Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
From: Press Play
Three and a half stars (out of five)
Everyone likes a good platform game. They're easy to play and great fun. Or they should be.
As the genre has progressed developers have to find more and more different ways to give their game an edge, whether it be with clever control methods, storyline twists or flashy graphics.
Some work and some don't and in the case of Max: The Curse of Brotherhood I'm still not entirely convinced.
The story starts with Max accidentally getting his little brother abducted by a monster and then follows his journey to rescue the poor little fellow.
Max's (and the game's) party piece is a magic pen he is given to help him in his quest.
You, as the player, use the pen to ''draw'' solutions to Max's problems: make pillars rise and shrink, draw plants to use as swings and make water spouts to use as slides.
Initially, the drawing control seemed awkward - you use the control sticks to do something that feels like it should be done with a Wiimote-type device - but you do get used to it.
The game looks great and, like all platformers has its fair share of puzzles, collectables and frustrating sections that make you want to shout at the screen.
It certainly won't be the best platformer the Xbox One has to offer, but it's the first and it's good enough ... until something better comes along.
