BL. Tim Schafer: We made a patch already! Call EA and tell them to post it!

Cantido

Tim Schafer returns to make videogames metal.

HE WILL MAKE EVERYTHING METAL! BLACKER THAN THE BLACKEST BLACK, TIMES INFINITY!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFQIsgMitjA

Brutal Legend, Published by EA, Developed by Doublefine is Tim Schafer's latest venture, filled with blood, fire, and sweet blowjobby metal. An Action/Adventure/RTS, it is like nothing you've ever played before.

IGN -9.0 = http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/103/1033952p1.html
Eurogamer – 8/10 = http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/brutal-legend-review?page=1

STORY

Do you ever feel like you should've been born in a different time period? When the music was...real?
What? You mean like, the 70's?
No, man. Earlier. Like...the early 70's.

Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black) is a roadie stuck assisting a band that claims to be heavy metal but sounds more like Simple Plan or something else quite gay, when he is nearly killed in an on-stage accident. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a different time period. And it's definitely not the early 70's. It resembles covers of metal albums, where demons rule over humanity, the sky's color shifts brilliantly and appears scorched, and everything looks really...fucking...metal. Some evil priests have been waiting for him, draw swords and assault him. With a divine axe he found where he wakes up, and his own guitar, now a magical weapon, he sets forth in this strange world, which some would find hellish, but he admits, "is kinda badass."

The World of Brutal Legend

GAMEPLAY

Hoo boy, I don't know where to begin. The multiplayer was designed first but BEWARE, playing it actually spoils the single player story, so I'll start with the campaign.

CAMPAIGN

You control Eddie Riggs in third person. He cannot jump, but he's got some damn cool weapons. The A [X] button performs melee attacks with Eddie's battle axe, The Seperator. Mash it to perform combos or hold it for an unblockable. X [square] performs magical attacks with Eddie's guitar, Clementine. Different button combinations give different combos and spells. But as Eddie uses the guitar, it glows, becoming too hot to touch.

The guitar also has one more important feature. If the battlefield is safe for a moment, you can choose a guitar solo from a command wheel. After you choose one, a Guitar Hero esque sequence appears, that when performed well, unearths the land's secrets, builds structures, or unleashes flaming doom upon your enemies.

The first Solo Eddie learns reveals a car you use to traverse the land. The Deuce. A customizable vehicle which is used to plow through enemies, traverse the 64 kilometer landscape.

You can perform the main story by itself, or explore the land, looking for sidequests, relics to raise for hidden secrets, or find other unknown ways to please the Gods, who reward Eddie with upgrades to The Deuce and his weapons. The upgrades are offered, and performed, by The Guardian of Metal (played by Ozzy Osbourne)

THE SOUNDTRACK

Let Tim Schafer put it this way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnH1c4YIVUY

Or just click the Spoiler Free Spoiler which just lists it.

* 3 Inches of Blood: Deadly Sinners
* 3 Inches of Blood: Destroy The Orcs
* Accept: Fast As A Shark
* Angel Witch: Angel Witch
* Anthrax: Metal Thrashing Mad
* Anvil: March of the Crabs
* Anvil: Tag Team
* Apostasy: Sulphur Injection
* Bishop of Hexen: A Serpentine Grave
* Bishop of Hexen: The Somber Grounds of Truth
* Black Sabbath: Children of the Grave
* Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe
* Black Sabbath: Never Say Die
* Brocas Helm: Cry of the Banshee
* Brocas Helm: Drink the Blood of the Priest
* Budgie: Breadfan
* Budgie: Zoom Club
* Candlemass: Witches
* Carcass: No Love Lost
* Cloven Hoof: Nightstalker
* Children of Bodom: Angels Don’t Kill
* Coroner: Skeleton on your Shoulder
* Cradle of Filth: Her Ghost in the Fog
* Crimson Glory: Queen of the Masquerade
* Dark Fortress: Insomnia
* Dark Tranquility: Cathode Ray Sunshine
* Deathstars: Blitzkrieg
* Def Leppard: Rock of Ages
* Dethklok: Mermaider
* Diamond Head: Am I Evil?
* Dimmu Borgir: Progenies of the Great Apocalypse
* Dokken: Mr. Scary
* Dragonforce: Through the Fire and Flames
* Emperor: Thus Spake The Nightspirit
* Enslaved: Frost
* Enslaved: Loke
* Firehouse: Overnight Sensation
* Girlschool: Bomber
* Iced Earth: When the Night Falls
* Iced Earth: Pure Evil
* In Flames: Goliaths Disarm Their Davids
* Judas Priest: Battle Hymn
* Judas Priest: The Hellion/Electric Eye
* Judas Priest: Leather Rebel
* Judas Priest: One Shot At Glory
* Judas Priest: Painkiller
* Kabbage Boy: Girlfriend
* KMFDM: Free Your Hate
* KMFDM: Rip The System
* King Diamond: Cremation
* King Diamond: Welcome Home
* Kiss: God of Thunder
* Lita Ford: Betrayal
* Marilyn Manson: Beautiful People
* Manowar: Die For Metal
* Manowar: The Dawn Of Battle
* Mastodon: Crack the Skye
* Mastodon: Oblivion Instrumental
* Megadeth: High Speed Dirt
* Megadeth: Tornado of Souls
* Metal Church: Metal Church
* Michael Schenker: Group Assault Attack
* Ministry: Stigmata
* Ministry: Thieves
* Mirrorthrone: So Frail
* Motley Crue: Dr. Feelgood
* Motley Crue: Kickstart My Heart
* Motley Crue: Live Wire
* Motorhead: Back at the Funny Farm
* Motorhead: In the Black
* Motorhead: Marching Off to War
* Motorhead: We Are the Road Crew
* Nitro: Machine Gun Eddie
* Omen: The Axeman
* Ostrogoth: Queen of Desire
* Overkill: World of Hurt
* Ozzy Osbourne: Believer
* Ozzy Osbourne: Mr. Crowley
* Ozzy Osbourne: Diary of a Madman
* Prong: Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck
* Quiet Riot: The Wild and the Young
* Racer X: Technical Difficulties
* Racer X: Y.R.O.
* Ratt: Lay It Down
* Riot: Road Racin
* Riot: Narita
* Riot: Swords and Tequila
* Rob Zombie: Superbeast
* Rotting Christ: Ad Notics
* Running Wild: Riding the Storm
* Sanctuary: Battle Angels
* Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King
* Saxon: Wheels of Steel
* Scorpions: Blackout
* Scorpions: Holiday
* Skeletonwitch: Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery
* Skid Row: Youth Gone Wild
* Slayer: Metal Storm/Face The Slayer
* Slough Feg: Warriors Dawn
* Static-X: Love Dump
* Tenacious D : Master Exploder
* Tenacious D : The Metal
* Testament: For The Glory Of
* Testament: More Than Meets The Eye
* Tvangeste: Birth of the Hero
* UFO: Rock Bottom
* Whitesnake: Still of the Night
* Wrath of Killenstein: Ignisis Dance

