[Let's ROCK] Brütal Legend

Trynant

Let's Play

Hell Yeah!

Is there not enough metal in your life? Do you need a way to bang your head even more? Fear not, for here comes a Let's Play of Brütal Legend, the most metal game of all time! I'm here to rock through this wonderful game and bring metal to the masses.

THE VIDEOS

Welcome to the Age of Metal: YouTube Viddler


Exploited in the Bowels of Hell: YouTube Viddler


Open World (Side Quests, Collectibles, and Motor Forge): YouTube Viddler


Lair of the Metal Queen: YouTube Viddler

Q: So what's this game about anyways?
A: Brütal Legend is an epic tale of the world's best roadie, Eddie Riggs, who through a freak stage accident is transported to the ancient age of Metal where he must save humanity from extinction (or at least corporate takeover) using the power of rock.

Q: Okay, but how does it play? I heard this game played like crap.
A: Not true! Not only does Brütal Legend have a rocking story, it has rocking gameplay! The only problem is that the game got marketed wrong. See Brütal Legend looks like an action game at first glance, when really it is an Action-RTS. If you appreciate visceral, strategic gameplay (and/or like metal), this game is for you!

Q: Action-RTS? Sounds bogus. You're being bogus.
A: Not so! Action-RTS is a very niche genre--there are only a handful of games that could be categorized as such--but nevertheless this genre does exist. Some people say that Brütal Legend is trying to do too many things at once and failing at all of them; I say it does one thing FANTASTICALLY and that is bringing a rocking Action-RTS experience to the stage. The single-player is actually one big buildup to the meat of the game: the multiplayer. If you're expecting to play an RTS or an Action game here you'll do poorly, but learn to incorporate a little bit of both styles of play into your arsenal and Brutal Legend suddenly opens up to be the rocking game that it looks to be.

Q: Multiplayer you say? But aren't you going to play the singleplayer game?
A: Yes, but I will also be showing off some multiplayer!
In fact, if any of you has a copy of Brütal Legend I would love to get some footage going of the multiplayer portion of the game.

Q: Are there hidden collectibles in Brütal Legend? Will you be collecting them?
A: Yes and yes. I will try to keep the collectibles and the side missions in their own videos away from the main storyline, but there will be some incorporation of side-questing into some main videos.

Q: Hey I'm watching a video and there's no nerdy voice talking WHY IS THERE NO NERDY VOICE!?
A: Yeah, this is a subtitle VLP. I honestly cannot do a good LP of Brütal Legend with a voice tainting the wonderful, wonderful audio in this game.

Q: When will you be updating?
A: I want to get this on a regular schedule, like once or twice a week, but I'm...slow sometimes No hiatus, I promise!
So this LP got on hiatus. For a while. I'm going to reboot it! It'll probably be a slow update schedule at first but I think I can manage to finish the LP this time! Expect this answer to be updated again.

Q: Hey isn't it great when in the story--
A: STOP RIGHT THERE, DO NOT SPOIL THE STORY IF I HAVE NOT PLAYED TO IT YET.

With that done, LET'S ROCK \m/

fragglefart

Oh man BL is awesome, I could play through the single player over and over.

Still regularly bust out the multiplayer, just bought a copy for a friend, in fact.

I'd be up for multiplayer but I'm away until the 21st.

Lowlander

Looks pretty cool, I'll be following this. Never picked it up, more of a PC person myself. It's too bad a lot of people couldn't figure out the action/RTS part of it but that goes with the territory. People are so fixated on genres that sometimes it's hard for people to let go of preconceptions.

Cantido

Lowlander wrote: »

Looks pretty cool, I'll be following this. Never picked it up, more of a PC person myself. It's too bad a lot of people couldn't figure out the action/RTS part of it but that goes with the territory. People are so fixated on genres that sometimes it's hard for people to let go of preconceptions.

That and only two people on earth played Sacrifice:

Action and RTS? Pfft.

Brutal Legend basically resurrected this genre.

Lowlander

Cantido wrote: »

Lowlander wrote: »

Looks pretty cool, I'll be following this. Never picked it up, more of a PC person myself. It's too bad a lot of people couldn't figure out the action/RTS part of it but that goes with the territory. People are so fixated on genres that sometimes it's hard for people to let go of preconceptions.

That and only two people on earth played Sacrifice:

Action and RTS? Pfft.

Brutal Legend basically resurrected this genre.

Hah, I played Sacrifice, my 3d card at the time didn't have enough ram so the pop in distance was atrocious. Cool story though from what I could tell, what with the interesting personalities of the Gods.

WotanAnubis

The Viddler link didn't seem to work for me.

Youtube was good to go, though, so it's not like it was a great loss or anything.

MuddBudd

This game is so good. I need to finish getting all the statues and shit one of these days.

WotanAnubis

Having now actually watched the first video, I have but one thing to say.

It's spelled Brütal Legend. Brütal. With an umlaut.

