Metal in Gaming

Today we will dive into a different topic that is dedicated to all fellow gamers out there. Don’t leave if you are not a gamer as you may also find some interesting things in the article. 

As a good soundtrack elevates a movie or series, the same can happen in a video game. In this list we will see some instances where games went full metal by either using metal music in the background, or having the genre as their main premise. We will at first dive into five games and then proceed with some honorable mentions, so without further delay let’s start with: 

Brutal Legend

The Game: Brutal Legend is an Action/ Adventure open world game with some Real Time Strategy segments later on. You are in control of Eddie Riggs, a roadie doing his job before being transported into a fantasy world after an accident. Eddie has two main weapons at his disposal, an axe and an electric guitar that he can change on the fly. During the game you will fight enemies in action combat, complete quests, drive and customize your car, hunt monsters, explore the world and participate in occasional Real-Time Strategy fights, where Eddie is your general and commands troops in order to defend your base and destroy the enemy’s. By today’s standards, the gameplay can get somewhat repetitive after a while (it was released in 2009) and to be honest the Real-Time fights are the worst part of the game as they can feel out of place hurting the pace. Before you get discouraged by that however it is time to go to: 

The Metal: This game does not just include metal. It IS metal from start to finish. First it has some very serious cameos. The protagonist is none other than Jack Black and we have appearances from Ozzy, Lemmy and Halford among others. Yes, you read well, for example Ozzy plays the role of an immortal vendor that upgrades Eddie’s weapons. The soundtrack consists of more than 100 metal songs covering the majority of the metal spectrum ranging from IRON MAIDEN and MOTORHEAD to SLAYER and CRADLE OF FILTH. There is nothing more satisfying than fighting a demonic army while the background blasts DIMMU BORGIR. The fantasy world is also thematic as you can find metal landmarks during your exploration (a huge guitar monument coming out of the ground is one of them) and some of the inhabitants of this world are well… metalheads. 

There is no other game that utilizes the genre like Brutal Legend, so even if it is somewhat flawed and clunky, you can find it on discount for less than 4€ so it is worth a try if you have some time to kill. 

Metal Hellsinger

The Game: Here we have a Rhythmic First Person shooter. It plays like a regular shooter where you shoot demons to death (like the Doom series), but with a twist. The soundtrack plays a pivotal role for the gameplay as you have to attack on beat. Plan your attacks to match the beat and increase your “Fury” to deal more damage. Attack off-beat or take damage and your “Fury” will decrease. Each song starts at zero “Fury” with only some rhythm instruments playing. As it increases, the songs start taking shape with more instruments kicking in like Lead Guitars and on maximum level you can enjoy the vocals as well.  

The Metal: You may have seen some signs that spoil this, but I can now confirm that this game has a Heavy Metal score. All songs are written by a composer studio with renowned vocalists participating in each one. To get a taste, the guestlist includes Serj Tankian (SYSTEM OF A DOWN), Mikael Stanne (DARK TRANQUILITY), Alissa White-Gluz (ARCH ENEMY) and many others, with optional add-ons that further enrich the roster.  

Having been released recently (2022) the game is also considered very good and a must try for fans of the First Person Shooter genre that also enjoy this kind of music. 

Mortal Shell

The Game: This one falls into the category of the Soulslike genre. For those not familiar, the game Demon Souls saw the light of day in 2009, followed by the Dark Souls trilogy. They were/are games in the dark fantasy genre and characterized by brutal difficulty at first, with the player becoming more experienced as they fail and repeat, till they overcome each obstacle be it enemies, bosses or environmental hazards. In the end the games do not get any easier, but the player gets better and it is very rewarding. Those games were so revolutionary that they created a whole new genre (Soulslike) and it refers to games that emulate that formula and gameplay aspects, while at the same time trying something new to differentiate more or less. Mortal Shell is not a big game as it consists of a main hub world and 3 surrounding areas to explore, but it is very enjoyable still.  

The Metal: Usually this type of games have epic music, intense boss fights and dark art direction that can make you say “That’s pretty metal”. This is also the case with Mortal Shell, but the reason it is included on the list is the free “Rotten Autumn” update. It gives you the option to change the soundtrack during boss fights and replace it with actual ROTTING CHRIST songs. Each fight has a different track, 7 in total. This is the first time a title of this genre takes this approach in its music department and I have to say it is a match made in Heaven (or should i say Hell). It also makes your 10th try fighting the same boss more pleasant. 