The soundtrack is customizable. You can also adjust the way the songs play based on Faction (more on this later) or Genre. My absolute favorite metal song is in there, [Diimu Borgier - Progenies of a Great Apocalypse]. Brendon Small sneaks his brutally animated band in, and Tim Schafer would like everyone to know that he did not know the genre "Pirate Metal" existed until he developed this game [referring to Running Wild]. Pirates are quite metal, you know.

Voices!

Voice Actors

MAP WITH EVERTHING ON IT
http://images.roosterteeth.com/images/4ad50c58b5b55_bighugemap.jpg

Cantido

MULTIPLAYER - THE REASON I WANT THIS GAME. [And so can you!]

Multiplayer Overview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwrMH7Ke7iU

This ain't your daddy's RTS.

Have you ever played an Action/RTS? I'm not talking about Overlord, Pikmin, or Kingdom Under Fire (and I love Pikmin.) I'm talking motherfucking Battlezone 1 & 2 by Activision (ironic, yes?) I'm talkin' Natural Selection by Valve. I'm talkin' Sacrafice. I'm talkin' Guilty Gear 2's really mediocre (but still quite metal) attempt.

I'm talking about an exceptionally rare type of Action/RTS. About being able to build a base, gather resources to build a massive army with different strengths and weakness, and set them forth, not only to watch, but to fight along side them and aid them with your character's own personal strengths. THIS IS HOW YOU DO AN ACTION RTS.

These battles are called Stage Battles. Your base is a Rockstage, the resource is geysers of pure, concentrated fandom, and your goal is to destroy the opposing stage.

First, you must set forth and find the geysers, and perform the Solo "Fan Tribute," which claims the geyser as your own and sends the power of metal fans everywhere to your stage. When you have enough resources, you can use other Solos to summon units to fight along side you. Every unit has a Double Team, performed with Y (Triangle) that gives you a special ability that makes both you and your unit better in some way. You can also summon vehicles and upgraded units, but there is a cap on how many units you can have on the field. This means big battles with lots of losses with be the time to be summoning your upgraded units.

There are 7 maps, with different themes and amounts of resources (one has just a single geyser.)

Kor wrote: »

Multiplayer maps by Kor. :P

Up to eight players for team battles, in which team players share the same amount of leadership. (Tim Schafer recommends 2 on 2.)

A nice touch is that the music you hear playing is themed around your faction in multiplayer.

COMMON GUITAR SOLOS

Some solos are not just in the single player. They are key mechanics for Stage Battles, and are common to each faction. Here they are…

Fan Tribute – When there’s a rock stage in the area, spirits of the earth rise up in search of some fuckin’ metal. The key to gathering resources, cast this to claim the geyser and send the spirits to your stage so they can enjoy your music and power your army. You'll see them fly to your stage and begin moshing. NOTE – If there are enemies in the area, the geyser is red, signifying that it’s contested. Keep enemies and the enemy avatar away and it will turn green, in which you can claim it. YOU DO NOT COUNT AS CONTESTING THE GEYSER.

Rally Army – if you need a moment of massive offense/defense, cast this and all units will head straight to your spot. Different from the Summon Flag.

Summon Flag- This simple 3 note song sets a flag in the ground. When a unit spawns, it will automatically go there. You can pick it up with the Double Team button and set it somewhere else (I recommend this), or just keep it on you so that allies just come to you. (I do not recommend this. Your character is too fast and important for this.)

(Get your car) – The name varies between factions, but each character has their own car that only they can use. Cast it to throw off your opponents early ground game, as you can run over infantry with it. If it’s destroyed, you can cast it again to your heart’s delight. Don’t neglect it in your early game.

YOUR STAGE

Your stage is your base. It consumes fandom to create units, and can be upgraded. It plays music based on the Faction you are playing. Ironheade plays Classic Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Thrash, etc. Drowning Doom plays Death Metal and Melodic/Symphonic Black Metal. Tainted Coil plays Industrial.

In the event you are on the defensive, your Stage has Double Teams of it's own. Fly to the center of the stage to take controls of it. You can blare the speakers on each side to blast melee opponents away. You can units nearby, or if you have too much time on your hands, change the song playing.

Kor wrote: »

edit: Each stage has a health bar. The easiest to see is Ironheade. Load up a game, look at the tusks of Ormagoden. See those stage lights pointing downward? There are 10 of them, each representing 10% health. The other 2 factions have them as well, just positioned slightly different.

