Between the current gaming market and the poor economy (here in the U.S. anyway) it's a really bad sign when a console game's MSRP is only $50.00. So, with lowered expectations, I dove into this parody of action games. Though in the end, it did succeed at making me laugh, it fails to give an enjoyable or even mediocre gameplay to see all the jokes.
The games a third-person shooter starring the has-been video game star Matt Hazard. (In case you didn't know, there never actually was a video game character by that name) During the first level of a game intended to be his comeback, he encounters a boss character and the game freezes. He hears a voice telling him to quickly take out the boss while the game is paused. He does so (in a hilariously easy QTE) and then encounters the hacker who froze the game, QA. She explains that she examined the game's code, and realized Hazard was only programmed into the first level, and that boss was supposed to kill him and replace him as the main character. Supposedly, if Hazard beats the game himself, he will no longer be in danger, and he sets off to do so.
I'd compare the game to Gears of War or something, but I've played that for all of five minutes, so no. There's a pretty cookie-cutter cover system, that works alright for the most part. You can even dash between cover with the push of the button. The game could have been average enough, but the difficulty is very inconsistent. One second, you're an unstoppable tank of a man. The next, you're taken out with a single burst of a machine gun. Especially in later levels. And the game isn't like say, Call of Duty 4, which stressed subtle approaches to possibly dangerous situations. Hazard's wielding a pair of gatling guns on the cover for God's sake! Subtlety is none of this games business! (speaking of those gatlings, guess what kind of gun you never get to use)
Also the game commits not one, not two, not three, but four deadly sins of boss fights. Those are: entire fights that are quick time events, infinitely respawning goons, instant-death moves with little warning, and not actually fighting the main antagonist. You don't even SEE him do that! The screen says "Content removed for extreme violence" and you hear some sound effects. Which would have been funny if it wasn't supposed to be the most gratifying moment of the game!
As for humor, the game does well enough. Some lines, and a lot of the last level can really make players laugh. But the character parodies, for the most part, end up being downright retarded. "Master Chef?" SERIOUSLY?! Did the guys from Scary Movie spin-offs take over?! If you ask me, nothing deserves a satirical spanking like the Halo series (it's not bad at all, but takes itself too damn seriously!) and all they could do was give him a chef's hat?
Now, this game does have two very memorable boss fights. One is memorable because it is actually a very clever, not to mention the only good character parody that pokes fun at JRPG heroes. He appears complete with text box conversations, visible status bars and command menus, and little numbers that pop up when you hit him. And the respawning enemies are almost, dare i say, manageable. The other boss fight is memorable because it feels like it was planned by Hitler, programmed by Beelzebub, and designed by Satan. Purgatory, and possibly the first two or three circles of Hell are better than this.
If you really need some actually relevant gaming humor, and don't mind the hellish boss battle or two, this game can be rewarding in later levels with some really funny gags, if not without the obligatory fatality and Duke Nukem Forever jokes. Rental at best. If you just want a game you can laugh at, something like the first two Destroy All Humans are just as funny, and much more playable.
(Thanks to Catastrophe for suggesting I space the paragraphs. hope its more readable.)
Can you judge a video game by its bad, sometimes bonkers box art? More often than not.
The Phalanx cover I do remember well, to be fair it did show a star ship on the cover too.
The worst box art in recent memory was the Doom 2016 one. That cover was depressingly generic.
We groan at the cheese. Also, The Master of Disguise.
One of our newest writers Ewan takes a look at the gaming past and with that we present to you, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard – Forgotten But Not Gone!
When I did a user review of this game I gave it a 7, I also noted that it's not a game for everybody, since then I've traded Eat Lead for a copy of Madworld. But as the price rapidly drops I'll pick up another copy as I actually found it a very 'old school' enjoyable guilty pleasure, but compared to Killzone2 and various other recent games in my collection, Matt didn't cut it, funny as hell with breaking the fourth wall, but pretty average, but had pretty fair trade in value.
The cover system in Eat Lead if you ask me is actually pretty fantastic, as you point out some of the humour is lame, like 'Master Chef', but I really liked the added difficulty of the zombies appearing if you don't kill people with headshots later in the game.
Just wondering after playing Eat Lead would you like to see more games in the franchise if later games are more polished and even in slightly different genres?
Because I would and I'm looking forward to the PSN/XBLA game which is supposed to be coming out later this year.
good to get some feedback.
Yeah, I'd be willing to give the game a second chance with a sequel. And actually, a $20-30 PSN release of a 3-4 hour game would be pretty neat.