Impressions: Brütal Legend Demo
If there's one universal truth that binds the universe together, it's this: Jack Black is hilarious. Always. He could be in a god-awful movie like Envy but he'll still be painfully funny.
Clearly, the folks behind Brütal Legend are worried about the stability of the globe, because this game, starring Jack Black, is hysterical. The demo is basically just to get you hooked on the outlandish story: Jack Black plays Eddie Riggs, who is a roadie for a terrible emo band posing as heavy metal. Riggs laments the death of good music, way back in the "early '70s," and is suddenly transported to a bone-crushingly awesome alternate universe with metal, skulls, fire, demos, and all that good stuff.
Apparently, the style of gameplay isn't even quite what will end up being in the full game -- the demo is very constricted and doesn't let you roam very far, whereas the full version will be a more open world environment. But what little taste we get is pretty cool. It's an interesting combination of action-fighter-button masher that has you plowing through evil demons with some kick ass weapons: a massive axe called "The Separator," a guitar affectionately known as "Clementine," and "The Druid Plow, which is a two-seater hot rod that Eddie whips up out of some parts that he finds.
This type of gameplay has been done before, but never presented in such a hilarious and fun way. You'll surely encounter some things you feel like you've seen in countless games before, but the game does a good job of distracting you with awesome visuals and some serious funny bone tickling. Even if you don't like metal, you'll enjoy yourself with this demo. Just a warning, though: it's short, and you'll be crying for more when it's over. The game hits shelves on "Rocktober" 13th.