Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard

"A wonderful game with plenty of wit and charm!"

Like many of you, I first heard of Eat Lead: the Return of Matt Hazzard in an exclusive magazine preview a few months ago. The premise is simple: You are Matt Hazard, an overweight, out of work video game "star" who receives a mysterious offer at a comeback from a new CEO of the company Matt ran into the ground. In this world videogames are made like cartoons would be in a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" world; the characters are actually people that can be hurt or killed, and such it is that poor Matt is suddenly marked for death. Its up to you to guide him through this so-called "game" and find out whos behind you attempted assassination and why.

In case you haven't guessed it already, the world of Eat Lead constantly breaks the fourth barrier with its use of programming-meets-real life. The games' script is its big draw: penned by the same writer who won an award for "Dead Head Fred", and starring Will Arnett (arrested development, 30 rock) and Neil Patrick Harris (Dougie Houser MD, Harold and kumar), the games' story is a constant barrage of game-culture refferences and obvious parodies of real-life properties (Master Chef, anyone?). The story is well written and the voice work is superb- I even the menus and trophies are little punchlines. I could rarely go five seconds without laughing.

Speaking of sound, the effects heard throughout Eat Lead are a mixed bag. At times its very appropriate, at others its very weak and almost pathetic. I speak mainly of the various gun and explosion sounds. A magnum sounds very "magnumly" and squirt guns (yes, squirt guns) sound like they're actually spraying water. But other guns, namely the default pistol and shotgun, sound more like a dying giraffe. Often times the sound effects can overlap and muffle certain explosions-it kind of takes away from the intensity of a firefight with your enemies go "BOOM BOOM" and you fire back with "pe-chew pe-chew". Maybe its intentional, given the humorous overtones at play...but I doubt it.

The graphics are decent enough to get by, but I can't help but feel that, if given more time, they could have been better. I can best describe them by comparing them to the first FEAR game, especially the environments. Certain objects can be obliterated, but for some reason others can't. And I don't just mean different objects- you can easily shoot a potted plant and watch it explode, but other pots might not even move. Glass can shatter when busted, and yet certain other window panes can just make a sound like it did. It seems like the developers got really lazy here. The characters themselves are very detailed and lifelike, but unfortunately they suffer from some jaggies. If this were a full $60 game I'd be kinda ticked about it.

Another gameplay issue that concerns me is the difficulty. This reviewer played through on easy (much to Matts' chagrin) and found himself pulling hair out on more than a few occasions. During frantic firefights, enemies can be "programmed in" right behind you. Since you more than likely are behind cover, you'll get shot and killed quicker than you can get up. Frequent checkpoints make this a bit more bearable but again this feels like sloppy game design. And thanks to said teleporting enemies, the game is prone to random bits of slowdown. Its not a frequent problem, but when it hits, it hurts.

And finally, the gameplay. If you've played Dark Sector or Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, then you know exactly what to expect here. Matt can carry up to two different weapons and switch between them on the fly while shooting from cover. Leaning and aiming works just as it did in the aforementioned games, but Eat Lead brings an interesting feature to the table: while you're under cover you can aim at another cover-spot and press triangle to instantly sprint over. While not an overly exciting addition, it is new (Matt even expresses his amazement when being shown how to do it). The gunplay feels very tight and responsive and you have plenty of enemy types to put it to use on. Throughout the adventure, Matt has to go up against new and old foes from his previous games- even 2-d soldiers in some instances. While not broken it is very vanilla. You may begin to feel that old feeling of "Been there, done that.".

While it has some faults, namely less -than- spectacular graphics and gameplay, Eat Lead:the Return of Matt Hazard is packaged together with a hilarious and well written story and fantastic voicework. It clocks in at just over 8 hours, but the entire time you'll be having a blast shooting and laughing your way through. If given more time, it could've been better- but at ten dollars less than normal, its an even trade. I can't wait for a sequel.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/03/09

Game Release: Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard (US, 02/26/09)