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First let me say that I am a huge fan of Double Fine Studios and in particular Psychonauts. Psychonauts is one of those games you just have to play. The world and the humor in that game is amazing. I would go out and say it was the most enjoyable game I owned on the XBOX.

Once I heard about Brutal Legend, I figured it would be a day 1 purchase for me. My hope was that it would be as good as Psychonauts. In my humble opinion, it is close but no cigar. With that said, Brutal Legend is still an amazing game.

Story:

The game follows Eddie who is the worlds best Roadie. He is killed in a freak stage accident. He wakes up in the land of heavy metal. Without giving away much of the plot, your goal is to save the world from the evil ruler.

Presentation:

One thing Double Fine does better than anyone else is presentation. Everything from the world, story, music and hell….the main menu are amazing. I am not what you would call a “Metal” fan but I loved the world I was in. Everything exuded METAL! If you have ever seen the cover of a Metal Bands LP or T-Shirts, you will see where they gathered their inspiration. Everything is just spot on.

Graphics:

The graphics are not going to win any awards but fit the story. I found the quality as slightly above average but the design makes up for any issues I had with the graphics. (How could you have a problem with a dragon statue that has a ball gag in it’s mouth that you have to remove?)

Gameplay:

There are a ton of different things you do in the game. Driving, hand to axe combat, guitar riffs, simple party commanding, and even a rail shooter. The driving has been tough to get a hang of….the vehicles just feel wrong. Other than that, the game is just fun. The combat start simple but once you start adding new combos, the game gets a lot more complex…but in a good way.

Closing:

The humor and world make this game what it is. Any other studio that tried to make this would have probably failed. It is scary that this game almost did not make it to release. I am glad it did so I can play in their world.

Score: 9/10