What does Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons have in common with Unreal Tournament, Killing Floor, America’s Army, and Brothers in Arms :Road to Hill 30? Good question being all of the latter are blood filled death fueled first person shooters. Answer :They all use Epic’s Unreal engine. And this threw me for a loop. Being used to playing violent shooters, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons grasped me like any game in recent memory rarely has and captivated me for all of its four and a half hour story. It was like coming from a crash diet of Bawlz or Mountain Dew Amp, and switching to herbal tea.

The game concerns a simple story of two sons attempting to find a magic serum to heal their dying father. They meet with misadventure along the way, but never fail to stay the course. Told entirely through exposition (there is no discernable dialogue in the game whatsover) the player uses a gaming controller to control the actions of the two boys. One stick represents the taller and stronger brother who is able to assist his younger smaller brother into high places, and the other stick represents the smaller brother who is able to squeeze into tighter spaces to press levers, open gates, etc. to allow his older brother entry. A charming little tutorial starts the show and gently eases the player into the game mechanics. Don’t worry, it’s far easier than it sounds.

I never had to access a walk through, and I only got stuck one time. I took a breath and reapproached the problem and then it came to me. I did die twenty-two times, but not once did I feel the game cheated. Death was usually a lesson learned.

And strangely even though I died several times it was a relatively easy game to get through. The story is definitely the thing. Speaking of story, it unfurled before me and captivated me like watching Labyrinth, or The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, or the obscure, The Company of Wolves. These are wonderful fantasy movies I saw in theaters years ago and remember never wanting them to end. This game isn’t a deep game, which isn’t a surprise considering its short playtime. It does, however, exude a wonderful ambience which is augmented by a beautiful soundtrack. If you’re a fan of Stars of the Lid or Sigur Ros you’ll find the soundtrack as splended as I did. At the story’s end I found myself a victim of my own emotions. I find it great that a computer game can make me feel that way. I want to revisit this place especially since it left me painfully pining for more background, lore and history of the wonderful place that could only exist in literature or art. This game is truly a testament to the old maxim, less is more.

What does [i]Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons[/i] have in common with [i]Unreal Tournament[/i], [i]Killing Floor[/i], [i]America’s Army[/i], and [i]Brothers in Arms :Road to Hill 30[/i]? Good question being all of the latter are blood filled death fueled first person shooters. Answer :They all use Epic’s [i]Unreal[/i] engine. And this threw me for a loop. Being used to playing violent shooters, [i]Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons[/i] grasped me like any game in recent memory rarely has and captivated me for all of its four and a half hour story. It was like coming from a crash diet of [i]Bawlz[/i] or [i]Mountain Dew Amp[/i], and switching to herbal tea. The game concerns a simple story of two sons attempting to find a magic serum to heal their dying father. They meet with misadventure along the way, but never fail to stay the course. Told entirely through exposition (there is no discernable dialogue in the game whatsover) the player uses a gaming controller to control the actions of the two boys. One stick represents the taller and stronger brother who is able to assist his younger smaller brother into high places, and the other stick represents the smaller brother who is able to squeeze into tighter spaces to press levers, open gates, etc. to allow his older brother entry. A charming little tutorial starts the show and gently eases the player into the game mechanics. Don’t worry, it’s far easier than it sounds. I never had to access a walk through, and I only got stuck one time. I took a breath and reapproached the problem and then it came to me. I did die twenty-two times, but not once did I feel the game cheated. Death was usually a lesson learned. And strangely even though I died several times it was a relatively easy game to get through. The story is definitely the thing. Speaking of story, it unfurled before me and captivated me like watching [i]Labyrinth[/i], or [i]The Adventures of Baron Munchausen[/i], or the obscure, [i]The Company of Wolves[/i]. These are wonderful fantasy movies I saw in theaters years ago and remember never wanting them to end. This game isn’t a deep game, which isn’t a surprise considering its short playtime. It does, however, exude a wonderful ambience which is augmented by a beautiful soundtrack. If you’re a fan of [i]Stars of the Lid[/i] or [i]Sigur Ros[/i] you’ll find the soundtrack as splended as I did. At the story’s end I found myself a victim of my own emotions. I find it great that a computer game can make me feel that way. I want to revisit this place especially since it left me painfully pining for more background, lore and history of the wonderful place that could only exist in literature or art. This game is truly a testament to the old maxim, less is more.