Brutal Legend

Game music has been a passion of ours roughly since, oh, 1985, but in the past 10 years, it’s come to mean something more. Don’t get us wrong, we still love the beepatronic music of the 8- and 16-bit periods (and the wave of chiptune artists it inspired), but the past decade has also seen licensed music become a surprisingly important part of gaming. Sometimes, this just means a selection of familiar hits to accompany our music games, but every so often, a game will use licensed tracks to careful, brilliant effect – and in the process, will expose legions of gamers to music they might never have heard otherwise.

What follows are the games and franchises that have been the most influential in bringing strange and terrifying new musical styles to gamers’ ears – and in the interest of making this our most self-indulgent Top 7 since that other one, we’ve asked a handful of our editors to explain what made each one important to them personally...

It's funny how the games business works. Big successes become popular franchises, we keep buying 'em because they keep getting better, and developers keep churning 'em out. Later, we'll complain about Call of Duty being the same stupid thing, buy it, verify our complaint, and keep the cycle strong. What about the stuff that doesn't review well, though, or doesn't sell, or doesn't quite live up to the hype? Those games are usually left for dead, and an original IP hoping to make its big break becomes a one-shot failure.

Aren't these the games we should see sequels to? Disappointing games are the ones that need the most improving, and are the games that'd benefit the most from a second chance. Remember, Assassin's Creed eventually became Assassin's Creed II. We'd love to see some of this generation's biggest bummers – even if they had a lot going for them – take off bigger than they have...

There are two kinds of good game. There are the good games that come out, get fine reviews, sell adequately, and then fade into well-regarded obscurity: your Vortex, your Space Station Silicon Valley, your Land Stalker (a perplexed, blank stare is the correct response here). And then there are the good games that have a lasting impact on the medium. These games aren't necessarily any better, but they get talked about more often because they defied – and redefined – our expectations. Red Dead Redemption may be such a title. It's the first time a cowboy-themed game has transcended the resolute OK-ness of Sunset Riders, Mad Dog McCree and their ilk, capturing audiences without compromising its sand-and-saddles chops to prove that Westerns were a viable game genre all along.

But now that that point's finally been made, there are plenty of other film genres for games to try adapting next. Some haven't been touched since valiantly failed lo-fi efforts; others have never really been given a day in court. Maybe it's time to put the next Space Marines In Space title on the back-burner and try plugging a controller into one of these under-represented movie styles...

This amazing Brutal Legend cake was created and baked by stay at home mom Barbarann Gararrd for her son's 10th birthday. It's a sugary monster. A sponge beast. And it's got Eddie Riggs on the top.

Via Technabob

Looking at cake always makes us think of other cakes we have loved. So here, taken from our gallery of cake, are five other game-inspired treats that we would quite happily scoff right now.

When it comes to heavy metal, one of the pioneering “rock gods” is Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford. These days, he has his own clothing line and is helping new generations find music through games like Activision’s Guitar Hero and MTV Games’ Rock Band. Halford also starred in his first videogame last year, playing General Lionwhyte and The Baron in Tim Schafer’s Brutal Legend.

Pac-Man and Mario owned the 1980s. Sonic, Lara and Snake took over for the 1990s. Their games are considered classics. Their names are timeless and iconic. Their images are burned into the memory of every gamer, even those who were born after the characters themselves.

Now we have another ten years worth of heroes, villains, sidekicks and love interests to occupy our imagination. Which, however, will remain there?

A guide to guides: it’s like a wiki for a dictionary, or GPS for a map. Think of this as more of a best of the best for GamesRadar’s 2009 guides, cheats and hints. Here, you’ll find help for everything from collecting feathers while assassinating Renaissance-era noblemen, to lugging around dozens of laptops while murdering a small platoon of Russians.Don’t see what you want? We have a hoard of guides, codes and cheats over on CheatPlanet

THE INFO BOX
Post date: October 16, 2009
T-Dar 73 length: 1:46:28
Intro song by: Anamanaguchi
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You’ve experienced Brutal Legend’s heavy metal homage for yourself, and must now slake your bloodlust for collectibles! Leave it to the deliciously demented mind of Tim Schafer to give us the bondage-themed Bound Serpents. Removing the ball-gags from these bound serpents will give you a pleasantly unwholesome sense of release, and if that’s not enough will earn you gifts from the metal gods.

Brutal Legend features a face-melting number of collectibles. In this guide we’ll cover the most important ones – the locations of Motor Forges where you can spend your Fire Tributes to purchase upgrades, as well as the less-obvious Tab Slabs that unlock Solos to help you conquer the tougher Stage Battles.