Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard

 PlayStation 3
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard Image
Metascore
51

Mixed or average reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 30 Ratings

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  • Summary: 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 thatIn 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. 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 utilize a strategic cover system dubbed point and cover, upgradeable weapons and different interactive melee moves to attack and outsmart foes. [D3Publisher]… Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 38
  3. Negative: 12 out of 38
  1. GamePro
    70
    Matt Hazard is not a great game. It falls victim to a lot of the cliches that it pokes fun at and Matt Hazard doesn't have the star appeal of a Duke Nukem or a Marchs Fenix. It doesn't take the spoof thing far enough-they totally waste the voice over talents of the awesome Will Arnett-and the action needs three more coats of polish but it definitely has its moments. Despite its faults, I more or less enjoyed it.
  2. Kombo
    65
    Hazard walks the line between poking fun at games and being a game fairly successfully. The problems come from the wide net that the game cast and a few things slipping through the cracks.
  3. GamesRadar+
    60
    Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard is trapped in many of the clichés it seeks to skewer, but it’s still a fairly adequate shooter and occasionally gives you a chuckle. It’s just that we were hoping for something truly unique.
  4. 3DJuegos
    54
    Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard is a disappointing effort to obtain a good action game with an original and innovative focus. The bland spectacle of boring and senseless action destroys what could have been an enjoyable and bizarre game.
  5. GameDaily
    50
    Bland shooting, idiotic bad guys and an average story left us disappointed. Developer Vicious Cycle should've spent less time making fun of superior shooters and more time making Eat Lead play like one. That's no joke.
  6. GamingXP
    43
    On the whole, you’ll experience a game that takes neither itself nor the consumer seriously. The “humorous” vibe of the game isn’t funny and the gameplay sucks, too.
  7. 1UP
    25
    Like the "real" Matt Hazard, Eat Lead is best left to fade into obscurity.

See all 38 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 11
  3. Negative: 2 out of 11
  1. JS
    May 5, 2009
    10
    I LOVED this game! It pokes so hard at the video game world from Halo to Final Fantasy and even loading screens. The game gets a bit I LOVED this game! It pokes so hard at the video game world from Halo to Final Fantasy and even loading screens. The game gets a bit repetitive towards the end,but the game ends before it overstays it's welcome. With voicing from Will Arnett and Neil Patrick Harris,it makes the game even more enjoyable. This game is hilarious and i'm hoping for a sequel.… Expand
  2. CaitO'C
    Mar 10, 2009
    9
    I'd love to give this game a perfect score, but I do realize that gameplay and graphics are pretty basic retreads of stuff from the I'd love to give this game a perfect score, but I do realize that gameplay and graphics are pretty basic retreads of stuff from the past. However, I have not seen a game with such a brilliant sense of humor and writing in a long time. It's a decent cover shooter whose cutscenes and one line asides will keep you playing. Ignore the critics who couldn't be payed off by the small publishers advertising budget (if they had one).… Expand
  4. CharlesL.
    Mar 3, 2009
    8
    No it's not the best game ever, no it's not innovative, and it's not trying to be. It's trying to be the Airplane or No it's not the best game ever, no it's not innovative, and it's not trying to be. It's trying to be the Airplane or Scary Movie of the video game world, and that's what it succeeds in achieving. It's got the laughs and the fun... and that's all it needs. I personally enjoyed the game a lot and look forward to a sequel.… Expand
  5. Freddo222
    Dec 23, 2014
    8
    I really liked it, sometimes it tries to hard to be funny and sometimes the humour feels forced but overall this game was a nice experience. II really liked it, sometimes it tries to hard to be funny and sometimes the humour feels forced but overall this game was a nice experience. I absolutely loved the "wolfenstein" level!… Expand
  6. thepatient613
    Feb 16, 2016
    6
    The game that was too low budget to make fun of itself.

    Ok so Matt Hazard was very self-aware and just knew how to make fun of its low    The game that was too low budget to make fun of itself.

