Brütal Legend

[Nubbins]

So Tim Schafer (Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, etc.) is developing a new game due out in October.  The main character is voiced by Jack Black.

Brütal Legend is a third person action/adventure game that uses an open world that Tim Schafer has described as being approximately 64 km2. in area.[4] The player controls the protagonist Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), a roadie that one day finds himself stuck in a fantasy heavy metal world. Eddie acquires three tools that are used for combat and transportation: a broad axe called "The Separator", his Flying V guitar "Clementine" from his own world which has the ability to cast magic spells in the heavy metal world, and a hot rod that Eddie builds called "The Deuce", a.k.a. "The Druid Plow".

I remember the Monkey Island games from my childhood (386, hell yeah!) as some of my absolute favorite.  If you never played them, they were kind of like King's Quest only they were funny and a lot more fun to play.  Day of the Tentacle and most of the other games he's been involved with were the same way, so needless to say I am really pumped about this game.  It will probably suck. 

[Nubbins]

Picked this up last night because it's been getting great reviews.  I am pleased to say that it is a BLAST! 

You play Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), a roadie for some super shitty Nu-metal band.  During a concert, something goes wrong and Eddie leaps into action to save a band member from falling to his death.  In doing so, a piece of the stage collapses, crushing Eddie beneath a pile of rubble.  As he lies on stage bleeding, blood runs into his belt buckle which turns out to be a magical talisman and Eddie is transported to a strange, heavy metal world filled with demons ruled by an evil guy with a leather head (voiced by Tim Curry).  Eddie wakes to find a fuckoff huge axe laying next to him and almost immediately he grabs it and begins to lop off demon's heads.  Eddie's also armed with a guitar that, when played, makes people burst into flames.  It can also be used to play special riffs learned along the way that do various sorts of things like erect stages, inspire people to revolt or summon your badass hotrod, Deuce.

The biggest complaints I've read so far have been that the game is repetitive.  I'm only a couple hours into the whole thing, but I can already see how it could get a bit old.  Aside from the quest aspect of it, at its core this game is a rudimentary button masher. 

To me, as an avid metal head and someone who's played almost all of Tim Schafer's older computer games, this game is an entirely worthwhile experience.  The dialogue is second to none (there have been several laugh-out-loud moments in the first hour alone) and the heavy metal world he's created is just incredible... it's almost like playing an episode of Metalocalypse.

Highlights so far have been watching a Nu-metal band get beheaded and battling my way up a mountain to go hang with Lemmy from Motorhead.  The soundtrack kicks all sorts of ass and I can't wait to get to some of the other celebrity cameos like Lita Ford and Ozzy. 

If you have a PS3 or 360, definitely check this one out!