Max The Curse of Brotherhood video review

We take a look at the Xbox One /Xbox 360 exclusive platform adventure game, Max The Curse of Brotherhood from Press Play  and determine whether this miniature release is worthy of your time and money at £12.99 from the digital marketplace. Take a look at our Max The Curse of Brotherhood video review for the full picture.

Max The Curse of Brotherhood review:

Today we’re taking a look at Press Play’s platform adventure game on Xbox One, Max The Curse of Brotherhood which tells the tale of a young Max on an adventure to rescue his younger brother Felix after wishing him and his annoying ways to another dimension. When the wish is mysteriously granted, Max is thrust into a dark and menacing world that poses challenges galore every step of the way. The main draw of the game – pun intended – is the use of a magical marker pen which enables Max the ability to draw specific items to navigate the hostile levels. It’s a novel way of solving lateral puzzles and despite some inconsistencies and vague moments, is fairly enjoyable.

As players work through the game, they are introduced to the pen and how it works with the environment. Starting out being able to lift up earth to create pillars to jump on or move objects, paves the way for more intricate inanimate objects such as shaped branches, and ropes to more complex items such as jets of water and fireballs. What makes the game works so well is how these elements are interwoven with each other as solutions to the navigational puzzles. Whilst some are a little tricky at first glance, with some lateral thinking the solutions make sense and provide a sense of accomplishment when the correct  action to take finally clicks after wondering what to do next. That said, the game does present some moments where performing the correct action doesn’t quite connect properly and creates some confusion leaving the player unsure whether they are doing the right thing or not. There are also some very unforgiving sections that will likely challenge the mettle of the most calm gamers – simply due to some not so tight realization make them harder than what they should be.

Aside from the few niggles, most of the game is fairly straight forward, with some reasonable platforming elements to jump around and slide through. There’s a bit of minor exploration thrown in to collect hidden items, but essentially, the game is a linear affair.

What is perhaps the most notable absent from the Xbox One version at least are a lack of Kinect controls which seems like a massive missed opportunity, but due to how precise some of the actions have to be, it’s obvious the game would have to be redesigned to suit, but still, with the Xbox One having Kinect as standard it does feel a bit empty to not include its use here.

In terms of looks, the game boasts some bright and colorful visuals across a number of themed environments which look pleasant enough, but don’t push the capabilities of the hardware. There are some dark interior moments which feel a little generic, but the more spectacular moments of the 2.5D design do look very good.

The audio is fairly tame here with a constant soundtrack on offer to pronounce the gameplay, but it’s not as intruding as it could be. The voice acting is well performed as expected, and the other sound effects are used well. That said, there’s nothing really standout with the audio and simply does what is expected.

Max The Curse of Brotherhood offers a fair amount of gameplay but sadly, doesn’t really beckon players to try the game again once bested, bar a few achievements. What could have been neat to add some legs to the package would havce been  some leader boards and perhaps a time trial mode but sadly there’s nothing beyond the basic game aside from replaying levels to hunt down the hidden eyes and relic pieces.

To conclude, Max The Curse of Brotherhood is a solid game that is perhaps too complex in places for younger gamers, and maybe not adult enough for those who are older. The game does offer reasonable challenge, although due to some poor controls with the marker pen and some vague unforgiving moments, prevents it from stepping into something more than just good.  Is it worth the price of entry? Yes, but only if you like to be tested and prefer to use your noggin a bit more than the average game.

Score 7/10 – Review by Robert Cram

 

 

 

Written by: Rob Cram

Rob Cram has hundreds of video game reviews, thousands of articles under his belt with years of experience in gaming and tech. He aims to remain fair and free from publisher/developer influence. With his extensive knowledge, feels his gaming opinions are valid and worth sharing. Agreement with his views are entirely optional. He might have a bias towards cyberpunk.