8. Learning To Swim - Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons
Originality is a dying concept across all entertainment mediums these days. Its not necessarily anyones fault in particular but something weve accepted because lets face it; almost everything has been done by this point. When something original does come along though and actually makes for a fascinating game- its a pleasant surprise. Brothers isnt just a pleasant surprise but one of the best, most inventive, thoughtful, and fun games of 2013. As far as I know, there has never really been a game that had you controlling two characters at once. And to keep things from feeling like a cheap gimmick, Starbreeze cooked up some excellent platforming and traversal mechanics that never once leave the core of the game. Theres even a genius boss battle that has the player distracting an overgrown hideous spider-lady with one brother while the other selects moments to rip its legs off. Its just majestically planned out. Best Moment- The simplistic story of two brothers journeying through perilous environments to reach the Fountain of Youth and save their father is awesome and all, but Starbreeze again brings mounds of innovation to the table. During the ending sequence after big brother dies, little brother must finally overcome his fear of swimming if hes ever going to pass the final stretch home and save Dad. Nothing you do can make the little brother enter the river except hope holding down on a standard Xbox 360 controller- Left Trigger. Its done this way symbolically, almost as a way of reminding little brother that big brother will always be with him, even in death. And for as long as weve been smashing buttons on controller pads, Ive never seen a game take advantage of the medium that way for storytelling capabilities. This entire game is brilliant.