Dyvion

Action RTS is one of my favorite types! And I currently have this from gamefly. ROCK ON!

TheOrange

This game is good without the metal, it had a fun jak & dexter feeling to it, but with the metal? Best game of all time to me, seriously, I just drive around with the radio on for hours.

KitAlexHarrison

I'm not going to lie and say I'm a die-hard metal fan. I appreciate all genres of music, but Brutal Legend turns me into a complete metalhead whenever it gets played. Its atmosphere is so finely crafted, the dev team's love of the style so pure, that it's impossible not to get swept up in it all.

One of the most enjoyable games I've played, despite a few minor shortcomings. Effortlessly cool, insanely witty, and utterly gorgeous.

klemming

I loved the game, I just hated that it felt like there was a third of it missing.

Even adding just one more battle to take back Bladehenge would have helped the endgame pacing a lot.

Cantido

This is the stuff they had to cut.

1. If you listen to Fleetus, he hints he has his own faction. He was going to be the fourth one.

2. The story was going to be twice as long.

3. Player armies that move automatically ala Monday Night Combat.

4.

Ophelia was going to stay dead. But since Lita is a total bitch, she comes back at the end.

Trynant

WotanAnubis wrote: »

The Viddler link didn't seem to work for me.

Youtube was good to go, though, so it's not like it was a great loss or anything.

That's odd, it works for me, and I have the video set to be viewable by everyone. I'll try to get the link working if it isn't already.

WotanAnubis wrote: »

Having now actually watched the first video, I have but one thing to say.

It's spelled Brütal Legend. Brütal. With an umlaut.

Well, if you insist. Alt + 0252 it is!

Shimshai

Yep, seeing this thread just made me decide to play this game again. I hope you're pleased with yourself.

I know I will be

Trynant

Part 2 is up!

Exploited in the Bowels of Hell

YouTube Viddler

Trynant

Hey guys just want to apologize for [strike]getting swept up in Spiral Knights and obsessing over the HBO Game of Thrones stuff[/strike] being a little slow with updating this week. I'm aiming for another episode tomorrow and maybe something this weekend. An episode this weekend might be iffy due to Real Life ™ stuff, but we'll see.

And just a friendly reminder, if any of you are up for some multiplayer of Brütal Legend, PM me or post in this thread.

Also, if any of you have any suggestions on how to make this LP rock more, I'm open to ideas.

Thirith

I played Brütal Legend about a month or two ago, long after the hullabaloo and the less-than-enthusiastic reviews, and I loved it. A bit like Psychonauts, it isn't a brilliant game, it's an okay game made brilliant by the loving writing, design, voice acting etc. I tried the two smaller games Double Fine released since, but neither grabbed me as much, even though I should've dug what they were going for. Perhaps it's the beautifully designed, complete worlds of Psychonauts and Brütal Legend that grabbed me, and the worlds of Costume Quest and Stacking simply didn't feel as complete.

Trynant

I would argue that while the singleplayer is only okay gameplay-wise, the multiplayer is brilliantly executed. It has some flaws, but they are nitpicks. The worst sin Brütal Legend committed was doing a poor job of explaining how to play its multiplayer. Once you get it, the multiplayer is fantastic, but if you don't know what to do the gameplay feels shallow and clunky.

Cantido

A - A Devil screaming
B - An Angel singing
C - The pounding of Creation's Hammer upon the Anvil of Time
D - Fucking Awesome
E - ALL OF THE ABOVE

The reviews can pretty much be divided between who knew about the multiplayer and who didn't touch it. Yatzhee openly says he stopped playing a few hours in and handed it over to someone else.

Also, a lot of people played it not knowing what an RTS is, and tried to go at it like Lu Bu, or players who know what an RTS is and try to always be commanding and micromanaging from the sky, when the game was designed to punish players who do just either.

No matter, the genre's not going anywhere. Monday Night Combat and Toy Soldiers saw ridiculous success, and now Trenched is coming. Hybrid also appears to be swaying in the Action Strategy direction.

I was worried there wouldn't be another game of this genre for another ten years (like Sacrifice and Battlezone ten years ago), but looks like it's here to stay now. (But if Battlezone 3 were created I'd probably take my BL copy outside and smash it...)

Guilty Gear 2 counts, but I hate that game's maps and units with a fiery, burning passion.

Endaro

Cantido wrote: »

The reviews can pretty much be divided between who knew about the multiplayer and who didn't touch it. Yatzhee openly says he stopped playing a few hours in and handed it over to someone else.

I disagree. It was a hybrid genre, and most of the review complaints about the multiplayer were that the game was trying to be too many things at once. That's a perfectly legitimate opinion. Some people felt it achieved what it was going for, others felt it didn't. You can't disregard a review outright because it doesn't agree with you.

