By Sherwin Loh

AS A child, I had my misgivings about heavy metal music. Then, they spelled demonic possession, ritual sacrifice, hidden mystical powers, bloody skulls and vampish babes.

Brutal Legend has taken all that and carved it into an amazing mainstream game that is high-octane action, wildly original and plenty of fun. Add hilarious too.

Much of that humour comes from actor-comedian Jack Black, who lends his voice and potbelly to the main character, Eddie Riggs, a roadie who dies and ends up in a place where heavy metal imagery - demons, evil and metal monsters - shapes the ancient world.

Cue long-haired heroes in leather, head bangers, metallic skulls and women in skin-tight black outfits fighting against the evil demon, Doviculus.

Credit also goes to Timothy Schafer, the game's creative director. Fans who identify with the game's dry wit should know that Schafer was one of the brains behind the equally hilarious and now classic, The Secret Of Monkey Island.

The game's allure is heightened by the appearance of the Guardian of Metal, voiced by Ozzy Osbourne, and General Lionwhyte, voiced by Rob Halford of heavy metal band Judas Priest fame.

The moment he appears in the new world, Eddie grabs hold of a magic axe and a Flying V guitar, which lets him stun creatures. With his knowledge of heavy metal music, Eddie is seen as a saviour as he can unlock magical items, from a hot rod that is seen as a roaring magical monster to the natives to other special abilities.

His special powers, of rallying metalheads to fight alongside him or unleash special attacks on enemies, are triggered by the Flying V.

As with music games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero, players must punch designated controller buttons in sequence to unleash the powers. But despite the inclusion of 108 heavy metal tunes, this is not your traditional music game either.

The songs, by the likes of Black Sabbath, Motley Crue and DragonForce, play in the background throughout the game and serve to complement, not subsume, the overall feel of things.

While the game relies on the hack-and-slash element, the open-ended world where Eddie navigates with his hot rod is filled with enough missions to keep most gamers happy.

Throw in a female love interest, some black magic and the potent result is sex, drugs and rock 'n roll.

It is unfortunate that the game's graphics and gameplay do not match the high quality voice work of Jack or the script-writing. Environments come across as rather dull and flat and some of the rock fantasy elements look amateurish.

But by adding rock music and wry humour to a simple action game, developer Double Fine has produced an original creation begging for an explosive encore.

Cheat sheet

Bound serpents: Scattered across the land are 120 bound serpents screaming to be released.

With every 10 released, Eddie is rewarded with upgrades, like health regeneration and flight speed. With your hot rod, go exploring and release the serpents to improve your attributes before taking on quests.

Tag team: Along the way, Eddie will bump into allies and work with them to fight monsters.

Double Team attacks are powerful combos that you can trigger, along with your partner, to take on enemies. The types of action differ from character to character, so let Eddie try out the various combos. For example, working with Razor Girl increases the damage you deal to others.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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