It’s no secret that pickings have been a little slim this summer on the Wii. There haven’t been many titles filtering through this summer, which has to be one of the most barren in recent memory. Collision and Southpeak seem to have picked a fine time to release their PS2 port, Brave: A Warrior’s Tale, as it’s been a while since most have had anything new ready for the Wii. The question is, does it quench the thirst for something new? Let’s see.

Gameplay

Brave starts off on an interesting note, allowing you to choose between a female or male character before embarking on a series of adventures. The reason it’s interesting is that not many platformers really give you that option. Unfortunately, the idea doesn’t really pan out, as the story doesn’t change all that much, and most of the actual gameplay is done through flashbacks of the main character, Brave, not the boy or girl you choose. It’s a nice touch, but just doesn’t seem to justify its existence by changing things up a bit, or even really giving you the chance to let your character loose for more than the opening sequence and finale.

As I said, the basic premise of the game is told from the perspective of flashbacks. The tribal elder, Brave, recounts various tales of his childhood and you control him as he fights Windigo’s, rides eagles, and various other fantastical feats. The story is actually the high point of the game. Of course, the appeal will likely be greater for the younger crowd, but overall, most will find it to be a light and enjoyable adventure.

Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn’t fare as well here, as there are consistent problems with the camera which, as most know, is almost an instant death knell when it comes to platforming. This becomes apparent in the opening sequence of the game, when your chosen character is running to meet the elder. You’ll come across various platforms, and unfortunately, no real way to adjust the camera. Within minutes, the camera is either too far behind you as it’s stuck on an invisible object in the environment, or it’s confused as to which direction it should be facing and often causes you to miss jumps that should be extremely easy.

Aside from that complaint, the platforming is as straight-forward as you can get. Jumps, double jumps, disappearing platforms and various other generic elements common to the genre make their appearances, and while they work, there’s nothing new here to really make fans of other platformers sit up and take notice. This is a by-the-book game when it comes to platforming. However, just because the mechanics aren’t innovative doesn’t mean they’re not implemented correctly and won’t appeal to anyone. In fact, this is likely a game that younger gamers may want to tackle before embarking on Mario and the like. In fact, with a bit more work on the camera system, Brave could have been fairly decent. As it stands, the camera makes for a frustrating and unpolished feel.

The combat itself is once again, fairly basic. Tapping the attack button a few time will unleash combos, and enemies are such push-overs that you’ll rarely find yourself dying all that much, if at all. Considering the younger audience, this is a good system, but the appeal is strictly limited to that crowd and no one else.

Aside from basic combat and sketchy platforming, Brave does offer a bit of variety that makes it a bit more recommendable for its budget price. There’s spear fishing, canoe and eagle rides, and a few other neat mechanics tossed in for good measure.

One of the most interesting and well thought-out gameplay elements comes in the form of learning special abilities. To do this, you need to seek out and read cave drawings to gain these power-ups. It’s a small detail, but it actually makes sense in context with the setting. Overall, the number of activities and special abilities you’ll unlock give the adventure a lot more bang for your buck, but unfortunately, the lack of polish will show in more than a few of these extras. Sadly, you’ll never quite shake the feeling that with a bit more development time and this could have been significantly better in the gameplay department.

Graphics & Sound

Graphically, Brave looks absolutely terrible, even on the Wii. Framerate hitches, poor animation and camera hang-ups are consistent throughout the game, and make it extremely difficult to look at. The hitches are actually even present in the cut-scenes, which is just appalling. There seems to have been no effort put in here, at all.

Environments and character models are decent, but look significantly last-gen. Considering this is a port of the PS2 Brave title, it’s a bit surprising that nothing has been done to enhance the visuals in the slightest.

On the audio side, the music and voice-acting is solid, but nothing overly special. The music is befitting of the subject matter, though it seems to end quite abruptly at times for no real reason.

Value

For a budget price, there’s enough to keep a younger gamer occupied for quite some time. However, the sketchy controls and poor platforming will result in a fair bit of frustration that few will be able to cope with, especially considering there are other finer examples of the action-platform genre out there already.

Conclusion

Were it not for the utter lack of care that went into fixing the numerous issues here, Brave: A Warrior’s Tale would be easy to recommend for the younger set that have yet to discover Mario or Zelda. As it stands, this is a decent game that seems like the developers gave up on before it was officially completed.