Game #1056: Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons

  Could pass off as an unofficial sequel to The Adventures of Cookie and Cream.

 Seeing how I now hold Fares at the same level I do my two other favorite video game auteurs, it was high time I played the very first game he made, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. The game's been on my radar for a few years now, but since it didn't have a physical release I could play I eventually forgot about it, but here we are.

 The game plays like Cookie & Cream on the PS2, the left analog stick movies the big brother around and L2 is his action button, while the right analog stick moves the little brother and R2 is his action button. I'm sure you could play this game with another person much in the same way you'd play Cookie and Cream, with each player holding a different side of the same joystick.

 Brothers is a puzzle game first and foremost, in which you'll have to interact with multiple objects using both brothers. Some actions can only be performed by a specific brother, for instance, it's the big brother who can pull levers or provide a foothold for the younger brother, while only the younger brother can fit through some crevices. Through out this 2 and a half hour long adventure you'll have to figure out how to use both brothers to clear the multiple obstacles that lying in wait to hinder the brothers' progress.

 Just like in Fares' subsequent games, there are a ton of things you can interact with, usually only rewarding you with a cute little animation. The game is filled with tiny details, and sometimes it's worth interacting with objects with both brothers, as both have their own unique personality and thus their own unique way of interacting with certain objects. And once again, most of the time you only get a small animation, no trophy, no nothing, but this attention to detail is pretty much his signature, and I'm most definitely a fan.   

 Another thing worth noting is that the game's story is nothing special, but it's very well told. I knew how the game ended already, and yet it still managed to pull at my heart strings. Characters speak in an undecipherable gibberish, but animations are expressive enough as for you to get the gist of what's being said. The world of Brothers is pretty interesting too, you'll go through high mountains, meet trolls and wade through the bodies left after a war between giants. It was a low budget game, so it's not the prettiest game out there, but it gets the job done.

 Much like 'A Way Out', I think the game is a bit lacking in its art-direction, something that Fares would get right with 'It Takes Two', but it more than makes up for in every other area. It's a well told told story, with great attention to detail and story-and-gameplay segregation, and I'm sure anyone who enjoys Fares' work will get a kick out of seeing how his signature style started off.

 8.0