Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a puzzle platformer game developed by Press Play, published by Microsoft Studios, which initially released on Xbox 360 on December 20, 2013, then on PC and Xbox One on May 21, 2014, on PS4 on May 15, 2017. November 21 and finally, on Switch on December 2017, XNUMX (fyou, that makes some releases!)
History
While Max is quietly at home yelling at his little brother, Felix, who has stolen his toys and is watching on his laptop "how to get rid of his little brother", a strange portal appears and sucks this latest. Realizing that he loves his brother anyway, and listening only to his courage, Max jumps through the portal in order to find and bring back his brother. He arrives in a strange world, in which he learns that two entities clash to take control of it. Max will then gain the power to create things with his pen.
Game and gameplay
The game is therefore a platform game in which we will cross certain passages of reflections. Max's controls are very easy to learn. Moving forward, running, jumping and climbing are Max's movements. It is both simple and effective. Later in the adventure, Max will get the ability to use a magic marker allowing him to create items (including land pillars). It is through these that the game becomes at times a puzzle game, with small (very simpled) puzzles to solve in order to keep moving forward.
Later, it will be possible for Max to "draw" other elements, such as branches, ropes, fireballs and even water jets. All these creations will be used by Max to move forward in the world and continue his journey. At times, you will need to combine several of these creations in order to be able to solve the puzzles, but then again, these won't be extremely difficult to solve, although some will require a certain speed of execution to get there.
For example, you will have times when Max slips and ends up in a vacuum, so you will have to quickly draw something to hold him (a pillar, a rope, etc.). However, these moments trigger a kind of "bullet-time", thus leaving plenty of time to carry out the realization to save yourself. Other puzzles will ask you to draw a "path" for a ratchet in order to destroy an element of the scenery preventing you from passing, for example.
The game itself is therefore not very difficult. The puzzles are however quite varied, although at the beginning (when you only have access to the earth pillar), it can seem very redundant, it is not from the moment you unlock the other elements. The game also offers a lot of waypoints. In general, at the slightest error and / or death on your part, you will start over on the previous platform.
Having tested the Switch version, I will talk about the port in question.
The game is equal to what the other versions offer. In portable mode, the game is at 720p (the screen resolution) and 1080p in dock mode. The port took advantage of the Switch's touch screen and, if you play in portable mode, you can use the marker with your finger, directly via the touch screen, rather than having to use the trigger + the joystick.
Unfortunately, the porting itself has a few minor issues. During certain passages, the game suffers from a drop in IPS, often for no reason. I have, at several times, experienced drops in IPS for 4-5 seconds while my character was stationary and nothing was playing on the screen. During panoramas or camera rollbacks, the game also jerks. It's a bit annoying and annoying, especially when the camera rolls backwards while you're in action (which sometimes led to my death, causing me to miss a jump).
Conclusion
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a good game. As for the lifespan, it keeps us going for 6-7 hours, but does not offer replayability. The Switch version is quite mixed. Offering the ability to use the touchscreen is a great idea, but aside from that, the port itself suffers from some minor optimization issues. However, despite these small issues which are also not present all the time, the game is quite playable.
You can find it on different media right now:
- Steam (14,99€)
- Xbox One (14,99€)
- PlayStation 4 (14,99€)
- Nintendo Switch (28,99€)
