Ready Slayer One: A History of Metal in Video Games

Since their creation video games have evolved into a staple outlet of entertainment for kids and adults alike. And like a movie score, music can impact a game’s story, gameplay, and overall enjoyment. From racing, to sports, first-person shooters and adventure, rock and metal have enhanced or even been the focus of many popular franchises and moments throughout video game history. With that said, let's take a look at the legacy and impact that heavy music has left on one of our favorite past times.

Journey Escape

One of the earliest examples of rock or metal in gaming was with the 80’s band Journey. Released on the Atari 2600, Journey Escape was released in 1982. Mainly based on the band’s seventh album Escape, the gameplay was a hybrid of popular games Space Invaders and Galaga. The game featured a digitized version of the band’s hit “Don’t Stop Believin’”.

The game’s manual details the game’s story:

You're on the road with Journey, one of the world's hottest rock groups. A spectacular performance has just ended. Now it's up to you to guide each Journey Band Member past hordes of Love-Crazed Groupies, Sneaky Photographers, and Shifty-Eyed Promoters to the safety of the Journey Escape Vehicle in time to make the next concert. Your mighty manager and loyal roadies are there to help, but the escape is up to you!

The band would follow-up that game one year later with the 1983 arcade game Journey. The game’s objective was to collect the band’s instruments, which had been stolen by intergalactic aliens who are fans of the band. With the band traveling to multiple planets to get their gear back. Featuring multiple Journey songs throughout the game.

Holy Diver 

A game that took inspiration from metal was Holy Diver in 1989 for the Nintendo Famicom (aka Nintendo Entertainment System). The game was based on Dio’s 1983 album Holy Diver but not officially licensed or advertised as a companion game to the album or officially licensed by Dio.

The game was an adventure/fantasy game in the vein of the early NES iterations of the Castlevania series. The game’s plot has the makings of classic 80’s fantasy/D&D all over it, with homages to metal legends at the time. Featuring characters named after Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio and the band King Crimson. 

Upon release, the game was considered rather hard and difficult for players not used to more difficult games at the time. Though sometimes called “a Castlevania clone” upon release, since it did bare many similarities, the game received mixed reviews. Today, the games Is hard to find for collectors of retro games. Ranging from as low as $70 to $755 for copies today.

Crüe Ball

Hair metal legends Mötley Crüe would join the video game craze, but with a simpler play style. Crüe Ball was a pinball game released in 1992, exclusively for the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive in Europe). Featuring three of the band’s songs, “Dr. Feelgood”, “Live Wire” and “Home Sweet Home” played over creative and sci-fi themed pinball tables.

Revolution X

In 1994, legendary rockers Aerosmith would not only have their music in a game, but the band themselves would be digitized and appear in the game Revolution X. 

An on-rails shooter, the game featured an Orwellian group called the New Order Nation that has banned certain media like television, video games, and even music. Kidnapping the band, the player must rescue the band and end the New Order Nation’s reign of terror. 

Though the arcade game was well-received by fans and critics upon release, the ports of the game for consoles like the Super NES, Genesis and Playstation received highly negative reviews. The band would have better success with another popular music-based franchise in the 2000’s and we'll get to later in this piece.

Doom

Around the mid-90s, the birth of the first-person shooter entered the gaming lexicon, the most famous being Doom. Known for the game’s ultra-violent and gory nature, it became infamous for concerned parents due to the satanic imagery and violence throughout the gameplay. Though not featuring any licensed music, the game’s composer Robert Prince took countless inspiration from classic metal acts like Metallica, Pantera and Slayer. 

In 2016, the franchise would receive a reboot with the music being handled by composer Mick Gordon. The heavier, djent-esque sound helped truly encapsulate the sound of slaying demons while banging your head and firing your BFG at unholy demons from other realms. 

While making the sequel Doom Eternal, Gordon assembled what he called a “heavy metal choir”. It featured metal vocalists Sven de Caluwé of Aborted, James Dorton of Black Crown Initiate and countless other metal vocalists and musicians. Their vocals were used to enhance gameplay elements such as monster noises, dark ambience, and atmosphere. 

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater

One game that perfectly captured the extreme sports theme of the '90s, was the release of the first game in the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise in 1999. Though most of the soundtrack leaned more towards punk & ska, the soundtrack featured songs from bands like Primus & Suicidal Tendencies. 

The game’s follow up, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, would begin to incorporate more metal into the game’s soundtrack. With songs like Rage Against The Machine’s “Guerilla Radio”, Papa Roach’s “Blood Brothers” and the nu-metal blueprint “Bring The Noize” by Anthrax & Public Enemy. In the spinoff series Tony Hawk’s Underground, hard rock legends KISS would be featured in a playable level in the game, along with three KISS songs, “Rock and Roll All Nite”, “Lick It Up” and “God of Thunder” can be heard in the level. In Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4, Eddie from Iron Maiden would be a playable character, with unique skateboard decks of not only iconic album art from the band, but Eddie-related pieces for deck designs as well.

Ed Hunter

Speaking of Maiden, they are a band that would embrace and utilize the popularity of video games. The first game was 1999’s Ed Hunter. Released to coincide with the greatest hits album of the same name, the game was a shoot ‘em up in the style of popular arcade shooters like Time Crisis and Virtua Cop. 

Though not available on sites like Steam or GOG currently, the game can be downloaded for free on the website Abandonware. 

Iron Maiden: Legacy of The Beast

The band’s most recent game is the popular mobile game Iron Maiden: Legacy of The Beast. Released in 2016, the free-to-play mobile RPG game sees the players play as Eddie as he must reclaim parts of his soul across many realms inspired or based on the music of Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden isn’t the only band or artist featured in the game. Throughout the game’s history, artists like Alice Cooper, Avenged Sevenfold, In Flames, Anthrax, Amon Amarth. Arch Enemy and Powerwolf have either had members of the band and their music become featured in the game. 

