Features

It's something of a surprise when you actually stop and think about it - Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is from Starbreeze, the chaps usually associated with gory head shots and sudden outbreaks of demonic tentacles.

So booting up this Xbox LIVE title will come as a shock initially to the developer's hardened fans. Out goes futuristic military hardware, showers of bullets and Vin Diesel hiding in the shadows waiting to impale a guard, and in comes a beautifully-realised fairytale world that sees you controlling two brothers on the search for a cure to their father's desperate illness.

A platforming adventure presented in gorgeously-rendered isometric 3D, you will fall in love with Starbreeze's vividly-realised world; even the most jaded, cynical of gamers will be bewitched by the sights and sounds from the opening Nordic-esque village through to the game's sprawling icy vistas and later, rivers that run red with blood.

And the storyline grips too, all while playing masterfully with your heart strings. The puzzles at the core of the game are satisfyingly simple and engaging but it's the side stories and characterisations that truly capture the imagination.

The only inkblot on this otherwise perfect parchment of a fairytale are the controls; you handle both brothers at the same time, see - the elder with the left stick and trigger, the younger with the right stick and trigger. While simple in theory, it can lead to 'finger confusion' as you have to remind your hands who you're controlling at any one time in more complex moments of action.

But such a mild criticism is dwarfed by the achievement of a game that takes you on a journey that constantly surprises and delights. Most importantly, alongside the likes of State of Decay and Limbo, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons shows that Xbox LIVE (and, come September, PSN and Steam when the game releases there) remains a hotbed of creativity that can make triple AAA efforts look worn and tired. Long may its success continue in this gen and the next - because the gaming world would be an immeasurably poorer place without it...