By Marty Mulrooney
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake brings Swedish film director Josef Fares’s critically acclaimed fairy tale platforming adventure to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Windows. Originally developed by Starbreeze Studios and released in 2013, this modern remake from Italian developer Avantgarden S.r.l. switches from Unreal Engine 3 to Unreal Engine 5 – adding a high-fidelity, 4K lick of paint to a timeless classic that still packs an emotional punch over a decade later.
The premise of Brothers is beautiful in its simplicity. The player takes control of two boys – an older brother and a younger brother – who are on a quest to collect water from the Tree of Life to save their dying father. Tragically, their mother drowned at sea prior to the events of the game, making their predicament even more dire. All they have is each other, and they will need to work together to survive the perilous journey ahead of them.
Controlling the brothers is deceptively simple. The left stick moves the older brother, while the right stick moves the younger brother. Meanwhile, the corresponding left and right triggers make each brother interact with NPCs and the environment… and that’s it. It sounds easy on paper, but in reality, controlling two characters simultaneously involves varying degrees of mental gymnastics (especially when they both have different capabilities).
For example, alternating between the brothers to distract an angry farm dog and safely cross a vast field strewn with hay bales is easy enough. However, scaling the crumbling walls of an abandoned castle with the brothers tied together at the waist is an entirely different matter. Brothers plays unlike any other game, and half the fun is rewiring your brain to constantly process two different sets of inputs at the same time.
With each new ‘level’ (in the loosest sense of the word; they’re all stitched together to form a coherent fantasy world) comes new ideas, and even in 2024, it remains impressive how the original developers managed to keep the gameplay loop feeling fresh despite the basic mechanics at its core. Whether the brothers are fighting an aggressive troll, riding goats up a mountain or manoeuvring a flying machine, the controls always make sense. As the brothers grow more confident and capable in their abilities, so too does the player.
It helps that Brothers doesn’t overstay its welcome, wringing every last drop from its premise in three to four concise, action-packed hours without letting the creative well run dry. The story is compelling too; despite the brothers and NPCs speaking a fictional language based on Lebanese Arabic (with no subtitles), the emotions behind each word are always crystal clear. Without question, the most satisfying element of Brothers is the continually evolving relationship between the two boys at its heart.
Of course, all of this praise still applies to the original release – so what’s new in the remake? The main upgrade is visual: the graphics have been given a complete overhaul, introducing a level of fidelity that simply wasn’t possible – at least on consoles – in 2013. However, players will want to ensure they are playing in the ‘quality’ mode at 30fps; the ‘performance’ mode at 60fps sounds great in theory (and still looks great) but is far less stable in reality and struggles to maintain a consistent framerate.
Some fans will undoubtedly hate the updated graphics, as they bring a greater sense of realism to the world (as opposed to the more painterly style of the original). However, this wasn’t an issue for me; I felt that the fairy tale aesthetic was retained and the original art direction was honoured, and I greatly enjoyed the revisions made to the character models in particular. For example, without revealing any spoilers for newcomers, the final boss has received a total redesign in the remake that heightens the drama and makes perfect narrative sense. Another new addition is a re-recorded soundtrack with a live orchestra, which is utterly delightful from start to finish.
A two-player mode has also been introduced, but again – avoiding spoilers as much as possible – I would strongly recommend ignoring it until you’ve at least played through the game solo as intended. Sadly, I did encounter a pretty serious bug during an hour-long play session where the sound effects would disappear whenever I hit a checkpoint, requiring me to either restart said checkpoint or fiddle with the in-game audio settings until they came back. However, this issue eventually disappeared (and a patch has since been issued), so hopefully, I was just unlucky and this bug is now a thing of the past.
Was a remake of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons strictly necessary in 2024? That’s an argument for another day. All I know is that, despite some annoying technical issues, I greatly enjoyed revisiting one of the most emotionally resonant indie games I’ve ever played. I’d avoided replaying the original over the years because the ending moved me so deeply when I first experienced it, and I wasn’t sure it would stand up to repeat playthroughs.
Thankfully, this remake proved me wrong. Avantgarden S.r.l. has treated this game with the respect it deserves, and despite some blemishes, it remains a minor masterpiece. If remaking Brothers introduces it to a new generation of gamers – and keeps it alive for many more years to come – I’m all for it. It may only last a few hours, but it will create memories you won’t forget anytime soon. Trust me: you’ll want to hug your loved ones just that little bit tighter once the final credits roll.
8 OUT OF 10
Martin Mulrooney
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