Marlow Brigg’s es un divertido hack n’ slash de corta duración, unas 7 u 8 horas, que busca ofrecer una experiencia entretenida en el género. Posee un estilo de combate similar a God of War (saga griega) y Devil May Cry, combos sencillos de asimilar con tan solo dos botones de ataque, débil y fuerte. La variedad de enemigos es decente, pero ninguno hace que el gameplay cambie significativamente, caso contrario es el de las habilidades de Marlow, el protagonista, cuenta con un arma principal que a lo largo de la aventura irá adquiriendo nuevas formas con las que cambiará el estilo de combate, estás últimas, recuerdan muchísimo a God of War pero sin llegar al plagio.

La trama no es nada destacable, pero lo que sí llega a ser interesante es el mundo que crea a su alrededor que sí llega a ser creíble. La cultura maya es un gran nido mitológico donde Marlow Brigg’s ha sabido seleccionar para hacer una presentación increíble de bosses, escenarios y enemigos. Eso sí, solo cuando estos son sobrenaturales, cuando volvemos a los enemigos humanos, estos dejan bastante que desear en cuanto a diseño se habla. Marlow Brigg’s consigue dar una muy buena impresión de su mundo y lore y no se acobarda al tener que mostrar al mundo humano confluyendo con el sobrenatural, algo que para un juego No triple A es una apuesta muy valiente.

La dirección de arte ha hecho un muy buen trabajo porque, aún estando limitado por los gráficos de la época y de una PS3, han sabido hacer que estos cumplan a la perfección su función, un mimo y saber hacer que actualmente es complicado de ver sin altos requerimientos en PC. Las junglas se sienten frondosas y frescas, las zonas industriales dejan sentir esa megalofobia con estructuras de acero gigantes y los templos mayas dejan ese sabor a misticismo a lo Indiana Jones.

El juego también ofrece puzzles y plataformas típicos en el género hack n’ slash, quizás no tan trabajados y pulidos, sobre todo por el plataformeo el cuál se siente muy poco sólido por sus controles que, sin ser malos, no están del todo afinados para ello. Un gran punto negativo que lastra el gameplay es la dificultad, teniendo un 2x1 en carencias, primero el fenómeno de dificultad en bloque, es decir, el selector de dificultad no separa correctamente el nivel de dificultad, no existiendo apenas diferencia entre fácil y normal, mientras que difícil y “Tío duro” (NG+) son un hueso duro de roer. Segundo, dificultad matemática, los enemigos tienen más vida y quitan más con cada golpe a medida que sube la dificultad, lo demás sigue igual.

Otro gran punto negativo es el desbalance de las armas: el arma o estilo principal es útil hasta más o menos la mitad del juego, donde se siente inútil, y se tiene que optar por el tercer estilo, sí, porque el segundo nunca llega a ser del todo consistente con los enemigos más grandes. El tercer estilo es un látigo que otorga alcance y área a cambio de hacer menos daño, pero es más rentable a la larga. Ya para el final del juego, se obtiene el martillo, lento pero fuerte, que es la mejor opción a melee sin duda.

Para complementar el gameplay a melee, el juego ofrece un esquema de magias con 4 a elegir y desbloquear, donde otra vez una de las magias es indiscutiblemente la mejor por ser la que más daño hace, las otras también son usables, pero en efectividad no se igualan a el primera magia de fuego el cuál es un ataque en área con meteoros que harán un gran daño a todos los enemigos, estás magias agotaran la barra de maná. Ahora sí, si hay un arma a distancia que haga un daño ridículo al punto de humillar bosses son los cuchillos espirituales, los cuales son más efectivos que el melee y las magias juntas. Un arma que únicamente está destinada a dar control sobre el combate a distancia se convierte en el arma más OP del juego por descuido.

