Max: The Curse of Brotherhood Reviews
The difficulty curve is forgiving, although it does ramp up a little more toward the climax, but it never gets close to the levels of irritation that platform games of old managed. The control input method may be difficult for some, but once you get used to it, it becomes second nature and even the fastest sections won't be too demanding. Max may have been sneaked out earlier than we expected, but it's a little gem that could easily be over-looked, but will reward gamers who invest their time in it.
Max The Curse of Brotherhood is a mixed bag. It looks fantastic, it can be fun, even exhilarating plus some of the puzzles are totally wicked (in a good way). Sadly though it is unable to be anymore than something reasonably priced to play on your Xbox One over Christmas if you have completed your Xbox One back catalogue from launch day. Platforming/puzzle nuts will easily overlook the issues and the difficulty that these present, and if you are one of them, Max will satisfy.
So many moments in The Curse of Brotherhood are hampered by a sense that a square peg is being shoved into a round hole. All of its great ideas are dwarfed by the fact that it doesn't feel good to play. The game tries to make invoke a sense of creation, but it's more akin to fumbling in the dark.
Max: The Curse Of Brotherhood is a handsome and surprisingly sharp platform puzzler. Though stronger characters, storyline and controls could have made it truly special, it's still well worth exploring if you're looking for something fresh to play on your Xbox One.
I don't think Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is devoid of value, but I certainly don't think it's something to rush right out and buy—unless, as an Xbox One early adopter, you're content with a passable platformer that possesses a handful of quasi-memorable moments to tide you over until Titanfall. And for anyone jonesing for a platformer, Max represents only a quick, short-lived fix.
Sequel to Max & the Magic Marker is filled with clever conundrums, suffers from trial-and-error action sequences
But there is no denying the sense of accomplishment when you solve a puzzle, arranging the branches, vines and spouts of water in the correct way and then successfully manoeuvring Max across them and safely into the next screen. It's a game that makes you feel smart and, unlike Limbo, never surprises you with unforeseeable traps: there is always an opportunity to stand back, assess and, finally, execute. It's a somewhat short, enjoyable and inoffensive game that delivers on the potential of its mechanical promise, if not its narrative premise.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood has a handful of funny moments, plenty of fairly easy but entertaining puzzles and platforming/chase scenes all wrapped up in lovely visuals. The adventure doesn't have great replay value, but the first time through it's long enough, and the price of admission is absolutely worth it.
It's not the kind of game that will be remembered down the track, but in the here and now it's filling a certain gap in the One's line-up more than adequately.
Overall, I feel like Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is the fresh, simple platformer that the industry has missed since the days of the genre's prominence. While it's too small to ever win a Game of the Year award, the game is more than worth your time, especially when only for $15.
Max: Curse of the Brotherhood is a decent platformer with fun gameplay and a variety of puzzles for you to solve. It's just a shame that the rest of the game couldn't have been as good. It's not a bad game at all – in fact, I had a lot of fun playing it. The problem is that outside the gameplay, everything about it is forgettable. This is both a good and bad thing. Thankfully the game provides fun platforming with clever puzzles for you to solve, but there is a good chance you won't care about anything else. It's like going to a steak house where the steak itself is delicious but the sauce and all of the sides that came with it tarnish the meal, making it bland and forgettable.
It's got gorgeous visuals, and it's some fun, occasionally, and it's also got some great level design.
Good-looking with a nice idea at the forefront, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood's execution leaves a lot to be desired. Clumsy controls, questionable physics and collision detection all ruin an otherwise decent effort.
It will not be the most compelling thing you play all year, but it does what it set out to do very well. It is a clever game, with a simple idea at it's core, that consistently brings enough clever ideas to the table as it goes to remain captivating throughout.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is visually appealing and excellently paced, but its frustrating controls and legacy assets peg this as a game released a little prematurely.
In the end, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a fine game for puzzle platforming fans. The length is just about right, the presentation is great, and the amount of hidden collectibles gives the title some considerable replayability. Though the freedom to construct your own solutions is sorely missed, the puzzles are well thought-out and certainly make up for the few puzzles that are ruined due to misbehaving camera angles and other issues. Fans of the genre will thoroughly enjoy The Curse of Brotherhood.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, while looking like a kids game, is anything but. The cartoon graphics may be enticing enough for kids to try, but the steep difficulty curve may be too much for them. However, underneath the cutesy disguise is a clever and surprisingly entertaining little game.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood offers a decent amount of entertainment for the price-tag and could appeal to fans of games like Limbo (including the similar, dark, horror-like themes.) It will take casual players around seven hours to complete, but there is little reason to come back to the game after the climactic finish, which makes this title difficult to recommend to everyone.
It's probably an understatement to say I was rather taken aback by how much I ended up enjoying The Curse of Brotherhood.
On the surface everything in Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is just fine. It's as if a beautiful 3D animated film has turned into an innovative, thinking man's 2.5D platformer, with a great balance between well-implemented challenge and pure enjoyment. After a play-through, though, some of its flaws begin to surface.