Brutal Legend
Oh, Brutal Legend. How I wanted to like you.
I could compare this game to something like... Peanut Butter and Pizza. Most people like both things, but added together, it's kind of a strange taste. That's this game.
The concept of an RTS where you control a super powered general is kind of awesome, I will admit. However, it was certainly not executed well here. You control your troops through commands issued in the battlefield. I might be retarded, but I could not get these commands to work the way I wanted them to. Like, ever. Selecting individual units was nigh impossible for me. But again, I might be retarded.
So essentially, you are the mouse cursor. You can fly around and make it less annoying to command stuff, but it doesn't help the main issue of controlling troops. That is busted, in my opinion. You have to be close to a group of people to command them, which means if you're close to the thing you want to destroy, your troops are going to be far away. So you fly to your troops and try to tell them to go destroy something, but then you're too far away from what you wanted to destroy in the first place. It's a bit annoying.(Again, unless I didn't figure out how to do this effectively.) It also doesn't help that the enemies you fight for the first third of the game look exactly like your teammates. Oh wait, they ARE your teammates. Just in stupid hats. Oh, your guys wear hats too once in a while? Oops!
So I hated the RTS portions. And this is a shame, since the second half of the game is almost entirely comprised of RTS portions.
Then there's the exploration element of this game. The world is awesome. There's tons of cool landmarks to find. I really, REALLY wish there was more to do in it. The side missions are scattered all over and they are mostly "Guys are coming, kill them". This is balls. The main story missions are also simplistic and short and don't go in-depth at all. There are no dungeons and no puzzles. You go from point A to point B and do something. The perfect example is the Queen Spider mission. You have to go into the queen spider's lair to get some bass strings. I was expecting a nice, lengthy journey through a maze of caverns, with some puzzles or possible branching paths. Instead, I follow a single path, fight two groups of spiders, and fight a boss. Really?
It also doesn't help that there are no items in the game. I mean, if there were some cool things I could find, I'd be all for exploring. BUT no. No items or upgrades to find. You buy those for doing stuff. And they get kinda crappy. I found myself not wanting to buy things for the second half of the game because I figured I'd save up for something better. It never came.
As for the story, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Seriously. The beginning feels like it's paced right, but after the second half it just feels forced and quick. Sucks.
Oh, my biggest gripe was getting around. You'll hop over a hill in your car and find a chasm leading off the side of the continent. And then you fall into the chasm and die and restart 2039209 miles away. There was no indication that on the other side of this hill, there was a deadly chasm. It just sort of showed up. Why am I even allowed to fall into this chasm? I just don't get it. If there was an invisible wall, I don't think it would have ruined the gameplay experience. It would have made me dislike this game less. The worst is when you jump over a hill, realize it's a chasm, and start braking/reversing like mad. Then you catch the side of the cliff and start trying to drive up, back up to the land. But it's too steep. And then your car passes a certain depth and explodes. This happened on multiple occasions. Also, no quick travel. You drive everywhere.
So here are my ideas to make this game not suck:
1) Make it more like Zelda.
If I got dungeons and cool items instead of RTS battles, I'd be a happier dude.
2) Mini-map.
There's no mini-map. I have to keep checking the map all the time. It's annoying. Give me a fucking mini-map.
3) The story is idiotic.
It gets really dumb. And it reminds me a lot of Warcraft/Starcraft. The cool parts, at least. Characters aren't really fleshed out too well and Tim Curry doesn't get nearly enough time. It also starts out with a totally different vibe than it finishes on.
4) Give me a reason to explore.
They want you to drive around and find 120 dragon statues. Every 10 gets you a minor upgrade to health or something similar. But it feels like it's not worth it. Talk about ancient ruins and hidden treasure and I'm there.
5) WHERE'S THE JUMP BUTTON?
Seriously, why couldn't there be a jump button? There'd be a tiny little cliff that I would get stuck on and couldn't climb. If I had a tiny little jump, I wouldn't have to run around and find a portion of the hill that is at a slightly lesser incline.
6) RTS should be more simplified and not as prevalent.
Something like Dynasty warriors would be fine. Just make a bunch of guys and have them follow you around. I don't want to micromanage with such shitty controls.
7) Tell me what I found
There's 120 dragon statues in the world. You're expected to remember exactly which ones you've found. You only get an x/120 stat. Nothing is marked on your map. Same thing with the hidden music, legends, and jumps. Tell me where I got my shit so I don't have to keep revisiting places, thanks.
What I liked:
Driving around.(This was promptly ruined by falling off a cliff)
It was pretty funny, at times.
It was different.
Soundtrack wasn't terrible. Though, it did have Dragonforce.
