Brutal Legend....What am I missing?

I'd probably feel the same if I didn't know Tim Schafer was behind it. He's the reason for 90% of the hype because he's an amazing designer. Ever play Psychonauts?

It's because of the creative minds behind it....videogame critics would probably "go down" on Tim Schafer. Add one ounce of Evil Empire Activision going to court over it, and nerds living in their parent's basement everywhere will rally behind it.


I'm somewhat excited to play it, I think the soundtrack will be "off the hook," as the kids say. Any love for the music will be negated by having Jack Black even remotely involved with the game though. I hope it does well, but we'll see.

OP: Like I said in the other thread: "This will either be the greatest game ever, or the stupidest. Either way, I must own it." [sic] Besides the excellent points made above, this game is about a "concept".

tim schafer, jack black, ozzy, heavy metal.... not really sure what else needs to be said.

I think there a lot of people whom don't really understand the Heavy Metal Genre, and therefore they don't understand the inherent ironic tongue-n-cheek campy-ness that goes along with it. The whole reason Metal seems to be like a bad "*B* Horror" movie, is because it is often intended that way; IOW, most of the "funnest" old horror movies are also the cheesiest. People either get it, or they don't...

The graphics are AWFUL though, just horrible. They look like GOOD PS2 graphics.

It's lost on me as well.

Hopefully the gameplay will have some variation. Early gameplay reviews said it was kind of repetitive. Psychonauts had the odd problem of being brilliantly creative in its level design and art style, but the actual gameplay was both clumsy and kind of dull. Brutal Legend will need to be genuinely humorous too, hopefully Jack Black doesn't kill the funny. It will need to be very tongue-in-cheek and willing to poke fun at the hair & heavy metal conventions; if it's too much of an homage to those bands it'll just be dumb.

IMO Tim Schafer's best days are behind him. His work at Lucasarts doing PC adventure games was brilliant (Monkey Island 1 & 2, DoT, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango). Anyone who doesn't love Grim Fandango isn't human (and should be burned at the stake).

But his work didn't translate well to consoles. Psychonauts was clever, but the gameplay was super derivative and had many gameplay problems (primarily its camera system). The story and characters and overall concept were great, though.

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Originally Posted by WalksInDarkness /forum/post/16881472


Besides the excellent points made above, this game is about a "concept".

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Exactly. And so was Psychonauts. If the concept was enough for you, you liked the game. For me, I want good gameplay mechanics, then a good concept. Not the other way around.

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Originally Posted by policy /forum/post/16893367


The graphics are AWFUL though, just horrible. They look like GOOD PS2 graphics.

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Yup. And the gameplay looks very similar to Overlord. I'm impressed by the concept, but not by the gameplay. I have a feeling the press will be very "disappointed" in this game's sales.



Quote:
Originally Posted by WJonathan /forum/post/16894576


Hopefully the gameplay will have some variation. Early gameplay reviews said it was kind of repetitive. Psychonauts had the odd problem of being brilliantly creative in its level design and art style, but the actual gameplay was both clumsy and kind of dull. Brutal Legend will need to be genuinely humorous too, hopefully Jack Black doesn't kill the funny. It will need to be very tongue-in-cheek and willing to poke fun at the hair & heavy metal conventions; if it's too much of an homage to those bands it'll just be dumb.

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I've only made it past the first level on Psychonauts. I have the game, just don't really have any urge to play it.



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Originally Posted by eatenbacktolife /forum/post/16895856


I've only made it past the first level on Psychonauts. I have the game, just don't really have any urge to play it.

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It's really worth playing, despite my criticism. If you can play it on PC on an HDTV it really is a knockout. There are some great moments in the game, like the velvet art world, and the milkman's conspiracy realm. But neither the story or the main character's role in it ever made any real sense to me.



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Originally Posted by formulanerd /forum/post/16899516


you're smoking crack....


god of war had arguably the best graphics on ps2.

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I think you missed policy's point. While God Of War had arguably the best graphics on the "PS2" they are in his mind still Playstation 2 quality.


I feel that draw distance and the Anti Aliasing from the preview videos looks next gen, it reflects he art style chosen for the game.


People are downing the fact that Jack Black is in it but I am excited. Black knows Metal. Going back to 1997 he really shined on Tenacious D with Kyle Gass. Tenacious D rocks and this game has real potential to be great.



Quote:
Originally Posted by confidenceman /forum/post/16894679

IMO Tim Schafer's best days are behind him. His work at Lucasarts doing PC adventure games was brilliant (Monkey Island 1 & 2, DoT, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango). Anyone who doesn't love Grim Fandango isn't human (and should be burned at the stake).

But his work didn't translate well to consoles. Psychonauts was clever, but the gameplay was super derivative and had many gameplay problems (primarily its camera system). The story and characters and overall concept were great, though.

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That's a little harsh isn't it? Psychonauts is just one game.

anything with jack black in it is destined to fail imho.


Not excited for this at all.



Quote:
Originally Posted by confidenceman;16901707He's indisputably a creative guy and his games continue to show off his awesome imagination in his visual style and storylines. I just wish that his imagination could come up with fun, new ways to [I /forum/post/0


play[/i] games.

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I'd probably pay $60 for "Tim Schaefer's Checkers" if he could get it published. I loved a lot of his older games but Psychonauts really blew me away despite the derivative gameplay.