By Jeremiah Magan
Daily Titan Opinion Editor

Everyone dreams of living in a different world; a world filled with all of their favorite things where they can be the hero who saves the day.

For professional roadie Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), this has become a reality. While working a show for an ungrateful band, Riggs is involved in an accident. When he comes to, he is transported to a world of heavy metal. The mountains are covered in dilapidated monuments to rock ‘n’ roll, car parts and stage equipment that grow like trees. The landscape resembles heavy metal album covers from the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Riggs takes to the world of Brütal Legend surprisingly quickly, never stopping to ask any questions even when he is attacked by demon monks and realizes that his guitar has the power to electrocute and blow up anything in its path. Riggs is also equipped with a medieval axe that he swings with expertise, despite his claims to have never held one before. Riggs improves his abilities and customizes his equipment by earning fire tributes from the rock gods, something he is awarded for defeating his foes, unlocking story elements or completing side missions.

Those fighting in Riggs’ army include headbangers, young men with thick necks and skulls whose only attack is to bang their heads on anything in front of them. Throughout the game he continues to recruit new soldiers to his cause, which unlocks new double team moves he can perform with them. Most double teams include Riggs picking up his ally and hurling them at the enemy.

Enemies of Riggs’ and his new allies include characters that resemble ’80s hair metal bands and fans, emo kids and sadomasochists. The character variety adds a large amount of humor to the game and causes you to change your strategy as the battle progresses.

Containing elements of third person hack-and-slash, role-playing and real-time strategy games, Brütal Legend’s game play is smooth despite its complicated nature. Switching from commanding your troops to form a mosh pit around an enemy to shredding a solo on your guitar to melting the faces of your opponents is seamless and keeps the player feeling more involved in the battle than most RTS games. The game play is innovative, though there are a few games that follow the same formula.

Because the game is based on music, the player does not have a health bar, instead the sound becomes fainter as your character takes damage until it fades out completely and he dies.

Brütal Legend also features an online capable multiplayer that lets players take control of their enemy’s army against other players.

There is a rich history that the player learns about as they free statues that have been restricted in bondage gear by the game’s antagonist. The game also features cameos from several metal legends: Ozzy Osbourne as The Guardian of Metal, Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead as The Killmaster and Rob Halford of Judas Priest as General Lionwhyte.

Brütal Legend’s single player campaign is relatively short, but there is a lot to discover and explore. The side missions are repetitive and short, but are an easy way to earn upgrades. Developer Tim Schafer has struck something special with Brütal Legend, and this is something that should be explored again with a sequel, or at least a healthy dose of downloadable content in the near future.