Background
Eddie Riggs
Brutal Legend is about a roadie called Eddie Riggs that has been transported to a fantasy world that is full of heavy metal iconography. His mission while he is here is to save the world, which has been enslaved by the evil Doviculus and his second in command General Lionwhyte. Eddie is helped on his mission by various allies that he uses to help him fight stage battles (boss fights).
Brutal Legend was released in October, 2009 and was released by Electronic Arts. The game was designed by Tim Schafer, a highly regarded game creator.
When the game was released, it received a good response from gaming critics with an average score of 80%. The world design, voice acting, and story were all focal points of the positive reviews, however, the stage battles were seen as a low point as they seemed a bit out of place and not very well introduced.
The character Model of Eddie changed significantly after Jack Black was cast to voice him. Eddie was originally designed around Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead but the final design strongly resembles Jack Black.
Brutal Legend was released in October, 2009 and was released by Electronic Arts. The game was designed by Tim Schafer, a highly regarded game creator.
When the game was released, it received a good response from gaming critics with an average score of 80%. The world design, voice acting, and story were all focal points of the positive reviews, however, the stage battles were seen as a low point as they seemed a bit out of place and not very well introduced.
The character Model of Eddie changed significantly after Jack Black was cast to voice him. Eddie was originally designed around Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead but the final design strongly resembles Jack Black.
Genre
Brutal Legend would be classified as an Action Adventure game with strategy game elements. The reasons for this are as follows:
Action Game:
This is very much a ‘twitch’ game. The player is required to make split second decisions in combat that can make or break a fight. Whether its choosing to block incoming attacks, strike a chord on the guitar or just beat on enemies with your sword, every action needs to be fast and coordinated. This places the game squarely in the Action game genre.
Adventure Game:
The game is about a singular person, Eddie, undergoing a journey to free a people under a tyrants rule. This is directly classified as an adventure in every sense of the word. The virtual world is open for exploration and players are rewarded for it while a story guides the player down the path.
Strategy Game:
Each of the stage battles encountered in the game take place in a set arena with two stages, one for each team. Units are selected and spawned at the stage and controlled locations in the arena until the enemies stage is destroyed by your units. The strategy element of this game takes a bit of leniency in genre placing to accept because while you are controlling a battlefield of units you are controlling and constructing, you are still able to move around the world and attack units yourself. As such, I have said that it contains strategy elements thus removing it from the genre but still indicating the strategy influence.
Action Game:
This is very much a ‘twitch’ game. The player is required to make split second decisions in combat that can make or break a fight. Whether its choosing to block incoming attacks, strike a chord on the guitar or just beat on enemies with your sword, every action needs to be fast and coordinated. This places the game squarely in the Action game genre.
Adventure Game:
The game is about a singular person, Eddie, undergoing a journey to free a people under a tyrants rule. This is directly classified as an adventure in every sense of the word. The virtual world is open for exploration and players are rewarded for it while a story guides the player down the path.
Strategy Game:
Each of the stage battles encountered in the game take place in a set arena with two stages, one for each team. Units are selected and spawned at the stage and controlled locations in the arena until the enemies stage is destroyed by your units. The strategy element of this game takes a bit of leniency in genre placing to accept because while you are controlling a battlefield of units you are controlling and constructing, you are still able to move around the world and attack units yourself. As such, I have said that it contains strategy elements thus removing it from the genre but still indicating the strategy influence.
Boundaries and Rules
Game World Map
The game world is divided into 5 different sections, each corresponding with a certain subgenre of heavy metal. Once the boss for each section has been beaten, the next section is opened. The world itself is set on a single Island surrounded by water. The aim of the game is to complete the required amount of missions in the current area, unlocking a boss fight. This needs to be done 4 times, at which point the last boss fights will trigger and the game will come to an end. Each mission varies in size and scope and some will unlock additional available units for boss fights. There are also many side quests available throughout the world which unlocks new weapons, car upgrades and songs that you can play while driving
Balance
Doviculus
The structure of Brutal Legend falls under two different balance categories: Transitive Balance and asymmetric balance.