If you fly high to the top of the stage, you can Double-Team the spotlight to fire powerful blasts of lasers on enemies below you. Hold A [X] to make it even more powerful.

THE FACTIONS

At this point, describing the factions spoils how the single player unfolds. There are three bands with very different themes, abilities and strengths.

Ironheade
Eddie Riggs metal themed faction, filled with fire, engines, machinery, Viking-ness, rage, passion and energy. The Fire Beast’s will incarnate. Single player revolves entirely around Eddie developing this faction. It's biggest strength is power, mobility and easy to use units. When Eddie claims a geyser, it becomes a Merchandising Booth!

Ironheade has the best endgame of the three factions, with the most powerful final unit, Ironheade becomes nearly unstoppable when it completes it's tech upgrades.

Ironheade Car – The Deuce. Eddie’s first raised relic, nicknamed The Druid Plow, it's great for plowing through Druids, or picking up tasty looking rock chicks.

Ironhead Unit Data

Ironheade Solo Spells

Face Melter – When played, infantry in close proximity take severe damage, and sometimes die instantly, their faces melted off. It’s only four notes, so check the cooldown time and use it often!


Call of the Wild – In honor of Eddie’s favorite childhood book, this spell summons animals found throughout the world, but what animals are summoned depend on your Stage’s Tech Level. Cooldown time takes long, so save it for higher levels. This is FREE units, so don’t neglect this!
Battle Cry – In the story, it compels the Headbangers to join. But really, it’s a buff that strengthens allies around you.

Rock Block – Stops troop development of the enemy stage. Save it for when you want some offensive momentum.

Light of Dawn – This spell makes light shine in the sky, stopping all enemy buffs and debuffs. The bane of Drowning Doom’s existence. This spell takes long to cast though.

Bring it on Home – His most powerful spell, it summons a goddamn Hydrogen-Filled Zeppelin of Lead to crash into the area about a hundred feet behind the camera’s position. Aim it carefully, it’s 10 notes, powerful, and has a cooldown time of five minutes. Don’t waste it.


Ironheade Lvl 1 Units.

Headbanger - Eddie's basic melee infantry. After years of devolution, these former slaves knew nothing in life but crushing rocks with their heads. But Eddie's music compelled them to bang their heads for better reasons. Double Team: The headbangers that are in the area will circle Eddie and bang their heads in a formation that causes damage to enemies who get too close, or if they survive, go flying.

Razor Girls - Eddie's basic long-range infantry. Rescued by Ophelia, these former slaves knew nothing in life but glam rock, hairspray and makeup. Now free, they sport sassy, less horrible baseball tees and their favorite weapon: a cannon made from the guts of a Razorfire Boar, a living motorcycle. During Double Team, Eddie sits one girl on his shoulder and changes her shot into a powerful cannon. It feels like a shotgun, but it has incredible range. Super effective.

Thunderhog - Eddie's healer. Killmaster and his posse of bassists decide to leave their lair and put their healing abilities to use. Armed with heavy bass strings created from the webs of Metal Spiders, they heal your units passively, and are not meant for fighting. During Double Team, Eddie will hitch a ride, then you can control and fire short range bursts of bass that paralyze enemies over a relatively wide radius. Combine his healing abilities with casting Battle Cry, and you have a very durable army. Or, in a cunning move, use Double Team to stun some dudes and cast Face Melter to wipe out some infantry. NOTE - Healing does not stack, so have one per group of allies.

Ironheade Lvl 2.

Roadies - A Steath unit. In this metal world, these roadies are not just unnoticeable, they become invisible! They lug massive speakers on their backs which use sound waves. The key to using them, is to demolish enemy structures when they aren't looking. During Double Team, Eddie stands on the speaker and becomes invisible too, giving you control over movement and attacks. Useful to send the opponent flying to you only to find you're protecting the units.

Fire Barons – A light vehicle unit. Some snarky biker dudes who wouldn’t even explain who they are to Eddie at first, they now ride to help him. They use Molotovs to trap enemies. Double Teaming is pretty interesting. Eddie hops on and you can move pretty quickly , then you hold A to start a trail of fire behind you. Complete a loop to make a powerful barrier of fire that shrinks, causing massive damage to enemies who walk through it.*

*There is a growing controversy that Fire Barons are broken. They require little resources and unit slots, which combined with their speed, can rush to the enemy stage on a whim and destroy it in a short amount of time, and none of the finesse. I have to study this more but I can tell you I'm very irritated.

Headsplitter – Your Heavy ranged unit. Reversed engineered from the enemies towers, it is now attached to a slow vehicle. Double Team gives you control over movement, and it’s powerful crossbow which is loaded with explosives. Use it to attack heavier enemies.

Lvl 3 Units
Fire Beast – Your Pyro! This large furball has the power to breathe fire over a wide arc. Double Team gives you the controls over movement and fire. Use it to slaughter infantry. BUT BEWARE, ITS USELESS ON VEHICLES!

Bouncer – Your Heavy Infantry. The former whip cracking officers of Lionwhyte’s army, now liberated. They are very, very heavy infantry that are very effective against vehicles. That doesn’t stop Eddie from lifting them during Double Team to launch them into the ground for a massive hard hit.

Final Unit

Rockcrusher- Reverse engineered from a stone roller, it is the final unit. A portable stage that can crush enemies and play music automatically buffs allies around it. It has Eddie’s most powerful Double Team, called Bladehenge. You aim on the ground, and any enemies caught in a circle of stone will be impaled by a massive sword. If you went through all the trouble to build one, you BETTER be Double Teaming with it!

