Above: A common screenshot from Brütal Legend.My review of Brütal Legend is up now at thephoenix.com. Now that I've read several other reviews, it seems like everybody's on the same page with this one. For me, that means a two-star rating, or 5.0/10 in the paper, although many other people thought the story and dialogue redeemed the lackluster gameplay. I just can't agree with that. Maybe if you spent more time with the story and dialogue than you do with the gameplay, it'd make sense. Not the case.
Writing negative reviews bums me out. I get no joy from it. Sure, there's a part of me that delights in coming up with a wicked burn, but that's the writer and not the gamer talking. I want every game to be good. I especially want a game by Tim Schafer to be good. I am not thankful for the opportunity to rip somebody else's hard work. But what choice do I have? This game is not good. There are lots of little things wrong with it; there are lots of big things wrong with it.
No time to dwell on it. We're in the thick of things now. Why, I've got a copy of Uncharted 2 right here. Onward!
11 comments:
I didn't expect much from Brutal Legend but I imagine that it will appeal to a group of people and they will be happy with it.
But I'm not surprised that it's not great. It seems like an odd mix although the humor in the demo was pretty great.
I'm a little bit disappointed to see people aren't liking it. I'd still like to try it for myself and see if I can forgive its flaws, but I really don't know if I will. There's always at least some truth to negative reviews, and as much as I would like to see this game be amazing and fun, I don't know if I will find it so. After all, even Game Informer only gave it an 8/10, which for such a high-profile title is really low for them...
Bottom line is I'm still going to rent it and see how it is. Maybe I'll be glad I didn't buy it. Maybe I'll go out and buy it. We'll see.
If I loved Shafer and his other games, or I loved metal, I would just buy it.
But neither of those things is true...
It may be a moot point if the game never comes to PC (a quick Google search doesn't seem to turn up any release plans yet) but I'm getting very curious about whether the game would do it for me. I tend to be delighted by any sincere homage to the heavy metal pantheon, and Psychonauts is one of my three favorite games of the past decade, but I've never met a cutscene I didn't wish I could skip and all the reviews I've seen so far have made me think I'd be underwhelmed.
I still have a hard time accepting that a game by Tim Schafer about the world implied by Dio album covers could be anything but insanely good.
What's really disappointing me is that, from what the reviews say, the (great) demo isn't really representative of the gameplay overall. I feel mislead.
I disagree. I found exploring the world, discovering its lore, and talking to the characters really engaging. I do agree that the RTS elements are shoddy. Though the game took me about 11 hours to beat, about 4-5 of those spent doing the RTS thing. That's roughly 40% and a pretty big deal, but that's only because I stuck to the main path as I had to beat the game for review. One could easily spend 20+ hours doing all the sidequests and exploring the world, and still have only spent 4-5 hours with the stage battles. The game was a disappointment, but far from a failure, imo.
My full review here: http://www.thegamereviews.com/article-1550-Brutal-Legend-Video-Game-Review.html
Bonjour Mitch,
Quick question: when do you get your review of Deadspace extraction on??? ( or did i miss it)
I remeber you said you were playing teh game and it seemed to be a good surprise to you.
I am asking you that cause I saw in teh GFK files that only 600 copies of the game have been sold here in the uk after a week ...
your reader,
Quiche
Quiche, I've been slammed with deadlines lately and I haven't had time to finish the game yet. Hopefully soon.
Little nostalgia for you: I reviewed Psychnonauts for you, back at the Boston Phoenix. I vividly remember sitting there while my kid (then ~3 months old) was napping, and praying he'd stay asleep until I finished the milkman level.
Chris, I remember that. Quite a positive review, if I recall.
Y'know, I've actually been heartened to see the wide ranging response to Brutal Legend. Even though I didn't like it myself, I think we need more games like this that can provoke such disparate responses. If nothing else, it's a singular creation that's worthy of discussion. How many games can you say that about?
I'm rather surprised that you dislike the game, Mitch. Especially so when you refer to the combat as dull and repetitive. Why does he need to jump? There are plenty of attacks to unlock, each with their own particular function -- whether to burn, air juggle or stun an enemy -- and each is particularly important in battles against different enemies. And there are a massive array of guitar solos to use, covering buffs, debuffs and downright awesome attacks, such as the Burning Zeppelin. If you don't make use of these attacks in the RTS battles, then you're going to be decimated rather quickly. You have to think on your toes and react. I'd call it anything but a repetitive hack and slash, you must be confusing this with Diablo II.
The RTS elements were well built and accessible for an audience that might not be used to them. Tom Chick's article better sums up the positives of Schafer's design http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/10/does_brutal_legend_hold_up_whe.php
And that car... I thought the handling was perfect! It was easy to control and drive (this isn't Forza so the freedom to burn a quick 180 was welcome) and the nitros, especially when upgraded to max, gave a wonderful, uncontrollable burst of speed.
Driving around discovering the various monuments and legends, especially, was a wonderful distraction and surprisingly fulfilling.
I guess with all those deadlines you've been hitting you didn't get the time to just give yourself to the tour and enjoy it...
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