Transitive Balance:
During the course of the game, the main character begins to encounter harder and harder missions. This is due to the enemies using newer and harder troops and smaller time constraints on the missions being undertaken. This is counterbalanced by the increased skill of the player as the game progresses. In particular, one of the final boss fights requires extensive use of the hotrod while undergoing a stage battle. The only way to win this fight is to be well versed in the way the battles unfold and the driving skill of the player.
Asymmetric Balance:
Each section of the game world that becomes unlocked is inhabited by different units. In the first world, enemy units are the same as the ones the player controls, but in later sections the enemies vary significantly. There are three different types of armies: classic metal, which is the type the player uses and consists of strong units in small numbers, goth metal, which consists of weaker but more numerours troops, and the demon army, which focuses on units that support each other. This is a typical example of balance by mutual design, where each is different but none have a distinct advantage.
Transitive Balance:
During the course of the game, the main character begins to encounter harder and harder missions. This is due to the enemies using newer and harder troops and smaller time constraints on the missions being undertaken. This is counterbalanced by the increased skill of the player as the game progresses. In particular, one of the final boss fights requires extensive use of the hotrod while undergoing a stage battle. The only way to win this fight is to be well versed in the way the battles unfold and the driving skill of the player.
Asymmetric Balance:
Each section of the game world that becomes unlocked is inhabited by different units. In the first world, enemy units are the same as the ones the player controls, but in later sections the enemies vary significantly. There are three different types of armies: classic metal, which is the type the player uses and consists of strong units in small numbers, goth metal, which consists of weaker but more numerours troops, and the demon army, which focuses on units that support each other. This is a typical example of balance by mutual design, where each is different but none have a distinct advantage.
Interactivity and Navigation
The Guardian of Metal
The player is navigated by both an indicator arrow that is present at the top of the screen and a map that is accessed by the in game menu. This navigation makes finding the next mission objective much easier than wandering aimlessly through the world. There is also a map of the immediate location located in the bottom right of the screen. This is handy for finding nearby locations that have not yet been discovered or where nearby enemies are. Players can also tell how far they are through various side quests each time a task is completed. Another indicator that is commonly used in the game is music. When enemies are nearby and attacking, the music will change pace, allowing the player to recognize the situation and respond to it.
Victory Condition
As the player completes missions, they are rewarded with numerous cut-scenes indicating the current progress through the story and moving it forward. After the cut-scene, the player is shown one or more tutorial screens which will show the player how to use new abilities or functions that they have unlocked. Each section of the game world is also locked until the appropriate boss fight is completed. Once these are completed, a new mission is given to the player in the form of an escort mission. The player must escort the tour bus (basically the headquarters of the resistance force) to the new section. This allows the player to get a good feel of the new area and the enemies they may encounter. The end of the game is very open ended, while still finishing off the story arc. There are a series of boss fights that get harder and harder, resulting in the final showdown of Eddie and Doviculus, after which the player is shown a cut-scene that wraps up the whole story. When the cut-scene ends, the player is free to roam around the game world finishing off side quests or whatever they please.
Unity, Continuity and Immersion
The game world that the player is transported to is one of the most intricate and well-designed game worlds I have ever seen. Each detail has been minutely sculpted to fit into the heavy metal theme of the game, from the smallest flower (whose petals form the devil horns symbol) to the mountains (which have faces to the characters sculpted into them similar to Mount Rushmore) to each character and animal model. Each character in the story is almost directly taken from the real world heavy metal community. For example, the healer unit for the players’ team is Lemmy on a motor-trike and the beasts have face paint similar to Gene Simmons from Kiss (and they breathe fire and have long tongues). The vehicle the player drives has access to a heavy metal radio station that plays some of the best music from the genre that can be unlocked at any time by doing side-quests. All these elements tie in to make this a very strongly themed world where no aspect takes away from the feel of the game.
