Brutal Legend Catch All

Blind_Evil wrote:
TheArtOfScience wrote:

3) Is a pc port expected? Pardon me if this has already been stated in the thread.

3. Who knows, but personally I totally expect an eventual PC port. I think this is a game best enjoyed on a console, but again I am somewhat biased.

There's currently no mention of a PC version, they haven't denied it either. I think if they going to do it, they'll probably announce it at earliest after christmas, and possibly after any console DLC has been announced, other than that I'd be looking at a 'reasonable timescale' to either announce they're working on a new project or a PC version. I haven't seen anything that can only be done on a console, or would feel wrong on mouse+keys, so hopefully they'll do the right thing.

Regarding the Justin Haywald's review: if this game was smaller in scale and downloadable, that guy woulda done a lot less Female Doggoing.

I spent around two years being an active member of the 1up community and I noticed a trend of theirs to heap praise on quirky games that can be finished in a few hours, while deriding games for being too lengthy when they push anywhere more than 15 hours. I can't really figure out why, maybe it's just an office culture thing.

I also have a problem with their editorial identity, as they all seem far too stubborn. I'm a writer of sorts (fiction), and I know the importance of writing for your audience. 1up has been stressing the importance of a review being an individual's review and not the site's opinion, but that simply isn't how people take it nowadays, from the gamer up to the marketing team. You never see "9.0! Great Game -- Hillary Goldstein" on a game's box. You see "Game of the Year Candidate!--IGN"

Edge magazine is my favorite editorial outlet, and they don't even attach reviewer's names to the reviews. I can't help but wonder if their reason for doing so is to embrace the institutional editorial identity that seems to scare other groups.

Man, I was totally planning to pick this up after work yesterday but I somehow walked right by Gamestop on my way home. Didn't even see it. Figured that was a sign and didn't turn back.

Later I sure was jealous, slogging through Oblivion while half my friends list on Live was metalling it up.

Will try for the purchase again tonight, slower.

TheArtOfScience wrote:

1) Probably early to answer this but: Rental or Purchase? Or will I get burned at the stake for not giving Tim Schafer my money? I bought all his other games! This is just going to be a really awesome few months and I want to stretch my gaming dollar.

Rent it if you want, it will just make you want to buy it :p

2) I kind of sort of don't like heavy metal music. At all. Never really did. Unless, of course, you count Led Zepplin, Cream, etc. The heavy metal of the 80s did nothing for me though. Will I still enjoy this game? Will I get the jokes?

Yeah. I'm not at all a fan of the current niche obsessive heavy metal that's gone way off into its own world and spawned a million subgenres, but this game is way more into the type of metal music that's more connected to the wider world of rock and roll. If you are capable of enjoying Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden, even if its just in small doses, you will be able to enjoy the game.

3) Is a pc port expected? Pardon me if this has already been stated in the thread.

People seem to expect it, but I wouldn't hold out too much hope. They've already confirmed that they aren't currently working on a PC port, and that the versions that are out there are all that exist as of now.

TheArtOfScience wrote:

1) Probably early to answer this but: Rental or Purchase? Or will I get burned at the stake for not giving Tim Schafer my money? I bought all his other games! This is just going to be a really awesome few months and I want to stretch my gaming dollar.

This is where I'm at. I've already got Call of Duty, Dragon Age, Lego Rock Band and Left 4 Dead 2 on the definite purchase list. Assassins Creed 2 and Brutal Legend are both ones I'll absolutely be playing, just can't decide if they'll have the length or replayability to justify a full on purchase.

Can anyone tell yet whether Brutal Legend is one that will rate a second playthrough after you finish it the first time?

I just read Giant Bomb's review and found this statement, which I think is a good argument for developing the game for the PC:

Real-time strategy is a genre that has struggled more than any other to adapt to the limitations of console controls, and Brutal Legend is not the game to crack that particular code.

I've never played a RTS on a console, but I've read and heard plenty about the control problems involved. I really hope Double Fine releases BL on PC at some point. If/when they do, I would gladly sell by 360 disc and re-buy it on PC.

I haven't gotten to the RTS part of the game (stage battles), so I can't give my own opinion yet. Hopefully it won't lessen the fun too much.

Teneman wrote:

Can anyone tell yet whether Brutal Legend is one that will rate a second playthrough after you finish it the first time?

I'm not that far along in the game yet, so take this with a grain of salt, but my early impression is that there would only be 2 reasons for immediately playing through a second time.

(1) If on your first playthrough you just plowed through the main quests to get through the story as quickly as possible, then you might want to replay it to fully explore the environment, do all the side quests, buy all the upgrades available at the Motor Forge, etc.

