Have you ever been strolling on the plains of Artemis and thought, ‘Damn, I wish I could just bust out an electric guitar riff right about now’? Okay, you probably have no idea what we’re talking about.
Artemis is the current map of the hugely popular online video game, Fortnite, and players have just been given the chance to be able to play the guitar riff of Metallica’s 1986 megahit Master of Puppets in-game.
The emote – a term for such in-game gestures – costs 500 V-Bucks from the Fortnite items store, about $4 in real-world money, and allows the player to perform the chromatic, palm-muted and down-picked riff à la James Hetfield, and lets players nearby join in to fill Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo and Lars Ulrich’s roles, even if they don’t own the emote.
Master of Puppets has enjoyed a resurgence in popular culture this year, owing primarily to its inclusion in the hit Netflix show, Stranger Things. After its feature in the show’s season four finale, in which Eddie Munson, portrayed by Joseph Quinn, plays it to distract a horde of demonic bats, Metallica noted that they were “stoked” by the track’s scene-stealing role.
“It’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer – how crazy cool is that?” the band said.
“It’s an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie’s journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show.”
And amid the Master of Puppets furore, Joseph Quinn visited Metallica prior to their set at this year’s Lollapalooza festival to Jam the classic track.
Last month, Metallica announced 72 Seasons, their first studio album since 2016, kicking off proceedings with its first single, Lux Æterna.
In addition to the album and single, Metallica have also announced a world tour for 2023, which begins in April and will take in dates across the US and Europe, plus a three night residency in Mexico City.
Supports for the dates will (variously) include Pantera, Mammoth WVH, Architects, Greta Van Fleet, Volbeat and Five Finger Death Punch.