Story and Narrative
The story of Brutal Legend is the driving aspect of the game. Everything the payer does is to further the story more, and draws the player into completing more of it. The events that occur during the course of the story missions also has a direct effect on the game world, such as bands of enemy units start roaming around certain parts of the map. But perhaps the most obvious reason for arguing the strength of the story to playing the game, is when the player finishes the main quest line. Once this is done, the player is free to move around the world and do as they please. However, this ends up being very unfulfilling as the story has been completed and it would be more enjoyable simply to start the game again from the start. For players that really wanted to delve into the story of the Brutal Legend world, there were multiple story (or ‘history’) shrines located around the world that when activated launched a cut-scene that told the story of a certain part of the history of the game world. These were always entertaining and provided the player with a more in-depth story.
Motivations for Playing
Emotional Engagement:
When playing the game, the player becomes attached emotionally to the player. This is mostly due to the well written script and voice acting. By being a light hearted yet engaging game, stronger emotional bonds are formed between the main character and the target audience. The player wants to see how Eddie reacts to the new elements of the game world as they are discovered through the story. This kind of shared discovery joins the player and the character in a way that most games cant and causes a stronger emotional bond because of it.
Solitaire Experience:
The main reason I wanted to play and continue to play the game was because of the experience it provided me as a single player. I have listened to heavy metal for a long time now and all the throwbacks to the metal community and the culture associated with it were both entertaining and encouraging. By finding them, I was always wanting to see what was coming next, and I was never disappointed. This also provided many opportunities to go back and replay the game multiple times as there were always the odd obscure reference and in-joke that I missed the previous play through.
When playing the game, the player becomes attached emotionally to the player. This is mostly due to the well written script and voice acting. By being a light hearted yet engaging game, stronger emotional bonds are formed between the main character and the target audience. The player wants to see how Eddie reacts to the new elements of the game world as they are discovered through the story. This kind of shared discovery joins the player and the character in a way that most games cant and causes a stronger emotional bond because of it.
Solitaire Experience:
The main reason I wanted to play and continue to play the game was because of the experience it provided me as a single player. I have listened to heavy metal for a long time now and all the throwbacks to the metal community and the culture associated with it were both entertaining and encouraging. By finding them, I was always wanting to see what was coming next, and I was never disappointed. This also provided many opportunities to go back and replay the game multiple times as there were always the odd obscure reference and in-joke that I missed the previous play through.
Evaluation
Brutal Legend is a very well-constructed game that provides a very rewarding player experience. While I may be expressing a biased opinion due to my inclination to the themes and the world presented in the game, I still feel that it can appeal to a much wider audience. Not once did I start to get bored or frustrated with the game due to the game itself and there is a high level of replayability. The best feature of this game I would say would be the voice acting. The voice actors in this game are some of my favorite musicians and actors (Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, Jack Black) which added a depth to the game I couldn’t have ever expected. The sound track to the game also was excellent and it contained some of my favorite songs and also introduced me to some bands I had never heard before. One aspect that could of used a bit of work was the stage battles. While these were fun, there were not enough of them to get the practice needed to get good at them, especially if you start on the highest difficulty. Overall, I would give this game a 9/10.
-Jimmy, Mob Boss
-Jimmy, Mob Boss
External References
My own playing experience is the main basis for this article.
Brutal Legend Wiki:
http://brutallegend.wikia.com/wiki/Br%C3%BCtal_Legend_Wiki
BRUTAL! The Legendary Fan Site:
http://www.brutallegend.net/
Brutal Legend Wiki:
http://brutallegend.wikia.com/wiki/Br%C3%BCtal_Legend_Wiki
BRUTAL! The Legendary Fan Site:
http://www.brutallegend.net/