(2) If you want the added challenge of replaying it on a higher difficulty

larrymadill wrote:
Kosars wrote:

That's a whole lot of hate toward a guy who gave the game a B+, which is only a bad score in bizarro world.

My hate is purely founded in his inability to write cogently and review a game critically. I could give a frip about the score.

Yeah, exactly. F*ck him because he's stupid and his review is amateurish nonsense, not because of the score he assigned.

MeatMan wrote:
Running Man wrote:

Its like my 1986 teenage self imagined the perfect marriage between metal and games, and now that its here I'm transported back to that time.

I just played for about 5 hours, and those are my thoughts exactly.

m/ (>.<) m/

I'm right there with you guys.

Played a fair bit of the game last night before having to give up the TV and it's been a blast. Enjoying the writing and voice acting, the characters and even the gameplay (so far). It seems that Double Fine really went out of there way to make every detail fall in line with the overall theme and character of the game. Like Mystic said, even dying makes you chuckle.

All of that said, there are criticisms and they are valid. For all the effort & resources that Double Fine put into the art, animation, and getting all those rock stars and licenses it seems like they had to cutback on the technology. There was screen tearing on some cutscenes and slow down when there were only 3 enemies. All that said, I haven't run into any bugs, and even those technical hiccups haven't taken me out of the atmosphere of the world.

I really hope this game does well, it's so clear that this was a game made with a passion for it's medium and it's source material.

I haven't even managed to get around to the 360 demo yet, but I'm struggling to understand how a B+ review that ultimately says that the game "is an entertaining experience that rises above its flaws" warrants even half of the ad hominem bullsh*t found in the last couple of pages of this thread.

OzymandiasAV wrote:

I haven't even managed to get around to the 360 demo yet, but I'm struggling to understand how a B+ review that ultimately says that the game "is an entertaining experience that rises above its flaws" warrants even half of the ad hominem bullsh*t found in the last couple of pages of this thread.

He denigrated umlauts, man. We love umlauts around these parts, they're like grillz for vowels.

You said it, man. Nobody f*cks with the umlauts.

OzymandiasAV wrote:

I haven't even managed to get around to the 360 demo yet, but I'm struggling to understand how a B+ review that ultimately says that the game "is an entertaining experience that rises above its flaws" warrants even half of the ad hominem bullsh*t found in the last couple of pages of this thread.

Psst...We're clowning on Anime Girl Group Guy, not ready to go to war with him.

Switchbreak wrote:
OzymandiasAV wrote:

I haven't even managed to get around to the 360 demo yet, but I'm struggling to understand how a B+ review that ultimately says that the game "is an entertaining experience that rises above its flaws" warrants even half of the ad hominem bullsh*t found in the last couple of pages of this thread.

He denigrated umlauts, man. We love umlauts around these parts, they're like grillz for vowels.

f*ck. THAT. I am buying this game today even though I never cared one whit about it before. Where I come from, umlauts are serious business.

I hope that reviewer is sodomized by a group of hybrid were-hyenas with STDs. I hope his descendants live in a frightening dystopian future where everyone has hairy nipples and the only type of peanut butter available is extra-crunchy. (if they are Australian I hope they don't have vegemite)

I can only hope that a tide of gamers rises out of their parents basement like a horde of zomies climbing from their graves. Chubby, neck-bearded, cheeto-clawed zombies wearing ironic and edgy XXL t-shirts caked in rock star energy drink and their own lonely tears. May this legion of gamers descend upon this reviewer dude whose name I don't remember and may they rend him limb from limb. May all his fingers be eaten by a necrotizing virus so that the only games he can play in the future are NATAL games. And then, when he gets his NATAL installed, may he be rendered eternally paralyzed except for his eyebrows and the little toe of his right foot. The only game he'll be able to play then is...well...pretty much any JRPG which is a type of gamer hell unto itself! May the sun and moon descend upon him never to rise again until the evils that have been perpetrated are punished!

I pray to thee oh great Culotho- er...Cathulu....er.... ah, yes. I IMPLORE THEE MIGHTY CHALUPA TO ENGULF THIS HEATHEN IN YOUR CRISPY YET SUCCULENT FOLDS! LET THIS SACRIFICE APPEASE YOU!

PS: I'd also like a double-beef cheesy burrito please. I love lunchtime!

I'm not quite sure what happened last night. Threw Brutal Legend into the 360, played and enjoyed it for a couple of hours. Then somehow, I ended up buying Trials HD and playing that in true one-more-level OCD fashion.

I blame beer.