Drowning Doom

A goth/black metal themed faction, oozing depression, dark colors and sickliness, it sucks the life out of everything around it. The spiritual opposite of Ironheade. Alone, some units are weak, and DD is the only faction that does not have buffs. But it does has the most debuffs, courtesy of depressing goth and epic black metal, or storm clouds. It makes DD more about weakening the opponent then building up the allies. You can also cast a decoy spell that looks like a real enemy vehicle on your opponent’s screen, or turn your allies invisible for a dramatic siege. When they claim a geyser, it becomes a Well of Black Tears, the source of the power, and rotted bodies and minds.

My favorite faction, it has a very powerful middle game. It's very dependent on debuffs courtesy of support units and A LOT of your protection. But is has many tricks up it's sleeve to end a game very early or steal enemy units if you're at a disadvantage. And if you're contesting a choke point, you can turn your army invisible, hand the geyser over and go straight for the enemy base for a quick and dramatic victory.

The leader of Drowning Doom is a MASSIVE SPOILER. DON'T CLICK!

After a tragic series of events, Ophelia becomes the leader of this faction, seeking revenge on Eddie for breaking his promise and crushing her heart.

Drowning Doom Car – The Hearse. This coffinmobile’s coffin is vacant. The leader has someone special in mind…

Drowning Doom Unit Data

Drowning Doom Spells

Silence – Wraps the enemy leader’s head in mummy bandages, blocking all commands and guitar use. Only works at close range, so anticipate when they are coming to you.

Black Tear Infusion – Spreads the Black Tears from the ground, healing allies around the casting area.

Shadow Blast – Creates a blast that damages enemies nearby. Not as strong as Facemelter though.

Encompassing Gloom – Makes the sky go black, temporarily stopping enemy troop production.

Baleful Misdirection – Creates a duplicate of any unit that you can currently produce. It will appear blue and transparent. But to AI, and even the enemy player, it will look real, and take hits like a real unit. It takes up unit space, but it follows your commands. Send it to guard areas, or go on suicide missions to produce hilarious reactions from your opponent and distract them from you. Very effective.

Veil of Deciet – Spreads a fog that makes your units invisible until they attack. Use it to slip behind enemy detection, or behind a Rockcrusher...
As long as your units don't attack, they remain in visible to enemies and the avatar. And when you direct your units somewhere, they get Tunnel Vision'd and will head directly where you want them to, so each army will just run right past each other. It's practically mandatory for attacking the stage.

Weeping Heavens – The final spell, it launches artillery sized eyeballs from your stage, raining Black Tears to destroy enemies. Once cast, a glowing eye will appear above your head. This is where the artillery will fall all around you.

Drowning Doom Units

Lvl 1 Units

Grave Digger – A basic infantry. Is it a zombie? No, wait! It’s just some emo fucker. Or perhaps both? Weak, but big numbers and buffs/debufss from other units evens the score. During Double Team, it buries you underground, allowing you to move around until you attack, creating an explosion that blows away enemies or causes major damage to geysers, making DD the best at taking geysers..

The Bride - A debuff unit. A glowing blue spirit of a woman in a bridal dress who never bagged a man in life, everywhere they go, storm clouds hover above that debuff enemies and slow them down, infantry or vehicle. Each time they sustain damage, they automatically shoot lightning in retaliation. Double Team makes you dance with her, and each time you hit A, you fire a powerful bolt of lightning. You can only have three at one time. Because when all three are together, they can slow down the enemy by 75%. Always have three, and have them close, and your enemy will hardly function around them. Or divide them up amongst squads

Frightwig – A long-range unit. I like to call this the Ing because rather than fire a projectile, it flings out a black sharp tentacle. It's actually a head of a woman who washed her hair in the Black Tears, giving it supernatural beauty. In death, their heads came back to life on their own, using their hair as new legs and arms. These should also be with your army at all times. In Double Team, you can throw the Frightwig at an enemy unit, forcing it to attack allies (think Headcrab). But if the unit gets hit too much, the Frightwig will die instead. But I tend to prioritize making one Grave Digger and three Brides in the beginning of a match. Then I make Headwigs.

Lvl 2 Units

Ratgut- Anti-infantry unit. This man’s belly is bloated from housing dozens of plague-ridden rats. He regularly vomits them out, then they seek out and munch on infantry. Double Team is amazing. He devours you, and then vomits you out. You turn into the cluster of rats, giving you control over the enemies you devour.

Organist – Support Vehicle – A church organ on wheels, it’s depressing music debuffs everyone around it. It’s true power is the Double Team, which sends the driver to posess ANY enemy unit it wants. Use it to wrestle away high level units.

Lightning Rod- Powerful vehicle unit. A hot rod, controlled and powered by a dude in an electric chair, it fires bolts of lightning at enemies. Double Team puts you in the drivers seat, and gives you aim of it’s lightning bolt. When fully charged, the bolt can even take on enemy vehicles. POWERFUL.

Lvl 3 Units

Brood – Tiny, anti- vehicle. A tiny evil baby carriage. The tiniest vehicle in the game, it looks like infantry, but it is in fact a vehicle, making it fire resistant. It launches evil dolls that can shred apart vehicles. Double Team prepares a suicide attack. Press A to launch the Brood at enemies for a powerful explosion.

Reaper - Death himself, sporting a ghostly horse, St. Elmo-y scythe, and some headphones for phat beats. A fast and powerful unit, he rides around slashing enemies for huge damage and speed. Be warned. At 200 units, it's expensive. Double Team puts you on horseback, allowing you to ride around and slash enemies. It's hard to control though.

