Lord Ba'al
Well Known GateFan
This is not the type of game I would normally play nor do I normally listen to heavy metal music. This game however has made such an impact on me that I feel the need to let others know how truly awesome this game is. It's not the type of game that you would play over and over again, but it was a great experience to have played it over just about the last week.
Double Fine really did an astonishing job on this production as it's so polished and "just right" in every way. It starts when you load the game up with a video introduction (actual video) by Jack Black. Then you get the game menu, normally an innocuous part of a game, but really well presented in this one, a combination of video and software interface that blend so smoothly in one another that it feels completely natural. Then you start the game...
This is when real video turns into animated video, or rather CGI video. Starting with a scene introducing the main character, the one you play, a roadie named Eddy, who is very obviously modeled after Jack Black except that he's way more buff and awesome looking. Eddy dies while on the job after rescuing some loser musician he worked for, but due to mystical circumstances he finds himself alive but not in the world he was in before. This world is totally different with some familiar elements in it. One theme runs throughout the entire game, that being heavy metal. And like I said, I've never been into heavy metal at all, but this game has sure managed to give me an appreciation for it.
The mood is perfectly set between the inspiring visuals and accompanying sound tracks. I believe there are approximately 150 different real music tracks included in the game and I'm sure I haven't uncovered even half of them. Some of the songs were familiar to me but most weren't. I did enjoy listening to them though while playing the game, they suited the game play perfectly. I came across at least two tracks by Tenacious D, which is as you might know the band Jack Black is in, being the songs "The Metal" and "Master Exploder". I knew these songs already from the album "The Pick of Destiny" and the movie of the same name. For the movie, "The Metal" is played at the end during the credits and I rather like it so I was not unpleased to find it in the game. As for the visuals, I shall just let a few screenshots do the talking for me.
Now for the game play. This is an adventure game as there is a mythical story which is slowly uncovered more and more as you get further along in the game. It is however not an adventure game in the classic sense. It is an open 3D world in which you can move around at will barring that there are certain areas which you can't enter until you've completed certain elements first. You can walk around, drive around, or... ride... some things. I don't want to give too much away. There is a main story line with missions to complete and along with it there are optional side missions of various types. Some can be a bit tedious and some can be downright frustrating, especially the racing missions.
Yeah, the game brings a lot of things together, adventuring, racing, combat, finding things, and it is all tied together perfectly by an intriguing story with great accompanying audiovisuals. And it has some funny references in it as well. "Sea of black tears" for the most evil part in the game, lol, gotta be a reference If you can pick this up for cheap or free and have some time to spare, I highly recommend giving this a go, even if you don't like heavy metal or Jack Black or 3D open world games.
O and Jack Black is not the only celebrity in the game. Ozzy Osbourne is in it as well.
Tim Schafer was the director and he is well known for among other things the first two Monkey Island games.
Now let me go find some screenshots.
Double Fine really did an astonishing job on this production as it's so polished and "just right" in every way. It starts when you load the game up with a video introduction (actual video) by Jack Black. Then you get the game menu, normally an innocuous part of a game, but really well presented in this one, a combination of video and software interface that blend so smoothly in one another that it feels completely natural. Then you start the game...
This is when real video turns into animated video, or rather CGI video. Starting with a scene introducing the main character, the one you play, a roadie named Eddy, who is very obviously modeled after Jack Black except that he's way more buff and awesome looking. Eddy dies while on the job after rescuing some loser musician he worked for, but due to mystical circumstances he finds himself alive but not in the world he was in before. This world is totally different with some familiar elements in it. One theme runs throughout the entire game, that being heavy metal. And like I said, I've never been into heavy metal at all, but this game has sure managed to give me an appreciation for it.
The mood is perfectly set between the inspiring visuals and accompanying sound tracks. I believe there are approximately 150 different real music tracks included in the game and I'm sure I haven't uncovered even half of them. Some of the songs were familiar to me but most weren't. I did enjoy listening to them though while playing the game, they suited the game play perfectly. I came across at least two tracks by Tenacious D, which is as you might know the band Jack Black is in, being the songs "The Metal" and "Master Exploder". I knew these songs already from the album "The Pick of Destiny" and the movie of the same name. For the movie, "The Metal" is played at the end during the credits and I rather like it so I was not unpleased to find it in the game. As for the visuals, I shall just let a few screenshots do the talking for me.
Now for the game play. This is an adventure game as there is a mythical story which is slowly uncovered more and more as you get further along in the game. It is however not an adventure game in the classic sense. It is an open 3D world in which you can move around at will barring that there are certain areas which you can't enter until you've completed certain elements first. You can walk around, drive around, or... ride... some things. I don't want to give too much away. There is a main story line with missions to complete and along with it there are optional side missions of various types. Some can be a bit tedious and some can be downright frustrating, especially the racing missions.
Yeah, the game brings a lot of things together, adventuring, racing, combat, finding things, and it is all tied together perfectly by an intriguing story with great accompanying audiovisuals. And it has some funny references in it as well. "Sea of black tears" for the most evil part in the game, lol, gotta be a reference If you can pick this up for cheap or free and have some time to spare, I highly recommend giving this a go, even if you don't like heavy metal or Jack Black or 3D open world games.
O and Jack Black is not the only celebrity in the game. Ozzy Osbourne is in it as well.
Tim Schafer was the director and he is well known for among other things the first two Monkey Island games.Now let me go find some screenshots.
