Brütal Legend Demo Impressions

I know I may be a tad late on this, but I wanted to write something about my time with the Brutal Legend demo over this past weekend. First I'll say that I wouldn't have even known that there was a Brutal Legend demo available were it not for the Forza Motorsport 3 demo. the reason is that I just wasn't very interested in the game at the time. Anybody who keeps up with the games industry has at least heard of Brutal Legend and I was no exception, it's just that the things I had seen and heard did not seem very appealing to me. It also didn't help my opinion of the game when the guys were talking about it on the Giant Bombcast a few weeks ago as they too did not seem very enthusiastic about the game. 

    What a difference actually playing something makes.

    First off let me say that from the time the demo starts you know your in for cool ride, even the menu's are cool. the opening story is hilariously awesome and the character animation is great. Jack Black does an amazing job as Eddie Riggs and seems to fit the character really well. The game (at least what I was able to play in the demo) is a 3rd person hack 'n slash with great feeling controls and cool, fun moves. You start out with a big ass double bladed battle axe called "The Separator" which does a fine job of cutting dudes heads off, and soon add a "flying - V" electric guitar to your arsenal named "Clementine". Hitting power chords on Clemetine sends out a shockwave that can knock back enemies and bring down the house, literally. Soon after you meet Ophelia, a girl who is after the Separator, and she joins you in battling evil dudes.
 

 

    Soon after you come across a slab of stone with carvings that appear to be a blueprint for building a hot rod. When prompted you enter into a kind of Guitar Heroish music mini game in which Eddie plays shred-tastic solo, bringing forth the parts need to build his hotrod, the Druid Plow, or the Deuce. Eddie and Ophelia jump in the Deuce and haul ass down the road running over demons as they go. Not long after you find yourself fighting a huge worm type creature after which Eddie tells Ophelia that he will teach her what "french kissing" is. 

      I went from not caring one or the other about this game to it being a must have for me, all because of the demo. Makes me wonder how many other have been sold on the game by the demo. If heavy metal music were a video game, it would be Brutal Legend. Everything from the kick ass music playing in the background to the world itself just screams metal. This game also screams high production value, it's obvious that this game is a labor of love for the guys and gals at Double Fine. If you have access to an Xbox Live gold account then you owe it to yourself as someone who enjoys video games to at least try it, I think you'll very pleased with what you find.