Dirigible – Powerful Support Vehicle Unit – Called a "Siege Unit" by EA, it's a mysterious hot air balloon that spreads crematory ashes that reduce enemy defense and heal allies. Double Team lets you take control of it as you chuck urns directly underneath you. These funeral urns both heal allies and severely reduce enemy defense. It even reduces defense of enemy geysers, OR THE STAGE. It has more health than any other unit in the game, so when you're on the attack, hop in and support your army without fear.

Final Unit

Treeback – A huge terrifying tree monster with a massive murder of crows living in it’s canopy, swooping down and…murdering enemies. The crows automatically munch on enemies. During Double Team, you sit in the tree while the creature carrying it rises and can now have a devastating stomping attack while the crows continue to munch on enemies. Wait until you have the Treeback where you want it to be, because it moves faster when not in Double Team. Then hop in and squish enemies, the stage, or reckless avatars who tend not to take them seriously.

Tainted Coil

The evil faction, led by the villain, Emperor Deviculous. The units are all demonic looking, with hints of S&M that hold their squishy, skinless bodies together. This is the only faction in which units can spawn other units on the field, away from your stage. The effect, however, is very grotesque. Also, some units, when surrounded by their subordinates according to a fixed hierarchy, receive buffs. Doviculous's own heart transforms into the most evil looking guitar ever. Geysers become an evil altar. But that shouldn’t suggest fans are in pain, rather, they are led to a stage full of hot, sweaty, sticky, dirty, girls-writhing-in-cages Industrial Metal. Wear a rubber.

Okay, these guys are the Zerg. They rush like Zerg too. The best opening act, they can overwhelm you by spawning enemies anywhere they want. Hands down, Deviculous has some of the worst Solos, and the least amount of Double Teams. But due to their focus on numbers, they can overwhelm other factions in a short amount of time.

Tainted Coil Car– The Chariot – A War Chariot fit for an antagonist.

Tainted Coil Data

Tainted Coil Solos

Chains of Hell - Chains shoot from the ground and latch on to the enemy avatar, stopping all movement.

Martyrdom - You basic buff, it causes severe damage to yourself to inspire allies around you to fight harder.

Curse - A close range attack, it slowly poisons any enemy around you, infantry or vehicle.

Summon Agony Boil - Creates a squishy, evil proximity mine that grows over time. Use it on things you wish to defend, on spots you expect the AI
to accidentally step on.

Summon Tick Choppers - A freebie unit, like Call of the Wild, this summons four Tick Choppers you faced in the Campaign.

Skies Afire - The skies burn with evil, and the closer your units are to your stage, the harder they hit. Use it for defense. Everything looks black and white.

Launch of Death - If you created the final unit (Bleeding Death), move to an area and cast this to launch it to your position and set it loose.

Lvl 1 Units

BATTLE NUN
Lithe, elegant, and deadly, the Battle Nun is the most common of the Coil's prestigious Hierarchy class.

ROLE
Melee infantry, hierarchy unit. Super and Ultra versions available. Slowly heals nearby minions and quickly regenerates her own health when surrounded by minions.
DOUBLE TEAM
Doviculus must hold an audience with Battle Nuns to produce Tier 1 squads.

SOUL KISSER
Leather-clad scissor-headed maidens of pain.
ROLE
Basic melee infantry. Super and Ultra versions available.
DOUBLE TEAM
Doviculus can take hold of a Soul Kisser and hurl her at an enemy. She'll explode on contact, dealing heavy damage to any target. Regrettably, the Soul Kisser's life is lost, but her heroic sacrifice will make her legend for generations to come.

PUNISHING PARTY
A Ranged unit. It consists of a group of dominatrices and one massive gimp, called The Pinboy. His body is covered in arrows piercing his back, which the girls yank out and throw. The Pinboy himself can melee attack. If he loses all his health, he kneels in prayer and self destructs, damaging enemies. During Double Team, Doviculus jumps atop The Pinboy and is able to manually throw spears at a target much more rapidly than the Dominatrices. The girls themselves do not have a double team.

Lvl 2 Units

WARFATHER
The noble Warfathers represent the elite of the Coil's hierarchy class. By reading prayers from their Unholy Tomes, they unleash powerful ranged attacks on enemies. Doviculus Double Teams with Warfathers to produce Tier 2 squads.

SKULL RAKER
The Skull Raker may have the mind of a demented infant, but he's got the body of a much larger, even more demented infant.
ROLE
Large general-purpose infantry, effective at short or medium range. Super version available.
DOUBLE TEAM
Ridable infantry. Doviculus uses his staff to strike the Skull Raker's head directly into enemies.

SCREAMWAGON
The Screamwagon provides support and motivation to Coil forces.
ROLE
Support vehicle. Super version available. Cycles between three buffs for nearby allies: Reduction of damage taken, increase in damage done, and accelerated growth when summoning new squads. Duplicate buffs don't stack, but Screamwagons set to different buffs will work normally.
DOUBLE TEAM
Drivable vehicle. The wagon sprouts deadly frontal spikes, and the active buff can be cycled.

PAIN LIFTER
Coil flesh-farm specialists take a core of sharp, disease-ridden medical waste and grow a helpless creature around it, informally named the "Agony Ball". When hurled at the Coil's foes, the Ball explodes and rains years of accumulated suffering upon its target.
ROLE
Ranged vehicle, infantry-killer. Super version available.
DOUBLE TEAM
Drivable vehicle. Doviculus can aim, fire, and roll the Agony Ball, and trigger its detonation. Physics applies, so being uphill gives you more range.

