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Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazzard | 
| From: D3 Publisher
Category: Video Games
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $3.30
as of 7/30/2010 07:12 CDT details
You Save: $16.69 (83%)
Seller: Worldwide Sales
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 3521
Format: CD
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: shooter_action_games
ESRB: Teen
Media: Video Game
Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Xbox 360
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.5
MPN: 21005
Model: 879278210059
UPC: 879278210059
EAN: 0879278210059
ASIN: B001KY7GCA
Publication Date: February 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Celebrity voice talent - Neil Patrick Harris (DoogieHowser, Harold and Kumar, How I Met Your Mother) and Will Arnett (Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Blades of Glory) | | • | Hilarious script written by WGA Award winning writer David Elis | | • | New innovation in the cover gameplay mechanic that advances the genre | | • | Shooting game where you take on video game clichés all at once - cowboys, space marines, wizards, and karate masters | | • | 3rd person shooter with polished next-gengraphics |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Product InformationGet ready for a fictional account of the world's most popular video gamehero...of the 1980s. Matt Hazard is coming out of retirement and making hisnext-gen "comeback" against all his old enemies in a hilarious parodyof the last 25 years of gaming. In Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazardvideogame action hero Matt Hazard gets his chance to prove once and for all thathe is the king of shooters when the new owner of mega game publisher MarathonMegasoft gives Matt his comeback role starring in a new title for next-genconsoles that pits him against all of his memorable foes from videogames past.In the world of Eat Lead however everything stops being a game and becomesreality when it is clear that someone is using the new game to bring aboutMatt's death once and for all.Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard combines fast-paced shooting with wickedparody to serve up an action-packed tour through wacky video game cliches ofthe last 25 years. Featuring the voice talents of comic actors Neil PatrickHarris and Will Arnett Eat Lead lets you blast away enemies ranging fromcowboys and karate masters to space marines and wizards. Explore all theexcitement of this offbeat adventure designed to turn the conventions of videogaming inside-out and prove you've still got what it takes to dominate thegaming world no matter what it throws at you.There's never been another hero quite like Matt Hazard. In the 1980s hereached the apex of the gaming world becoming one of the most popular videogame heroes. Once he retired from the gaming scene the world thought they hadheard the last of Matt Hazard. Now he's ready to make his dramatic comebackleaving retirement behind to enter the next-gen video game scene and face offagainst his old adversaries once again. With only the mysterious "QA"to help him Matt must fight against a legion of Marathon Megasoft catalogue ofvideogame characters to keep it from being "
Amazon.com Product Description
Get ready for a fictional account of the world's most popular video game hero...of the 1980s. Matt Hazard is coming out of retirement and making his next-gen "comeback" against all his old enemies in a hilarious parody of the last 25 years of gaming. In Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, videogame action hero Matt Hazard gets his chance to prove once and for all that he is the king of shooters when the new owner of mega game publisher, Marathon Megasoft, gives Matt his comeback role starring in a new title for next-gen consoles that pits him against all of his memorable foes from videogames past. In the world of Eat Lead, however, everything stops being a game and becomes reality when it is clear that someone is using the new game to bring about Matt's death once and for all. 
Next Gen Graphics
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Matt says "hello", the Hazard way
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Hilarious action-packed story
View larger. | Synopsis
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard combines fast-paced shooting with wicked parody to serve up an action-packed tour through wacky video game clichés of the last 25 years. Featuring the voice talents of comic actors Neil Patrick Harris and Will Arnett, Eat Lead lets you blast away enemies ranging from cowboys and karate masters to space marines and wizards. Explore all the excitement of this offbeat adventure designed to turn the conventions of video gaming inside-out, and prove you've still got what it takes to dominate the gaming world, no matter what it throws at you. Key Game Features: - Play as Matt Hazard, the formerly world-renowned video game hero who's emerged from retirement to take on a wild array of baddies
- Watch a variety of gaming clichés and conventions get turned on their heads as you battle cowboys, wizards, karate masters and other all-too-typical video game characters, all in the same game
- Take advantage of the innovative point-and-cover system as you shoot up your assorted adversaries
- See Matt Hazard's action-packed world come to hilarious life before you thanks to unique visuals delivered with polished next-gen style
- Features the voices of actors Neil Patrick Harris and Will Arnett and a script by WGA Award-winning writer David Elis
- For 1 player
Matt Hazard is back!
