Electronic Arts today announced a new batch of downloadable content from Tim Shafer’s Brutal Legend by the name of “Hammer of Infinite Fate” coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 next week.

The content for the third-person metal-infused action/adventure game introduces a series of new skins, weapon upgrades, multiplayer maps and unlockable achievements to the world.

Eddie Riggs

With the DLC gamers can deck out main character Eddie Riggs in three new outfits, namely the Mountain Man, Black Metal and Zaulia Threads and can enjoy four new multiplayer maps and new outfitting, including the Oculus of the Lost, a GPS-type device for Eddie’s ride, The Deuce which points to valuable items.

Creator and designer Tim Schafer loves his game and is an all-around funny guy.

“I’m excited about the beard, or course, and the new achievements and trophies,” said Tim Schafer, President of Double Fine Productions. “But the thing I really can’t wait to get my hands on is that Oculus of the Lost. Using it to find the last Bound Serpent isn’t cheating, because it looks so cool on my car.”

The Hammer of Infinite Fate comes to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Dec. 17 for $4.99 and 480 MS Points ($6) respectively. Why do 360 gamers need to pay more? Could be a misprint (we’ll update if EA does) or maybe EA just doesn’t like you 360 fans.

In a world dominated by metal you might think there’s no room for anything else, but that’s not the case!

Electronic Arts today detailed downloadble content for “Brutal Legend,” naming the Tears of the Hextadon map pack the item in question.

It’ll sell on Xbox Live for 400 MS Points and over the PlayStation Network at no cost whatsoever. No mention was made as to why EA elected to grant the wares to PS3 gamers for free, but we won’t complain if you won’t.

The DLC consists of two multiplayer environments dubbed Cirlce of Tears and Death Fjord and are locations where your Stage Battling skills will be tested and hopefully proven to foes as the lands are twisted and full of perilous icy mountain ranges.

But what does game-creator Tim Schafer think about the DLC?

“I play Brƒ¼tal Legend online every night” said Tim Schafer, President of Double Fine Productions. “And I need more maps! Circle of Tears is named after the crying of my vanquished foes on the battlefield, and Death’s Fjord is obviously a tribute to my Nordic ancestors, and their love of fan geysers and”¦ Well, actually I just thought the name was cool. See you online!”

Yes, Tim, we will see you online, but why won’t you accept my friend request!

In a world infused with danger, violence and betrayal, only one thing can save humanity. Its power is far reaching, its strength proven, and its determination cemented in history. What is this savior force? It’s pure, unabridged and unrelenting Metal. The kind of music you don’t just listen to, you hear.

Double Fine Productions, led by creative director Tim Schafer (Psychonauts), hoped to capture the root essence of metal in their latest body of work, Brutal Legend. Did they succeed? The short answer is yes, the team struck a resounding power-chord and shook the world.

Brutal Legend tells the tale of Eddie Riggs, a proud roadie who, when we meet him, works for Kabbage Boy, a rap/pop/metal band who don’t see metal the way Eddie does. Nevertheless, according to Riggs, “a good roadie stays out of the spotlight” and so does his job without interruption.

Brutal Legend is an M-rated game, but in this first scene you’re given the option to hear swears or have them bleeped out as well as see all the blood, or skip it entirely. I, of course, went for all swears and blood possible, and to truly experience the metal world, you should probably too. Just be wary of children/parents/gnomes, in the next room who might not enjoy the cursing and flowing insides.

After a lengthy, detailed, and eventful opening cutscene, events finally come to fruition and Eddie is knocked unconscious and sent to a fantasy world embedded with metal at every corner and plagued by death by the domineering evil ruler Doviculous.

Brutal Legend is a third-person action adventure game with enough of a real-time-strategy element and open-worldliness to be noteworthy. Sound like too many genres at once? It’s not, and it works very well.

Where some games try to incorporate multiple genres and fail, Brutal Legend succeeds.

