Any Room for Brutal Legend?

Double Fine Studios second release, Brutal Legend, is one of the finest creative works I've seen. A game that combines heavy metal, hack 'n slash, RTS, Tim Schafer humour, and Jack Black all into one has got to leave reviewers scratching their heads when trying to categorize this beast.

The universe and characters created by Tim Schafer and his team have a flavour of originality that is refreshing in this space marine dominated industry. Performances by Jack Black and a string of heavy metal icons are delivered with a level of natural quality that reinforce the fiction (I don't even want to know how many takes it took to get Ozzy Osbourne to form coherent sentences).

The game is solidly constructed, and I can't find any game breaking bugs or annoyances, probably thanks to the extra time the team had to polish. Gameplay is fun, the story is interesting and the humour is right on the mark.

To me Brutal Legend is everything that I love about games. An original world has been forged to be explored and enjoyed. Creativity abounds in every facet of the experience.

That said... I sold my copy to a friend yesterday.

I sold it for one simple reason... it doesn't appeal to my tastes. I've never been a fan of heavy metal so much of the humour and commentary that springs from the games primary theme is lost on me. I also found myself wanting to turn the car radio off most of the time. At that point I realized that this game wasn't meant for me. My friend, however revels in the world and lore created via heavy metal.

Through all of this I'm glad to have Brutal Legend be a part of the gaming sphere. I believe that we need more titles that explore the niches of interest that make each one of us unique. I can respect this well crafted game, those who enjoy it and it's inspiration, while at the same time not sharing in their enjoyment.

Though I can't comment on the financial status of Double Fine it seems that they really need a win to solidify their position and provide for future development. I really hope that we will see more genre bending experiences from them in the future. Only time will tell how successful Brutal Legend will be and interesting to see if a new I.P. can push past all the sequels to grab a piece of the holiday pie.

How Long is Too long?

To hype, or not to hype?
How much to hype?
When to hype?

Game releases have got to have publishers and developers alike gnawing away at fingertips and pulling out what's left of their hair. Release a game too soon and you sacrifice potential polish time that has the potential to lift the overall impression a game leaves on the gaming public. Wait too long and consumer interest may have been captured by the next guy's shiny new toy.

This has been an interesting year for releases. It seems that publishers have finally got the message that the average gamer doesn't have a spare $2000 to buy all of the games that get crammed into the holiday season. Instead it appears that we're now having Christmas '09 in first quarter 2010.

I'm not complaining. Some of the titles appeared to need some more "polish" (I'm lookin' at you Bioshock 2), and now my wife's anger over my gaming will be more of a slow burn rather than flash fried nuclear holocaust.

I am however getting a little tired of the "it's done when it's done" quote. ID, Blizzard, Valve, and Bioware being some of the greatest abusers of this line. Granted these are currently some of the greatest developers around, but I am losing the buzz for their long teased titles. We've seen what their working on and now I'd like them to go dark on these projects until they actually have a release date. I just don't want to walk up to the counter at my local games shop and handover my well earned dollars for a game which has had all the surprises ruined by a combination of gabby PR people and ravenous media.

Hi There

Welcome,

I created this blog to give me an outlet for my views on my favorite hobby, gaming. I've been playing video games since the Nintendo NES days, but began my serious gaming addiction at the age of 14 with the release of the original Command and Conquer on the PC.

I now find myself existing as primarily a console gamer as I currently own an Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and an iMac (gaming legitimacy debatable). I have to admit I never thought the day would come when I would be a multi-platform owner, but being in this position has created some interesting conflicts and stories.

I'll try to submit new posts with my reviews of games as they are released and whenever the mood strikes for a rant or two. Stay tuned, would you kindly?