Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios has brought us many different video game experiences including two The Chronicles of Riddick games as well as PayDay and PayDay 2 – which is maybe why their Xbox Live Arcade title Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons stands out due to its unique charm and experimental gameplay.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons will see players take control of two boys, a younger and an older brother, as they set out to save their father who has fallen ill. Their journey will take them across a Nordic inspired world filled with mystery and wonder where the two brothers pass many adventures along the way.
Brothers immediately stands out due to the warm and charming art style and presentation, including the two boys. The game does not feature an understandable language and reminds a bit of ‘The Sims’ where emotions are expressed purely by tone of voice and mannerisms – which really helps the characters come to live without being distracting.
After a brief setup the two brothers are on their way to endure a journey that will take them to many different places in the world. Players will meet a friendly troll, outwit a dog and cross a bloody battlefield among other impactful places. Starbreeze did a great job creating a world that truly tells a story without any actual words. Simply passing through the various places along the way left me with an emotional response that ranged from euphoria to a grim feeling.
The two brothers are controlled only by using the two analog sticks to move them around the world, each stick controls one of the brothers, while the triggers allow them to interact with the environments. I compare the control scheme to rubbing your head and belly at the same time in opposite directions sometimes as my brain fought to keep their movements straight. While I got used to it after a while, it was quite a challenge at times.
Controlling both brothers at the same time allows for a single player coop experience where your left thumb would help out the right one in the form of the two brothers. The older brother could give the little one a boost or both could push a gate open together. The puzzles require interaction from both brothers which makes for some fun and rewarding puzzles.
Brothers is one of those experiences that stick with you for a long time after you play it. The game does a fantastic job at keeping the player wanting to push forward and at the same time never wanting the experience to end. As I progressed through the various environments on the 3 hour journey, I could either push forward and experience the main story or slow down and appreciate the little touches.
Every so often players could interact with the environment or a person while having a different reaction from each of the brothers. While the younger brother will shake the old lady in the rocking chair, the older one will ask the same woman for directions. At another point in the game I learned that the little brother was a musical genius on the harp while his older sibling was just awful. There are many more non-required interactions like this in Brothers and some of them will surprise you.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is another one of those little downloadable gems that we will talk about for a long time as it triggers the same charm and emotional response like Journey or Limbo did. Brothers is a beautifully crafted journey that must be experienced. While the controls can be somewhat hard to get used to, it is the only negative thing I could mention in this review, Brothers is one of 2013’s must play titles.
Score: 9 / 10
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons was developed by Starbreeze and published by 505 Games for the Xbox 360 on August 7th. A copy of the game was provided to us by Starbreeze for reviewing purposes.
