Blogs / BobiRoka
Added by BobiRoka, 01-11-2009
So having finished the main campaign (or at least 91% of the single player offering) I thought it was time to check out the really quite comprehensive multiplayer mode.
You may remember me ranting about similarites to other RTS-lite action games such as Giants and Sacrifice and how what was essentially marketed as a hack/slash game featuring cartoony graphics and a certain Mr. Black was actually a tactical game at heart. Well... allow me to elaborate...
The truth is, Brutal Legend began life as an RTS. Tim Shaefer and his team at Double Fine set out to make a multiplayer strategy game, yet somehow it got simplified and the characters got more fleshed out and well... it's probably better if he explains it himself
Anyway... the single player game starts you off with an Axe (for chopping people up with lethal button combos), and a guitar (with a suite of 'solos' which effectively work like magic spells do in an RPG: a buff here, a creature summon there etc... You then get a car, with which to traverse this AMAZING landscape chock full of every Heavy Metal cliche ever: Trees made of scaffolding, devil-hand shaped boulders, several 'henges' and so on...
So far, so sandbox - there are missions to complete, relics to dig up, currency to acquire, upgrades to be bought (from Underworld vendor and 'Guardian of Metal', Ozzy Osbourne). Did I mention to cameos? Yeah. Lemmy's in it too - and he's a healer/support unit...
...which brings me to the main campaign missions, which graducally build into these epic 'stage battles'.
A stage battle works like so:
At each end of the 'map' you have a stage and dotted around the map are 'fan geysers' which are essentially capture points. The more of these you control, the more 'fans' you acquire. Yes. Fans are the 'resource' if you like. You need to channel these 'fans' back to your stage to buy units for your army and upgrade your base to buy ever more powerful units with which to destroy the enemy 'stage'.
Yet Mr. Shaefer is adamant that Brutal Legend is not an RTS. And I suppose he's right, since the interface isn't cut out for playing the game this way - and you simply cannot win by directing troops alone. As I found out many times this afternoon.
Where it differs really, is that you have to remain with your troops at all times. The most powerful abilities of your units are only available when you 'double-team' with them. A player avatar, on their own, is more than capable of withstanding a ton of punishment from a disregarded army - but with your avatar present you can buff them with those aforementioned solos, take direct control of a ranged unit's weapon and manually pick off the enemy as you see fit.
It's really all in the details: how you configure your army and which units you choose to control at any given time. So it's tactical, but also hugely gratifying on a minute-to-minute basis.
And there are 3 factions to explore, each with their own avatar quirks, solo selections, units and respective double-team abilities. The Tainted Coil, for example, are able to summon units anywhere on the battlefield, but have to conform to a strict 'hierarchy' of units, the lower ranks actually healing their masters, so you have to take them down in order. The other faction, Drowning Doom, use a lot of de-buffs and can take temporary control of enemy units.
I must admit I was initially sucked into the idea of Brutal Legend by the blatant comedy-metal aesthetic that I knew Jack Black could easily deliver, but it's even better now I've experienced the complex and inventive game behind-the-scenes. To be honest, simply cruising around the gameworld in a tricked out automobile to the sounds of Ozzy, Motorhead and Skid Row was enough - now I know that the party is far from over.
Brutal Legend would be an worthy candidate for 'wildcard' game of 2009.
The truth is, Brutal Legend began life as an RTS. Tim Shaefer and his team at Double Fine set out to make a multiplayer strategy game, yet somehow it got simplified and the characters got more fleshed out and well... it's probably better if he explains it himself
Anyway... the single player game starts you off with an Axe (for chopping people up with lethal button combos), and a guitar (with a suite of 'solos' which effectively work like magic spells do in an RPG: a buff here, a creature summon there etc... You then get a car, with which to traverse this AMAZING landscape chock full of every Heavy Metal cliche ever: Trees made of scaffolding, devil-hand shaped boulders, several 'henges' and so on...
So far, so sandbox - there are missions to complete, relics to dig up, currency to acquire, upgrades to be bought (from Underworld vendor and 'Guardian of Metal', Ozzy Osbourne). Did I mention to cameos? Yeah. Lemmy's in it too - and he's a healer/support unit...
...which brings me to the main campaign missions, which graducally build into these epic 'stage battles'.
A stage battle works like so:
At each end of the 'map' you have a stage and dotted around the map are 'fan geysers' which are essentially capture points. The more of these you control, the more 'fans' you acquire. Yes. Fans are the 'resource' if you like. You need to channel these 'fans' back to your stage to buy units for your army and upgrade your base to buy ever more powerful units with which to destroy the enemy 'stage'.
Yet Mr. Shaefer is adamant that Brutal Legend is not an RTS. And I suppose he's right, since the interface isn't cut out for playing the game this way - and you simply cannot win by directing troops alone. As I found out many times this afternoon.
Where it differs really, is that you have to remain with your troops at all times. The most powerful abilities of your units are only available when you 'double-team' with them. A player avatar, on their own, is more than capable of withstanding a ton of punishment from a disregarded army - but with your avatar present you can buff them with those aforementioned solos, take direct control of a ranged unit's weapon and manually pick off the enemy as you see fit.
It's really all in the details: how you configure your army and which units you choose to control at any given time. So it's tactical, but also hugely gratifying on a minute-to-minute basis.
And there are 3 factions to explore, each with their own avatar quirks, solo selections, units and respective double-team abilities. The Tainted Coil, for example, are able to summon units anywhere on the battlefield, but have to conform to a strict 'hierarchy' of units, the lower ranks actually healing their masters, so you have to take them down in order. The other faction, Drowning Doom, use a lot of de-buffs and can take temporary control of enemy units.
I must admit I was initially sucked into the idea of Brutal Legend by the blatant comedy-metal aesthetic that I knew Jack Black could easily deliver, but it's even better now I've experienced the complex and inventive game behind-the-scenes. To be honest, simply cruising around the gameworld in a tricked out automobile to the sounds of Ozzy, Motorhead and Skid Row was enough - now I know that the party is far from over.
Brutal Legend would be an worthy candidate for 'wildcard' game of 2009.
This story has been added to the following section(s): Action, Blog, Consoles, Music, Playstation 3, Racing Game, Real Time Strategy, Third Person Shooter, Xbox 360
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