Brütal Legend/YMMV

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< Brütal Legend
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  • Acceptable Lifestyle Targets: Boy Bands slaughtered? Emo Teen zombies? Bondage-slave demons? My word!
  • Nightmare Fuel: The Spider Queen's lair.
    • Also, Hextadons. From behind, they look pretty much like normal mammoths with chrome tusks; nothing too disturbing. From the front, though, it becomes clear that they lack trunks, and their faces seem to be frozen in wide-eyed Slasher Smiles. It's... unsettling.
    • Ratgut, enough said.
      • Is he a bunch of rats inside a shell or is he a person with rats wriggling inside him? It will be answered someday... but not today.
      • The entire Drowning Doom and Tainted Coil armies have the potential for this, really. It's kind of their schtick.
    • Guillotars are giant... things with what look like decayed cat-faces, guillotines for legs (with the blades still attached between them), and a bladed pendulum for a tail. They tend to appear in foggy areas, so they seem to come out of nowhere. Eep.
    • Play the Facemelter next to a Bride. You'll see.
  • Ad of Lose: EA blew a lot of money on mindless hype ads while avoiding all discussion of multiplayer.
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: The Fire Baron Nerf saved a dying online community.
  • Anvilicious: The Second Wave of American Tween Melodic Rap Metalcore band Kabbage Boy sounding awful and then getting their heads blown off.
  • Bait and Switch: Against the wishes of Double Fine, who were very proud of the Stage Battles.
  • Best Level Ever: Brutal Legend fans and haters love the Metal Spider lair dearly.
  • Broken Base: There are loyal fans who love all of Double Fine's work, fans who feel betrayed that it's a multiplayer focused Action/RTS and not a Dynasty Warriors esque brawler, and fans of just the multiplayer. There are also fans who loved the single player so much that the multiplayer focus did not deter them.
    • PC Players complain that Double Fine has abandoned them. Double Fine responded that they make games on the consoles that their publisher allows them to make. And Electronic Arts refuses to make games for the pirate infested waters of PC gaming.
  • Colbert Bump:
    • A few of the bands featured in the game received some healthy boosts in popularity after the game's release. Wikipedia reports that sales of the included tracks went up 700%.
    • And Brocas Helm, which was so obscure you couldn't purchase anywhere, now enjoys sales on digital services all around due to popularity of their song Cry of the Banshee.
    • Skeletonwitch and 3 Inches of Blood both expressed pride in being in the game.
  • Complacent Gaming Syndrome: The multiplayer has a handful of infamous exploits. During release, players would "Baron Spam," creating over a dozen Fire Barons and wiping out opponents in a short amount of time, driving away frustrated players. Double Fine responded by making several nerfs to Ironheade, which was very effective...until players started cheating the leaderboards by consistently disconnecting if they started losing or simply if they got matched up with someone who beat them in the past. Then there's Car Spam, Soul Kisser Spam, Grave Digger Spam, Infinite Combos, or players just trying to collect achievements.
  • Crazy Awesome: Tim Schafer.
    • Also, the game itself. It gives you achievements for throwing hedgehogs at an armored bear until it drops dead, jumping over a six-legged mammoth with your car, and riding a motorcycle boar across half the continent to drown it in the sea of killer black oil. It's just as fun as it sounds, trüly.
  • Crowning Moment of Awesome: Given the source material, it's impossible not to have a couple.
    • The moment just after Eddie defeats the first boss, wailing a guitar solo on his axe. And repeated again when he does the same to Doviculus.

Eddie: DECAPITATIOOOOOOOON!

  • Crowning Moment of Funny: Jack Black's self-affirmation video for dealing with online douchebags.
    • "Start a revolution [Now] [Later]"
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: Inevitable considering the soundtrack consists of 107 tracks of original work, remixes of various metal songs, or actual album compositions. Considering the game starts out with Children of the Grave in a low-volume riff until Riggs picks up the axe...
    • Fighting the giant Metal Queen spider to Brocas Helm's Cry of the Banshee is considered one of the most memorable moments in the game. The song (and band) were impossible to find anywhere, until their popularity exploded from this game. Soon after, the Brocas Helm album "Defender of the Crown" became available for digital download on iTunes.
    • Ozzy Osbourne's Mr. Crowley when Ophelia jumps into the Sea of Black Tears
    • Most, if not all, of the set pieces involve Crowning Musical Moments Of Awesome.
  • Cult Classic: However, Tim Schafer expressed the fact that he is very sick of his games reaching this status.
  • Dead Horse Music Genre:
    • Given that this is a game about Metal, there's sure to be plenty of ribbing of unpopular music styles - such as the Hair Metal-themed villain group.
    • Subverted because this is a game set in a world without critics to badmouth any specific genre. Any Metal in this game, that is not said to be awful in game, is an affectionate nod to its genre. Rob Halford even said, "[Lionwhyte] is a cross-section of everything I know and love in Heavy Metal music.".
  • Disappointing Last Level: While the actual quality of the game stays high throughout, after Lionwhyte's palace, the story moves at an almost uncontrollably fast pace. See Cosmic Deadline.
  • Dude, Not Funny:

