Max: The curse of brotherhood Nintendo Switch Review

We last checked out Max: The Cursed Brotherhood on the PC, now the game has come to the Nintendo Switch, offering Play Any Where, Play Any Time.

So what is Max: The Cursed Brotherhood, Max: The curse of brotherhood is a 2.5D platform/puzzle game developed by Press Play and is a sequel to Press Plays’ Max and the Magic Marker which was released on mobile platforms, Windows, Nintendo Wii, PSN and the Nintendo DS.

Let us capture the game in it’s story, which stars Max and his trusty Magic Marker from the first game. Max returns home to find his younger brother Felix, being the classic little brother that he is, smashing Max’s toys, an infuriated Max retaliates with a spell (found on the internet) that will erase his brother from existence ( a bit overkill if you ask me, but still justified ). Upon reciting the spell a portal opens from which a claw emerges and snatches Felix away from their world, Max realises his error and charges in after Felix. This is where the player takes control of Max and helps guide Max through his journey to rescue Felix.

Upon reaching Max’s first ally we find out that the land is controlled by an evil man named Mustacho (who’s most defining feature is as you guessed it … his enormous and ever so slightly disgusting head … and he has a moustache). In the lore of the world Mustacho and the Ally have been locked into a war of control over the world, but due to their age Mustacho has taken the upper hand.

Through the course of the game you will meet monsters and friends, and pass through different landscapes varying between deserts to swamps. All the art done for the game looks fantastic and a great amount of detail has been put into the 2.5D setting.

Not a bad story right, but I have yet to discuss the gameplay elements, which this time I am going to break down into bullet points, this is a first for me, but it just seem easier this way.

There are 5 powers in the game which are:

• Earth – Allows you to build pillars of earth at select locations, these pillars can vary in height and be instantly destroyed by you.
• Vines – Max can create vines to swing and climb through the levels. These Vines can also be attached to other physics objects to help keep them within boundaries of the puzzle or to move them around the puzzle.
• Branches – Can be summoned to help create ledges, boats or blocks for max to stand on, branches will retain the shape they were created in when they are cut from their spawn, they can then be moved around the puzzle.
• Water – Spouts are able to be summoned which move Max and other objects around at a terrifying speed, because of this Max can use them as jump-pads or a means to traverse puzzles with a good degree of accuracy.
• Fire– Max gains the ability to utilise fire, upon reaching this ability Max now has a direct ability in which to fight the henchman of Mustacho, rather than just trapping them or allowing them to push each other of cliff sides. This fire can be channelled to branches and then fired from the burning branch, allowing max to have a portable missile platform of deadly purple fire.

All these powers have nodes which they can be built from, which is restrictive but also a part of the puzzle. The game flows well, but sometimes the ability to complete a puzzle is based on how perfectly your draw the object. Vines are the biggest culprit of this problem as a lot of the time you will create a small vine attached to something if you draw straight to the object, so drawing away from the object and trying to tightly attach it to a branch happened to me often, and then sometimes the vine didn’t attach.

The game is also a platformer so expect to be jumping around … a lot … and away from a lot of upset creatures that want to kill you.

Thanks to the Nintendo Switch, the game switches up a level in gameplay functionality, Handheld mode offer you access to the touch screen to draw with your fingers, much easier than using a control stick (my opinion), though both methods work just fine.

The Graphics and Sounds in this game are astounding, a tribute to the love the game developers poured into this game, everything contrasts so well with each other, and there isn’t any over the top effects that you see all the time in games now, so it was a refreshing change.

Final thoughts, are simple really, the implementation of the drawing mechanics are spot on, when it came to solving puzzles, the use of touch screen adds even more depth and fun the games mechanics. The platforming and the constant run and jump sequences are fun and fleshed out, even though the game only offers approx 7 hours of game time and the final boss will not be much of a challenge, which is a shame.

The game not 100% perfect, but it is ultimately a good game to play though, even just the once, as there is no true replay value, apart from collectables.