Welcome to Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake, a game I have played on the Xbox 360, PC, and PS4 (in that order) and now, nearly a decade since my last playthrough, I’m back to tease my tear ducts with this stunning 4K remake. If you want a comprehensive review of the actual story and gameplay, please check out either of my previous reviews, as we’ll be sticking to what’s new in this latest version.
Targeting modern PC’s and current consoles, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake was rebuilt using Unreal 5 to offer striking visual upgrades as well as a newly recorded soundtrack with a live orchestra that elevates the emotions of this game to new heights. Characters have more complex and emotive faces with moving lips, and environments have been rebuilt with Nanite for increased complex geometry and rendered with stunning new textures. Animations have been enhanced, specifically character turning, and everything runs silky smooth at 60fps. At times, the game can easily be confused with a feature animated film when the light and shadows are working just right. The new Lumen lighting makes the dark forest level even more sinister as you chase off hungry wolves with your torch. The only critique I have for graphics is that the cutscenes are 30fps and contrast sharply with the gameplay visuals.
The developers did a fantastic job of preserving the original material while adding nice flourishes to the overall experience and even a couple of new achievements. One of the more controversial decisions was to add a co-op feature to the game, which, in my opinion, negates the core design philosophy of the game and totally impacts that “one emotional moment” at the end of the game. Apparently, a lot of people were playing the original Brothers by both using a single controller, so the devs just added a true co-op mode and thanks to Remote Play Together you can now play this couch co-op game remotely. I can certainly see the appeal, and playing co-op will definitely shift the focus from manual dexterity to cooperative conversation.
Everything you loved about the original game is back, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake is one of those rare remakes that actually deserves a fresh release and even a double-dip for owners of the original. I wasn’t aware of how much the graphics had changed until I watched the bonus content where you can see a shortened playthrough of the entire game with designer commentary who is playing the original version. Sadly, since this remake was built on a new engine there is no way to swap between old and new graphics on the fly like so many other remakes do.
Simply put, if you enjoyed the original then you are going to love this masterfully crafted remake that takes all the heart and soul from an already amazing adventure and turns it up to eleven. I’ve already played through twice since launch; it’s only a 3-4 hour game, but one that is easily replayable and loaded with so much new detail that you are going to see something new every time you step into the magnificent world of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake.
There is also a two-part gameplay video for the original game with spoilers and commentary if you’d care to check it out.
