Gameplay:
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.[5] The player controls the protagonist Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), a roadie who 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".[5] Upgrades to these tools will be found about the world to give them new moves or abilities and can also be purchased using in-game currency called "Fire Tributes" at the Motor Forge.[6] These tools can be used in combination with each other to take out Eddie's foes; for example, the player can use Clementine to create pyrotechnics to launch a foe into the air and follow up by attack it with the Separator. In a case of a specific boss fight, the player must use the Deuce to lure the boss to a spot, and then play the "Earthshaker" song on Clementine to bring down weights.[5] Eddie cannot use the magic generated by Clementine constantly, as prolonged usage of the guitar will result in it turning red hot, and the player will have to wait for a cool-off period before using the guitar's power again.[7] There are reportedly about 23 main missions in the story with 30 side missions that the player can optionally take.[5] The player will also be able to find real metal songs, selected by Schafer for the game, that can be played on the Deuce's radio, "The Mouth of Metal" once collected, with the user able to add or remove songs that they wish to hear.[5][8]

During the game, the player will meet several allies for Eddie. Each ally will have a special co-op move they can perform with Eddie; for example, Eddie's first ally, Ophelia, can be tossed at foes by Eddie in the style of the Fastball Special.[5] Eddie is also able to control squads, and order them to perform certain tasks, such as having a group of headbangers use their headbanging to destroy statues.[5] Eddie can create an army for attacks by tapping "fan geysers", done by creating merchandise booths or stages and then performing a summoning minigame, akin to the note-matching aspect of Guitar Hero or Rock Band. A character known as Mangus will act as the "sound guy" to help in the construction of these units.[7] Once the player has collected their army, they can then seek out to attack their opponents using their army as minions or directly with the main character.[9] Ultimately, Eddie will transform into a winged demon which the player can use to fly above the battlefields to issue orders or to lay out attacks.[7]

The game will have a multiplayer mode, which as described by Schafer as "your typical head-to-head, battle of the bands scenario. But with axes."[5] The multiplayer modes are team-based and play out as a simplified real-time strategy game, including a four-on-four "skirmish" mode(this being the only mode announced up till now),single-player campaign.[8][10][11][12] Each team selects from one of three factions which affect what resources and troops they can summon, and are tasked with defending their stage from attack by the other team. The three factions available include the Ironhead, mostly human-based troops led by Eddie Riggs, The Drowning Doom, with more mythological creatures led by Ophelia, and The Tainted Coil, evil creatures controlled by Doviculus.[13] Each player controls a single main avatar who has the same abilities as in the main game for combat and magic spells and can also fly about the map, but also is in control of troops that they may summon from the team's shared resources—fans as generated by fan geysers across the map. Different types of troops are available, costing various amounts of fans to summon, with the potential to upgrade to improved units through different routes. The number and types of troops that can be summoned is limited by a cap to prevent either team from becoming too overpowered. Nearly all of the troops can be engaged by the player to initiate various co-op moves as with the single player game. The game can also be played by a single player with AI bots at one of five difficulty levels.

Plot

Eddie Riggs faces off against a Grim Reaper in Brütal LegendBrütal Legend follows the story of Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black and named after Eddie the Head, the mascot of Iron Maiden, and Derek Riggs, the artist who created Eddie), who is the world's best roadie for the world's worst "heavy metal" band, Kabbage Boy.[5][14] The game begins one night during a gig. When the lead guitarist falls from a part of the set, constructed by Riggs, Eddie catches him, but the piece of scenery breaks off and lands on top of Eddie. His blood drips onto his cursed belt buckle, which is really an amulet for Ormagöden, "The Fire Beast, Cremator of the Sky, and Destroyer of the Ancient World".[5] Ormagöden awakens, kills the members of Kabbage Boy, and transports Eddie into a heavy metal and Nordic fantasy inspired alternate history where demons have enslaved humanity. Eddie comes to learn that the fantasy world was created by a race of ancient Titans who left numerous relics and instructions for the following generations behind for them to use to build upon, but neither humans nor demons could decipher their meanings. Only Eddie, due to his roadie skills, is able to make sense of their meanings and can put the Titans' wisdom to use.[15] While Eddie is seen as the "chosen one", it is unclear whether he is the savior or the destroyer of the world.[6]

Eddie escapes the Temple of Ormagöden where he first arrives in the world. Eddie meets Ophelia, a love interest likened to the same character from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Ophelia is soon severely injured and Riggs must climb a mystical mountain to do battle with a motorcycle-driving bass guitarist called the Kill Master (voiced by Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister). Eddie soon meets Lita Halford and her younger brother, Lars, who help Eddie and Ophelia start a resistance movement against Lord Doviculus (voiced by Tim Curry), his glam metal minion, General Lionwhyte (voiced by Rob Halford) (whose hair is so luscious he uses it to fly) and their legions of demons to free the world.[5] Eddie will also encounter the local wildlife, including half-boar/half-motorcycle "Razorfires", a giant three-tongued lamprey, and giant chrome spiders that spin magical bass strings instead of spider webs.

After the first act of the game, Eddie will deal with a community of humans who willingly fight alongside the demons. They wear black and "drink from a sea of black tears. It gives them great power but also makes them look dead." These enemies include "Grave Diggers", "Brides" and "Reapers".

In the game's first trailer, a demon tells Eddie that his belt buckle is a mask "forged from the steel flesh of the fire beast", and that it was meant for "a god, [not for you. Not for...] a roadie". Eddie then snaps the demon's neck and charges into battle with the Headbangers to the tunes of Black Sabbath's "The Mob Rules". The trailer also shows that Eddie has the ability to sprout wings so he can fly. According to the Game Informer article, "his blood hides a dark secret and his wings are the proof".