Developer Tim Schafer has been delivering funny games for the past two decades, but none of them have enjoyed the marketing push of Brutal Legend . Gaming's best kept secret has been given the limelight. Has Schafer and his studio Double Fine created something worthy of all this attention?

Oh, hell yeah. This is one of the best games I've played all year and it provides something we don't find often enough in this industry: a unique experience. I'm pretty sure you've never played a game quite like this before. True, a game needs to be more than "different" to work -- it has to be fun. And Brutal Legend is a lot of fun.It all kicks off with a hilarious intro poking fun at the softer, more mainstream direction heavy metal has taken in the past couple decades. Brutal Legend is front heavy with the humor stuff, though. While the first half hour will have you shooting milk through your nose, the laughs eventually taper off leaving you with a story that is rich and bizarre but lacking in the bite of the opening scenes. Brutal Legend is a celebration of classic heavy metal and takes every cheap shot it can at hair metal, nu metal, and other diluted variations on the genre. While the ultimate evil and its minions are truly terrible monsters, the lesser bad guys are made up to resemble glam rockers or emo kids. It will appeal most to those that spent at least some of their formative years as angsty headbangers although it isn't exclusionary.The story takes plenty of twists and turns along the way and deals with some interesting themes of quiet heroism and personal sacrifice. Our hero, Eddie Riggs, is a roadie and knows his place is out of the spotlight. He's not here for glory -- he's here to make someone else look good. Riggs keeps this same attitude even when he is warped back in time and has the chance to be a real hero and save the world. Brutal Legend doesn't take itself too seriously, but at the same time the story has some substance.When it comes time to play the game instead of watching you'll find a mix of genres coming together to create a variety of gameplay opportunities. Most of the story missions are real-time strategy battles that find you commanding troops on a battlefield made up to look like an epic rock concert. But the ability to join the fight and deal out a little justice of your own adds some action to the strategy. Outside of story missions the game can be a beat 'em up or a shooter or a racer. The pieces all come together well without any of these mechanics feeling tacked on or inadequate.The RTS-style battles turn out to be great fun in multiplayer, too. Here players can choose to lead any of the game's three factions, giving folks a chance to play the bad guys. Up to eight people can join the fight online with four on each side. There are seven maps, each with the simple goal of destroying your opponents' base. The mode is great fun and happily extends the life of Brutal Legend after a shorter single-player campaign.Brutal Legend lives up to its name: there is plenty of delightful gore to be found here, although the cartoon art style softens the effect. Heads are chopped off, blood is splattered, and faces melted, but it's all in good fun. The game is rated M for Mature, so theoretically if you're playing you're old enough to appreciate that sort of thing, but regardless you can choose to turn the gore on or off at any time. That might be a handy feature if you have kids that wander into the room from time to time while you're playing. The same can be done with the game's harsh language -- you'll even get the classic Parental Advisory sticker over any middle fingers that are flipped.