This, of course, is what the master tacticians of EA marketing want you to think.

What happens when a free-roaming adventure jumps genres and goes from God of War pummeling to Command and Conquer strategy? If those descriptions are all over the map, that’s actually Brutal Legend in a nutshell. Does Legend’s hybrid mash-up of free-roaming adventure meets driving, meets strategy, equal the sum of its parts? Or, is Brutal Legend all metal angst and hilarious – but squandered – potential?

The Props:
Brutal Legend’s strongest suit is the heavy hand of gaming’s wittiest writer, Tim Schafer. From the evocative character designs to the high-energy score, you don’t have to be a fan of rock or even a long-time fan of video gaming to see that the developers at Double Fine put such an outstanding effort into the presentation, that you’ll probably enjoy experiencing the game no matter how it plays. It’s a gorgeous world that might not be the most technically impressive if, say, Gears of War 2 or Uncharted is your benchmark. Artistically however, Brutal Legend is possibly one of the most visually imaginative games of this generation. I get giddy simply going into the world to look around, and in an age where every game fumbles over the other to topple the last game graphically, Brutal Legend’s artistry has staying power.

Musically, it’s a sonic boom in ode to the heavy metal action noise of the 80s . Credit goes to Schafer for demystifying the ‘devil’s music’, ie, those Metallica, Slayer, and Judas Priest songs that black kids like me grew up running and screaming from. Schafer finds humor and humanity in the absurdity and playfulness of it all, utilizing even the most demonic classic rock imagery and creating a compelling world where the greatest fault lies in the game not allowing us to explore it enough.

Jack Black and the cast of voice actors from previous Schafer games do an outstanding job of pulling you into what is essentially an interactive animated movie. There really is a rich world here, with a back story earnestly played about fire gods, fallen demons, and the glory of metal. Brutal Legend’s journey alternates between incredibly funny and deadly serious, with romance, drama, and enough honest-to-goodness reverence for these characters that you’ll often find yourself desperate to get back to the cuts-scenes. It’s an experience that any long-time gamer should play at least once.

The Wack:
Unfortunately, for all of the love and attention to the characters, writing, and art, the actual game play is a mess of excess. Brutal Legend is part driving game, part free-roaming adventure, and about 85% Real Time Strategy game. The designers borrow elements from other franchises with reckless abandon. Access special worlds and abilities via a Guitar Hero mechanic, playing chords in a pseudo rhythm game to unlock power-ups. Drive around GTA style via a free roaming world in The Deuce, your makeshift hotrod, and you’re able to get around the world faster – but the designers put such little thought into giving you reason to explore the world or in diversifying the side-missions (racing quests or quick battle sneak attacks), that anything involving the over world feels like an afterthought.

Truth be told, it probably was.

There is a car, but no hint of a mini-map, thus making it frustratingly easy to get lost during the game’s many race sub games. There’s money for upgrading yourself and your vehicle, but most of it you really don’t need. The over world inhabitants can be passed without incident, unless you’re really just looking for something to do to break up the missions.

It’s a shame because the lack of mission variety gives very little reason to explore a world BEGGING to be explored. No secret caves or villages or lands beyond the sea. The over world that you play in the demo, and the one that the marketing campaigns show over and again, is one that you’ll barely ever see unless you make an effort to. Unfortunately, you’ll spend the bulk of your time engaged in the game’s most frustrating and dominant mechanic: The RTS-heavy Stage Battles.

There’s a strong concept here. Had the game been a solid combat game alone, or perhaps a strong exploration heavy adventure, there’d be a whole lot less complaint. It’s when Brutal Legend introduces a complete strategy game, with resource gathering, sub units, and special attacks, that your heart will soar at how cool this game could be, then sink when you realize how horribly the RTS has been implemented.

