Flying V guitar "Clementine" from his own world which has the ability to cast magic spells in the heavy metal world, and a hot rod that Eddie builds called "The Druid Plow", a.k.a. "The Deuce". Spells, referred to as "Solos", from Clementine are performed by playing a minigame akin to the note-matching aspect of Guitar Hero or Rock Band over a brief guitar riff; however, Eddie cannot use the metal generated by Clementine constantly, as prolonged usage of the guitar will cause it to overheat, and the player will have to wait for a cool-off period before using the guitar's power again. Eddie may also find more solos hidden throughout the world, ranging from support to offensive spells. The player can spend in-game currency called "Fire Tributes", earned from completing missions, at the Motor Forge to gain new abilities and upgrades for each tool. These tools can be used in combination with each other to take out Eddie's foes; for example, the player can use his guitar Clementine to create pyrotechnics to launch a foe into the air and follow up by attack it with the Separator axe. In a case of a specific boss fight, the player must use the Deuce hot rod to lure the boss to a spiked gate held up by counterweights, and then play the "Earthshaker" move on Clementine to destroy the weights and sever the creature's head.
Within the open world, the player can use a map and the Deuce's turn signals to guide them towards either story-advancing missions or side missions. Side missions include hot-rod races against a demon, defending Eddie's allies from a pending attack, or helping a cannon operator spot his targets. There are about 23 main missions in the story with 30 side missions that the player can optionally take. The player can also explore the game's world to find statues bound in leather or chains that can be freed to gain a health boost for Eddie or to reveal part of the game's backstory, and can look through special telescopes at vistas or complete certain jumps to earn additional Fire Tributes. The player can also find monuments they can raise that unlock an additional heavy metal song from the game's soundtrack that can be played on the Deuce's radio, "The Mouth of Metal"; the player can further customize its set list with songs they have been rewarded with or have collected.
Several main story missions of the game are Stage Battles based on real time strategy elements. The player, while still in control of Eddie, is required to defend a giant stage where new allies will spawn, holding out until a specific objective is completed. The player creates an army for attacks by building merchandise booths on "fan geysers" through Clementine's magic. Once enough fans are collected, the player can summon different allies, each consuming a specific number of fans, or upgrade their stage to allow them to produce more powerful allies. A character known as Mangus acts as the "sound guy" to help in the construction of these units and stage upgrades, and also warns the player of enemy attacks. Once the player has gathered their army, they can then seek out and attack their opponents. Eddie is able to control the entire army to follow, attack, or defend a point, and can use specialized squads of specific units to perform certain tasks, such as having a group of headbangers use their headbanging to destroy statues, hoisting a groupie onto his shoulders to use her weapon for focused long-range attacks, or mounting allied vehicles or beasts to take control and provide support or extra firepower. The player can also use Eddie directly in combat during these battles. Ultimately, Eddie transforms into a winged demon who can fly above the battlefields to issue orders or lay out attacks. Spells in Eddie's arsenal can help control the performance of his armies, such as temporarily boosting their attack skills or creating a rally flag which troops will gather at, while others hinder the performance of the enemy faction by removing enemy buffs or preventing the creation of enemy units for a short time. Each of the different units, including special allies that Eddie meets in the game, has a special co-op move they can perform with Eddie; for example, Eddie's first ally, Ophelia, can be tossed at foes by Eddie in the style of the Fastball Special. These co-op moves are also available outside of Stage Battle missions.
The game has a multiplayer mode, described by Schafer as "your typical head-to-head, battle of the bands scenario. But with axes." The multiplayer modes are team-based and play in the same manner as the single-player Stage Battles, with team sizes from one-versus-one to four-versus-four. Each team selects from one of three factions which affect what resources and troops they can summon, and are tasked with defending their stage from attack by the other team. The three factions available are Ironheade, mostly human-based troops visually inspired by classic heavy metal led by Eddie Riggs; The Drowning Doom, with more goth/black metal–inspired undead led by Drowned Ophelia; and The Tainted Coil, with industrial metal–inspired and BDSM/religion-themed evil demons controlled by Doviculus. Each player controls a single main avatar who has the same abilities as in the main game for combat and magic spells and can also fly about the map, but also is in control of troops that they may summon from the team's shared resources—fans as generated by fan geysers across the map. Different types of troops are available, costing various numbers of fans to summon, with the potential to upgrade to improved units through different routes. The number and types of troops that can be summoned is limited by a cap to prevent either team from becoming too overpowered. All of the troops can be engaged by the player to initiate various "Double Team" moves as with the single player game. The game can also be played by a single player with computer-controlled opponents at one of five difficulty levels.
Synopsis
Characters Brütal Legend follows the story of Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), who is "the world's best roadie" for "the world's worst 'heavy metal' band", Kabbage Boy. Much of the game takes place in an unnamed world inspired by heavy metal music, created by, according to the game's mythology, Ormagöden, The Eternal Firebeast, Cremator of the Sky, and Destroyer of the Ancient World. In this alternate world, the human race is enslaved by a race of demons, led by Doviculus, Emperor of the Tainted Coil (voiced by Tim Curry). Doviculus is assisted by his glam metal human minion, General Lionwhyte (voiced by Rob Halford and based on David Bowie with the name being an allusion to glam metal band White Lion) whose hair is so big "and luscious" that he uses it to fly, flapping it like a pair of broad wings. Leading the fight against Doviculus are a small band of human resistance fighters with whom Eddie joins forces: Lars Halford (voiced by Zach Hanks), his sister Lita (voiced by Kath Soucie), and Ophelia (voiced by Jennifer Hale), whom Eddie takes a romantic interest in. Their group is later joined by the stage manager and tour bus driver Mangus (voiced by Alex Fernandez), the bass-playing healer Kill Master (voiced by and patterned after Lemmy Kilmister), the motorcycle-riding Fire Baron (also voiced by Halford, as well as visually inspired by him too), and the leader of the Zaulia amazons, Rima (voiced by Lita Ford and based on Kiss characters). Also supporting Eddie is the Guardian of Metal (voiced by Ozzy Osbourne, who also lent his appearance to the character) that assists in upgrading his equipment.
Plot During a gig for Kabbage Boy, Eddie is crushed by falling scenery while trying to save a member of the band; his blood lands on his belt buckle, in reality an amulet for Ormagöden. The stage is transformed into Ormagöden, who kills the band and takes the unconscious Eddie to the heavy metal world. Awaking in the Temple of Ormagöden, Eddie meets with Ophelia while fighting Doviculus' forces, and is instantly attracted to her. They discover writings left by the Titans that Eddie is able to comprehend, and build a hot-rod, the "Deuce", that they use to escape the Temple (confronting a giant lamprey-like monster) and travel to Bladehenge, the base for the small human resistance force led by Lars and Lita. When they meet Eddie and learn he can understand the Titans' messages, they see him as a prophetical "Chosen One", though a 'dispute about the translation' leaves them unsure if he will be the savior or destroyer of the world. Ophelia also becomes concerned when Eddie, in the heat of battle, transforms into a winged creature, an effect Eddie decides to use to his advantage at the time.