A very short comedic tour through Metal-wonderland
Brutal Legend is a rather appealing game on the surface, featuring nicely done cartoonish graphics and a very well done set of sound effects. The music is obviously exclusively Metal, which depending on your likes is a good thing or a total stop sign. As I've already said, I'm not that into Metal, but I enjoyed the soundtrack as a whole and from what I can tell, it's very well put together. You'll be listening to Metal whenever riding your deuce (your vehicle, see GS review) and in most battle sequences, so you won't find a way around it, short of turning the sound off. So don't even think about getting this game if you're not ok with that. (Should be obvious.)
The game has a decent lighthearted story, that's got just about enough to drive you forward. There's some romance, some adventuring and lots of.. well fun. Tim Schafers influence is not missable, if you like his kind of humor, you're in for a treat. Don't expect an immersing storyline that will keep you hooked for days though, because for that it's too shallow and well, the game doesn't last for days.
The gameplay is actually very much like the story: Likable not lovable and rather shallow. The actual fighting (done with an axe and a guitar) is very simple and you will get by without any problems on any given difficulty by just mashing buttons. The "Stage Battles", which are supposed to be the highlight battles of the game, are entertaining, but mostly so straightforward that they get boring by the third or fourth time they come around. This heavily affects the joy of multiplayer, as sadly stage battles don't really become more fun when played against others.
When not following the main quest, there is a good number of sidequests to accomplish, to rack up some fire tributes (money) to upgrade your character. These sidequests are very generic and unnecessary in many ways. There are somewhere about 5 to 8 different kinds of sidequests (don't pin me down on numbers please) and you get to play each one of them in different locations multiple times. While some feel fresh the first few times (for example driving around in your deuce to mark spots for a mortar gunner, who's unable to calculate a good lead so he can actually hit anything) most of them are nothing but 'metalized' versions of usual quests. (Deliver sth quickly, defeat some evil dudes etc)
That being said, it's not even necessary to do more than a few sidequests, as the necessary upgrades (those that actually help) are few in numbers and even though it's fun to visit the guardian of metal (shopkeeper, played by Ozzy Osbourne), it's mostly a waste of time. The game is so easy that you will be able to beat even the final battle without really strengthening yourself too much.
The final point that makes the ship sink is the time it takes you to actually finish the game. The game lasted me two days and a total time of no more than 10 hours. I've spent some additional time running around the map to find the hidden goodies, but as those also mostly serve to increase your funds or to improve your character (which as I said is unneeded), there was little motivation to spend much time on that.
So my verdict would be to rent this game, if either you're "ok" with Metal and want to play a game with well written dialogue and witty humor, OR you're a big fan of Metal and want a game that hits you in the face with it. A lot. The score of seven, that I give this game, is mostly a tribute to it's writing. On gameplay alone I would have given it a 5. I'm sorry that I have to say so, as I had expected a whole lot more. Under no circumstance should anybody buy this game, as the SP is too short and the MP is not really worth mentioning. Don't waste your money on a 10 hour ride.