There's never been another hero quite like Matt Hazard. In the 1980s, he reached the apex of the gaming world, becoming one of the most popular video game heroes. Once he retired from the gaming scene, the world thought they had heard the last of Matt Hazard. Now he's ready to make his dramatic comeback, leaving retirement behind to enter the next-gen video game scene and face off against his old adversaries once again. With only the mysterious "QA" to help him, Matt must fight against a legion of Marathon Megasoft catalogue of videogame characters to keep it from being "Game Over" forever. Eat Lead pays homage to the games of yesteryear with a menagerie of classic enemies such as zombies, space marines, cowboys, genetically mutated super snipers, and more and an expansive level environment design that reflects videogame history in a next-gen package. The game fires on all cylinders with explosive artillery and combat moves to help gamers escape from a variety of predicaments including radically-changing environments during gameplay via "hack effects" Hazard's nemesis uses by altering the game's code on the fly. Throughout the adventure, players will utilize a strategic cover system dubbed "point and cover," upgradeable weapons and different interactive melee moves to attack and outsmart foes.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 Quality content,... and that's it. May 15, 2010
Deme B.
The game has some pretty excellent ideas. And, it would be a great game if they had some talented programers work on it. Instead, we get a clunky pile of crap.
Do not expect the actual game to be fun (shooting, etc). However, the budget price it is now is worth smiling a bit at the video game industry jokes.
 Fun for what it is... and it is Hazard time... March 16, 2010
D. Tashjian (Ohio, USA)
-Why did I buy this?
Okay, This game is a bit dated, but it just seemed to be an over the top tongue-in-cheek poke at the video game industry. The premise is just not-serious and I broke this out immediately on receiving it in the mail. That and I was hopped up on coffee that night. :)
-Capsule:
A fairly straightforward "over the shoulder" 3rd person shooter. A nice variety of wacky enemies. A couple of boss fights that are near perpetual cheap-shots. The gameplay is overall solid, but doesn't require a lot of heavy thought and the levels are linear. What makes this game worth looking at and playing is the humor and writing that makes fun of itself and the game industry in general. Recommended buy at the $15-$20 mark.
-What stood out during the game?
The voice acting, the amusing parodies and references to existing video game characters, the entertaining writing, the handful of just annoying legs of a chapter (mostly boss fights) that seemed to need near-dumb luck to pull off. Good action music score with lots of big hair metal guitar.
-More thoughts:
In the world of Matt Hazard, Matt is a washed up action video game character for the company 'Marathon' and after proving that he has no marketing and business sense, runs the company into the ground. Until 'Marathon' is resurrected by a guy with a lot of cash and the company is renamed 'Marathon Megasoft' Matt is tapped to stage his comeback in the next generation game platforms. But wait, he was scripted to die at the end of level 1. Forever. Why? Stay tuned true believers...
That's the basis of the story right there. A bit wonky if you consider that a video game character managed to make business decisions for a "Real-life" company. This over analysis isn't good for you in Eat Lead... just smile, nod, and let the story keep rolling.
This is honestly the strength of this game. The story. Not that it is epic. It's not. It's that quirky movie story like Ferris Beuller's Day Off where the fourth wall gets broken to possibly make fun of what you're already thinking. "Oh. Great. A tutorial. It's not like I need one of these to tell me how to move around and shoot a gun after 25 years.", grumbles a slightly annoyed Matt at the beginning of the game when you say "Sure, do the tutorial". There are references abound in the form of cliché enemies, and some occasionally amusing parodies of other popular figures. For example, there's "Master Chef" Who is a dumpy-looking short-order style cook who waddles around in some kind of futuristic space armor. Captain Carpenter is a burly blue overalls wearing kind of guy who knows how to fight nasty turtles, and poisonous mushrooms, but can't handle a gun to save his life. Altos Tratus which looks and behaves like your typical Final Fantasy character. One of my favorite moments was with this character before the fight. (Altos)"..." (Matt Paraphrased) "An elipsis? What the is it with you Japanese characters and ellipses? What does that even mean?"
I've talked about the writing and how it's amusing for what it is, but not the game play. In short it's good, but nothing too original is happening here. The game uses a find cover and shoot system. At first I found this annoying, because when I typically play FPS type games I just ram may way through enemies and once the body count is high enough, go exploring the areas I've cleared out. This is not something I can do in Eat Lead. The cycle is pretty much the following. A checkpoint save will occur. You will get to an area or room and you will wind up trapped in that room until everything but you is dead, or deader if you want to be picky about the zombies. To survive, you have to hide behind cover and pick at enemies this way. Sometimes just standing behind cover works pretty well too. Regardless, you just can't stand there and shoot for long. You also have the option to run up and melee attack most enemies (there are exceptions and some can fight back rather well). In some cases it was more effective for me to run up on opponents and slap them around versus shooting them and wasting precious ammunition.
