Iron Maiden Makes Video Games Tribute In New Music Video

Iron Maiden have made their latest music video a tribute to video games, according to a report from The Verge. The heavy-metal band recently released their first new single in five years, from the upcoming Iron Maiden album Book of Souls, which the Inquisitr has previously reported on.

The new song, “Speed of Light” is the first single from TheBook of Souls which is set to release on September 4. The video features Iron Maiden’s mascot Eddie, and gives a nod to classic video games; arcade classic Donkey Kong, side-scrolling shooters a la Contra and fighting games like Mortal Kombat, though all in Maiden’s signature style.

As TechTimes reports, the video starts with a Donkey Kong tribute, featuring Eddie climbing ladders and dodging flaming televisions, before rescuing a “princess” who seems very reminiscent of Jessica Rabbit.

Next up is a side-scrolling shooter; Eddie wields a laser pistol and an axe, hack-and-slashing his way through the game to defeat an alien-like boss – Contra, anybody? Although Contra certainly wasn’t the only side-scrolling video game featuring alien opponents, it’s definitely the best-known.

Next up, Eddie finds himself in a fighting game, facing off against The Beast himself, which is in some ways another Iron Maiden signature; Number Of The Beast is perhaps their best-known album and song, and The Beast featured on the album cover as well. Of course, it’s immediately clear that The Beast doesn’t stand a chance as Eddie lays into him, finishing the fight with a genuine Mortal Kombat “Finish Him!” prompt and a rather tame decapitation.

Finally, Eddie finds himself in a modern first-person shooter, albeit wielding his axe again, and duking it out with Incan skeletons – and full-3D-rendered Eddie looks pretty good. Interestingly enough, the right-side of the screen shows a drop down menu featuring “Armour,” “Sacrifice,” “Documents,” and “Weaponry.” Eddie finds himself an M-16 and shatters a few skeletons, and then pulls out what looks to be Doom’s BFG (in the words of developer id Software: “Big, uh, Freakin’ Gun”) and blows apart a tyrannosaur.

We won’t spoil the ending, but the viewer does get to find out what that Sacrifice option is for, and Eddie solves the final puzzle in the most metal way possible.

Interestingly enough, this isn’t Iron Maiden’s first foray into video games; in 1999 they released a shooter called Ed Hunter. The graphics in the “Speed of Light” video are polished enough that one has to wonder if Iron Maiden isn’t planning to make another foray into gaming, and decided to use their new video to tease the fans.

Regardless, if you’re a fan of Iron Maiden, a fan of video games or both, you owe it to yourself to check out “Speed of Light.” Not only does the song do justice to the name Iron Maiden, the video is incredibly polished and well-made.

[Image courtesy Iron Maiden LLP/via YouTube]