Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a little different from Starbreeze Studios’ other offerings such as The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and Payday 2. But in this gem of a game we may have found one of our favourite titles of the year.
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Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, formerly known as P13, was developed by Starbreeze Studios and was the first game to come from their partnership with 505 Games. Josef Fares, the Swedish award-winning film director, was also involved in the development of the title. It won the award for Best Xbox Game at the 2013 VGX Award Show, and the fact that it went up against big-hitters such as Grand Theft Auto V, BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider should tell you what a gem of a game this is.
I first heard about Brothers when numerous articles were published on various gaming websites just before its release. Since then it earned a place on my Steam wishlist but for one reason or another I never got around to actually purchasing it; that was until the summer sale when the reduced price would have made it silly not to. And I’m really pleased I did, because I think I may have come across one of the best titles I’ll play this year and an emotional game it’s likely I’ll always remember.
As can be expected from the title, Brothers tells the story of two siblings who live by the sea in a quaint and beautiful village. The opening scene shows us how they lost their mother to the waters, and then moves forward in time to the current day where their sick father needs to be taken to the local doctor. What follows is a quest that could be something straight out of a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm: the brothers are sent on a journey through huge mountains, icy oceans and dark forests to find the Water of Life that will cure their poor father.
This title can only be described as a single-player co-op game: you control both brothers at the same time. The left stick and trigger move the elder and make him interact with objects and characters in the environment, while the same controls on the right manipulate the younger. Each sibling has contrasting abilities with the former being stronger and able to pull heavy levers and the latter being small enough to slip through narrow bars. Interactions between the two include Chuckle-Brothers-style log-carrying (to me, to you), coordinated switch-flipping, and the elder giving the younger a leg-up when traversing steep climbs.
The controls do take some getting used to, particularly if you’re like me and have limited hand-to-eye coordination! It’s almost like rubbing your head and patting your stomach at the same time; a tricky task and even when you do manage it, five minutes later you’ll lose the ability and will have to start again. You try and divide control over each hand to each of the brothers, remembering which is which and then force your brain to stay in that place. If you’re able to keep them on the same side as the controls (elder on the left, younger on the right) it’s not so bad but get them crossed over and it can get a little confusing.
It’s a clumsy experience initially but this cleverly translates into the siblings’ personality. They’re faced with a momentous task and have to find a way to work together in order to succeed; and as your confidence with the controls grows, so does their bond. Because of this it feels almost wrong to separate them and if one drifts away, the other will beckon them in an indecipherable tongue. The game mechanics may sound frustrating but it’s a fascinating experience and one that’s extremely rewarding when you get it right.
The first downside to Brothers is that it may not provide much of a challenge for some gamers. The solutions to puzzles are usually pretty obvious and the challenge comes not from them themselves but in managing two separate characters at the same time. This is a little disappointing because the further the siblings venture from their village, the stranger and more dangerous the world around them becomes; we see them facing greater challenges as they progress but as players we don’t really feel it.
But this is a game that asks you to focus more on the emotional aspect of the actions you’re performing rather than the tasks themselves, and trust me: it won’t be long before you start feeling something. The occasions where the brothers need to truly work together are satisfying. For example, at one point they find themselves flying using a homemade hang-glider and have to shift their bodies in order to steer the contraption; and in another they’re joined by a rope as they use swinging motions to ascend a crumbling tower.
Starbreeze Studios never stick to one mechanic for long in Brothers – no longer than it takes to complete a scene based on it. An example of this is early on in the title when the elder must fend off wolves using a burning torch while the younger sticks close by; at the end of the section he drops the item and never picks one up again. In other titles this could cause frustration but here it just seems to add to the game’s charm. None of its tasks could really be described as challenging but each scene brings something new and nothing stays around long enough to become boring.
There’s one particular moment within Brothers that’s absolutely awesome. It sees storyline and gameplay come together in such a perfect way and it’s extremely potent. So much of the game’s worth hangs on this so it’s very hard to talk about it without giving anything away, and I don’t want to spoil it for any players out there. However, if you’d like to know more please feel free to contact us; and if you’ve already played the game, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this scene (you know which one I’m talking about).
I streamed my playthrough on Twitch with Phil watching, and he asked me to make sure I talked about the animals within this review. There are some endearing creatures within Brothers and it would be a crime not to mention them! A particular favourite for me were the whales who leaped out of the icy waters and threatened to capsize your boat whilst travelling through the frozen landscape; and Phil went all soppy over the baby turtles that needed to be reunited with their mother after becoming upturned and unable to move.
Brothers creates an atmosphere that’s almost like Fable crossed with Limbo crossed with Ico, and the stone benches scattered throughout the environment reminded me of the latter. But here these offer no functionality other than to allow the siblings to take a seat (even if it’s a little at odds with the urgency of their quest) and it’s worth doing so. The environments are full of colour and detail, and the distance, scale and perspective they convey is stunningly impressive. They remind you how vast the world that the siblings have to cross in order to save their father is, and by extension how important their relationship is to their survival.
This all sounds rather tranquil but there’s definitely a bleak undercurrent throughout. On your journey you’ll see a man about to hang himself in mourning over the death of his family; a river where the blood of battling giants stains the water and it’s necessary to traverse using their torn limbs; and a frozen village that’s tormented by an invisible goliath. Brothers may look like a fairy tale but be warned: it gets surprisingly dark in places and if you play with little ones, you may end up having some difficult conversations once the game is over.
All characters speak in an indecipherable language similar to The Sims’ chatter, so it’s definitely a case of actions speaking louder than words here. It’s impressive how the personality of each brother is displayed through their movements and there are several moments of humour. For example, if the elder interacts with an old well he’ll simply examine it and be done; but the younger is more mischievous and will peer inside… before letting a mouthful of spit fly into the darkness.
If the lack of challenge is Brothers’ first downside, its length is its second as it will only take around three hours to complete. And once you know the ending you may not want to play again too soon because of the amount it makes you feel; but it’s too beautiful to stay away from and I know I’ll return to it at some point when I want that level of emotional engagement. The game never lets you forget that its main theme is love: whether it’s the cave-troll couple who are reunited, the griffin freed from a cage, or the two brothers who help each other through grief and adversity, there’s always something positive to take away from the experience.
It’s hard to give Brothers a higher score than I have when basing it on the individual elements as we usually do here at 1001-Up.com. But it’s definitely a game that’s worth more than the sum of its parts and if it were up to me it would receive at least a 90% mark. The only thing that stops me from making it a perfect score is its length, because I would have loved to spend some more time within its world; both to explore its stunning environments and to see the brothers’ relationship develop over a longer period.
But what it lacks in substance it more than makes up for in emotion. For anyone who thinks that a video game can’t make you feel, do yourself a favour – play Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons as soon as you can and prove yourself wrong.
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Yeah, those turtles do look pretty adorable.
This game is now on my Steam Wishlist. I forgot about it, but I can’t do that anymore after reading your glowing review.
I’d recommend it – don’t expect much of a challenge in terms of gameplay, but it will definitely make you feel something at the end.