Zero Punctuation: Brutal Legend

[CD-R]

I'm having a pretty hard time buying this whole "I had no idea there were going to be any RTS elements" line everyone keeps parroting. Especially from people who said they played the demo. You see if you played the demo all the way to the end you would have eventually got this screen.

What the hell did you think you were going to be doing? It says right there in big flaming letters that you would be leading an army.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKmZkH2HSPc&feature=player_embedded

Here's a video of the demo that screen was taken from. Starts at 7:20. Seriously. If you played the demo or read any previews of the game there's no way you could have not known there were RTS elements in the game. Hell the escapist even did an article on it.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93263-Brutal-Legend-Has-4v4-Multiplayer-Skirmish-Mode

 

[malestrithe]

I do not know about your friend, but that is what all RTS were made around. Gather your mates and throw them at the enemies. Even in good RTS you tend to throw enemies until either they die or you do.

Negative. A good RTS places far more emphasis on the "S" as opposed to the "R" and the "T." If all you do is gather as many troops as possible and throw them at the enemy in a game like say, Warcraft 3, then I can guarantee you lose every match against another player.

I have done exactly that in Warcraft 3 against real flesh and blood people who understand how to play the game and I still won. Even with the good RTS, if you can make more troops than your opponents, you will win. It does not matter if it is Command and Conquer, Star Wars: Empire at War, Starcraft, or something like Stormrise, the strategy is just as effective.

Starcraft has a strategy based around making little guys and overwhelming your opponent.

So, Positive, even the good ones have that little problem. I did in Warcraft 3, as have many others. Just because it did not work for you does not mean the strategy is valid.

 

[daftalchemist]

I'd feel like I'm the only person who liked the RTS parts, except that my boyfriend who loves RTS also liked the RTS parts. I don't understand what everyone else has against it. My only guess is that they were all anally raped by an RTS in order to so fully hate anything resembling an RTS. I think that everyone just took to playing it like an RTS, and therefore hated it. I spent just as much time in the air ordering a large mob of troops to attack as I did on the ground melting faces and double-teaming with my troops.

I do agree that the story was very short, but after that whole publisher ordeal Double Fine was going through, I can't say I'm surprised that we got a game that reflects the budget and time constraints they went through with the game. Activision and EA have only just stopped fighting over it, for crying out loud. Perhaps if Double Fine had just been properly backed to begin with we would be looking at the game at its fullest, instead of 2/3 of what was originally planned.

 

[Hyperactiveman]

I'll agree that sandbox games pop up around way too much these days but you know there's a reason for it. Gamers are still different in their own little ways but a majority of them like me prefer the sandbox genre in their games because it brings an non-linear aspect to them and indicates to the gamer to pause halfway through the campaign to go around "listening to DragonForce jumping off of ramps in a Megadeth album cover styled world"... Oh also to unlock stuff for fire tributes and get upgrades at the Motorforge (which acutally aren't that hard to find when you use your brain). But like I said every gamer is different and they all don't go for the same things Brutal Legend has to offer...

...it's an acquired taste.

 

[Enai Siaion]

Starcraft has a strategy based around making little guys and overwhelming your opponent.

How is it a problem that massing is a viable strategy? The difference between Starcraft and all the other crap is that it isn't the only viable strategy. Does any other game even have meaningful worker harrassment? Is scouting important in any other game? Didn't think so either.

 

[Undeadpool]

Love the review, but I liked the writing/acting in this game. I actually thought Jack Black stretched his wings a little (no pun intended) and showed a bit of personality. Then again I never jumped on the "let's all hate Jack Black" bandwagon, so there's that.

 

[Emperor_Z]

I'm actually surprised he didn't hate it more than he did. The game is very flawed and even more horribly marketed. I did like it, but that's due to my love of nearly every genre and my resistance to repetition. I enjoyed the RTS portions a lot, but I can tell that while unique, they are pretty shallow and the game almost certainly won't last long online.

I really liked the mousetrap comparison between Psychonauts and BL. The game would have worked so much better with a more linear structure.

The writing and acting was excellent though. I'd always recommend it as a rental unless you have a sworn hatred of RTS, as many people seem to.

 

[CD-R]

I'd feel like I'm the only person who liked the RTS parts, except that my boyfriend who loves RTS also liked the RTS parts. I don't understand what everyone else has against it. My only guess is that they were all anally raped by an RTS in order to so fully hate anything resembling an RTS. I think that everyone just took to playing it like an RTS, and therefore hated it. I spent just as much time in the air ordering a large mob of troops to attack as I did on the ground melting faces and double-teaming with my troops.

I do agree that the story was very short, but after that whole publisher ordeal Double Fine was going through, I can't say I'm surprised that we got a game that reflects the budget and time constraints they went through with the game. Activision and EA have only just stopped fighting over it, for crying out loud. Perhaps if Double Fine had just been properly backed to begin with we would be looking at the game at its fullest, instead of 2/3 of what was originally planned.

No I also liked building and commanding an army of headbangers, amazon women that ride fire breathing beasts, baby carriges that shoot homing exploding pirhanna dolls etc. Also being able to summon a flaming zeppelin of death to come crashing into earth at will never gets old.