The multiplayer certainly was flawed after all. Patches to fix critical balance issues were often slow in arriving, if they arrived at all. The community was outright plagued by dis-connectors and immature children, many of whom dragged themselves over to our forum to shit up the thread rather regularly. Those who worked their way up the rank system were quickly met with waves of rank-reducing DC's and all sorts of people trying to game the system to get a higher rank. Luckily the gameplay itself was pretty good, but even that didn't prevent it from dieing out long before the multiplayer of its contemporaries.

Luckily, the single player was fantastic and it can't die off. Well worth a watch of this LP if anyone hasn't played it yet.

Malechai

Well oddly enough I was able to actualy get a multiplayer game on psn last week. I hadn't played in nearly a year and got trounced partly due to not remembering the controlls. What was weird is it honestly didn't take any longer than it would to find a game back when it was brand new (for those that don't know the playstation match making is slower than dirt).

Trynant

Well guys, not to be a louse, but the update might take a little more time. Like I said, I'm busy this weekend, but hopefully I can squeeze in the next episode soon. Shouldn't be later than early Monday.

Trynant

HURF DURF LOOKATME POST FOUR DAYS AFTER I SAID MY UPDATE WOULD BE UP

Yeah, sorry about that. Have an update.

Open World (Sidequests, Collectibles, and Motor Forges)

YouTube Viddler

Also, does the Viddler link work for anyone? It's working for me, and I tried clearing my cache and it still works; so I'm wondering why it's not showing up for other people.

WotanAnubis

Viddler's working for me now.

And about Motor Forges - You shouldn't stand too close to one while it's rising out of the ground. I don't think you can see it in the vid, but above the garage door is a skull with wings. If you stand too close to one of those wings when it unfurls, it'll bisect Eddie.

I speak from bitter experience.

Cantido

Geeezus. I just got in a loooong, grueling online match with a Tainted Coil player I've never seen before. (Anything longer than ten minutes, and you know you are in a heated, bloody match.) I'm delighted to see that people still play this after such a long time.

If I had the means, I would have made a Youtube video series version of the guide. The first video would generalize what NOT to do: It would show me trying to mash A like I'm Lu Bu while player two drops Bladehenge on me.

"Oh no! I'm hitting and hitting this massive Rockcrusher with my axe! Why am I not doing any damage? Why is Eddie verbally telling me to build Bouncers and Headsplitters out loud? Fuck those guys!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*[/apocalypse]

Tim Schafer said to not play it like an RTS game, but that's only half the equation. You cannot play it like Dynasty Warriors either. That's the worst thing you can do. Mashing A like a bitch while the other player devours you with Double Teams.

Rooster Teeth - They dig Brutal Legend

fragglefart

Brutsal ledgends mwah

Malechai

Gah! they left out the bleeding death. Though that's honestly more like a tactical nuke from starcraft than a unit.

Trynant

Well Cantido, one thing I want to do with this LP is show of the multiplayer and how to play it, so I would definitely appreciate any help you could provide--via advice, play, or other ideas.

And yes, there's an update coming. Yes, I know I'm slow. The wheels are turning.

:rotate:

Cantido

Trynant wrote: »

Well Cantido, one thing I want to do with this LP is show of the multiplayer and how to play it, so I would definitely appreciate any help you could provide--via advice, play, or other ideas.

And yes, there's an update coming. Yes, I know I'm slow. The wheels are turning.

:rotate:

I'm thinking of investing in that thingy....Roxio? So I can do game capturing.

This commentator would like the public to know how very very creepy he finds Tim Curry and the Tainted Coil are. The comments are so great.

Oh, Tim Curry! RAWR!

Trynant

And now an update. Fingers crossed the next one won't take a week and a half.

Or else I'll make this face:

Lair of the Metal Queen
YouTube Viddler

YerMum

\m/^_^\m/

WotanAnubis

I'm not much of a Metal fan (or any other kind of music, really), but I kinda liked the song that played during the boss fight.

Endaro

WotanAnubis wrote: »

I'm not much of a Metal fan (or any other kind of music, really), but I kinda liked the song that played during the boss fight.

Cry of the Banshee

Cantido

Sales on the games music went up 700% following this games release, and no other band embodies this surge in popularity than Brocas Helm, which went from "can't even buy online" to being available on iTunes with exploding demand.

Don't tell that to heshers who liked them before "a video game defiled them" though :P

Trynant

Trynant wrote: »

And now an update. Fingers crossed the next one won't take a week and a half.

Or else I'll make this face:

Lair of the Metal Queen
YouTube Viddler

Nearly two years later...



Just a heads up:

So, the PC version for Brutal Legend is out and I may actually pick this LP up again. Considering all my old footage got deleted (thanks, hard drive failure), I'm probably going to start the thing from scratch. I still have a soft spot in my heart for this game, and I always wanted to return to it. It will still be a subtitled VLP and I still have all the intent of doing everything I set out to do before.

When will this happen? *shrug*, I'll see if I can eek out something in a week or two.