Summary
To commemorate the 15th anniversary of Brutal Legend, community manager Harper Jay published an interview withDouble Fineand Tim Schafer discussing how the game came to be, its legacy, and of course, its future.
Much of what Schafer speaks about has already been said before. When we sat down with him in 2021 andbrought up the elusive Brutal Legend 2, he likewise said that he’d rather lean into the RTS elements than make “God of Warwith Eddie Riggs.” But what’s fascinating about this new piece is that it reveals that Brutal Legend is “a universe many folks here at the studio wonder about returning to.”
Unfortunately, it’s “not in the cards for now”, but that doesn’t mean that the studio isn’t thinking about it. “The challenge is figuring out what [a sequel] might even look like. There was more DLC ideas for the original game, and it was always meant to be a world that could be further built upon. But after 15 years, it’s tricky to know what’s expected.”
“There’s So Much Of A World To Explore”
Lead programmer Chad Dawson “had a few ideas” about what Brutal Legend 2 could look like, arguing that it could be anything from an RPG to an auto battler. Even Schafer muses that it’s like Mister Rogers adding new places to his Neighborhood of Make-Believe — he “knows that the world of Brutal Legend can expand.”
The sequel isn’t happening anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean Double Fine is shying away from Brutal Legend. Aside from this incredibly insightful interview, which you should read in full, Schafer and the team return to the game every Rocktober 13 to spread the ‘Six Degrees of Schafer’ achievement.
Playing Brutal Legend is a tradition at the studio at this point. And with such a passionate fan base, the modding community is bustling, so the game might be over a decade old now, but the metal is far from dead.
Brutal Legend
WHERE TO PLAY
Brütal Legend is an action-adventure that marries visceral action combat with open-world freedom. Set in a universe somewhere between Lord of the Rings and Spinal Tap, it’s a fresh take on the action/driving genre, which in this case is full of imitation cover bands, demons intent on enslaving humanity and Heavy metal tunes. Featuring the talents of comedian, actor and musician, Jack Black as super roadie Eddie Riggs, as well as cameos by some of the biggest names in metal music it’s a wild ride in the belly of the beast that is not to be missed by gamers and Metalheads alike.StoryThe vivid and wildly creative world of Brütal Legend is brought to life through a spate of chrome, leather, rocker babes, epic music, fire-breathing/stud-wearing beasts, mountains made of guitar amps, and more. Follow Eddie as he embarks on a tour of epic destruction with an axe, a guitar, and his minions as he commands the power of rock in epic band battles. It’s lighter-flicking awesomeness that will melt your face clean off.CombatBrütal Legend’s combat is a combination of classic action slasher and real time strategy mechanics. Melee and ranged combat come from your double-sided broadaxe and demon-slaying, pyrotechnic-creating guitar. Add that 1-2 punch to a guitar solo mechanic that can summon objects, buff your teammates, or cripple your opponents, and you have a deep, gratifying core gameplay combat loop that is fun for the hardcore and accessible for the casual. On top of that, players will journey from Roadie to Rock God by commanding legions of metalheads into Brütal Victory and sending troops charging into battle.A Streaming Open WorldBrütal Legend gives you the freedom to walk, drive, or fly anywhere in a fully streaming open world whose art style is inspired by some of the most iconic and hilariously rad metal album covers ever created. Every vista in the beautiful universe of Brütal Legend looks like it was pulled from a Frank Frazetta painting.Packed With Cameos and Voice TalentBrütal Legend is full of cameos from gods of metal like Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford, Lita Ford, and many, many others. It has a MASSIVE metal soundtrack from every era of metal music: 1970’s classic metal to 1980’s hair metal to the scarier cousins of 1990’s metal. And of course, Jack Black pays the ultimate homage to metal as Eddie the Roadie, continuing the theme from the work of his band, Tenacious D and his previous films like School of Rock and High Fidelity.Multiplayer Mayhem4v4 “skirmish” multiplayer marries action combat with a strategic unit-control mechanic. As the leader of one of the factions in the game, the player will direct his armies in a Battle of the Bands where the trophy is survival. Brütal Legend’s multiplayer is online-enabled, so you’re able to conquer your friends online (broadband connection required for online play).MusicThe music in Brütal Legend is truly massive. Made up of 108 of the most rocking tracks from 75 different bands representing every sub-genre of metal, it is something to experience in and of itself.