Earache: Extreme Metal Racing

Bands weren’t the only ones to enter the video game realm. Earache Records would create a vehicular combat game in 2006 called Earache: Extreme Metal Racing. 

Released on the PC and Playstation 2, the game not only featured Earache Records’ music as the soundtrack but would include vehicles based on bands on the label’s roster. Bands like Akercocke, Decapitated, The Berzerker, Morbid Angel and Deicide would have Mad Max-style vehicles that matched the theme of the band’s music, as well as the dark, evil aesthetic of the environment of the tracks they would race on.

Guitar Hero & Rock Band

In the mid 2000’s, the video game landscape was dominated by two rhythm game franchises. Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Guitar Hero would not only feature the iconic guitar controller but would feature countless classic hard rock and metal songs. The series would also launch expansion games for bands like Metallica, Aerosmith & Van Halen. 

Rock Band, which featured not only the guitar controller, but also a controller in the shape of a drum kit, keyboard and microphone. Though they featured metal songs in the game and along with downloadable content, Guitar Hero was catered more towards the metal audience. 

Over time the series became oversaturated, and even after trying a reboot in the later 2000’s, both series were ultimately discontinued.

Brutal Legend

Definitively one of the most metal video games to ever be released was in 2009 with the action-adventure game Brütal Legend. 

Starring Jack Black as the main character, the game embraced and paid homage to the roots and imagery of heavy metal. With battle axes and Flying V’s as weapons, the game took place in a heavy metal landscape and featured enemies and allies based on the history of heavy metal. 

The game featured a banging and eclectic soundtrack of thrash, death metal, sludge and traditional heavy metal from acts like Mastodon, Motörhead, Scorpions, Children of Bodom and King Diamond. Icons of heavy metal voiced pivotal characters in the game. Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister and Lita Ford voiced many characters that aid Black’s character. The game also featured voice acting by Jennifer Hale and the legendary Tim Curry as the antagonist. 

Though not a smash upon release, the game has developed a cult-following since then.

Metal: Hellsinger

The last game we'll cover today is the most recent. Released in 2022, Metal: Hellsinger, combined first-person shooter mechanics with rhythm-based attacks that would double or multiply your score, or damage your weapons would inflict. Though the game is mostly instrumental metal pieces that you sync your attacks to, at certain points of the game when you reach a particular level or streak, vocals will appear on certain songs. 

The developer of the game, The Outsiders, got a true star-studded list of guest vocalists for these moments. Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity), Tatiana Shmailyuk of (Jinjer), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), Serj Tankian (System of a Down) & Matt Heafy (Trivium). When downloadable content was announced, new guest vocalists Will Ramos (Lorna Shore), Melissa Bonny (Ad Infinitum), Joe Badolato (Fit for An Autopsy), and Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) were added to the game. Along with another DLC pack that featured songs from acts like Disturbed & Muse.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops

Avenged Sevenfold, the modern metal band from California, has collaborated with the Call of Duty: Black Ops game series multiple times. In 2010, they created "Not Ready to Die" for Black Ops' Zombies map Call of the Dead and had "Nightmare" featured in the map Moon. For Black Ops II in 2012, they composed "Carry On" for the campaign’s post-credits scene. Their track "Shepherd of Fire" was featured in Origins, and "Jade Helm" was made for Black Ops III multiplayer in 2015, along with previous songs added to the game's Music Tracks. In 2018, they returned for Black Ops 4, contributing "Mad Hatter" to the Zombies map IX, with lead singer M. Shadows as a playable character in Blackout mode.

Fortnite 

2024 saw two major acts in metal lend their names to the massive video game franchise Fortnite. 

Thrash icons Metallica made their appearance in June of this year. The band performed their music live, along with characters in the game that resembled the real-life band members. Called Metallica: Fuel. Fire. Fury, the event included not only the band appearing in the Fortnite art-style, as well as Lego-style, the game had special weapons, vehicles and music that would appear during the game. Though facing criticism from fans as the band chasing trends, the appearance was well received from fans of the game and reviews of their sections of the game received positive reviews. 

Not to miss a good video game opportunity, Avenged Sevenfold also teamed up with the popular battle royale franchise to pay tribute to the band’s legacy this year. In January, the band introduced a "free for all" map. The design of the map was inspired by the band's music video for the single "We Love You." Later, in October, Fortnite unveiled The Museum, an action RPG activity where the player solves puzzles that relate to the band’s 25-year career. Featuring ties and references to the band’s albums, it was a separate map to the game that was accessible for free. The map was released to promote the band’s participation in the 2024 Fortnite Festival addition, where fans can compete with each other playing tracks in a Guitar Hero-like experience. 

Over the years, heavy music has added so much to the video game landscape. Landing a signature kill shot in a first-person shooter, the final blow in a fighting game, or the epic soundtrack kicking in during a final boss fight, metal can deepen our connection with the games we play. There are a lot of games out there for fans of heavy music, and now that we've shown you a few, do a deep dive yourself and see if there's a game that brings back nostalgia or try one you haven't played yet. 

Games like Tony Hawk or Guitar Hero have been a massive gateway for people who may not have heard this music before, and many a metal fan has been made off the back of video games. As we've seen with metal-focused games like Metal: Hellsinger, and more recently Fortnite dipping its toes into the scene, we hope to see more metal-infused games on the horizon, and when they do, we’ll be ready to hit the Start button on every single one of them.