In the Tray: Brütal Legend Part 2

Now on to gameplay. This is the part of the game that I think everyone will have a problem with, not because they won't like it, but because it can get tricky a few times. It is composed of a lot of different types of gameplay and as a result it's more the jack of all trades, master of none.
First off, you've got your hack n' slash. Eddie uses his powerful axe and flying V guitar to destroy his enemies in the goriest way possible. You can even snag combos to make yourself more efficient, but really, I found the most useful move to just be a simple ground-pound. Plus none of the enemies are tough enough that actually strategy be applied: just beat the living shit out of them until they die. To offset this, enemies usually come in large numbers or in boss battles. And believe me, this game has great boss battles. I counted six in total, each with varied techiniques to bring them down. The other thing that makes things tough is the lack of a HUD. You probably won't know that Eddie is going to die until right before it happens, and the chances of living until you recover are slim. However it does wonders for the presentation. Just saying.
Next, you've got your driving. The World of Metal is 30 square miles across two continents, but fortunately, The Duece makes getting around a sinch. You can upgrade your car to be the coolest looking beast around, and the additions of weapons make destroying enemies a breeze. What's best, even as soon as your car gets destroyed, you can get it right back and keep on rockin'. However, the World's cartoony physics often make you lose control of your ride, but it's not a big deal.
A small part of gameplay is Guitar-Hero-like melodies that you can play to do different things. For example, Relic Raiser does, what else, raise relics. You can summon The Duece, encourage your troops and my personal favorite, The Face Melter (does exactly what is says with hilarious results).
The big part of gameplay is Stage Battles, which serve as an RTS meeting the other mechanics of the game. Eddie sprouts wings and can fly around the battlefield, ordering the various troops around. Headbangers have strong necks and thick skulls, serving as your basic infantry. Razor Girls are feathered hair groupies who wield BIG guns. Thunderhogs, led by the Kill Master (Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister) use soothing bass strings to heal your units. Bouncers, (small brain, big fists) Roadies, (invisible to enemies and capable of destroying  large structures) Fire Beasts, and Siege Weapons also join the mix. You can double team with any of these units making each one valuable in its own respect. However, this is where it gets a little tricky. Though most RTS elements are in this game, such as troop creation, rally markers, upgrades to your troops and stage (your home base), some vital to the genre are not. For example, you can't order your troops to focus on one distinct enemy, only order them to attack in a general direction. This isn't a big deal at first, but as certain enemies enter the fray it can make things tough as your troops don't focus on destroying it. Another frustrating part is the fact that you yourself can't destroy any towers or stages in the battle, only other troops. Once you get the hang of this concept and upgrade yourself  (adding weapons and armor to The Deuce works wonders) it's not a big deal. The battles can take an awfully long time to complete as well. Multiplayer is essentially these battles against another player, and to be good at them, you really have to get each concept down to a T. It's great fun at times and absolutely frustrating at others.
Another aspect are side missions. However, the objectives are so simplified (kill these guys, race this guy, deliver this stuff) that I consider them more like mini-games than actual missions. Fun mini-games, but mini-games none the less.
In conclusion, Brütal Legend is a great game. A few elements in gameplay, namely RTS problems, lack of a HUD and the inability to jump at all (WTF?!) makes things a little sketchy. Still, these are minor problems and probably won't affect your decision on getting this game at all. If you are a fan of Heavy Metal or Tim Schafer, you should definitly pick up a copy. If not, maybe just rent it for a fun weekend. Hopefully this will bring more attention on Tim Schafer's genius and allow him to make an even better sequel (Which the story does set up!). Thanks for reading. May the Gods of Metal shine upon you and cover you in their Metal God Love. Oh wait...