Welcome to Thunderdome

Posted: **Mon Dec 02, 2013 12:21 am**

Saw this a while ago and was interested because I like Jack Black. Given all the cameo appearances, it interested me even more.

I normally don't like 3rd person button mashing games like this, but the story is good/funny enough that I like playing this one.

I get the impression that Jack helped write the story and dialog. I'm about 34% through (according to in game stats) and I've played about 6 hours. There are a hand full of achievement based things in the game (unlocked 2 of 13 legends, etc) for those that like to explore and complete things. A manageable number of upgrades and different attacks. Do side quests to get more 'favor' for more upgrades. It's pretty free roam, so you can deviate and go back to check something or finish something without disrupting the story line.

I'm glad I have this. Fun game.

Pros: Metal music, and lots of it. Your car has a radio and you can change the song too. Cameos. RTS/RPG combo. Enough special attacks to have some variety, not too many to keep track of. Free roam explorable world.

Cons: No HUD. I never know how much health I have. How much nitro I have. Etc. Your screen gets more and more red as you take damage and you hear a heart beat get faster indicating death is near. I'd rather have a health bar. Hard to tell friends from foes. Same model, different clothes. But, there's no friendly fire, so just spamming stuff into the fight is ok.

Indifferent: Sometimes when you die, you go back to the last auto save (which happens a lot so not a lot of repeat). Sometimes when you die, you respawn and keep fighting. I'm picking up a pattern, but I don't know if there is a respawn limit or what. It's VERY easy. I rarely fail a mission. I'm playing on the middle of 3 difficulty levels. Personally, I'm fine with the ease of the game. I'm in this one for the entertainment of a Jack Black story/game, not to develop relationships with characters, etc.

It's $5 on Steam right now. I paid $5 on Humble Bundle and got Bastion, Trine 2, Limbo and FTL (and other games) at the same time. Not sure exactly what price point this game should be at. But so far, this Humbe Bundle was awesome. Cause Bastion was pretty cool too.

Edited By Cakedaddy on 1385961866

Posted: **Wed Dec 25, 2013 4:32 am**

Played another few hours tonight. I'm liking it even more.

I had been trying to complete all side missions, collect as many credits as I could to buy as much stuff as I could and it was getting a bit grindy for me. With all the other games I want to play, I decided to just do the main story line and get moving. Glad I did. Keeping the story flowing is making it much more enjoyable. No, I won't 'complete' the game, but, if the other stuff is too distracting for me making the game not as much fun, why do it?

There are some characters that I actually find myself caring about. The story is actually really well told with some really good cut scenes. And the music is awesome. First game EVER that I didn't go right in and turn that shit off. All heavy metal, all good songs. Have yet to hear a bad one. Got Whitesnake 'In the Still of the Night' tonight. There are enough songs that you aren't hearing the same one over and over. And if you do find one you don't like, you can hit 'skip' and move to the next song. And the heavy metal goes REALLY well with the fights you find yourself in.

The RTS part of the game is rather clunky and can be hard. But, I haven't lost a mission/battle yet. I did die a lot during one of them leading me to believe there is no respawn limit while doing an RTS battle.

If you like metal, killing stuff and hot animated chicks, you'll like this game. While playing, I keep thinking Gordon and Stranger would like it because of their interest in music. A lot of cliche moments/themes as well. Increasing my recommendation for the game.

Posted: **Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:33 am**

Just 'finished' it. I didn't complete all challenges, etc, but I did come to the end of the story. I'm sad to say, that while the ending was good, it did not live up to the rest of the story. It's almost as if they were good at creating a really fun ride, but didn't know how to finish it. Again, the ending isn't a complete let down or anything. It just wasn't as good as the rest of the story.

But, I highly recommend this one. I even watched all of the credits with clips from the studio and whatnot. LOTS of names in this one that I didn't even recognize because it's a video game and I don't expect them. David Cross, Tim Curry, and more. I can only imagine the amount of fun they had making this game, and it showed in the game itself.

Welcome to Thunderdome

Brutal Legend