Brutal Legend was originally released for consoles back in 2009, and got rave reviews back then for being a superb story driven adventure through the history of rock itself, but how does it fare 4 years on?

The game tells the tale of Eddie Riggs, the world’s best roadie, who finds himself surrounded by people who have no idea what ‘true rock’ is, but as a roadie its Eddie’s sworn duty to make those on stage look as awesome as possible. At least until a giant structure crushes him, which sets in motion his transition to a new world, a world where heavy metal is a powerful tool of destruction.

Gameplay is a steady blend of 3^rd person combat & RTS segments spanning areas of the world. The game world is presented as an open environment, with activities like stopping at relic sites to acquire new abilities being available as you travel between the stories main goals. The world given to the player to explore is rich with demonic creatures, nasty minions and fire raining down from the skies, which is just freaking awesome to watch.

When it comes to combat, the games own sense of humour and charm leak in, making combat both hilarious and full of memorable sequences. The axe is your staple 1, 2, 3 combo weapon, with both light and heavy attacks available to slice’n’dice your foes into little chunks. Your trusty guitar isn’t just for show either, with magical powers of metal imbued, ‘Clementine’ can throw out bolts of lightning or fire balls for its ranged variant to the light/heavy attacks. Combine these two foundations of combat with a sturdy block & dodge system, as well as abilities that are performed using a Guitar Hero style mechanic, which rewards a successful attempt with gratuitous violence, like face melting everyone around you. No I’m serious, their faces melt off their heads. Epic.

My only gripe with the games combat is that the game still feels like it would flow better with a controller, rather than a keyboard. Maybe this is because I played it there first, I can’t be sure, but there’s a nagging feeling that the controls could stand to ‘feel better’. This is most obvious when operating the radial menus, as it can sometimes jump between selections, which can be frustrating at times when you’re being pounded on by an army of baddies.

So what of the story? Well, this is Double Fine Productions, so expectations of a game filled to the brim with humour and plastered with charm are certainly are present, and it sure does deliver. The characters are all unique and have their own quips and style, with Jack Black playing the lead character I’d expect no less, and even the simplest of passing comments made by Eddie can be cause for laughter. The games story (No spoilers I promise!) is just as entertaining as it is interesting, as it see’s Eddie combat the embodiment of various ‘styles’ of metal and rock, to save the humans of this world. Although it’s a memorable experience, the games story is short and will leave you wanting more.

You can’t have a Metal themed game without having some awesome tunage thrown in to mosh to, and here is one aspect the game truly shines in. Sprinkled across various battles and events are some true classics to headbang to. There’s nothing more satisfying than slaying a bunch of goons whilst a few power chords ring out your bloody triumph. Not content with supplying the music, they even went so far as to get some big names in on the action too, so expect to stumble across legends like Motorhead’s Lemmy, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford & The Runaways’ Lita Ford in your adventures.

If you still have that metal itch you just can’t quite scratch, there’s also a multiplayer mode thrown in, which involves a combination of the games RTS and combat mechanics to compete for resources in the attempt to destroy each other’s stages. This mode offers players the chance to play as some of the games antagonists too, which adds to the appeal of the mode, however it does feel like this game mode won’t get much love, and will likely be forgotten about.

Overall, I can’t bring myself to find any gripes here, the game will flood you with humour and metal goodness from start to finish, although your fun times may be over before you expect it, leaving you craving more to thrash your heads to.

So, the guys over at Double Fine are awesome, we know this. But they are SO AWESOME, that they have given us some steam codes to hand out. If you want a chance to be in for winning one of these codes, simply tell us who your favourite metal/rock band is in the comments below, and winners will be chosen Monday 11^th