Lvl 3 Units

OVERBLESSER
The Overblesser is the singular leader of the Coil's hierarchy class. He strides righteously across the battlefield and passes fiery judgment upon his foes from atop a ghastly four-legged altar.
ROLE
Ranged infantry, hierarchy unit. Slowly heals nearby minions and quickly regenerates his own health when surrounded by minions.
DOUBLE TEAM
Doviculus must hold an audience with the Overblesser to produce Tier 3 squads.

HEART CUTTER
The Heart Cutter's sacrificial hearts are selected for muscle mass, blood flow, and ripeness. Originally human victims were used, but the Druids (who are otherwise unrelentingly vicious) proved more squeamish than Doviculus had expected.
ROLE
Ranged vehicle, anti-vehicle specialist.
DOUBLE TEAM
Drivable vehicle. The Druid stabs Doviculus himself in the heart, producing an array of deadly blades at the targeted location. Vehicles take severe damage. Most blow up immediately. Infantry and avatars are impaled into the air, killed instantly.

HATE CAGE
The Hate Cage is really two distinct creatures - the gigantic (if mindless) legs and the caged demon, who is nothing more than a twisted lump of pure, unfiltered hate, voiced by David Cross!
ROLE
Massive ranged infantry. Caged demon spits liquid hate at enemies. Any foes standing near the cage will also be soaked in hate, causing them to take more damage from attacks.
DOUBLE TEAM
Ridable infantry. The Cage has a powerful stomp attack.

Final Unit
*BLEEDING DEATH
Prior to battle, the loathsome Bleeding Death is stuffed violently into its ballistic iron maiden. When the maiden is fired by the Coil's Pain Cannon and the Bleeding Death is finally unleashed upon the battlefield, it brings with it complete destruction. Mortally perforated by its prison, the creature slowly bleeds to death, even while bringing destruction to its foes.
ROLE
Massive melee infantry. Refuses to follow orders.
DOUBLE TEAM
None.

*TICK CHOPPER
Only summonable by guitar solo, Lord Doviculus' unruly hellions are impractical under most battle conditions. However, on occasion, their unique demeanor and deadly blood-draining tick attack is a perfect fit for a specific tactical situation.
ROLE
Fast vehicle, melee infantry-killers. Only summonable via guitar solo.
DOUBLE TEAM
None.

Kor is collecting HP data.

Kor wrote: »

If it has an asterisk next to it, it means we need more data.

Oh, firstly, all leaders have 16hp. Your screen does the first red flashing thing when you're at 6hp remaining, and again at 3hp remaining.

Ironheade.
Headbanger - 9hp per (14hp when upgraded)
Razorgirl - 8hp per (11hp when upgraded) Note, Razor girl double team kills leader in 5 shots, 3 when upgraded.
Bassist - 20hp (upgraded to 30hp)
Fire Baron - 14hp per
Headsplitter - 48hp
Bouncer - 24hp
Roadie - 12hp per
Metal Beast - 28hp
Rock crusher - 85hp*

Drowning Doom
Gravedigger - 6hp per
Bride - 12hp (Brides decrease movement speed by 10%/20%/45% stacking, so the 3rd bride is actually reducing your speed by 75%)
Frightwig - 25hp
Organist 36hp with debuff active (27hp when not) Active debuff is approx 40%.
Lightning Rod - 43hp
Reaper - 18hp
Brood - 19hp
Dirgibles - 96hp* Provides approx 30% armor reduction
Tree Back - 60hp

Tainted Coil
Battle Nun - 10hp (14hp when Superior)
Soul Kisser - 8hp per (12hp when Superior)
Dominatrices - 8hp per
Gimp - 20hp
Warfather - 16hp
Skull Raker - 38hp
Screamwagon - 28hp
Pain Lifter - 38hp


Now, remember this is all based on one axe swing equaling 1hp worth of damage. It should be noted that the standard A, A, A, A combo also only does 4hp of damage, there is not a powerful combo in there. It should also be noted that the standard X button attack (lightning) has a tiny DoT(Damage over Time) to it. Enough that the DoT itself probably hits 1hp.

Hints from Tim Schafer MASSIVE SPOILERS
http://www.doublefine.com/news/comments/battle_time/

Tim Schafer says if you treat this like an RTS, you're doing it wrong. Which makes sense. The strongest unit is you!

LIVE GAMERTAGS
Cantido
Zerokku
Klyka
Binglescat
Blackbeard7
Mightyvvhitey
Varxe
Aegeri
Bill Cosby42
Pixillate
InvertedSugar
FortyPants
Ober Trynant
Kor of Memory
GT Dretari
LandoStander
Quake Matt


PSN GAMERTAGS
kurod007
Toxic_Cizzle
Malechai
Discomite
Antihippy
Lord_Asmodeu


Cantido's Advice
1. The strongest unit is YOU. You can command troops all you want, but if you don't jump in and start slashing and casting Solos, you'll lose every fight.
2. The strongest attacks are Double Teams. Use them. They are what make you the strongest unit.
3. Use your spells. They make you the biggest buffer and debuffer.
4. For all three factions, the location of each spell is universal. Anti-Avatar is UP, Buff is LEFT. Your car is DOWN. Your close-range blast is RIGHT. Your final attack is BOTTOM-LEFT.
5. You still have a car. Summon it and mow down infantry.
6. STOP LOSING FIGHTS! Killing an Avatar is +50 Fans. Bloodthirsty creeps.
7. USE YOUR FLAG. Set it near choke points, or simply carry it on your back.
8. DEFENSE! When your stage is in trouble, Double Team with the stage for close range speaker blasts for heal it by 10% for 200 fans. Or, even better, Fly to the top and use one of four spotlights to fire powerful, chargable lasers.
9. NO TUNNEL VISION! I'm seeing a lot of aggressive players ignoring geysers at the beginning to take the center. I respond by sending an individual unit to claim it while such players are fixated on fighting me. Always grab your safe geysers first.