There was some thought put into what your options are regarding the use of cover and for this I am grateful. It's not Time Crisis for crying out loud. The cover aspect is present for a majority of the notably linear format of the game. There are exceptions such as selected fight scenes where you have to hit certain button/stick combinations to put the beat down on an special enemy. There is also a level where you have sniper stations where you have to pick off enemies with said rifle before one of your friends is killed. Neither of these events are plentiful enough to be annoying. There is also a few sections where you have to avoid the lasers of your in-game nemesis 'Sting Sniperscope' These rounds force you to run and find cover, but is thankfully only in a handful of places -- because these are 1-shot kill events, and it can be frustrating at times.
The weapons are pretty varied, but not particularly amazing. If you have ever played "Armed And Dangerous" with its vast collection of wacky weapons, this would have made things a bit more amusing. Sure you get classic 6-shooters, laser pistols, sniper rifles and the like, but none of the guns are stand out awesome. Not a crucial complaint, but worth noting. Also of note is that you can only carry 2 weapons at a time. Since you can't backtrack, sometimes conserving ammo is crucial -- and a little annoying when you're sloppy in a fight.
Enemies are fairly diverse and some are imaginative. The 2D sprite enemies are the standout among them. They run around in the 4-5 frame sequence, shoot at you with their 2D rifle then turn sideways so you can't hurt them. Honestly, the only enemy that made me super frustrated was the boss with tentacles. In the beginning you have to run around and avoid the six tentacles that lash at the ship, and each one has a pretty good reach. Now you have to run around and wait for one to get stuck in the boat so you can shoot it. After the first tentacle is taken out you now have enemies spawn periodically too. This lead to me dying... a lot. fortunately, the checkpoint system is pretty forgiving overall because if I had to fight that first round again after clearing it and then getting killed at stage 2 with the same boss I would have been super unhappy. I died at least 20 times fighting those tentacles. That was annoying.
I can't think of anything meaningful in terms of graphics and sound. They met the requirements in that characters and the environment looked reasonable for the context of the world being presented, and other than the action music having occasional big hair metal guitar riffs in it set the tone adequately as well. I'm not saying the A/V experience was awesome nor was it bad. It did the job and I wasn't seriously annoyed by odd glitches or music that made me need to kill some aspect of the audio experience.
The Achievements on this game (for Xbox360) are in some cases outright gifts. There are a couple of tricky ones too, but you can get a pretty good score just playing through in a competent manner. Some people may be annoyed by the freebie achievements, but at the same time, it's not that big of a deal -- it's not like achievements _do anything_.
-Multiplayer:
In short there is no multiplayer in Eat Lead. You get a 'gift' achievement at the end of the game that pokes fun at this topic. Obviously Xbox Live isn't too useful for this title.
-Difficulty:
I admit it. I played through this game on easy. When you clear the game once, you can backtrack and play any level you want at any difficulty setting. So you can clear it on Easy, then go back and play the last level on medium and hard to 'clear the game' (I assume) at those levels too.
I bumped it to medium and was promptly owned by the game. I managed to slog my way to the final boss fight only to die repeatedly for about an hour and a half. Some of these fights lasted 2 minutes before my death. In short, I died a lot and it makes me sad. No, I didn't clear it either. It was 2am and my wife told me to go to bed. :) This getting stuck was really frustrating. In retrospect, I'll try and bring better guns next time to see if that helps.
-Errors:
There were a handful of times where blasts and enemies hands would pop through a wall or cover. I can only think of 2 or three instances of this happening, and in all but one of them I was able to quickly recover from the problem without dying. In all cases the game never lost its mind and had a hard lockup or freeze.
Funny Game March 9, 2010
SmokeySJM (FRANKLIN, NJ USA)
Bought this because it had the voices of Will Arnett and Neil patrick harris. Found it to be a fun and challenging game. Takes a little while to get used to the controls and the enemy is kind of predictible, but the humor of the game kind of makes up for that. I can't see someone that is a hardcore gammer liking this game, but a casaul gammer definitely.
 Amazing Underrated Game! January 12, 2010
Perpetua O'shea (San Mateo, CA)
This game deserves a lot more attention, as this game is fantastic! I laughed out loud at least once every 5-7 minutes. I couldn't put this game down!
At best, only for people who like non-stop shooting. June 10, 2009
N. Ford (Hot Springs Village, AR USA)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I am NOT a person who likes non-stop shooters, such as this, Left-4-Dead, etc. I'm more a fan of Bioshock, Fallout, GTA4, Mass Effect, etc., where some actual strategy and thinking is involved. So I didn't get half way through Eat Lead before getting tired of it and quitting.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
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