Without giving to much away, the narrative of Brütal Legend is excellent. Think of it as a cross between A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court meets Star Wars meets HEAVY METAL. You are Eddie Riggs (voiced PERFECTLY by Jack Black), a roadie who through the help of his mysterious belt buckle, is thrown back to the Age of Metal, where the evil Emporer Doviculus (VOICED BY TIM FUCKIN CURRY LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!) rules over the land with the help of his patsy, General Lionwhyte (a shot at anyone who wore jean jackets and had ribbons on their mics, Cough-Bon Jovi-Cough). According to legend, you were sent by the creator of the world, the Fire Beast Ormagöden, as the Savior of the World...or the Harbinger of Destruction. No one is really sure about that, but that's what makes the story so good. You team up with a small resistance...of three people: Lars Halford (voiced with great dramatic poise by Rob Halford of Judas Priest), his sister Lita, and your love interest, Ophelia. Together, you must start a revolution to create the world's greatest band (your army) and defeat the Emporer through the power of Heavy Metal.
Hands down, this is the best presented game of the year. Tim Schafer is a god when it comes to originality and thinking beyond the limits of imagination. The Age of Metal is exactly that: completely immersed in Heavy Metal. Schafer has said that the world is inspired by any heavy metal album, and he was right. The sunsets look like the sky is burning, metal spiders spin webs of bass guitar strings, and eclipses are commonplace wherever you go. But don't think that this is just a one-trick pony. The two continents which you will visit are both filled with varied landscapes, from the humble country settlement of Bladehenge to ice covered mountains filled with mammoth beasts to the dark and deathly Sea of Black Tears. What's more is the different collectables throughout the landscape; Artifacts of Legend give a deep and amazing backstory to the world and Motor Forges are used to upgrade your axe, your guitar, and your ride, The Deuce. Ozzy Osbourne, aka The Guardian of Metal, watches over these, and provides hilarious commentary whenever you scroll through the vast customization options. As the story progresses, you reach new areas in the world, and previous areas change with the shifting tides of battle. Many thought this would be a humorous game, and in truth, it is only to a certain extent. The beginning is hilarious, hands down. But as you progress through the game, the humor is suppressed. While some may think this is bad, it actually serves the story well. Dampening the humor allowed Schafer to deliver easily his darkest game to date. The strong connection with the characters you gain in the beginning truly makes you care about the dark twist the story takes at the end. Most of the humor at that point is given to Jack Black's perfect delivery: "I'm the weiner, you're the bun, come on over, let's have fun." and to Mangus, your bus driver of your Tour of Destruction (your journey to kill Doviculus) who's not all with it (think Otto from the Simpsons).
However, the presentation isn't without fault. My biggest problem was that at a certain point in the game, you skip ahead three months to the next main piece of the story. For me, it really threw off the story's excellent pacing. And I had only one beef with the game's excellent soundtrack. NO DIO. Heaven and Hell was one of the greatest metal songs of all time and Dio was one of the greatest metal artists of all time. He deserved to be in there. At least there wasn't any Metallica. Praise the Metal Gods...
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