Interviews// Tim Schafer - Brutal Legend

SPOnG: There’s so much humour in it – Jack Black cracks a stream of great one-liners, but were you worried that elements like that would overshadow the gameplay?

Tim Schafer: We have a lot of experience of story, character and humour from Psychonauts, so we didn’t start with that stuff right away – we figured that’s the stuff we know the most about, so let’s do it last. We started with the gameplay – things like multi-player, which we hadn’t done before, and then the strategy element. Those were the first things we attacked – making them feel good, and feel right. Because that’s the core of the game – all centred on the main character, and his axe and guitar, and building outwards from that. Then, writing the dialogue was almost one of the last things I did.

SPOnG: Do you think there’s enough humour in games?

Tim Schafer: I think it seems risky when people do comedy, because if you do action, and it doesn’t hit exactly right, it’s still action – it still belongs to that genre. But if you do comedy, and it doesn’t exactly hit right, it’s no longer comedy – it’s horrible. Bad comedy is the worst thing to sit through in the world. So I guess, maybe, it’s more intimidating for people to try, because there’s further to fall if you mess up, but it would be good if there were more of it. I’m just a proponent of people making games that reflect their personal style more, instead of generic games made to fit a market. And this is definitely a personal game that reflects me, the team and what we like.

That’s something I think is important for games, if they are to be taken seriously. They may not seem like a serious work of art to some people, but to me they are because, at the core, it is about making a personal expression, not a product that was manufactured to fit a spec that was created by a marketing team.

SPOnG: Do you feel you’re lucky to have the chance to do that?

Tim Schafer: I’m very lucky because, so far, I’ve always been able to make the game that I wanted to make. I feel very fortunate to be able to do that. You have to be willing to fight for it – you have to be willing to risk. But I think it’s worth it, because you have to be making something you believe in, as games are so hard to make. It takes so much effort that, if you don’t believe it at some deep, core level, you run out of motivation half way through.

SPOnG: What moments stuck in your mind when you were making Brutal Legend? What were Lemmy and Ozzy Osbourne like?

Tim Schafer: Ozzy was a lot smarter than he comes off as on The Osbournes. He’s a really smart guy, and kind of a jester, I’d say. If you were hanging out with him, you’d see he likes to make jokes, and he’s mischievous, a prankster. He was a lot of fun to work with.

At first, Lemmy was a bit intimidating, because he’s so quiet and stoic. And then when he starts talking, he’s really into mediaeval weapons – he likes swords and collects them. I even got to go to his apartment and hang out with him, so that was great. He just has a regular old apartment, full of memorabilia. He had a Game Cube, and he was playing Starfox Assault, which is a game that he loves.

SPOnG: Would you ever turn Brutal Legend into a film – it could be a typical Jack Black vehicle?

Tim Schafer: After the game is a big hit, I think it would be likely to happen. But it has to prove itself as a game first. Jack’s interested.

SPOnG: Is that something that is being discussed?

Tim Schafer: It has been discussed. Not officially – only casually. But it would be a lot of fun.

SPOnG: Thanks for your time, Tim.