Like Kingdom Under Fire before it, Brutal Legend gets daring in allowing gamers to control troops from a sky-high vantage point, or down and dirty at ground level, fighting action-game style with your rag-tag rock band. There’s resource management (collecting fans) and base-building (your concert stage), and even troop management (members of your band) – all analogously re-branded in Brutal Legend’s clever mythology. Not only is this strategy-heavy game play the bulk of the 6+ hour campaign, but it’s the whole of the multiplayer component. Frankly, if you want longevity from Brutal Legends, you’d better grow to love the multiplayer. More, you’d better be willing to spend a lot of time learning the intricacies of a very awkward RTS combat system.

Good luck with that.

Brutal Legend promises the moon with three well-rounded factions (the mobile humans, the powerful demons, and the swarming goth undead), but totally misses the boat with terribly clumsy controls during battles.

Good luck trying to effectively isolate troops or in attempting actual strategic placements and attacks. Troops don’t consistently respond to commands, will attack broad areas without the option to do otherwise, and seem only good for doing the ONE thing Schafer has publically gone on record saying should be employed: The one-on-one double team attacks.

Standing next to any troop type and pressing Y allows you to engage in a powerful special attack unique to that troop. Standing with one character might kick off a powerful sword strike. Tapping Y near a vehicle, and you can man the gun’s turrets. Stand near a group of your head-banging brute soldier class, and kick off a powerful ‘mosh pit’ where you lead the whole troop into pummeling a single adversary.

Clearly, this is how Schafer wants the game to be played to begin with. Again, not a bad mechanic in an action game, but considering that the strategy almost always devolves into finding a troop type, flooding the map, and special Y attacking your foes to death, the complicated and wasted real time strategy elements stay consistent with the rest of the game’s wasted potential. Considering that the RTS element really is the bulk of the game, you’d better learn to love it or hate it if you want any long-term value.

So Basically…
Despite all of the venom, I enjoyed playing Brutal Legend. The cut-scenes and the beautiful-but-underdeveloped world make it a prime suspect for future DLC. More, although the RTS element doesn’t even come into the top tier of the genre on the console, it’s playable. The diversity of the different classes is fantastic, and the ability to play real-live opponents online might make this a title worth revisiting with some DLC tweaking.

Brutal Legend could’ve used more development and a lot more over world missions, but it’s tough for me to dissuade anyone from buying the game. It really is that charming. Brutal Legend’s reach far surpasses what it actually accomplishes, but for my 60 bucks, I’d rather shoot for ambition than cliché’d perfection.

In this tough economy, Brutal Legend is worth a rental. Depending on what Electronic Arts announces regarding future plans for the game, I’d argue that Brutal Legend is a beautiful failure, but a trip well worth taking…even if there are stumbles along the way. Rock on.

Feature: A+

First it was the penguin, and now the panda has become the new star on the animal parade in a big way. In Kung Fu Panda, Jack Black breathes big life into Po, noodle-hustling, chop saki flick dreaming giant panda bear. Po’s father, Mr. Ping (played by the great James Hong) has cemented a future for Po selling noodles for a living but the Eastern baloo has a bigger destiny. Like many Asian cultures where parents have set before their children a path of employment, Po has difficulty in telling his father he wants to take up kung fu and train to become a freedom fighter in the Valley of Peace. No child wants to think about what a stable and a good life the family trade can provide, they want to live out their dreams and shoot for the moon.

So, Po ditches his noodle stand on the way to the Dragon Warrior coronation, assumed to be one of the Furious Five warriors. Grand Master Oogway, an ancient tortoise (Randall Duk Kim) believes it best to appoint the next Dragon Warrior after having a vision that the dangerous Tai Lung, a rebellious former student of his and Master Shifu’s will break out of his prison and destroy the village. When Po crashes the ceremony he finds Oogway’s finger pointed at him. Po’s stature, weight, and nature as a hungry and rotund bear who doesn’t know a thing about being a true warrior makes him the unlikeliest of heroes, but a prophecy is a prophecy and Oogway makes it certain that a mistake was not made. Doubters of the prophecy, Master Shifu and the Furious Five, must now train Po and intercept Tai Lung before he makes it to the village.

