Well, this is the best news I’ve heard maybe all year. Tim Schafer’s upcoming heavy metal roadie action adventure Brütal Legend has finally found a new home. Before I tell you who it is, you should properly prepare—watch the sweet new teaser trailer above, then close your eyes and throw up the horns.
Are you still reading somehow? Okay, then open your eyes. It’s EA.
Yes, Double Fine is putting out this game through EA Partners, that wonderful independent-minded branch of the company that has given us Rock Band, The Orange Box, Left 4 Dead and Crysis (and Hellgate: London, but who’s counting). Brütal Legend is the latest score for a stacked-looking EA Partners lineup that also includes id Software’s Rage and whatever the crazy horror thing is that Suda51 is making at Grasshopper Manufacture.
This news just absolutely made my morning; I don’t even think I need coffee now. There’s a couple interesting things to note about this announcement, like how weird it is that a company that used to be demonized for releasing exploitative, non-innovative titles is now saving the strangest game from the corporate shenanigans of its largest rival. But watch that trailer again. Brütal Legend is weird, but it’s not Psychonauts weird. It’s got a hook that almost anyone can appreciate. With music games now in the broader cultural zeitgeist, could this be the first Schafer game in the last decade to become a blockbuster?
Man, I’m actually excited for the Spike VGAs now. I wonder if it’s even okay to say that.
Related Links:
Wet is All… Oh, Nevermind
A Peek Into Tim Schafer's Brain
A Decade of Gaming Excellence