 

[daftalchemist]

I'd feel like I'm the only person who liked the RTS parts, except that my boyfriend who loves RTS also liked the RTS parts. I don't understand what everyone else has against it. My only guess is that they were all anally raped by an RTS in order to so fully hate anything resembling an RTS. I think that everyone just took to playing it like an RTS, and therefore hated it. I spent just as much time in the air ordering a large mob of troops to attack as I did on the ground melting faces and double-teaming with my troops.

I do agree that the story was very short, but after that whole publisher ordeal Double Fine was going through, I can't say I'm surprised that we got a game that reflects the budget and time constraints they went through with the game. Activision and EA have only just stopped fighting over it, for crying out loud. Perhaps if Double Fine had just been properly backed to begin with we would be looking at the game at its fullest, instead of 2/3 of what was originally planned.

No I also liked building and commanding an army of headbangers, amazon women that ride fire breathing beasts, baby carriges that shoot homing exploding pirhanna dolls etc. Also being able to summon a flaming zeppelin of death to come crashing into earth at will never gets old.

I enjoyed it too. Quite a bit, actually. And I remember thinking to myself that if all RTS were that simple and yet that fun, then I would enjoy the genre a lot more. The only problem I had with them was sometimes they had quite a learning curve to them, but I had come to expect that after playing Psychonauts.

 

[chaosraiden]

I still reckon Yahtzee loved it when 'Children of the Grave - Black Sabbath' came on during the intro.

 

[XShrike]

I still don't get why people are saying Jack Black was just playing himself. I am one of the people that have found his type cast role to be boring now but, he doesn't play that role. His character is almost the straight man in this. When some of the characters want to just run into battle he holds them back so they can prepare. He also doesn't like let alone want to be the center of attention.

Having to play scavenger hunt to get fully powered was annoying though.

Some of the aspects in the game were not made clear let alone hinted at. It took trial and error to figure out how to unlock the dragons and legends. I guess you need to have a balance between hand holding and just not telling you.

 

[Partezan]

THANK YOU

Im a big fan of Tim as well (although I had no idea untill you mentioned him that he was behind some of my favorite games, full throttle and grim) and when you praised psychonauts, a game i had no idea excisted i went out and got it and it was fucking sick.

Brutal on the other hand is lacking in many ways, even before the game was realeased they had the ridiculous pre order deal to get an ingame guitar, although im glad they didnt do it now because the game sucks and i returned it asap, why couldn't they have a collectors edition with somethinig tangible and not needing an xbox live acount!

The best part about the game is when it ends and you are free to roam around the very cool and artistic environment but is that worth $110!?! And even then things could have been better, if you look at rock henge or whatever the original base is it looks like it was set up for every one of your comrades that you picked up to have a massive party and provide a comedy relief after you finish the game but NO its left empty and desolate, another nice thing too look at but that its, infact the whole game is like this with the exception of the fist few minuets of gameplay.

Whoever tested this game were not Tim shafer fans and im having doubt the person who made this game is tim shafer, maybe the whole thing was an elaborate experiment and once it flops he can go back to making good games

 

[oppp7]

Was that a Bhopal reference? What was that bakers and candlestick makers a reference to?
OT: Why are sandbox games so overdone now? Linear is better for stories. And Brutal Legend seemed to be riding on its story and atmosphere.

 

[zeratul123]

lool thats funny

 

[KingPiccolOwned]

Nice review, kinda thought the genius behind Psychonaughts would get buried under Jack Black and metal garbage.

Firstly, that isn't quite the case, and if you take what Yahtzee says as a genuine criticizm as opposed to just finding nitpics and blowing them into massive gamebreakers then I think it's time to reassess how you look at his "reviews". Secondly, if one were to actually listen to what Tim Schaffer said before the release of the game, he explains in great detail how the game is supposed to be an extention of his boyhood fantasy of living within the metal universe. In other words your statement actually works in reverse. Now finish this I just realized you said "the genius of Psychonauts" not "the genius of Tim Schaffer", so actually I can see what you mean.

 

[CloakedOne]

I trust Yahtzee's reviews, I'm going to rent it and see what happens.

 

[Coolspeedzero]

lol that's true , that's minds blowing

 

[KingPiccolOwned]

Ehh... I didn't really like this review. I feel it smacks too much of what I call the sequel stigma, the crippling need of fanboys to piss and moan when something related to a favored product doesn't follow the EXACT. SAME. FORMULA. as it's predeccessor(s). Really I'm sick of it, but I fear calling it out, as I have a nagging feeling that I'd be labeled a troll for smacking some sense into whiny fanboys.

 

[dudeman0001]

wow i was think of getting based off the escapist's review but now... anyway another awesome review (im guessing borderlands next week but thats just me)

That or Uncharted 2.
I've decided not to get this game because 1. everyone says it's an RTS and not a hack and slash game. Penny Arcade, Zero Punctuation, the Escapist... 2. I'm not much of a music fan. 3. I don't think I can stand many more single player games except those from Nintendo.

It has multiplayer, and from what I hear it's quite good.

 

[dudeman0001]

If you just played the demo, you'd probably just think it's a hack 'n' slash with slightly iffy targetting.
That's EXACTLY what I thought. Also, I'm still a bit frustrated that Yahtzee still blatantly diserns Multiplayer aspects of games, I still have no idea how Brütal Legend's multiplayer works.