This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Just got the game free through XBox Live - Games With Gold. Before then, it was listed for about $5.00. While I'm glad I didn't pay for the game, I would've been quite happy to do so. Max is well-worth your time and effort.
Max: Curse of the Brotherhood is a sequel/reboot of Max & The Magic Marker for the PC. The story itself is rather basic: You're Max, and you used an incantation to make your annoying brother disappear. Before you can even close the book, a giant hand reached out and grabbed your brother, taking him into another dimension. You follow your brother and try to rescue him.
At first, the game appears to be a standard 2.5D side-scrolling platformer. Soon enough, you discover the core gameplay mechanic - a marker that gives you the ability to manipulate your environment.
At first, all you can do is raise and destroy pillars of rock, and only in specially marked areas. In fact, all of your powers throughout the game can only be used at specific places. The pillars allow you to reach places you thought out of reach, block enemies from chasing you, direct or redirect falling objects, and give you platforms for landing from falls or crossing treacherous areas. If you make a mistake, you have to destroy the pillar and try again. There's a bit of the classic "try, fail, repeat" in this, but it never gets too frustrating.
As you progress through the game, you start to earn new powers. First, it's the pillar, followed by branches, vines, etc. The game flows from one chapter to the next, with each giving you a new power followed by some levels to master it. Eventually, you find yourself combining your powers on one screen. For example, you may draw a branch, raise a pillar, draw a vine from the branch to the pillar, and then shimmy down the vine from one to the other. Maybe you need to cut the vine from the pillar so you can swing from the pillar to another branch. Each puzzle can be solved in such a way, though sometimes it might take a bit of work to figure it out.
Added to the puzzles is a push-pull mechanic for loose objects. These can be your standard boxes, rocks, or even branches that you've drawn and cut. While it's so standard it's almost cliche, it doesn't appear to be overused in this case.
The visuals are, for the XBox 360, rather lush and colorful. They stick to a nice theme, mixing the cartoony Max with borderline-creepy environments. This allows the developer to keep up the suspense and the fear of what may come around the next corner. Levels range through jungles, deserts, rainforests, underground (even pitch black in one case), darker forests, a volcanic area replete with lava, and more. While not on par with next-gen games, it's about as good as you'd expect for a platformer meant for the last-gen 360. It does suffer in comparison with newer platforms like Unravel, but it's still charming.
The sound is not bad, but there's not really a lot to recommend it. Better use of ambiance and music would be nice. The only time it really picks up is when you're being chased by something big. Even then, the sound could use a little work.
Replayability is offered through hidden amulet pieces and eye-stalks. Find the eye-stalks and get up to four achievements for the game. Find the amulet pieces for four more achievements. Once you've finished a level you can go back to it at any time, so it's not really an issue if you missed something on you first play-through.
Controls are old-school. No double-jump, though you can direct your jumps and falls with a little aftertouch. The thumbstick is used in combination with the right-trigger to "draw" with your magic marker. The drawing takes some getting-used-to, but it's done well enough to not be frustrating for most. There are times where you have to draw while moving quickly through a level. At those times, the fact that you can't both draw and run at the same time gets in the way a little. The ability to use both thumbsticks - one to draw, the other to run, might've helped. That said, it's not an unfair mechanic, and the game never puts you in situations that can't be figured out and accomplished.
In all, I'd say Max is a rather fun - if short - platformer. Considering the price, it's a good deal for anyone interested in something new. That said, don't expect it to hold your hand. Checkpoints are frequent enough to avoid having you replay entire levels, but you still have to use your wits and your fingers to get through the game. As it is, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a charming and fun diversion, well worth your time.… Expand
