There have been several remakes and remasters in recent years, and the latest one for Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons seems unnecessary. However, does it bring any significant improvements? As someone who played the original game, I wasn’t excited to see the remake that kept most things the same, except for completely revamping the visuals. Although the original game had a simplistic and now-dated art style, it still had its charm. Moreover, it is available for a lower price and on a variety of hardware, including the Nintendo Switch.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is an emotional narrative with no spoken dialogue. The story is told entirely through the main character’s actions and the visual feedback we receive through gameplay. It feels like the first step out of the work of Hazelight, the developers of It Takes Two and A Way Out. They managed to knock it out of the park with It Takes Two, but their first major project showed some limitations they had at that time, but they still delivered it creatively.
This remake of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons was developed by AvantGarden, and they deserve full credit for their impressive work. The remake runs on the latest version of Unreal Engine and is visually stunning, thanks to the inclusion of Unreal Engine 5 features like Nanites. It also supports a performance mode on consoles and includes a co-op mode that was previously exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version.
While the improved visuals are impressive from a technical standpoint, they can lead to decreased performance on PC compared to the original release. The original game was light on hardware and could be easily run on a laptop with an integrated GPU setup, but the remake is more demanding. As a result, the game’s overall performance is a downgrade if we compare it to the original release. Additionally, there are a few bugs that may appear, leading to minor issues with the game at launch.
The core gameplay mechanics in the remake of this game remain unchanged from the original version. Although there is a co-op mode available, I was not able to test it for this review. In single-player mode, we control both brothers using the same controller. One stick controls one brother, along with the trigger button as the action button, while the other stick and trigger button control the second brother. It takes time to get used to controlling both brothers at the same time, but it is still an issue.
The story in the game is quite linear and relatively short. The price of the remake is reasonable if you have never played the game before. However, if you have already played the original version, there is hardly any incentive to purchase this game at launch. The remake offers the same experience with improved visuals and some minor bug fixes. The main story takes between 3 to 4 hours to complete, and there is no replay value. Unless you are desperate to play through the story again, it is unlikely to offer you anything new.
This remake is the most faithful adaptation of the original release. While the new art style may be divisive among fans, I loved it. The visuals are impressive, making it stand out as a highly impressive game on both PC and consoles. The only minor concern is regarding its replay value. If you have already played the original game, then you may want to skip this. However, if you haven’t played it before, then I highly recommend checking out this remake and experiencing an emotional narrative of the bond between two brothers.
Brother: A Tale of Two Sons Remake Game Information
- Price: $19.99
- Publisher: 505 Games
- Developer: Avantgarden
- Platform: PC (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was given by the publisher