Rule Number 9 - For Fire Baron Spammers

Fire Baron "Controversy"

Okay, let us take a moment to discuss the growing cancer that is Ironheade's Fire Baron spamming. Fire Baron Spamming consists of an Ironheade player getting to Teir 2 quickly and then creating as many Fire Barons as possible. They are cheap, easy to make, and come in threes. They are the fastest unit in the game hands down, and can wipe out structures in just a few seconds. They render the entire Ironheade lineup and Double teams obselete. And the player doesn't have to lift a finger, playing the game like a standard RTS, which was what Double Fine was trying to avoid in the first place.

Tainted Coil players can avoid this with Skull Rakers guarding geysers and the stage. They can instantly destroy them. Drowning Doom must keep some Brides and Frightwigs close to the places they need to defend. Ironheade can guard structres with, well, Fire Barons. From the looks of things, Drowning Doom is the most helpless out of the three. Let's hope for a nerf.

DLC - Tears of the Hextadon
Both Death's Fijord and Circle of Tears are tight, and intense maps. Like the Feeding Pit without the giant worm.

Death's Fijord starts off each player with an easy to reach geyser to their side. The opposite side leads to a center area with a whopping three geysers beside each other. This is where you'll be doing a lot of fighting. And when you're ready for a sucker punch, you take the area away from it, straight to the enemy stage.

The Circle of Tears, visually, is amazing. The area sits above the Sea of Black Tears. It's a doughnut, with only two geysers opposite of each other in between both stage, so these are also highly contestable. This will make for even bloodier fights than Death's Fijord.

I can't honestly say it's worth the five 360 fun-dollars. I got it because I really, REALLY like Brutal Legend. I'm probably in for some Matchmaking butthurt as well. But I enjoy the maps.

Advanced play videos, courtesy of Trynant

AI Match on Gentle difficulty, Drowning Doom versus Ironheade

Part 1

Part 2

Ironheade versus Tainted Coil

Barons and Rock Crusher FTW?

Drowning Doom versus Ironheade

Part 1

Part 2

Drowning Doom versus Tainted Coil

Part 1

Part 2

2v2 (Trynant and Klyka) Drowning Doom versus Ironheade, introducing Razor Girl spam!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3, they quit out

DeMoN

My name is Eddie I can do what I waaaant

Whatever I've got I'm gonna flaaaaunt

There's never been a stage battle that I've ever looooost

YardGnome

The last mission (I think it's the last mission?) is just absolutely destroying my face.

When you fight Deviculous and you have to take out the two heads? I can take out the first one with pretty much no problem, but once one is down Deviculous just turns up the rape factor to 27 and I get destroyed, every single time.

Garris

Anyone one want 360 mp action

GT Dretari

Im still working this out, the computer is destroying me

Zerokku

I want to try the multiplayer out, but I'm going to finish the single player campaign first. And after a taste of multiplayer I'm probably going to go back and try and 100% the single player.

-Loki-

Well, since I don't get Uncharted 2 until the weekend now, I guess I'll be playing the shit out of this. Though I'm not going to rush through the story, I'm going to do as much as possible simply because I love the world they've created. Hopefully it gets me through to when I grab Uncharted.

Kor

So after giving some of the multiplayer a go, I've realized that Tainted Coil is the Zerg of the group. They've got the wierd ass spawning habits at least.

You can only spawn spawning units. So you spawn the battle nun, or whatever its called, and then Tim Curry tells her to accept his seed, and then you can spawn 2 more units from her. Repeats this for 2 other units, each giving 2 or 3 units from them.

What's interesting is that he can spawn units on the spot, instead of having to summon them from his stage.

-Loki-

Kor wrote: »

and then Tim Curry tells her to accept his seed

That's... so creepy.

QuirkyLittleTyrant

I am getting my ass repeatedly handed to me by the Drowning Doom. Guys, how do I slaughter those dudes who barf cockroaches?

I am really getting sick of seeing that creepy goth kid lick one of Lita's tears from his finger. It's making me very uncomfortable.

Scribemite

I bought this today. You all have not failed me. I was giggling for the 90 minutes I was able to play. I want to play more but my lady is catching some zzz's for the night and I can NOT play this without the soundtrack blasting.

I may need to figure out some headphones for my teevee for late night PS3 action.

Kor

-Loki- wrote: »

Kor wrote: »

and then Tim Curry tells her to accept his seed

That's... so creepy.

No, the creepy part is the giant fleshy tentacle that comes up out of the ground and surrounds her, and goes into her mouth.

Vray

-Loki- wrote: »

Kor wrote: »

and then Tim Curry tells her to accept his seed

That's... so creepy.

As well as "Bear my fruit immediately" and "My seed germinates within you" (Legend reference?).

Nocren

I just found the "Bring it on Home" solo....

There are no words for the EPICINESS it brings.

Kor

Nocren wrote: »

I just found the "Bring it on Home" solo....

There are no words for the EPICINESS it brings.

I think that's the only one I'm missing.

Top Center of the Selection circle?

Kor

Also, the Tainted Coil have a units thats a vehicle with a rack on it with some demon constantly being... ummm... "tortured"

Anyway, my wife and I are convinced that this demon is David Cross, as we thought we saw him in the credits as well, but were not sure.

Has anyone else heard him?

MadnessBA

YardGnome wrote: »

The last mission (I think it's the last mission?) is just absolutely destroying my face.

When you fight Deviculous and you have to take out the two heads? I can take out the first one with pretty much no problem, but once one is down Deviculous just turns up the rape factor to 27 and I get destroyed, every single time.