And that's about it.
I could compare this game to something like... Peanut Butter and Pizza. Most people like both things, but added together, it's kind of a strange taste. That's this game.
The concept of an RTS where you control a super powered general is kind of awesome, I will admit. However, it was certainly not executed well here. You control your troops through commands issued in the battlefield. I might be retarded, but I could not get these commands to work the way I wanted them to. Like, ever. Selecting individual units was nigh impossible for me. But again, I might be retarded.
So essentially, you are the mouse cursor. You can fly around and make it less annoying to command stuff, but it doesn't help the main issue of controlling troops. That is busted, in my opinion. You have to be close to a group of people to command them, which means if you're close to the thing you want to destroy, your troops are going to be far away. So you fly to your troops and try to tell them to go destroy something, but then you're too far away from what you wanted to destroy in the first place. It's a bit annoying.(Again, unless I didn't figure out how to do this effectively.) It also doesn't help that the enemies you fight for the first third of the game look exactly like your teammates. Oh wait, they ARE your teammates. Just in stupid hats. Oh, your guys wear hats too once in a while? Oops!
So I hated the RTS portions. And this is a shame, since the second half of the game is almost entirely comprised of RTS portions.
Then there's the exploration element of this game. The world is awesome. There's tons of cool landmarks to find. I really, REALLY wish there was more to do in it. The side missions are scattered all over and they are mostly "Guys are coming, kill them". This is balls. The main story missions are also simplistic and short and don't go in-depth at all. There are no dungeons and no puzzles. You go from point A to point B and do something. The perfect example is the Queen Spider mission. You have to go into the queen spider's lair to get some bass strings. I was expecting a nice, lengthy journey through a maze of caverns, with some puzzles or possible branching paths. Instead, I follow a single path, fight two groups of spiders, and fight a boss. Really?
It also doesn't help that there are no items in the game. I mean, if there were some cool things I could find, I'd be all for exploring. BUT no. No items or upgrades to find. You buy those for doing stuff. And they get kinda crappy. I found myself not wanting to buy things for the second half of the game because I figured I'd save up for something better. It never came.
As for the story, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Seriously. The beginning feels like it's paced right, but after the second half it just feels forced and quick. Sucks.
Oh, my biggest gripe was getting around. You'll hop over a hill in your car and find a chasm leading off the side of the continent. And then you fall into the chasm and die and restart 2039209 miles away. There was no indication that on the other side of this hill, there was a deadly chasm. It just sort of showed up. Why am I even allowed to fall into this chasm? I just don't get it. If there was an invisible wall, I don't think it would have ruined the gameplay experience. It would have made me dislike this game less. The worst is when you jump over a hill, realize it's a chasm, and start braking/reversing like mad. Then you catch the side of the cliff and start trying to drive up, back up to the land. But it's too steep. And then your car passes a certain depth and explodes. This happened on multiple occasions. Also, no quick travel. You drive everywhere.
So here are my ideas to make this game not suck:
1) Make it more like Zelda.
If I got dungeons and cool items instead of RTS battles, I'd be a happier dude.
2) Mini-map.
There's no mini-map. I have to keep checking the map all the time. It's annoying. Give me a fucking mini-map.
3) The story is idiotic.
It gets really dumb. And it reminds me a lot of Warcraft/Starcraft. The cool parts, at least. Characters aren't really fleshed out too well and Tim Curry doesn't get nearly enough time. It also starts out with a totally different vibe than it finishes on.
4) Give me a reason to explore.
They want you to drive around and find 120 dragon statues. Every 10 gets you a minor upgrade to health or something similar. But it feels like it's not worth it. Talk about ancient ruins and hidden treasure and I'm there.
5) WHERE'S THE JUMP BUTTON?
Seriously, why couldn't there be a jump button? There'd be a tiny little cliff that I would get stuck on and couldn't climb. If I had a tiny little jump, I wouldn't have to run around and find a portion of the hill that is at a slightly lesser incline.
6) RTS should be more simplified and not as prevalent.
Something like Dynasty warriors would be fine. Just make a bunch of guys and have them follow you around. I don't want to micromanage with such shitty controls.
7) Tell me what I found
There's 120 dragon statues in the world. You're expected to remember exactly which ones you've found. You only get an x/120 stat. Nothing is marked on your map. Same thing with the hidden music, legends, and jumps. Tell me where I got my shit so I don't have to keep revisiting places, thanks.
What I liked:
Driving around.(This was promptly ruined by falling off a cliff)
It was pretty funny, at times.
It was different.
Soundtrack wasn't terrible. Though, it did have Dragonforce.
And that's about it.