Enjoyed playing the first hour or so last night... but was sold completely when i realized i could tame the giant roaming beasts with my rock lightning and then ride them across the giant-stone-sword-strewn-landscape.

Also, my wife is also really enjoying the characters/story/world/badassness, so... points there

Reading this thread has made me somewhat less interested in the game. The strategy elements were compared to Pikmin; which I never played, but was cited as the inspiration for Overlord, which I f*****g hated.

The demo promised a fun brawler with driving elements. If it devolves into a puzzle game where I direct minions with AI one step below dog crap on the IQ scale through hard-to-see paths that will kill them if I step a micron to the side, I want no part of it.

Please tell me the RTS isn't like Overlord.

OzymandiasAV wrote:

I haven't even managed to get around to the 360 demo yet, but I'm struggling to understand how a B+ review that ultimately says that the game "is an entertaining experience that rises above its flaws" warrants even half of the ad hominem bullsh*t found in the last couple of pages of this thread.

You struggle to understand because it has nothing to do with the B+ or even the final opinion of the game he offered.

*Legion* wrote:
OzymandiasAV wrote:

I haven't even managed to get around to the 360 demo yet, but I'm struggling to understand how a B+ review that ultimately says that the game "is an entertaining experience that rises above its flaws" warrants even half of the ad hominem bullsh*t found in the last couple of pages of this thread.

You struggle to understand because it has nothing to do with the B+ or even the final opinion of the game he offered.

No, I understand (and agree) that it's a terribly written review and that it would probably hospitalize Wordsmythe if he were to ever read it.

That being said, I would rather tear down the review itself and criticize the 1UP editorial process (which seems to be have completely left town after the 1up-ocalypse) than descend into GAF-esque criticisms of the guy's taste in music and/or culture.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

Reading this thread has made me somewhat less interested in the game. The strategy elements were compared to Pikmin; which I never played, but was cited as the inspiration for Overlord, which I f*****g hated.

The demo promised a fun brawler with driving elements. If it devolves into a puzzle game where I direct minions with AI one step below dog crap on the IQ scale through hard-to-see paths that will kill them if I step a micron to the side, I want no part of it.

Please tell me the RTS isn't like Overlord.

It isn't even a little like Overlord or Pikmin. It plays mostly like Sacrifice if anything.

TheArtOfScience wrote:

I hope that reviewer is sodomized by a group of hybrid were-hyenas with STDs. I hope his descendants live in a frightening dystopian future where everyone has hairy nipples and the only type of peanut butter available is extra-crunchy. (if they are Australian I hope they don't have vegemite)

I can only hope that a tide of gamers rises out of their parents basement like a horde of zomies climbing from their graves. Chubby, neck-bearded, cheeto-clawed zombies wearing ironic and edgy XXL t-shirts caked in rock star energy drink and their own lonely tears. May this legion of gamers descend upon this reviewer dude whose name I don't remember and may they rend him limb from limb. May all his fingers be eaten by a necrotizing virus so that the only games he can play in the future are NATAL games. And then, when he gets his NATAL installed, may he be rendered eternally paralyzed except for his eyebrows and the little toe of his right foot. The only game he'll be able to play then is...well...pretty much any JRPG which is a type of gamer hell unto itself! May the sun and moon descend upon him never to rise again until the evils that have been perpetrated are punished!

I pray to thee oh great Culotho- er...Cathulu....er.... ah, yes. I IMPLORE THEE MIGHTY CHALUPA TO ENGULF THIS HEATHEN IN YOUR CRISPY YET SUCCULENT FOLDS! LET THIS SACRIFICE APPEASE YOU!

PS: I'd also like a double-beef cheesy burrito please. I love lunchtime!

That was beautiful. Thanks for the hearty laugh.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

Reading this thread has made me somewhat less interested in the game. The strategy elements were compared to Pikmin; which I never played, but was cited as the inspiration for Overlord, which I f*****g hated.

The demo promised a fun brawler with driving elements. If it devolves into a puzzle game where I direct minions with AI one step below dog crap on the IQ scale through hard-to-see paths that will kill them if I step a micron to the side, I want no part of it.

Please tell me the RTS isn't like Overlord.

Overlord, as I recall, was all about puzzles; use the red goblins to get through the fire and hit a switch, then use the blue ones to walk across the water and hit another switch to bring down a bridge to let you across.

