It's Hazard Time!

Published March 27, 2009

The hero of Eat Lead™: The Return of Matt Hazard™ is the kind of man that would punch you in the face, steal your woman, and demand your thanks. You'd give it to him too, for he IS Matt Hazard and his heroism, raw-animal charisma, and unbridled whoopass know no bounds.

All hail the Hazard!

Matt Hazard has given Russian armies inferiority complexes, handed ill-intentioned western bandits their collective asses, and torn through gang-controlled Chinese Steak Houses like an insidious E.coli outbreak.

He's done all this with a bravado and confidence that burn through the comparatively bland facades of the likes of Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Master Chief, and Marcus Fenix. Indeed, Matt Hazard once defeated all four of them in an arm wrestling contest with his pinkie finger. Simultaneously!

Hazard has returned to his rightful place, center-stage amid ultra violence and sizzling one-liners.

There was however one villain even Matt Hazard could not conquer, and its name is vanity. When you sit atop the world, beloved by the righteous and feared by evildoers, it's hard not to see the wisdom of attaching your glorious visage to the likes of kart-racing games and non-violent, third-person water-gun shooters.

Alas, even Matt Hazard's unearthly perch can be knocked askew by such market saturation, and so he descended into ignominy, forgotten by a world that once adored him.

Until now! Hazard has returned to his rightful place, center-stage amid ultra violence and sizzling one-liners. At last, the world has been righted!

Hazard doesn't discriminate. He'll blast sprites and 3-D models alike!

Third-Person Satire
D3 Publishing's Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard is a rare breed in the gaming industry, a title that celebrates irreverent wit as much as rock-solid third-person shooter gameplay. Triggering full body laughs are as much the aim as the thrill of a well-executed headshot in this satirical send-up of action games and movies.

Whether it's the blatant machismo celebrated in the sci-fi stripper sequence of Duke Nukem 3D, or a certain Governator's penchant for mind-bending quips, Eat Lead simultaneously pokes fun and has fun with the action game/movie conventions we've come to know and love for so long.

Humor Needs Talent
That Eat Lead so deftly balances making fun of its source material and celebrating it is a reflection of the writing and voice-acting talent brought to bear on the game. Award-winning writer David Ellis penned the script brought to hilarious life by the likes of Will Arnett (Devon Banks from 30 Rock) and Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met your Mother), among others.

Whether it's Hazard's consistent, grizzled attempts to reintroduce "It's Hazard time" as a pop-culture mantra or trying to make sense of his nemesis Sting Sniperscope's incomprehensible ramblings, the talent on display here elevates the humor at all times.

Premise Time
The story finds our brazen hero making his triumphant virtual return only to find that the very man who ushered in Hazard's revival holds a long-standing grudge. Hazard then must brave the insanity of a videogame world already teeming with enemies, but that now also changes radically on the fly as a team of ne'er-do-well hackers inserts new deadly enemies, challenges, and environments in an effort to corrupt Hazard's save system and so kill him outright.

Eat lead, varmint!

Game Time
Of course, beyond the humor-laden story lies the gameplay, and it's definitely worth acknowledging. Developer Vicious Cycle has crafted a silky-smooth third-person shooter worthy of its contemporaries and willing to innovate.

Of particular note is the Point to Cover system, which allows you to move from cover to cover at the tap of a button. Aim down the line at the cover you want to move to next, tap Y, and Hazard will take care of the rest. It's a simple technique, but one that makes the tactical battles against the constant waves of enemies that much more satisfying.

Also worthy of consideration is the game's instant environmental makeovers. Where seconds ago you may have been doing battle on the Western frontier, you may suddenly find yourself dodging exotic dancers in a sci-fi nightclub as the mischievous hackers attempt to flummox Hazard in his race to the end of a level.

D3 Publishing and Vicious Cycle's Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard has successfully married slick, fast-moving tactical third-person action to unrelenting, exquisitely delivered humor that pervades even the achievements. How can you not appreciate a game that delivers 60 Gamerscore for watching the end credits, available for your viewing pleasure before you even play the game.

Matt Hazard awaits. Do you dare disappoint him?

Article by Ryan Treit