Max: The Curse of Brotherhood Reviews
Some strong art direction and great puzzle design helps Max: The Curse of Brotherhood manage to be worth the time of PlayStation 4 owners.
Max: Curse of the Brotherhood uses a wonderfully implemented drawing mechanic to solve puzzles that can often feel familiar, but are usually just about different enough to remain fun and fresh. The platforming, chase sequences, and even the final boss won't put up too much of a fight against you in the seven-or-so hour campaign, but you may find yourself occasionally stumped by the odd puzzle that strays from the norm.It isn't quite perfect, and there are several small areas where we feel the game could be improved, but ultimately we had a great time playing through the adventure and enjoyed the core mechanic. It can't quite compete with the true elites of its genres but it is definitely a welcome addition to the eShop - if you love the puzzle-platform genre and want to add another game to your collection, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood returns in a Nintendo Switch edition and for all those who never played it before, this is a game that is well worth the effort: a fun, entertaining and involving platformer with plenty of puzzles that will keep the players around their systems for a long time.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
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.
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.
Ultimately, we can only recommend The Curse of Brotherhood to those with an Xbox One who must have a platforming title on their system. Whether its Braid, Limbo, Fez or Super Meat Boy, there are plenty of other indie platformers out there that excel far beyond The Curse of Brotherhood in terms of everything except its graphics.
As a result of its occasionally frustrating gameplay, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a game that sounds better than it truly is. However, those who are willing to look past its shortcomings will find a decent and somewhat charming experience underneath.
For what it is, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a charming, yet rather restrictive 2D, puzzle-platformer. Despite its limited scope, lack of replayability and depth, there's some fun to be had here, if only for a while.
In a raw battle between pros and cons, the pros for Max: The Curse of Brotherhood win the day, but the cons deliver ample opportunity for frustration. At the end of the day, this is a good addition to your digital collection.
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 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.
Simply put, Max is a fantastic indie game and a far better purchase than many of the others currently available for download. In Curse of Brotherhood, Xbox One has a fun, good-looking platformer at a budget price. Highly recommended.
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.
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.
It's easy to overlook Max: The Curse of Brotherhood when searching for a good platformer, but don't. Some frustrating moments aside, it's a well-designed twist on the genre that's quite at home on the Nintendo Switch in terms of visuals and controls. Those who didn't complete it on other platforms will find the Switch's touchscreen eases much of the difficulty, and the $15 price tag ($30 for the physical copy) makes it a game that's easy to pick up between bigger releases. And if there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that you really shouldn't mess around with spells you find online. You never know which ones will actually work…even if they don't begin with “I wish…”
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood doesn't break any new ground, and should have had the option of using the Kinect for the drawing mechanic, but still delivers. It has rough edges, but overcomes most of them because the platforming is done well.
It's got gorgeous visuals, and it's some fun, occasionally, and it's also got some great level design.
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.
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.
All-around frustrating controls, irregular physics and unfriendly level design make Max: The Curse of Brotherhood another misstep in the Xbox One digital launch library.