I’ve never been fond of Dreamworks’ animation style whether it was Shrek or Bee Movie, but they struck gold with big black-and-white. The true stars of these films are not the voices behind the curtains but the animators who work the long hours to make it look this good, and Dreamworks set a new bar for themselves with Kung Fu Panda. They did however go overboard on the voice talent, especially with the Furious Five. Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Seth Rogan (Mantis), David Cross (Crane), Lucy Liu (Viper) and even Jackie Chan (who I’m sure was picked apart by the animators a lot for Monkey) really didn’t add anything memorable. They managed to keep Rogan’s barreling laugh out of the film, and while Jolie bears some sort of regal quality as Tigress, I can’t remember anything quotable from anyone but Black’s Po. Dustin Hoffman (Master Shifu), Michael Clarke Duncan and Ian McShane (the evil Tai Lung) though, do bring their A-games and make sure that Black isn’t the only one noticeable in the film.

Whether they’re designed for kids or adults, good films are still good films and Kung Fu Panda is a blast from start-to-finish! It’s full of exciting, epic, animated fights that look and feel amplified in high definition grounded by a fast-paced story full of intense moments the deserve a cheer or two by the end. Most importantly you’ll have fun with Po who in his own way embraces the culture instead of mocking it. And with the help of his persistent teachers, Po finds a way of making his deficiencies major advantages in life’s biggest struggles.

PRESENTATION: A

Packaging is basic standard blu-ray affair, but there’s a tasteful animated menu with silhouettes of Po and the Secret Five. The initial disc load has trailers for Madagascar 2 and Monsters vs. Aliens which looks to be pretty good. Intermediate load screens feature a bowl of dancing dumplings, and the transition animations keep you in the Kung-Fu Panda theme at all times. One glitch in the disc is that if the menu stays idle too long, say, 5-10 minutes, the film starts up again, or if you stopped in the middle watching the film or the commentary to see something, it will start back where you left off. So don’t think your player is possessed, it’s the disc. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese and a Trivia Track.

AUDIO: A+

The stellar English 5.1 Dolby True-HD track is very lively and active. Sound is traveling around your head and through your chest but most importantly the dialogue is synched well, and is clear even at low levels. Action sequences especially create a whirlwind environment of spatial effects with plenty of resounding punches and kicks. 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks is also available in French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

VIDEO: A+

This is Dreamworks Animation’s best looking film by far! In 2.35:1 ratio and 1080p, Po’s hair is amazing in all of his awesomeness, details in the backgrounds are clear, and this is one of the most refreshing and vivid color palettes that I’ve seen in some time. Lush reds and blues cast against a pure black background in Tai Lung’s escape, and when Po tries to enter the monk palace for the Dragon Warrior ceremony, the animators show off with the confetti. It’s a great looking film and I know this sounds like hyperbole, but Kung Fu Panda visually, can stand alongside some of the great Disney films.

EXTRAS: B+

All of the featurettes and vignettes are in 1080p, widescreen, and Dolby Digital 2.0 surround sound and are grouped into four sub-categories: Inside Kung Fu Panda, Po’s Power Play, Land of the Panda, and Sounds and Moves of Kung Fu Panda.

Inside Kung Fu Panda contains most of the behind the scene stuff but exclusive to the blu-ray is the Animator’s Corner. This is a variation of the excellent Filmmaker’s Commentary but the Corner utilizes a picture-in-picture box that shows video of the commentary, as well as animatics, storyboards, interviews, voice recording sessions with actors, and video of animators working on the film. Some of these are bits and pieces of the other extras found on the disc. Viewers can switch the commentary on or off, and the animator’s corner at any given time during the movie. There is a noticeable drop in volume from the audio commentary to the animator’s corner. Also a Trivia Track is accessible in the same menu with pop-up facts spread throughout the film. Meet the Cast (13:18) interviews all of the cast members and a peek into their recording sessions. Pushing the Boundaries (7:08) explores the technology of animating, fur, clothes, and other challenges. Jack Black does a PSA for Team Earth in Conservation International: Help Save Wild Pandas (2:00) a mission to save the planet and preserve the habitat of the Panda bears.

