Here's what people are going to remember about Brutal Legend: Jack Black as Eddie Riggs. This isn't a star showing up and talking into a microphone for a bullet point on the back of the box and a nice paycheck on the way out of the studio, this is a performance with real heart. Black introduces the game in a quick video when you first place the disc in, and he's been working publicity for the title like a champ—all these things add up to make his vocal work one of the high points of the game.

Of course, when you're speaking the words of the now-legendary Tim Schafer, the mind behind the dialog in games like Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, and Psychonauts, it helps. This is a man who wrote a game that's a love letter to heavy metal music; it's no surprise he and Jack Black were such a tight fit when it came to making the game as fun to listen to and watch as it is.

The problem is that the game simply isn't very fun to play.

Title Brutal Legend Developer Double Fine Publisher EA Price $59.99 Shop.ars Platform PS3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed)

The introduction to the game, what you played in the demo, remains fun and funny, not to mention attractive. When the demo cuts off and the game proper begins, problems pop up immediately. The frame rate is inconsistent, with frequent stutters, drops, and pauses, and texture pop-in is something you'll see often. What's frustrating is that these issues are constant, and don't seem to match up with anything that's on your screen; even during slow scenes with nothing taxing going on, you'll see these glitches and hiccups.

It seems like EA had marketing budget to spare, so why not spend the time and money to make sure the game ran smoothly? There is nothing special about the graphics of Brutal Legend that would explain these technical problems. The art direction is great, but the current-generation systems should hardly be taxed by what's happening on screen.

The fundamentals aren't there

The combat is a combination of using your ax for close battles and your guitar for ranged attacks, and the fighting never feels very precise or satisfying. In many instances you'll be fighting alongside your own troops, and the enemy will be nothing but a slightly different-colored version of the same character model, so it's hard to tell friend from foe. Sadly, in those cases it's easiest just to go in swinging; your friends won't react to being hit, and even if you slam into them with your car they simply become immovable objects.

The game features an interesting real-time strategy mechanic for large-scale battles. Your team constructs a stage, and you "harvest" fans by playing a guitar solo over geysers of what look to be souls from the underground. Once you've played the solo and set up your "merch booth" you can select your units and lead them into battle. It's a good idea, but in practice the controls for moving your troops and organizing your strategy are imprecise. It's often better to simply wade in with Eddie and take out as many enemies as you can before dying. When you are overtaken, the "fans" simply lift you up and you're back in the action.

This RTS-lite idea also makes up the game's single-player, and once again, it's simply not a very satisfying mechanic. Instead of mediocre standard combat mixed with a mediocre real-time strategy game, a deeper focus on one or the other would have served the game much better. This feels more like an experiment that didn't quite live up to its promise.

The rest of the game is filled with "go there and kill these guys" or "go there, kill this boss, and get this and bring it back to me" types of missions. The side missions that allow you to gain fire offerings to upgrade your car and weapons fall victim to repetition: there are only a few types of repeating missions, and they get old quickly. Driving around and exploring the land is fun—especially once you gain the ability to set up your own playlist of the over 100 metal songs, all expertly picked—but the graphics of the overworld can be seriously bland. Even with exploration and leveling up your equipment, the main story will be over a little too quickly.

It's not all bad

The art direction is great, and the story itself is just about enough to keep you interested in the game until you see the credits. It helps that the rest of the voice talent is made up of some of heavy music's biggest names. Here's my question: how the hell did they get Ozzy to sound so clear and engaged? This is a man who mumbles his way through life, and his voice work is one of the many high points when it comes to the game's list of characters and cameos. He sounds world-weary but also spry and rowdy. It's either a magic trick, or some great post-processing work.

This is a game that's going to sell very well, and our disappointment may have come from our high expectations. There is much to like here, but the things that matter, the gameplay and the action, simply don't stand up. Metal fans are in for a treat: this is a game written by someone who understands and loves the music, but gamers may be left cold by the experience. A great concept, an intriguing world, wonderful writing, brilliant voice acting—but half-baked gameplay, graphics, and technology.

It could have been worse, but man, it could have been a whole hell of a lot better.

Verdict: Rent