The game has three core game-play elements; open-world, mission-based, and large scale real-time-strategy battles.

At times you’ll be tasked with traveling from one end of the land to the next, traversing its hilly, sometimes barren, but always metal environments to get from mission to mission, and can easily do so in The Deuce, your upgradable and badass vehicle.

The mission-structure of Brutal Legend plays out in a “talk to this guy”¦start that level” kind of way. And the variance in mission tasks is phenomenal. In one level you’ll recruit literal head-bangers in a fiery mine to join your cause, and in the next you’ll be tasked with fending off Razorfires as they attack your precious tour bus. In the world of Brutal Legend anything goes and everything works.

The third facet of game-play in Brutal Legend is its real-time-strategy element. Admittedly, my knowledge and skill at RTS games is rudimentary at best, but this didn’t matter. Throughout the game you’ll recruit different allies into your rebel group and in the large-scale battles will need to employ them effectively to succeed.

In these RTS-moments called “Stage Battles” your goal is to destroy the opposing “stage” while protecting your own. You do so by building merch-booths, which in turn grant you more and more fans with every booth built. These fans are “spent” on bringing more allies into the world to fight for you. And once spawned, a quick and simple manipulation of the D-Pad commands your troops to go there, kill that, stay here, protect this, destroy that, etc. Having spent very little time with RTS games, going into the game I thought I’d suffer and die often, but a great tutorial level and easy controls made me feel powerful and most importantly in control. Eddie can either control the troops on foot from the ground, or in the air via magical wings he somehow has. Control from the air was my method of choice. You can see the entire battlefield, how many and where enemies are coming from, where your troops are, and what artillery you have in use at any particular moment.

Eddie can also set foot into any battle he chooses and has two primary weapons available to him; The Separator and Clementine. The Separator is a two-sided axe used to slice and dice enemies with brutal force, and Clementine is Eddie’s guitar that yields paralyzing magic. If used too much though it’ll overheat and you’ll have to wait for a short but still noticeable cool-down period.

Eddie can also perform “double team” attacks. These are more powerful assaults that involve combining Eddie’s skills with those of allies for a true knockout punch. These range from climbing the back of a fire-breathing beast to scorch enemies to calling a group of head-bangers to circle around you and mosh enemies to death. These attacks are very important for “Stage Battles” and you’ll always want to be “double-teaming.”

Additionally, Eddie can play a number of “Solos” as a buff to Clementine’s normal abilities. These range from “Face-melter” which does to enemies exactly what it sounds like, to “Battle Cry” which simply increases the damage dealt by Eddie and company. These solos are performed by successfully completing a mini-game where, like Rock Band or Guitar Hero, you’ll have to press the A, X, B, or Y buttons when the strike line passes over them. Now, when in battle you’ll have to choose wisely when, where, and how often to perform these solos, as the battle rages on, whether you’re busting out nasty fretwork or not. To learn and add more solos to your repertoire you’ll have to seek out the numerous “Tab Slabs” scattered throughout the world, and you’ll want to do this because at later stages, the battles really get tough and you’ll want all the power you can have.

Graphically, Brutal Legend doesn’t push any boundaries, but it doesn’t look bad either. Double Fine created a massive world of metal and the large scale imaginative environments and for the most part these locales look great.

Sound in Brutal Legend is better than phenomenal. When EA Denmark leaked a full song-list for the game months ago, my excitement for the title shot through the roof and after playing the game and experiencing the songs in action, I love the choices that much more.

Unlike most games where a publisher will seek out some award winning composer for a game’s score, Double Fine decided to use the melodies of “Black Sabbath” “Dethklok” “Dark Tranquility” “Enslaved” and so many more to set the tone of the world.

No other genre can heighten tension the way metal can. There’s something about listening to “Cathode Ray Sunshine” by Dark Tranquility that instills power within me to set out and slay enemies forces at a breakneck clip.

