Brütal Legend (note the heavy metal umlaut) brings together visionary game designer and writer, Tim Schafer, with actor Jack Black and some of the biggest names in heavy metal to create an affectionate tribute to heavy metal. It’s This Is Spinal Tap or Wayne’s World in videogame form.

There is a lot to like about the game if you’re a fan of Schafer’s zany sense of humour and of heavy metal through the ages. The art design, music and writing are a greater success than the game play, which sprawls messily across a range of genres.

Brütal Legend plunders heavy metal album art and music videos as inspiration for a game world every bit as idiosyncratic as the art-deco Mexican afterlife that Schafer created for Grim Fandango. Metalheads will revel in the numerous in-jokes and references in the dialogue and game world.

Equally impressive is the voice acting, with Black’s work as main character Eddie Riggs worthy of his turns in High Fidelity and Kung-Fu Panda. Heavy metal stalwarts like Ozzy Osbourne, Lita Ford, Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead all have hilarious supporting roles.

The soundtrack is also a treat for metal fans with more than 100 songs spanning 40 years of metal, from Budgie, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest, through to Iced Earth and Dragonforce.

Brütal Legend is an open-world game that offers up a mixture of story quests and optional side missions. During the course of the game, you’ll drive a low-slung hotrod called the Deuce, hunt for collectibles, take part in races, and fight off enemy hordes with basic hack ‘n slash moves. There’s even a Guitar-Hero inspired rhythm mini-game. You’ll also command an army in a real-time strategy (RTS) game, also available as a multiplayer mode.

Brütal Legend is a jack of all trades that delivers game play that is merely serviceable rather than inspiring. The RTS sections lack the depth and balance genre fans will be looking for, yet they’re fiddly enough to annoy to those who are not fond of strategy games. Secondary missions start to feel a little repetitive towards the end of the game.

Brütal Legend doesn’t quite live up to the standards that Schafer set with Grim Fandango and Psychonauts, but few games do. In a world full of safe, overly focus-grouped games, something as eccentric and genuinely funny as Brütal Legend is worth a look despite its faults. — Lance Harris, TechCentral