This week, I played a game that felt like the lovechild of
an SNES platformer and a touchscreen puzzle-solving title. Where’s this cute
and wonky hybrid showing up? Why, the Xbox One, of course.
At first blush, you’ll think you know exactly what you’re
getting in Max:
The Curse of Brotherhood. It’s a shiny-cute adventure where lead
character Max has to rescue his little brother Felix after accidentally
banishing him to the alternate dimension of Anotherland. (He was being very
annoying.) Max follows him there and has to jump, climb and puzzle-solve his
way to saving Felix.
What you will see is a set of mechanics that let you get
from the left side of the screen to the right side by scrawling elemental
structures across the world controlled by evil sorcerer Mustachio. As the game
goes on, Max gains the abilities to draw stone pillars, water spouts, jungle
vines and aiming arcs for
fireballs, all thanks to his magic marker. Players will use the analog stick to draw the lines to make the magic powers activate.
When I played MtCoB this week, I really enjoyed how little
handle-holding there was to be found in the levels I sampled. No giant arrows
or text hints, only the occasional dialogue nudge when you’re first using a new
power for the first time. I’ve found that silence is always golden in these
kinds of physics-based puzzle platformers and am glad that the Press Play folks
think so, too.
Curse of Brotherhood feels like a game that’s attempting to
recreate the tactile interface of a touchscreen gaming idea into a console
game. (It’s a spiritual sequel to Max and the Magic Marker, which landed on Wii, DS, iOS devices and PS3.) You could draw
things in that game but here, you’ll be able to draw a branch and cut it
off wherever you slice it and then
use it to a raft. Players will also be able to combine powers so it’ll be
possible to infuse a branch with fire powers and use it to ward off enemies.
https://lastchance.cc/max-the-magic-marker-preview-for-those-with-imaginat-5486857%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Press Play told me that MtCoB will be available for the Xbox
360 as well. The plan is to down-port the Xbox One version to the Xbox 360. 360
players won’t be getting a full HD experience, though, and that iteration of Max: The Curse of Brotherhood running at
30 FPS, instead of the 60 FPS of the Xbox One version.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood comes across like the kind of
game that’s all but disappeared from console line-ups in the last decade. It’s
a kid-friendly game filled with nostalgia for games gone by, but one that tries
to feel of-the-moment. Players will get their chance to take Max on his grand adventure
next year.
