Developer: Starbreeze Studios AB
Publisher: 505 Games
Rrp: £10.99
Available on Steam
In Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons you take control of two brothers and using the
unique control scheme, where you control both brothers simultaneously, you have to navigate them through their adventure. At first the control system is confusing but you get used to it quite quickly.
A word of warning, a control pad is absolutely necessary for this game, you can’t control it by any other means as it requires the use of dual thumbsticks.
The games puzzles and challenges are relatively simple and well executed, being more about timing than agility or memory. It also makes great use of its unique control scheme in the application of those puzzles and in the platforming areas.
The characters don’t speak any real language making the player feel like this a truly unique world and have to rely on on-screen gestures to understand what’s happening. They also use the environment to tell the story rather than outright tell you about the world your playing within.
This is one of the prettiest games I’ve had the privilege to play, while not by any means photorealistic it does create some stunning panoramas. The art style is very stylised but never does the art style interfere with the gameplay. Your never left jumping for a ledge that doesn’t exist or searching for an item that’s indistinguishable from everything else.
The game is short, lasting in the region of three hours or so and has little replay value, unless you want to find every minor cutscene and interactive object. It’s also incredibly linear, this is no bad thing, it tells a story and tells it well but if your looking for an alternative ending or choices to make this is not the game for you.
Personally as much as I enjoyed the game I find the Rrp to be a little too high, if it were in the five pound region I would recommend it whole heartedly but at its Rrp it’s too high despite its beauty and craftsmanship.