The Po’s Power Play submenu holds some fun and games which you can play. They probably won’t retain an adults attention too long, but kids will love the going through the 5 Dragon Warrior Training Academy games. Or if that’s not enough the Dumpling Shuffle is a modified version of the Shell game with a dumpling and 3 bowls. Learn to Draw (32:00) are step by step tutorials on how to draw each of the main characters in one pose. The tutorial for Po is performed by the actual animator.

In the Land of the Panda submenu are a handful of shorts on the Chinese culture. Alton Brown shows how a master noodle chef breaks dough in Mr. Ping’s Noodle House (4:43), Food Network’s Alton Brown shows how a master chef breaks dough into noodle. How to Use Chopsticks (2:55) is a video tutorial on how to use chopsticks and proper etiquette and Chinese table manners. Inside the Chinese Zodiac (11:33) is an on-screen Chinese restaurant place mat listing traits, suitable companions, rivals, and celebrities for each symbol. People can find out what symbol they are based on what year they were born but it could have been simplified. Animals of Kung Fu Panda (6:18) have kids demonstrating the different attack and fighting methods mimic the real world animals. Related to that is the What Fighting Style Are You? which is set up like those annoying facebook applications where you answer a bunch of questions which then calculates what type of fighting style suits your personality.

The Sounds and Moves of Kung Fu Panda is a mixed bag of nuts depending on who you are. If you’re a little kid or parent, these features are more for you. However if you’re just a film fan the only one extra of note is Sound Design (3:54) where Ethan Van Der Ryn (lord of the Rings, King Kong) explains how they designed the sound effects palette for the film. Cee-Lo covers Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting” in a music video (2:29) with Jack Black and bunch of kids doing karate. Learn the Panda Dance (4:32) is a short aerobics/hip-hop routine and Do You Kung Fu? (24:13) extensively looks at learning the different stances of each style of kung-fu represented in the film. The DreamWorks Animation Video JukeBox is a bunch of short music videos promoting Dreamworks animation films such as, Bee Movie (Here Comes the Sun), Madagascar (I Like to Move It, Move It), Flushed Away (Dancing With Myself), Shark Tale (Car Wash), Shrek (I’m a Believer) Shrek 2 (Living La Vida Loca) Shrek the Third (Losing Streak) Over the Hedge (Rocking the Suburbs). Finally are the two trailers that open the disc: Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa and Monsters vs. Aliens.

On the BD Live tip, there are two special features: Po Around the World, which runs under a half hour showing scenes in different languages and A Day in the Life: A Shaolin Monk in Training, available only for a limited time.

Black Belt Achieved – Overall Shock Value: A

I was hesitant to see Kung-Fu Panda in the theaters even though the premise looked funny. I’ve never been disappointed with Jack Black but honestly, one gets tired of seeing American-made films about martial arts with “Kung-Fu Fighting” in the soundtrack. It appeared so antiseptic and the corporate white vision of ancient Chinese culture, but I was proven wrong, there’s a lot to enjoy out of this family pic that will get bellies rolling and people saying, “Ska-doosh” at the most inappropriate of times. It got an infectious and honest appeal. With this blu-ray release, Dreamworks put together a lush and beautiful feature with all the high def fixins to please any home theater. The extras are touch and go if you’re a film buff, but the aimed target audience, parents and their kids, will get plenty of mileage out of them. Make sure Kung Fu Panda gets on your short-list of must-have blu-rays.