The game plays pretty well today as it is very recent (2020) and a playthrough is highly suggested for players that value a challenge.  

Devil May Cry 3: Dantes Awakening

The Game: DMC is a long running series of action packed games. You play as a Devil Hunter that has a varied arsenal of short and long ranged weapons (swords, fists, guns, shotguns are only the tip of the iceberg) that allow you to unleash one combo after the other, to send those demons back to hell. Each game has a similar structure of ~20 missions and once you beat it, you can repeat on the newly unlocked next difficulty, up until the final mode that is usually very hard and will test your skills and patience to the limit. This 3rd entry, while being dated (2005) is easily the best of the series as it has a great cast of characters, amazing boss fights, a great story and top notch gameplay with non stop action. Be warned though, that everything in this game is over the top so do not expect any realism.        

The Metal: This installation has an Original Soundtrack with some tracks being of the metal genre, both during fighting and cutscenes. In fact, the one called ‘Devils Never Cry’ is so good that I occasionally add it to my playlist queue. The other reason I included it on the list is because at the half of the game you can acquire an electric guitar as a weapon that shoots lighting and… bats!!! Seeing the main character fall to his knees soloing and slaying demons is very cool. 

Dante’s Awakening has been remastered and can be purchased in a pack that comes together with the first two games. Despite being the number 3, it serves as a prequel so you can grab it and start directly with this one. If you are not put off by old graphics, you should give it a shot.  

Prince of Persia 2: Warrior Within

The Game: Another old entry (2004) Prince of Persia was a highly acclaimed series back in the time. Warrior Within is the middle part of the Sand of Time trilogy and falls into the action genre, with a lot of platforming included. The protagonist spent a lot of time on Parkour, a mechanic that ended up as a core element of the same Company’s (Ubisoft) Assassin’s Creed titles. The story follows the nameless Prince as he journeys to the Island of Time in order to change his fate. At the same time he is relentlessly hunted by Dahaka, the guardian of the sands, a being that cannot  be destroyed… or can it? 

The Metal: The soundtrack of the game is metal through and through and it is very fitting as its combat is very gory. Trying to escape from Dahaka under the sound of drums and guitars is as metal as it goes. 

The title can be found very cheap in digital shops and can be completed in ~12 hours so if you have some spare time you can give it a chance, but keep in mind we are talking about an old game with whatever that comes with. 

Honorable mentions:

Sacred 2:

Overall the game has nothing to do with metal, apart from a small part that everyone will love and that is a cameo from our favorite bards BLIND GUARDIAN. Sacred is an Action Role Playing Game similar to Diablo and features a massive open world with countless quests. During your time exploring you will stumble upon Hansi (the band’s vocalist) who will inform you that the band’s instruments are stolen and they cannot perform without them, so you of course agree to assist (who wouldn’t?). Once you collect them all, you can go to a certain place in the map where a cutscene plays and you can enjoy an in-game cutscene with Guardian performing an edit of their song ‘Sacred Worlds’ for their goblin fans. As a fun fact, Sacred 2 released two years  before “At the Edge of Time”, so the song made its debut there even if it was a slightly different version. 

I also retried the game so that you do not have to and I would not recommend it as it has not aged well and there are better alternatives out there. You can however enjoy this unique moment on Youtube. 

Vice City

Most of you may be familiar with GTA (Grand Theft Auto), one of the most high selling series of all time. Vice City was an amazing game back in 2002 and with its premise being about guns, gangsters, drugs you will wonder why it is here. In-game you can drive cars (after stealing them of course) and browse different radio stations. One of them is V-Rock and has artists like OZZY, IRON MAIDEN, MOTLEY CRUE and SLAYER. I will never forget just driving the car with ‘Raining Blood’ playing at max volume and me not knowing who SLAYER were at that age. 

Vice City has been recently remastered and packaged with GTA III and San Andreas, but I can’t tell you whether it is worth it since I have not tried it. 

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk may resemble the open world style of GTA, yet it is a totally different game at its core. The similarities include a city to explore, cars to drive, police chases, guns and quests that you may ignore for the sake of free roaming. Same as Vice City, you can also browse radio stations while driving here but instead of classic metal songs, prepare for a parade of Black Metal repertoire.  

You will not play Cyberpunk for its sparse metal moments however, but because it has been shaped to be one great modern gaming experience.

Pavlos Pavlakis