    Ok so Matt Hazard was very self-aware and just knew how to make fun of its low budget. I did laugh a few times but not enough to forget just how bad the controls and the gameplay truly where. I appreciate what they tried to do, it's not the worst game ever either, might even have a cult following, it's just not a game you can take very seriously at all.    … Expand
  7. rcoberle54
    May 13, 2020
    5
    I really liked this game until I suddenly didn't anymore. After a few hours once the difficulty ramps up it's flaws become really apparent andI really liked this game until I suddenly didn't anymore. After a few hours once the difficulty ramps up it's flaws become really apparent and it falls victim to a lot of the same things that Duke Nukem Forever did. It's rusty and unpolished which makes it impossible to be precise. When you're playing on the hardest difficulty and can be one shotted at any given moment, precision is absolutely vital. The inability to be precise, both with aiming and picking up weapons, becomes so incredibly frustrating. You get stuck on edges, you get stuck swapping or switching between weapons. It feels like they spent too much money on the voice cast rather than polishing up the gameplay and mechanics.

    What I really liked and found interesting was the concept. This is a game that blends together all the video game genres and it's biggest characters into one shared universe that traverses both the real world and the video game one. It reminded me of Wreck It Ralph and Matt Hazard predates Ralph by a number of years. Matt Hazard is your typical video game cliche action man hero ala Duke Nukem or Doom guy etc and he plays a little like Deadpool. He's aware that he is a video game character and he pokes fun at the genre. Like the Deadpool movie, Eat Lead feels simultaneously like a parody and celebration of it's respective genre. Will Arnett voices the titular character. The concept and the story were much more interesting than all the other games I've recently played like Fracture, Haze, Timeshift so I initally was going to rate it much better than those games. It blends together cowboys, space marines, zombies, femme fatales etc as it referenced Halo, Mario, Duke Nukem, Splinter Cell among other popular video game franchises. In what other game can you set fire to your enemies using a water gun? However, the gameplay was so bad and boring by the end that I couldn't justify going higher than 6 but knowing it deserved better than 5. EDIT: The more I think about this game the more I hate it. I remember thinking the gameplay was so boring and the experience so frustrating that it's unforgivable. I changed my rating down to a 5. I def had more fun playing Duke Nukem Forever than this.

    It will definitely be more memorable in the end. This also has trophies giving it a bit more replayability which I thought would push it a notch above the other games I've recently played, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on that. Plus I really love Will Arnett's voice acting which again I thought would give it an edge yet I couldn't help but feel like they didn't get the most out of him. This was before Lego Batman and Bojack Horseman so perhaps his voice over work wasn't on point yet. I also couldn't help but think how much better a concept this would have been had the main character been Duke Nukem and you could get appearances by Master Chief and Mario instead of the knock off joke versions of them. It had a lot of things going for it, but just didn't quite hit the homerun it was looking for.

    Also if you take a look at the boxart it has Matt Hazard dual wielding a minigun and what appears to be an assault rifle maybe with an attached grenade launcher. Neither of these weapons appear in the game. You only dual wield a pair of six shooters, and sub machine guns. Based on the box art I thought this would be more of a Doom 2016 type game where you run and gun and blast your way through enemies with a seemingly limitless supply of ammo. Instead Eat Lead gave us a third person cover shooter where you tediously wait for enemies to expose their heads and you meticulously aim just to miss because the precision sucks, then wait another 30 seconds to repeat the process. Yawn. I felt lied to. If your came is soley going to be a third person cover shooter, it should be really good at that. So many games have better cover shooter mechanics and more satisfying controls. I thought of how much better Uncharted plays and feels. Furthermore the Uncharted games aren't solely third person cover shooters. They have climbing, puzzles, cinematics, driving, etc. I hate to bring up Naughty Dog games with every review but they honestly deserve it since they continue to turn out some of the best, top notch stuff. It never felt like "Eat Lead!" and felt more like "Will you let me shoot you please?"

    Overall this is an okay game. I found it more interesting than fun.    … Expand
  8. CraigM
    Sep 17, 2009
    2
    Eat Lead is easily described by one word: suckish. It is a funny game yes with an interesting story to it, but it sacrifices everything else Eat Lead is easily described by one word: suckish. It is a funny game yes with an interesting story to it, but it sacrifices everything else for the comedy. The gameplay feels very recycled from other games but the company actually ruined it here. It is also extremely repetive, fighting the same enemies over and over, and there are plenty of times where enemies will randomly spawn right behind you. Barely any weapons, pathetic boss battles, and well, everything about this game is pretty bad. You know how the boxart has Matt holding a chain-gun in one hand and a pissed off machine gun in the other? Guess what, you do not even get those weapons. The most explosive weapon that you get is a wimpy looking grenade launcher. Trust me, I would only suggest this as a rental only for the trophies. Nothing else.… Expand

See all 11 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2009
59
#59 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2009