Eddie: I've got an idea. How bout' you take off your fucking diaper, lay down you little baby foo foo and GO DO YOUR FUCKING JOB NOW?
Mangus: Hey. Not cool! I wear this thing so I don't have to stop the bus to take a leak!

  • Ear Worm: Once you hear the commercial, you will never unhear it.
  • Evil Is Cool: In universe, Eddie sure feels this way in the Temple of Ormagoden.
  • Executive Meddling: A very controversial, very heavy amount. Unfortunately, this applies to every party involved in creating and releasing the game. Record labels and bands(music licensing), publishers(dropping support outright and forcing changes), even within the internal development team.
    • The most hardcore of fans could probably base a series of novels on the sheer amount involved with the game from all sides.
  • Fan Dumb: Tell a fan you thought Brutal Legend was short or was an RTS in disguise, expect a tongue lashing.
    • Don't EVER tell a fan you skipped the multiplayer, or ask them to help you cheat your way to achievements.
    • Taken to truly extreme levels with the multiplayer. As has been mentioned, the campaign mode is essentially a very long tutorial. Apparently, those who haven't played the multiplayer are "ungrateful greedy posers" for expecting the campaign mode of a game to be enjoyable as a standalone, when for any other game, it would be a requirement.
  • Fan Nickname: Sacrifice 2 or Ozzcraft.
    • "LOL RTS", used by those who disliked the RTS element.
    • "Nuke Solo" are the Facemelter, Shadow Blast, and Curse solos, which are short range explosions.
    • "Buzzsaw" is a near infinite combo "AAAX * roll forward* , repeat." It can be avoided.
    • To make a "Caravan" means to build a group of Headsplitters.
    • The "Wall of Death" is a full Drowning Doom army, with every debuffer available, and lots of Broods.
  • Follow the Leader: Guitar Hero - Warriors of Rock.

'Tim Schafer on Twitter': "Holy Crap! They even stole our intro music!"

  • Game Breaker: The Heat Seeker makes Death Rack side-missions almost too easy.
    • Multiplayer has too many to count. Before the balance patch, spamming Fire Barons was an instant winner. After the balance patch, Ironheade became the weakest, and players resorted to new things. An infinite combo with any character, spamming Grave Diggers and their Double Team, spamming Soul Kissers and using their suicide attack to wipe out the enemy army at an unfair ratio, summoning the player's car over and over, and the most community killing of them all, disconnecting while losing.
  • Good Bad Bugs: Due to some flaw in the shape of the sickle-wraith's hitbox, running over it with the deuce causes the vehicle to flip upwards several meters, sometimes even doing a barrel-roll.
    • The Hero Unit blocking protects from many attacks, and even damage from being on fire, being poisoned, or even drowning. If you held the block button under the Hazardous Water for a long time, you would never drown. This is a widely accepted online strategy because there are plenty of attacks designated as unblockable.
  • Hate Dumb: There is a Fan Nickname for backlash against the Stage Battles.
  • Rockin In Hindsight: Depending on when you find and unlock the Legends, some dialogue takes on greater meaning - for example, the Guardian of Metals little poem contains the elements that Ormagodden exploded into.

Tim Schafer: Holy crap. Did I just defend a rock stage from a inky-shadowy army using pyrotechnics and light...in Alan Wake? I need to immediately travel back in time and base a whole game on this!

