Brother’s: A tale of Two Sons (iOS)

Brothers: A Tale of Two sons is about the true bond between a pair of siblings as they go on a perilous journey across strange lands in order to find a cure for their ailing father. It’s a story of family, love and teamwork… This is what I would have written if I weren’t a cynical bastard.

Be Warned Spoilers ahead

That’s right spoilers on a review; I know that’s not how it’s supposed to work . There’s just no way that I can write about this game without spoiling something. So if you are going to play it then trust me it’s worth it and I’ll even score it for you now so that you don’t need to read on for a decision.

9/10

Now either bugger off and play the game, which you should if you haven’t already, or read on at your own peril as end game will be mentioned.

Lovely way to start the game

So the game starts with a lovely scene of the mother drowning: can’t beat a bit of death to get you in the mood. And then of course the Father turns ill and sends his two boys across the world in search of some medicine.

At this point the game is actually amazing and the subtle hints of despair are completely forgotten as you take control the two protagonists. Yes, you control two of them, at the same time.

This unusual gimmick is actually pretty great. I was playing on the iPhone 6 Brick (Plus) so having my two massive thumbs on the screen at the same time wasn’t an issue but there’s a potential problem for smaller screens I think. Quick hint at this point: Adjust the display settings for the opacity of the control buttons.

Controlling two characters is pretty tricky at first but it’s a unique experience that actually pays off, as you never seem to favour one character over the other, which tends to happen in a lot of dual-protagonist games.

Once you’ve got the hang of everything you really begin to appreciate the graphics and the beautiful world that you’ve been dropped in. Everyone in the game talks in a strange made-up language which had me googling ‘how to change the language in Brothers’ only to find a lot of idiots complaining and the fact that it’s not real – akin to The Sims except this is more believable. It actually works and you really get into the story purely on body language.

Step back, BFG wants some…

You progress through different lands and the game throws different puzzels your way. You’ll need to use your two brothers together to complete various tasks, such as two man lifts, swimming (the younger brother can’t swim since he had that lovely image of his mother dying ingrained in his brain) and obstacles with levers and switches.

Now I’m one of those people that don’t like to read reviews before I play a game, especially if it’s one that I really like the look of. I prefer to read the developers description, the blurb if you will, and crack on from there. I like walking unknowingly into a game, the element of surprise and the feeling of adventure.

There are plenty of opportunities to sit down and appreciate the scenery

Once you begin to play the game though, there aren’t really any surprises at all. You continue on your quest, using your two bros to cooperate with one another through beautiful countryside and meeting up with giants, gryphons and other unusual characters. For some reason the people of the local town can’t be arsed with you and dismiss your efforts to get some of daddy’s magic medicine. The game is about adventure and cooperation and you know what’s going to happen and where everything is leading. It’s reminiscent of games I played as a kid, the quest for something, the journey there and the triumphant return.

Everything is pretty straightforward and the developers cleverly throw something new at you as to not make the game too obvious.

… Wait is that someone hanging themselves? WTF did I miss? No surprises, my arse.

When did this game decide to get so dark?

That’s right the game lured me into a false sense of security. This whimsical adventure isn’t aimed at kids or families at all. It was all a ruse to drop kick me in the face with even more death and the haunting feeling that something isn’t quite right.

Then there’s more death and more death gradually introduced into the tasks, to the point where you are literally chopping limbs off giants in order to navigate through a ravine. The game gets darker and darker.

You’ll eventually rescue the lovely maiden in distress and Naia (big Bro) seems to have a relationship building with her. Again, everything seems obvious until the bitch turns into a spider and poisons her new love.

Don’t trust her Bro…

End Game Spoilers upcoming

So now not only are you looking for medicine to save your dad but you also need to save the fool-in-love. Of course you make it to the Tree of Life(?) and rush down in time to save big bro.

Except you don’t. You don’t save him at all. He actually dies. Like really dies. After all that shit you’ve done and all that bonding. Big bro really dies. Now this is enough to make you reel but guess what the game does next. It actually makes you bury him and you literally have to drag his cold dead body into the shallow grave before you catch a flight on this random gryphon and go back to your selfish dad. All the while wondering when he’s going to wake up. But he doesn’t.

As if you’re not sad enough, the game ends with your dad crying at the graves and young Naiee looking somewhat detatched. You know he’s going to have a shit life from now on.

Can’t beat dragging your dead brother into his grave…

Summary

The game is awesomely distasteful in way that will twist your heartstrings and make you feel ill… in a good way.

9/10

Screenshots