Brütal Legend is a third person action-adventure game incorporating real time strategy elements.[4] The game uses an open world that Tim Schafer has described as being approximately 40 square miles (100 km2) in area.[4] The player controls the protagonist Eddie Riggs, a roadie who one day finds himself transported into a heavy metal-themed fantasy 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 Druid Plow", a.k.a. "The Deuce".[4] Spells, referred to as "Solos", from Clementine are performed by playing a minigame akin to the note-matching aspect of Guitar Hero or Rock Band over a brief guitar riff; however, Eddie cannot use the metal generated by Clementine constantly, as prolonged usage of the guitar will cause it to overheat, and the player will have to wait for a cool-off period before using the guitar's power again.[5] Eddie may also find more solos hidden throughout the world, ranging from support to offensive spells. The player can spend in-game currency called "Fire Tributes", earned from completing missions, at the Motor Forge to gain new abilities and upgrades for each tool.[6] These tools can be used in combination with each other to take out Eddie's foes; for example, the player can use his guitar Clementine to create pyrotechnics to launch a foe into the air and follow up by attack it with the Separator axe. In a case of a specific boss fight, the player must use the Deuce hot rod to lure the boss to a spiked gate held up by counterweights, and then play the "Earthshaker" move on Clementine to destroy the weights and sever the creature's head.[4]
Within the open world, the player can use a map and the Deuce's turn signals to guide them towards either story-advancing missions or side missions. Side missions include hot-rod races against a demon, defending Eddie's allies from a pending attack, or helping a cannon operator spot his targets. There are about 23 main missions in the story with 30 side missions that the player can optionally take.[4] The player can also explore the game's world to find statues bound in leather or chains that can be freed to gain a health boost for Eddie or to reveal part of the game's backstory, and can look through special telescopes at vistas or complete certain jumps to earn additional Fire Tributes. The player can also find monuments they can raise that unlock an additional heavy metal song from the game's soundtrack that can be played on the Deuce's radio, "The Mouth of Metal"; the player can further customize its set list with songs they have been rewarded with or have collected.[4][7]Several main story missions of the game are Stage Battles based on real time strategy elements. The player, while still in control of Eddie, is required to defend a giant stage where new allies will spawn, holding out until a specific objective is completed. The player creates an army for attacks by building merchandise booths on "fan geysers" through Clementine's magic. Once enough fans are collected, the player can summon different allies, each consuming a specific number of fans, or upgrade their stage to allow them to produce more powerful allies. A character known as Mangus acts as the "sound guy" to help in the construction of these units and stage upgrades, and also warns the player of enemy attacks.[5] Once the player has gathered their army, they can then seek out and attack their opponents.[8] Eddie is able to control the entire army to follow, attack, or defend a point, and can use specialized squads of specific units to perform certain tasks, such as having a group of headbangers use their headbanging to destroy statues.[4] The player can also use Eddie directly in combat during these battles. Ultimately, Eddie transforms into a winged demon who can fly above the battlefields to issue orders or lay out attacks.[5] Spells in Eddie's arsenal can help control the performance of his armies, such as temporarily boosting their attack skills or creating a rally flag which troops will gather at, while others hinder the performance of the enemy faction by removing enemy buffs or preventing the creation of enemy units for a short time. Each of the different units, including special allies that Eddie meets in the game, has 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. These co-op moves are also available outside of Stage Battle missions.[4]The game has a multiplayer mode, described by Schafer as "your typical head-to-head, battle of the bands scenario. But with axes."[4] The multiplayer modes are team-based and play in the same manner as the single-player Stage Battles, with team sizes from one-versus-one to four-versus-four.[7][9] 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 are Ironheade, mostly human-based troops visually inspired by classic Heavy Metal led by Eddie Riggs; The Drowning Doom, with more Goth/Black Metal undead led by Drowned Ophelia; and The Tainted Coil, evil Industrial Metal BDSM/religion-themed demons controlled by Doviculus.[10] 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.[11] Different types of troops are available, costing various numbers 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. All of the troops can be engaged by the player to initiate various "Double Team" moves as with the single player game. The game can also be played by a single player with computer-controller opponents at one of five difficulty levels.[12]Synopsis