10 Video Games That Had The World's Attention (And Lost It)

8. Brütal Legend

Okay, granted the appeal of Brutal Legend was entirely in its heavy metal hack n' slash aesthetic, but regardless of your musical taste, you'd be lying if the very notion of frying demons with guitar riffs wasn't mighty tasty indeed.

With the legendary Tim Schafer on writing and directorial duties, Brutal Legend looked to roll together heavy metal album cover-inspired worlds, various metal legends like Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy and a blend of driving and action gameplay, into a phenomenal package.

How could that go wrong?

Well... because it wasn't the game. Or rather, it was... but the action elements had been brought front and centre during marketing, despite the reality of Brutal Legend being an real-time strategy. And not a good one.

Rather that direct units from overhead, you still controlled main-man Eddie Riggs on the ground, running to and fro as you managed meters and tried to thin the hordes of advancing armies. Sadly, these aspects just didn't come together, and once you got out of a still-phenomenal introduction the rest of the game was a repetitive, completely mis-marketed slog.