If you love mainstream radio and sing along to whatever the “flavor of the week” is, this game is not for you, at least thematically. In fact, I don’t think Schafer would even want you play and subsequently taint his game and its message.

That said, if you do love the metal music scene, as I very much do, this game is almost a necessary addition to your catalogue. Activision dropped the title after their merger with Vivendi, possibly fearing negative reaction to bands like “Rotting Christ” on the list, and while EA might have felt a twinge of that grief, they went through with it, and metal-heads will love it for sure.

The characters in Brutal Legend are some of the most memorable and interesting ones I’ve ever come across. The two main characters Eddie and Ophelia, voiced by Jack Black and Jennifer Hale respectively are executed wonderfully. Black provides hilarious spots of dialogue like “Please tell me I haven’t been killing hot girls this whole time” and Hale, who’s lent her voice to numerous projects including BioWare’s MMO “The Old Republic” and “Metroid Prime Corruption” as Samus Aran, performs remarkably in the game. There’s also a love connection between the two and their in-game chemistry is extraordinary.

Double Fine unleashed a total metal assault in Brutal Legend and recruited Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Lemmy Kilmister (Motƒ¶rhead) and Lita Ford (The Runaways) to lend their voices to the game. And from Ozzy’s abuse of the F-word to Kilmister’s sedated British tone, Double Fine did a damn fine job. Additionally, Tim Curry (the man who will forever haunt my dreams from his role as Pennywise the Clown in Stephen King’s IT) provides the voice work for the game’s villain, emperor Deviculous.

Once you’ve exhausted the game’s core missions you’ve “completed” the game, earned the “beat the game” trophy/achievement, and can gloat all you’d like, but I wouldn’t. Upon “completion” of the game, you’re actually only 48% done, leaving a whopping discrepancy. That void is made up in secondary missions. These range from hunting quests to racing challenges to even more huge-scale battles.

Playing these secondary missions and just exploring the vast world is something you’ll definitely want to do. You can unlock everything from more guitar solos to new parts for The Deuce and lots more. There’s an entire world of Metal out there. Why not explore it?

There’s also a significantly large multiplayer mode in Brutal Legend. It’s of the “Stage-Battle” flavor, and all your skills learned in the campaign tie directly into the multiplayer. There’s matchmaking, custom match, and AI Practice to play around with as well as new factions Drowning Doom, Tainted Coil all with solos and units unique to them. If you loved the Stage-Battles of the campaign, you’ll assuredly be logging hours and hours in the multiplayer, it’s a lot of fun.

Brutal Legend is just as much a statement as it is a game. It’s a tale of the power of music motivating those previously uninspired to conquer the evils both out there and embedded within. It tells the account of an unlikely band of rebels who, through their alliances, are able to attain the lofty goals they sought out in the beginning. Without getting too philosophical, I feel the message “Brutal Legend” conveys is one we should heed, or at least strive for, because without a unifying power (metal, or anything else), what do we have?

Blast Factor: With its abundance of metal, fantasy, and action, Brutal Legend is a truly phenomenal game. Born out of Schafer’s love of metal and executed damn near perfectly, the game is one every metal-head-gamer needs to play.

Brutal Legend is available on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 for $59.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for review purposes.

This week alone plays host to over 50 new releases, but you’re likely only looking for two.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is likely to gather the bulk of attention this week, and why not, it’s only been receiving perfect and near-perfect scores across the board.

However, Brutal Legend and Mario & Sonic and the Winter Games also release this week, both of which we’re very excited about.

Look for our review of Brutal Legend this Tuesday at 3 p.m. Boston time, the earliest EA will allow us to publish it.

Here’s the full list.

