Features
Jack Black Gets Legendary
MTV.com reports “Brütal Legend,” an upcoming game for PlayStation and Xbox 360, will let players live the life of “the greatest heavy metal roadie ever, who has to use a literal axe – and sometimes his guitar – to fight demons.”
Sounds like a blast! The game was created by Tim Schafer, the twisted mind behind the hits “Day of the Tentacle,” “Grim Fandango” and “Psychonauts.”
Schafer’s games stand out. His last one, “Psychonauts,” was about a kid in summer camp who has to fight through areas modeled off of the psychoses of people in the camp. This new game lets Schafer set up a situation in which roadie Eddie Riggs and his headbanging pals can make things right by beating up a bunch of loser hair metal guys wearing zebra-striped spandex. After showing that scene the developer unnecessarily explained to reporters that he always hated hair metal. This game is his love for metal made into interactive screwball fantasy.
And who better to voice the ultimate roadie plunked headfirst into a metal battle-to-the-death than Jack Black? So what’s the game look like? Here’s the trailer:
And here’s a preview of what to expect when you’re playing:
From what Schafer showed to MTV News and other gaming press last week, “Brütal Legend” starts with Riggs dropped into a mysterious world that appears to be infused with the spirit of heavy metal. The landscape includes hills of skulls, giant swords stuck in the ground and structures topped with chrome horns. Large, shiny car engines dot the landscape. Riggs is in this world for unknown reasons. A drop of blood that landed on his belt buckle transported him there and soon he is swinging an axe called the Separator against evil monster nuns. A hot metal-loving girl named Ophelia joins the fight and brings Riggs into the world of her people, a world under the cruel control of the emperor Doviculus and his demon forces, the Tainted Coil.
Could this get any better? Yep. Rob Halford and Lita Ford also provide voices. And you don’t just have to hoof it around Metal Land on foot. Riggs has a wheels!
Or they can put him in the seat of his car, which is alternately called the Deuce and the Druid Plow. This hot rod can be upgraded with armor and weapons. Its radio, the Mouth of Metal, can play a player-customized metal soundtrack. Songs for the radio can be unlocked by exploring the game’s terrain.
The game has lots of other goodies, like partner missions, combo attacks and a special multi-player mode called “Battle of the Bands,” which allows two players to fight using 40 characters each. Sounds like “Worlds of Warcraft” for metal-heads!
“Brütal Legend” is set to hit game consoles this fall.
Read MTV.com’s complete coverage of the game here and check out some screen shots here.