  • Hollywood Hype Machine: EA's multimillion-dollar attempt to hide the gameplay against the wishes of Tim Schafer.
  • Hype Aversion: Electronic Arts and Tim Schafer each advertised very different things on this game. In many videos, Tim Schafer talked almost exclusively on the multiplayer aspect, because it's the part he worked on the most, and was the point of the whole game (the single player world and story were created after the multiplayer was finished.) EA on the other hand advertised the presence of Jack Black, and hyped the game up immensely without actually talking about the gameplay. Players who went exclusively by the hype and the single player demo did not take the Unexpected Gameplay Change well. Double Fine did not enjoy the marketing push at all. EA completely and intentionally hid the gameplay that Tim Schafer wanted players to see the most.
  • If I Can't Have You: Bobby Kotick to Double Fine. Double Fine's suit argued that after a failed attempt to jettison the entire Brutal Legend game and change it from an Action/RTS to a Guitar Hero game, he canceled Brutal Legend so Guitar Hero would have no competition. When Double Fine republished with Electronic Arts and made a big showing, Activision sued to claim it back. A year later, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock came out, and appears to be what he wanted Brutal Legend to become, and the reviews don't like the game, and see it as a ripoff.
  • Internet Backdraft: The Stage Battles.
  • It's Popular, Now It Sucks: Brocas Helm, due to their massive Colbert Bump from this game.
  • It's Short, So It Sucks: A common criticism from players who aren't interested in the multiplayer.
  • It Was His Sled: Ophelia leads the Drowning Doom.
  • It Will Never Catch On: Activision and EA's attitude toward the Stage Battles.
  • Just Here for Godzilla: Achievement whores are DESPISED by the online community.
    • Tim Schafer met one who asked him to lose intentionally to boost achievements. He was pissed.

Tim Schafer: "surrender plz? surrender plz??? This is what I go online for? To have some kid tell me "surrender plz" at my own game?"

Headbangers: "METAL!"
Grave Diggers: "That song makes me want to kill myself, in a good way!"

Battle Nun: "How does he do that?!"

Punishing Party: "Ah...that was incredible."

  • Music to Invade Poland To: The Tainted Coil get Blitzkrieg by Deathstars.
  • Needs More Love: Fans believe Electronic Arts Executive Meddling send this game out to die.
  • Nightmare Retardant: The metal spider babies. Normally they're fairly creepy, but when you Earthshaker them off of Eddie, they die with the noise of popping popcorn.
  • One of Us: Tim Schafer plays on online matchmaking sometimes. His tag is Timof Legend on Xbox Live and PSN.
    • Skeletonwitch was boasting their track "Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery" was in the game before performing it live.
    • 3 Inches of Blood also has expressed pride that their music was in the game.
  • Player Punch: There's three of them all caused by the same character.
  • Polish the Turd: While virtually all players and critics agree that Brutal Legend is most certainly not a turd, the EA marketing department seemed to think that this is what they were doing, by ignoring major components of the game while playing up others.
  • Rage Quit: Nearly the entire top of the leaderboard is composed of cheaters who are shunned by the community, who disconnect when they smell a loss coming.
  • Scapegoat Creator: A number of people blame the game's rushed feeling towards the end on EA, based on their reputation for rushing games.
  • Scrappy Mechanic: The Summon Flag. Like a Rally Point in StarCraft, a special guitar solo creates a rally point that you can set on the ground for allies, or keep on your back so fresh units will come to you. But losing track of this flag is an easy way to cost you a match, even for the pros.
  • Screwed by the Network: EA refuses to drop the money to make the patches created by Double Fine available to the public, including the desperately requested PS3 patch to stop crashing. Players who complain to EA have received copies of different games for free. Brutal Legend is not included in EA's Games on Demand on Xbox Live, or in any of its sales. They are working hard to pretend their relationship with Double Fine never happened.
  • So Bad It's Good: It is difficult to deny the whimsical charm of the song "Girlfriend."
  • Tained By The Demo: Tim Schafer talked about nothing but the stage battles and the multiplayer. Electronic Arts talked about nothing but the story, Jack Black, and the single player, and nothing about the gameplay. The demo was only the first five minutes of the whole game. Guess whose message got to players. (Hint: Not the guy who made the game.)
  • That One Attack: The Buzzsaw, a pseudo-infinite combo discovered after Double Fine's big balance patch. It can allow one player to endlessly wail on the other, scoring an easy kill and undermining the idea that the combat is about combining Buffs with Double Teams, rather than lone combos. A source of frustration of casual players.
  • Too Good to Last: A sequel was planned that was going to include much of the stuff that was cut from the first time due to time and budget constraints. However, when sales of Brutal Legend were not as high as EA was hoping the plans for a sequel were scrapped.
  • What Were You Thinking?: Both Vivendi and EA had a near complete media blackout on the Stage Battles and multiplayer, the part Tim Schafer wanted people to like the most, and that Double Fine worked on for over double the time it took to make the Single Player part. EA got a half-completed game for cheap, and had the potential to make a very long game with good multiplayer support instead, EA rushed the single player through and spent millions advertising it with a single player focus when the multiplayer was the real focus. If EA had just let Tim Schafer talk about his game, not only would Internet Backlash be avoided, they would have saved millions of dollars.
    • Although EA performed focus tests and found the Stage Battles to be a lot of fun, when word was finally released on the Stage Battles, EA was asking journalists to call it "Action Strategy," just so the phrase "RTS" could be avoided.
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