Fall is upon us, and a huge wave of new video games is about to smack us all in the face.
With so many video games coming out in the next couple of months, and with the majority of the “major” games being retailed at $59.99, what can the average consumers do?
How can they be sure to pick up the right games instead of the mediocre ones?
Fortunately, as a game writer, I can help with the selection of must-have games.
The following will provide details of the hands on experience I had with the new game “Brutal Legend” during my time at the Penny Arcade Expo, a annual gaming convention held in Washington.
The first scene leaves Eddie (described as a “great being,” maybe even a god in his bizarre world) in a small arena with praying priests.
At first we believe that the priests are praying to Eddie, but soon they begin to charge forward.
As I leapt past the priests, I noticed a battle axe smacked down in the middle of the arena, grabbed it and began to slaughter the priests.
Enter the “God of War” style of gameplay.
When one of the priests began fiddling with his guitar, I used the “power of rock” from his guitar to kill him.
After sleighing the mini-boss (“the pure definition of a ‘butterface,’” according to Eddie), I crossed a bridge made of bones where a lone demon named Ophelia waited to attack.
We soon make friends, however, and team up together to battle more demons.
She and Eddie then arrive at another area, where Ophelia explains that a strange item hasn’t been activated in a long time.
I walked up to the object and did what Eddie does best: rocked out.
The idea works, and as strange items rise from the ground, Eddie has a great idea.
He creates a rocking car, and the driving portion of the game begins.
A boss encounter is triggered next during which the boss stabs at Eddie with his tongue while Eddie fights back from the inside of his car.
Eddie has left the beast incapable of French kissing, but Ophelia doesn’t understand what French kissing is, so Eddie is about to explain when he is distracted by the return of the now tongueless beast.
Eddie now slays the beast by pulling a huge gate down upon the creature, while screaming out, “Decapitation!” and the building begins to fall down upon the destroyed creature.
After spending five minutes weaving through obstacles and deathly pits, I was finally able to escape the beast’s lair.
When Ophelia asks Eddie to join the rebellion against the demons, Eddie doesn’t leap on the idea, but he is willing to check out the rebel’s base.
After exploring the world a little, I head towards the base.
The demo ends by telling me to acquire the game on “Rocktober” 13th.
After playing through the demo, I felt sure I was making the right decision to pick up the title next month.
The game is hilarious, a difficult effect to achieve in the game industry.
The game is very ambitious, but it doesn’t chew off more than it can handle.
If you are looking for a title for the Xbox 360 for October, the demo I played confirmed that it should be “Brutal Legends.”
Austin Ashby can be reached at aashby@ut.edu.