Geek Syndicate
VIDEO GAME
REVIEW
max
- the curse of brotherhood
Brotherhood is a sequel / remake
of sorts to the 2009 game Max: The
Magic Marker which was released on
systems with touch screen interfaces or gesture driven control systems.
Both games feature the eponymous
child as their protagonist and feature the “Magic Marker” gimmick.
The idea is that Max uses the marker
to create objects in the world that
will help him progress. In the case
of Brotherhood, the marker has the
ability to grow platforms out of the
ground, branches, vines to swing on,
water spouts to speed through and
fireballs to … well, ignite things.
Publisher: Press Play
Platform:
Xbox One, Xbox 360
Available: Available in the XBOX
Game Store for either platform
When Max wishes for his annoying little brother, Felix, to
be whisked away by unknown
evil forces, he gets more than he
bargained for. Armed only with
a marker and a hope of undoing
what he has just done, he sets
out on a perilous journey across
deserts, eerie lantern-lit bogs,
ancient temples and lush green
forests to get his younger sibling
back. Along the way Max gains
the powers to manipulate his environment and overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.
It’s been a long time since I’ve really
got my teeth stuck into a platform
game. It’s been even longer since
I’ve played a side-scrolling platform
game. I thought my days of running,
leaping, swinging my way from left
to right along a level were well behind me. If Max: The Curse of Brotherhood by Danish developers Press
Play is indicative of the genre, then I
think I’ll be dipping into them more
often.
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The marker can also be used to combine these objects. Vines can connect to pillars or branches in order
to create rope bridges or longer
swings. Fireballs can ignite branches, which can then be used to create more fireballs and so on. As Max
learns each new technique with the
marker, these combinations and the
various ways in which the drawn
items can be used are explained. As
long as you don’t forget the previous
lessons, you’ll get through the game.
I can see how this gimmick would
work perfectly on a touch screen,
or even with a wiimote and frankly,
I thought the xbox controller would
prove detrimental to the idea. Fortunately, this is not the case and in
most cases, there’s plenty of time to
activate the marker and draw what
you need. Occasionally it will take a
few goes if you’re being rushed by
charging enemies but I didn’t find
any real issue here.
The rest of the controls work equally
as well if not better. As with the platformers of old, there are few buttons needed. In Brotherhood, you
need only movement, a jump button, a button for interacting… and
the button to activate the marker
system. It may seem an odd thing to
say, but these controls are nicely responsive. During my play through, I
could never once blame the controls
for my dying – it was always down
to me being an idiot. Running and
jumping at the same time in games
can sometimes be an issue but that’s
not the case here.
The game is beautiful on the XBOX
ONE. When I first fired it up, I had
to quickly browse the internet as I
thought it must be based on a Dreamworks movie given the quality of the
character models and the animation.
It isn’t by the way. This level of detail
and high standard remains constant
throughout. The models used in the
cut-scenes are exactly the same as
those in game. It’s a small thing, but
I do sometimes find the difference
in quality between cut-scenes and