Monday (Oct. 12)
Cars Race-O-Rama (DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, 360, Wii)
Dreamkiller (PC)
Gravitronix (Wii)
NBA 2K10 (PC)
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (DS)
Squeeballs Party (DS, Wii)

Tuesday (Oct. 13)
A Boy and His Blob (Wii)
Afrika (PS3)
Brutal Legend (PS3, 360)
Buck Fever (Wii)
Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures(2009) (PC)
Cake Mania 3 (DS)
Dream Dance & Cheer (Wii)
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition (PC, PS3, 360)
Fate: The Traitor Soul (PC)
Half-Minute Hero (PSP)
Hero’s Saga Laevatein Tactics (DS)
Islands of Dr. Frankenstein (Wii)
Ju-on: The Grudge (Wii)
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (PC)
MagnaCarta 2 (360)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (DS, Wii)
Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy (PC)
Obscure: The Aftermath (PSP)
Petz Pony: Beauty Pageant (DS)
SingStar Latino (PS2)
SingStar Motown (PS3)
Ski-Doo: Snowmobile Challenge (Wii)
Sudoku Ball Detective (Wii)
The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (PC)
The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf (PS3, 360)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
Way of the Samurai 3 (PS3, 360)
Where the Wild Things Are (DS, PS3, Wii, 360)

Wednesday (Oct. 14)
Rappelz Epic VI: Solus Aurum (PC)

Friday (Oct. 16)
Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (DS, Wii)
Tropico 3 (PC, 360)

Source: Kotaku

Harmonix celebrates Tuesday’s launch of Brutal Legend with a triple-shot of tunes from the game, as well as selections from Blink 182, Joe Satriani, Kansas, and more.

I find myself buying at least one new song in Rock Band a week, and even though I played Tenacious D’s “The Metal” in Guitar Hero III years ago, my love for the D will likely have me reaching for the wallet.

We’ll have a review of Brutal Legend Tuesday at 3PM Boston time (EA sames no earlier!).

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Oct. 13) and PlayStation 3 system (Oct. 15):

“¢ Motƒ¶rhead “" “(We Are) The Road Crew “Ëœ08″
“¢ Tenacious D “" “The Metal”
“¢ Testament “" “More Than Meets the Eye”
“¢ Black Tide “" “Show Me the Way”
“¢ Blink-182 “" “What’s My Age Again?”
“¢ Joe Satriani “" “Satch Boogie”
“¢ Joe Satriani “" “Surfing with the Alien”
“¢ Kansas “" “Icarus (Borne on the Wings of Steel)” (Live from Two for the Show)
“¢ Kansas “" “Point of Know Return” (Live from Two for the Show)
“¢ L7 “" “Andres”

Tracks available for Rock Band Unplugged (Oct. 15):

“¢ Pearl Jam “" “Jeremy”
“¢ Foreigner “" “Headknocker”

As always, every song will run you $2.

Electronic Arts are marketing their latest digital endeavor hard. Brutal Legend, the tale of Eddie Riggs, a roadie turned vanquisher of evil in a land embraced by metal and all it brings about, hits shelves next week on Rocktober 13. But what would a much-hyped game be without a series of viral marketing videos?

Enter the “Brutal Thoughts” series. Jack Black, as you know, is the man providing a voice to Brutal Legend’s Eddie Riggs, but he’s also an on-screen actor, and is doing his darnedest to promote the game for EA.

Have a look at the series of Brutal Thoughts and look for our review of the game next Tuesday at 3PM Boston time!

We’ve heard all about the Brutal Legend metal-infused game-world, we’ve seen Tim Schafer share a laugh with Jimmy Fallon on his show, and we’ve played the demo , but what about multiplayer in the Jack Black-voiced game? What is it? And how does it work?

First off, we don’t know a ton about the particular game-mode, but we do know that it’s flavored like a real-time-strategy game, where you’ll command troops to do your bidding. Interesting, but how does it look and what’re the controls like?

Video to the rescue! Look for Brutal Legend Rocktober 13 on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Tim Schafer, head of Double Fine Productions, the team behind the metal-infused “Brutal Legend” appearaned on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show yesterday, and in if you were otherwise committed and had to miss it, we’ve got the interview in its entirety.

