{"id":12024,"date":"2014-06-20T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T00:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=12024"},"modified":"2014-06-14T16:07:58","modified_gmt":"2014-06-14T16:07:58","slug":"max-the-curse-of-brotherhood-360-xbox-one-pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2014\/06\/20\/max-the-curse-of-brotherhood-360-xbox-one-pc\/","title":{"rendered":"Max – The Curse of Brotherhood (360, Xbox One, PC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MAX_BOX\"<\/a>One day after school, Max comes home to find his little brother Felix in his room playing with Max\u2019s toys.\u00a0 Disgusted, Max does an Internet search on \u2018Giggle\u2019 to find a way to get rid of his brother.\u00a0 He finds a magic spell, but when he reads it aloud, to his surprise it actually works and a dimensional portal opens up and a monster grabs Felix and whisks him away.\u00a0 Realizing he had done something wrong, Max leaps into the portal to save his brother and winds up in a whole new world.\u00a0 Armed with only his wits and a special magic marker, Max must explore this new land and rescue his sibling.\u00a0 Max \u2013 The Curse of Brotherhood is a sequel to Max and the Magic Marker and is available to download on PC and Microsoft game consoles (reviewed on 360 here).<\/p>\n

The game is part 2-D platformer and part physics-based puzzler.\u00a0 Max can run, jump, and climb and swing on vines.\u00a0 But this new world is filled with enemies and traps, and he won\u2019t be able to survive on his own.\u00a0 Luckily, early on in the game the magic marker in his backpack inherits special powers and Max can now draw pillars to hop on, branches and vines to climb, and water spouts to help him avoid obstacles.\u00a0 Just hold down the right trigger on the controller and you\u2019ll move around the marker on the screen instead of Max.<\/p>\n

There are highlighted areas that tell you where you can use your magic marker to draw things.\u00a0 You can also erase them, too.\u00a0 Since the puzzles are mostly physics-based, you\u2019ll be mostly interacting with objects to get them to move or fall into place.\u00a0 For instance, you may have to draw a branch in a circle, then erase the end of it so it falls and rolls where you need it to. Or you may need to draw a branch, then make a pillar rise up to create a bridge.\u00a0 There are also hidden secrets and items to find in every stage if you veer off the beaten path.<\/p>\n

Aside from the clever puzzles, the best part about this game is the graphics.\u00a0 They look almost Pixar quality, even during gameplay.\u00a0 But there are some problems, too.\u00a0 Since the game is physics-based, sometimes finding a solution to a puzzle won\u2019t work if you\u2019re slightly off in your drawing.\u00a0 Controls can be a little floaty at times, and also a bit cumbersome to have to hold down the trigger button to use your magic marker.\u00a0 This kind of game would be better suited to a console that has a touch screen, like the Wii U, 3DS, or tablet.\u00a0 It\u2019s a minor quibble, but the game didn\u2019t want to register some of the 360 Achievements I earned for it, either.\u00a0 But if you enjoy platformer games with plenty of puzzles, you may want to check this one out anyway.<\/p>\n

\"MAX_SCREEN\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kid Factor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Max \u2013 The Curse of Brotherhood is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence and Mild Language.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember hearing any bad words in the game, but Max can get blasted, squashed, and smacked around.\u00a0 If he\u2019s defeated he just falls over or hollers a bit, but that\u2019s about it.\u00a0 Some kids might be slightly frightened at some of the enemies.\u00a0 Reading skill isn\u2019t needed as there are plenty of picture cues and spoken voice to tell you how to play.\u00a0 But younger and less experienced gamers may need help with the tougher platform jumping areas and trickier puzzles.\u00a0 Luckily if you are defeated, there are plenty of checkpoints and unlimited tries.\u00a0 One last thing: I really don\u2019t like the title of this game.\u00a0 Brothers aren\u2019t a curse.\u00a0 I love all my little brothers and I wouldn\u2019t be the game reviewer I am today without them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One day after school, Max comes home to find his little brother Felix in his room playing with Max\u2019s toys.\u00a0 Disgusted, Max does an Internet search on \u2018Giggle\u2019 to find a way to get rid of his brother.\u00a0 He finds a magic spell, but when he reads it aloud, to his surprise it actually works […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12024"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12027,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12024\/revisions\/12027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}