Gallery: Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons

 

OK, a mere six early screenshots isn’t much, but the gorgeous teaser video above for Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons makes up for that, I’d say. After a long time away doing quality shooters set in gritty modern and futuristic locations, Uppsala, Sweden-based developer Starbreeze Studios is headed back into the more fantasy-themed worlds they started out making. Granted, their very first game, Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade (PC, Xbox, PS2 and Game Cube) took place in a gritty medieval setting, but their second game, Enclave (Xbox) was set in some a pretty interesting (and yes, gritty) locations. This new game, set to hit PSN, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam in 2013 has a richer, more stylized look to it that recalls a tiny bit of the Fable series but with more of Starbreeze’s technical polish. Unreal-powered loveliness aside,  I’ll need to get my grubby (or is that gritty?) paws on a build for some hands-on time. 505 Games has been good about letting me know when they’re in the city (playing a demo of Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise was a highlight of last month for me), so I’m expecting a little bird at my window when they’re ready to show off their new baby.  I can’t wait…

Edit: I had a R.J. McReady monent there, heh (+5 points if you get that joke)- Starbreeze isn’t Finnish, but they’re based out of Sweden. Oops!

Buy It! Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy Hits Steam

One of the best blends of JRPG, humor and genuine challenge for the unwary player, Half Minute Hero finally hits the PC in a nicely buffed up version that rounds up all the content from the PSP while adding a really interesting cartoon art style (check out the YouTube video channel here) and of course, retaining the same lightning-paced gameplay from the portable games intact. BUY this game, I say, as it will make you laugh at the familiar tropes it pokes fun at while you’re getting creamed by some pretty pesky enemies. You need to pay attention, plan ahead and fight for time here as you try to make that 30 seconds count. Don’t play this on a laptop while traveling, however – people will think you’ve gone nuts when you start yelling at your screen and yep, the men in the white coats will follow soon afterward.