Talking points in the video include the inclusion of Jack Black, just where the hell the idea for the game came from, and some metal-history.

I love Jimmy Fallon and what he’s done to late night. From day one he’s promised to make gaming, and gaming news, a focal point of his show. And with past appearances by Project Natal devs, Tiger Woods in a‚  PGA Tour ’10 showdown, Tim Schafer’s appearance last night, and Fallon’s overall goal to “treat video games [releases] like movie openings,” we think Fallon is well on his way to snagging that new demographic..gamers!

Electronic Arts and Double Fine Productions are readying their guns for an October 13 release of their otherworldly “Brutal Legend,” and released this “World Of Brutal Legend” video today that caps the entire body of work up in a neat and tidy 5:30 video.

I won’t lie. I love metal, and am amazed that this game not only exists, but looks fantastic. With this f*cking metal soundtrack, Jack Black voicing main character Eddie Riggs, and a world like we’re seeing today, it’s hard for me to sit still just thinking about it.

Electronic Arts and Double Fine Productions today unleashed the Brutal Legend demo on Xbox Live and The PlayStation Network.

The catch? It’s only live for those who pre-ordered at GameStop. EA promises the demo will be set free for all to enjoy in the “coming weeks.” But with a release date of October 13, we’d hope that day is sooner rather than later.

The demo thrusts gamers into the shoes of main character Eddie Riggs in the game’s entire opening chapter. And for those who don’t know, Eddie Riggs, voiced by Jack Black is a lowly roadie who gets knocked unconscious and awakens in a world full of metal–including authentically voiced and imaged likenesses of Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne and more. Oh, and you’ve got to save humanity through the power of music. Have fun!

“I wish people could play the whole game right now” said Tim Schafer, President of Double Fine Productions. “But while we’re waiting for Rocktober 13th, a taste of Metal is better than none at all.

If you’ve played the demo please relay your thoughts to use here, in the comments section.

Eddie Riggs (Jack Black) is a legendary roadie who has been summoned to a heavy metal world where he must fight for the liberation of humanity from the demon Emperor Doviculus. In this world, mountains are amps, killer spiders spin guitar strings and rock legends roam the landscape. Let the hack n’ slash action and mayhem reign!

Brƒ¼tal Legend is coming. A playable demo for the Xbox 360 and PS3 will be released in September for anyone who wants to play it. The game itself will be released on October 13th in North America and the 16th for Europe. For more information on the demo be sure to check out the demo website!

EA Denmark leaked the following list over the weekend, and, luckily, as said tunes blew our collective minds, was confirmed by the mega-publisher today.

Brutal Legend looks to be a game like no other. What with the “roadie-turned-monster-demolishing hero” storyline, and the ability to pummel foes via heavy power chords, how could it not be? And the icing on the cake? Jack Black, legendary funny man, and Tenacious D music man, is the voice of Eddie Riggs, the game’s main character.

The game will forever redefine the way we journalists use the tag “music-game,” and metal-heads, like myself, will undoubtedly have multiple orgasms when we hear the following tunes in game.