Brutal Legend isn't an RTS in that sense, though keep in mind I've only played through a bare part. Rather the RTS battles take place on a stage where you and your opponent fight over control points that give resources for more units. The units so far are classic RTS units; melee, ranged, healers, armor piercing, and transport. You've got to be near the units to command them (simple commands of stay, go there, attack that, which is probably why it's compared to Overlord), you can use any of them for a self-directed secondary attack or you can fight normally with various spells/your axe. Your ultimate goal is to destroy the enemy's base.

The RTS elements seem to be the big set pieces. There's still plenty of times you'll go in somewhere alone and use the God of War style controls and your car can go anywhere in the overworld without worrying over unit types or using headbangers to break through a gate or something.

Jonman wrote:

I'm not quite sure what happened last night. Threw Brutal Legend into the 360, played and enjoyed it for a couple of hours. Then somehow, I ended up buying Trials HD and playing that in true one-more-level OCD fashion.

I blame beer.

Add me to your friend list. I will fuel your Trials replayability to no end. I believe I have pretty good scores that are quite hard to beat on 90% of my runs of the first 3 levels of difficulty.

On my part I have people on my list that are even better than me like NotMeYouFool (I hate his guts :P)

bnpederson wrote:
doubtingthomas396 wrote:

Reading this thread has made me somewhat less interested in the game. The strategy elements were compared to Pikmin; which I never played, but was cited as the inspiration for Overlord, which I f*****g hated.

The demo promised a fun brawler with driving elements. If it devolves into a puzzle game where I direct minions with AI one step below dog crap on the IQ scale through hard-to-see paths that will kill them if I step a micron to the side, I want no part of it.

Please tell me the RTS isn't like Overlord.

Overlord, as I recall, was a painful rape simulator

Fixed that for ya. Thanks for clarifying though, I had some uncomfortable flashbacks. Good to hear the metal remains untarnished!

Mystic Violet wrote:

This is one of those rare games where I love roaming around the world. I'd wander in games like Okami because the environments are so well designed. Brutal Legend's world is incredible. I spent maybe two hours just driving around the open world searching for statues and ramps only to be amazed at every damn rock I encountered. The trees... The trees are freakin metal. \m/

What about volcanoes that are erupting liquid metal. Maybe BL has gameplay or UI issues, whether or not they're more or less egregious than other landmark games forgiven their faults—but goddamn if this is not a gameworld, like Fallout 3's, that I want to inhabit. It's not not enough to make your world open if there's no reason to want to be able to tread its entirety (hello Oblivion). Schafer's concept of any screenshot being an album cover? Delivered upon. I want to find everything.

This thread has achieved something that a week ago I would have sworn up and down could never be done.

It's making me seriously consider buying a console.

I've never been a metal fan, but when it's presented with this much obvious reverence-mixed-with-pure-silliness, it's hard NOT to like it.

I was thinking about it this afternoon a little, and it occurred to me that Tim Schafer's appearance as a slightly graying, heavyset geek is deceptive. He is not, in fact, 40+. He is 18, with over two decades' experience. And he's used that expertise to filter out crap and serve up 100% distilled awesome. If you don't feel 18 again, zooming around in that car with the music blaring, you're a little dead inside. Note: having an excellent sound system is a big help there.

Comparing with Arkham Asylum, about now (8 or 10 hours) was where Batman was peaking in terms of fun value. It dropped off pretty substantially after about the 2/3 point. Still fun, just not intoxicatingly awesome like it was in the beginning. Brutal Legend started out much less impressively, but it's been steadily improving the whole time. I think there's a good chance that this is actually a better game, and that's very high praise.

Some random comments:

The first part of the game is the demo. I went ahead and played through it again, but it was exactly the same thing.

The game has taken awhile to truly 'click' for me; it's been getting steadily better as I've gone along. For some reason I find the visuals a little confusing sometimes; it can be hard to tell where to drive or quite what's going on in an RTS battle. I think maybe I've gotten a little lazy with the amazing TF2 visibility of everything, but trying to make visual sense of the world sometimes is bit difficult. But once I started to get it, the game started to get really fun.

I was experiencing really extreme slowdown in the first snow RTS battle, to the point of moving maybe 1/3 speed. PS3 version. When I got my ass kicked, I went to bed, on the assumption that maybe it'll improve with a reboot.

I got to say the RTS elements aren't really working for me that much. I kind of wish Double Fine just gone with an open world, 3rd person game with maybe a GTA: SA recruit mechanic instead (which it almost is). Still it doesn't really effect the awesomeness of the game.

Reaper81 wrote:

f*ck. THAT. I am buying this game today even though I never cared one whit about it before. Where I come from, umlauts are serious business.

Please someone photoshop, "UMLAUTS: SERIOUS BUSINESS" for me. I don't even know what that would be.