Brutal Legend was momentarily free to honor the life of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 76. The game features Prince of Darkness as the Guardian of Metal and Dadbat. The makers of Psychonauts and the upcoming game where you play as a lighthouse called Keeper set the game free for 666 minutes, or 11 hours and 6 minutes, which has since expired.
Brutal Legend originally released in 2009 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was one of the more divisive games from Double Fine, which is known for having a unique approach to making games. The first impressions for the game had people thinking that it was an action-adventure game with lots of action, but it turned out to have a lot of strategy elements to it. While you can’t currently get the game for free, it is available on Xbox Game Pass if you are a subscriber, or you can purchase it for $15 (US) on Xbox or Steam.Â
Ozzy’s performance in Brutal Legend was generally praised by reviewers in the early days. While he was one of the largest names associated with the game, he was not the only notable name. Jack Black is well known for voicing the protagonist Eddie Riggs, but Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, and The Runaways’ Lita Ford are also in the game.
These days, Brutal Legend is a bit of a cult hit, though, not to the same degree as something like Psychonauts. That said, it was a game that honored and paid homage to heavy rock in a way you don’t see often enough in video games.
Ozzy also appeared in Guitar Hero World Tour a year before Brutal Legend and was featured in a commercial for the PlayStation VR2 and Horizon: Call of the Mountain filled with swearing and the singer’s iconic laugh. He once also played a concert at BlizzCon in 2009.
This week, everyone is rightly taking the time to honor Ozzy Osbourne. He had a very short stint in video games, but his work throughout the decades inspired countless amounts of musicians who would, in turn, work on video games. Games like Doom might not actually have Black Sabbath or Ozzy songs on them, but who knows where we would be with these rocking soundtracks if he did not go through with his musicmaking.