3 Inches of Blood – Deadly Sinners
3 Inches of Blood – Destroy The Orcs
Accept – Fast As A Shark
Angel Witch – Angel Witch
Anthrax – Metal Thrashing Mad
Anvil – March of the Crabs
Anvil – Tag Team
Apostasy – Sulphur Injection
Bishop of Hexen – A Serpentine Grave
Bishop of Hexen – The Somber Grounds of Truth
Black Sabbath – Children of the Grave
Black Sabbath – Symptom of the Universe
Black Sabbath – Never Say Die
Brocas Helm – Cry of the Banshee
Brocas Helm – Drink the Blood of the Priest
Budgie – Breadfan
Budgie – Zoom Club
Candlemass – Witches
Carcass – No Love Lost
Cloven Hoof Nightstalker
Children of Bodom – Angels Don’t Kill
Coroner – Skeleton on your Shoulder
Cradle of Filth – Her Ghost in the Fog
Crimson Glory – Queen of the Masquerade
Dark Fortress – Insomnia
Dark Tranquility – Cathode Ray Sunshine
Deathstars – Blitzkrieg
Def Leppard – Rock of Ages
Dethklok – Mermaider
Diamond Head – Am I Evil?
Dimmu Borgir – Progenies of the Great Apocalypse
Dokken – Mr. Scary
Dragonforce – Through the Fire and Flames
Emperor – Thus Spake The Nightspirit
Enslaved – Frost
Enslaved – Loke
Firehouse – Overnight Sensation
Girlschool – Bomber
Iced Earth – When the Night Falls
Iced Earth – Pure Evil
In Flames – Goliaths Disarm Their Davids
Judas Priest – Battle Hymn
Judas Priest – The Hellion/Electric Eye
Judas Priest – Leather Rebel
Judas Priest – One Shot At Glory
Judas Priest – Painkiller
Kabbage Boy – Girlfriend
KMFDM – Free Your Hate
KMFDM – Rip The System
King Diamond – Cremation
King Diamond – Welcome Home
Kiss – God of Thunder
Lita Ford – Betrayal
Marilyn Manson – Beautiful People
Manowar – Die For Metal
Manowar – The Dawn Of Battle
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Mastodon – Oblivion Instrumental
Megadeath – High Speed Dirt
Megadeath – Tornado of Souls
Metal Church – Metal Church
Michael Schenker – Group Assault Attack
Ministry – Stigmata
Ministry – Thieves
Mirrorthrone – So Frail
Motley Crue – Dr. Feelgood
Motley Crue – Kickstart My Heart
Motley Crue – Live Wire
Motorhead – Back at the Funny Farm
Motorhead – In the Black
Motorhead – Marching Off to War
Motorhead – We Are the Road Crew
Nitro – Machine Gun Eddie
Omen – The Axeman
Ostrogoth – Queen of Desire
Overkill – World of Hurt
Ozzy Osbourne – Believer
Ozzy Osbourne – Mr. Crowley
Ozzy Osbourne – Diary of a Madman
Prong – Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck
Quiet Riot – The Wild and the Young
Racer X – Technical Difficulties
Racer X – Y.R.O.
Ratt – Lay It Down
Riot – Road Racin
Riot – Narita
Riot – Swords and Tequila
Rob Zombie – Superbeast
Rotting Christ – Ad Notics
Running Wild – Riding the Storm
Sanctuary – Battle Angels
Savatage – Hall of the Mountain King
Saxon – Wheels of Steel
Scorpions – Blackout
Scorpions – Holiday
Skeletonwitch – Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery
Skid Row – Youth Gone Wild
Slayer – Metal Storm/Face The Slayer
Slough Feg – Warriors Dawn
Static-X – Love Dump
Tenacious D – Master Exploder
Tenacious D – The Metal
Testament – For The Glory Of
Testament – More Than Meets The Eye
Tvangeste – Birth of the Hero
UFO – Rock Bottom
Whitesnake – Still of the Night
Wrath of Killenstein – Ignisis Dance

In an industry plagued with sequels and prequels, innovate and unique IP’s are a sight to behold.‚  One man, Tim Schafer, producer of Brutal Legend, hopes his title can set the mark for distinctive titles in a muddy market.

Brutal Legend tells the ridiculous tale of Eddie Riggs, voiced by Jack Black, the ultimate roadie knocked unconscious at a show, who awakens in an oddly familiar world where he must defeat an evil emperor and his demon army using his stage intellect to slay his foes.‚  Sounds absurd right? Yes, but come on, it’s a video game, what isn’t possible?

Electronic Arts, publisher of the zany creation unveiled an October 13^th release date for North American retailers today and encourages gamers everywhere to head on over to Brutallegend.com and see what the hullaballoo is all about.