I just destroyed the two heads right next to each other by sticking some roadies on the second one while the rest kill the first. Hope you can figure it out from there.

Zerokku

Question for those of you have beaten it. Can you still explore the world and do objectives after beating it?

QuirkyLittleTyrant

Kor wrote: »

Also, the Tainted Coil have a units thats a vehicle with a rack on it with some demon constantly being... ummm... "tortured"

Anyway, my wife and I are convinced that this demon is David Cross, as we thought we saw him in the credits as well, but were not sure.

Has anyone else heard him?

Pretty sure he is the hunting sidequest guy too.

Fizban140

Reading that OP makes me want to play the game even more now, only three more days.

Kor

QuirkyLittleTyrant wrote: »

Kor wrote: »

Also, the Tainted Coil have a units thats a vehicle with a rack on it with some demon constantly being... ummm... "tortured"

Anyway, my wife and I are convinced that this demon is David Cross, as we thought we saw him in the credits as well, but were not sure.

Has anyone else heard him?

Pretty sure he is the hunting sidequest guy too.

No, that's this guy: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0692634/

edit; and I'm pretty sure this is why he is in this game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chiVMrWMHko

JWashke

QuirkyLittleTyrant wrote: »

Kor wrote: »

Also, the Tainted Coil have a units thats a vehicle with a rack on it with some demon constantly being... ummm... "tortured"

Anyway, my wife and I are convinced that this demon is David Cross, as we thought we saw him in the credits as well, but were not sure.

Has anyone else heard him?

Pretty sure he is the hunting sidequest guy too.

Yes the Screamer is voiced by David Cross.

The hunter is actually voiced by and modeled after Brian Posehn.

Kor

Zerokku wrote: »

Question for those of you have beaten it. Can you still explore the world and do objectives after beating it?

After I beat the game I was put back on the world map with all my sidequests still available.

When I pause the game it says:

Waypoint - Brutal Campaign complete! You've defeated Lord Divicous and have saved the land... at least for now

There is a way point though, that takes you to nothing, and gets annoying sometimes, because it fucks with viewing your map.


edit: I just learned about 10 seconds ago that certain achievements are only possible to get when traveling around the world post-game.

JWashke

Kor wrote: »

edit; and I'm pretty sure this is why he is in this game:

According to wikipedia him and Tim Schafer worked together on their high school newspaper.

Sterica

So the multiplayer in this is good?

They never really talked that up, so I expected it to be tacked on.

Kor

JWashke wrote: »

Kor wrote: »

edit; and I'm pretty sure this is why he is in this game:

According to wikipedia him and Tim Schafer worked together on their high school newspaper.

Oh come on, don't take me literally, I just wanted an excuse to post that video. :P

Kor

Rorus Raz wrote: »

So the multiplayer in this is good?

They never really talked that up, so I expected it to be tacked on.

The concept of the multiplayer was actually thought up first, and the campaign was designed around it.

JWashke

Kor wrote: »

JWashke wrote: »

Kor wrote: »

edit; and I'm pretty sure this is why he is in this game:

According to wikipedia him and Tim Schafer worked together on their high school newspaper.

Oh come on, don't take me literally, I just wanted an excuse to post that video. :P

Oh I'm not arguing or anything, I just thought that was an interesting fact.

Fizban140

But does anyone actually know if the multiplayer is good? According to the reviews the gameplay in singleplayer is pretty average.

Kor

By the way, if anyone wants an epic map of all the shit to find on the overworld, this would be it:

http://images.roosterteeth.com/images/4ad6590960ef2_bighugemap.jpg

durandal4532

So, I even love the pausing in this game. After a second, it fades to a screen of what you were doing and a little "Brutal Legend" logo. And without fail it always looks incredibly fucking metal.

Edit: The multiplayer is awesome, the singleplayer is awesome, the game is awesome.

Kor

Fizban140 wrote: »

But does anyone actually know if the multiplayer is good? According to the reviews the gameplay in singleplayer is pretty average.

Well, it seems pretty good so far, but as with any RTS, it's hard to say what it will be like in a month or so.

Zerokku

durandal4532 wrote: »

So, I even love the pausing in this game. After a second, it fades to a screen of what you were doing and a little "Brutal Legend" logo. And without fail it always looks incredibly fucking metal.

Well when every part of the world was designed so that you could imagine seeing it as cover art for some metal cd, that sort of happens

Hoz

I just beat it. I really did like it but there weren't any moments that wowed me like Psychonauts. Of course, those moments are lacking in almost every game.

Kor

I should actually play psychonauts some time, as my exposure to it is limited to its cover art (someone should totally do a lets play).

Local H Jay

psychonauts is probably the only reason i want this game

that's a lie, there are so many reasons

but yeah, i am waiting until i can grab the demo to be sure, since the holiday gang rape season is starting to kick off

DeMoN

Kor wrote: »

I should actually play psychonauts some time, as my exposure to it is limited to its cover art (someone should totally do a lets play).

And the cover art is like, the worst thing about that game!

And it isn't even that bad.

Hedgethorn

The scene during which "Through the Fire and Flames" plays is epic.

EPIC.

Johnny Chopsocky

I wish there was more Dethklok in the game's soundtrack. Like some stuff from the new album, like 'Bloodlines' or 'I Tamper With The Evidence At The Murder Site Of Odin'.

Seriously, this song at the start of a Stage Battle would be AWESOME.

Rizzi

Haha! I finally managed to finish a stage battle without getting my ass kicked. I just found the guitar solo that makes the sun come up and remove all enemy buffs/debuffs. Pretty epic.

durandal4532

I think a major part of the stage battles is making sure to leave at least token defense at the front Merch Stands while setting the rally flag near the frontlines to keep up momentum.