El juego maneja un estilo de humor muy “estadounidense” y se empeña por hacer burla a estereotipos en películas y de cultura popular y referenciar a otras sagas como Indiana Jones. Los chistes están bien situados, saben alternarse bien entre las escenas de acción con cierta seriedad y los alivios cómicos.En algunos niveles el juego cambiará drásticamente de jugabilidad, situando a Marlow en torretas que se controlarán en primera persona, o helicópteros y aviones con una jugabilidad que recuerda a shoot n’ up retro en vista vertical, añadidos que refrescan el gameplay del juego de tanto en tanto y contribuyen a la variedad del juego volviéndolo aún más entretenido.

En definitiva, Marlow Brigg’s es un juego simpático que ofrece una experiencia divertida no muy larga dentro de un hack n'slash clásico que usa la cultura maya como marco con tonos de acción y humor bien situados en una propuesta de mundo y lore interesantes. Aunque presenta algunos aspectos negativos, como la dificultad desequilibrada y el desbalance de armas, en general el videojuego está bien logrado.

Gráficos
( ) Horrível
(X) Ruim
( ) Pixel Art/Retro
( ) Aceitável
( ) Bom
( ) Ótimo
( ) Cada quadro foi pintado por Da Vinci

História
( ) Que história??
(X) Até tem história, mas não entendi nada
( ) Tem história só pra não dizer que não tem
( ) Uma história digna de prestar atenção
( ) Uma história bem elaborada
( ) Mais complexa que Machado de Assis

Jogabilidade
( ) Tudo trabalhado igual a coluna de uma senhora de 90 anos
( ) Horrível
( ) Ruim, mas com muita determinação até que vai
( ) Esquisito no começo, mas você acostuma
(X) Gostoso de jogar
( ) Orgasmo para os dedos/mãos

Trilha sonora
( ) Preferia ser surdo
( ) Deixa mutado
(X) Nada de especial
( ) Boa
( ) Memorável
( ) Toque isso no meu funeral

Sons
( ) Horrível
( ) Ruim
(X) Ok
( ) Bom
( ) Absurdamente gostoso de ouvir

Nível de diversão
( ) Tão legal quanto assistir uma poça d'água evaporar
(X) Da pra passar um tempo
( ) Vai te prender por horas!
( ) Meu mundo melhorou depois de jogar isso aqui
( ) Já amanheceu ???

Bugs
( ) BUGOU
(X) Dá pra jogar
( ) Os bugs deixam o jogo mais divertido
( ) Alguns bugs
( ) A palavra bug é desconhecida
( ) Esse jogo saiu perfeito do forno

Tempo de jogo
( ) 1-5 horas
(X) 6-15 horas
( ) 15-35 horas
( ) 35-50 horas
( ) 50-100 horas
( ) +100 horas


Para melhor experiência
( ) Desinstalar
(X) O jogo é Offline
( ) SinglePlayer
( ) Todas formas são boas
( ) Multiplayer - SinglePlayer gosta muito rápido

Vale a pena ?
( ) Arrependimento
( ) Reembolsa isso ai
(X) Joga se tiver de graça
( ) É bom, mas pra zerar uma vez só
( ) Recomendo!
( ) Muito bom de jogar
( ) Bom pra caralho, JOGUEM!
( ) Queria apagar a memória só pra me encantar de novo

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Considerações finais

(Pontos Positivos)
-> O jogo tem uma variedade de boa de armas e poderes durante o curto tempo do game.
-> Cenas cinematográficas são legais.
-> Achei legal os confrontos quando estamos em um helicóptero, ou quando estamos destruindo os mesmos com uma metralhadora.
-> Os poucos "puzzles" que tem no game são legais.
-> Os desafios são legais.
-> A tela e o mini-game do pós créditos é legal

(Pontos Negativos)
-> Sem tradução PT/BR
-> Chefões esquecíveis
-> Inimigos repetitivos apenas muda que depois eles ficam "possuídos".
-> Não poder escolher qual das armas tu pode utilizar é ruim.
-> Os cenários são feios.
-> Sofri com alguns bugs.
-> Não achei uma boa história.
-> Os gráficos são ruins.

This is one of the first PC games I ever played back when I got my first laptop. I asked for it as a Christmas gift specifically to play Gone Home, and after I did so at 20FPS, I picked this game up and nearly beat it. But for whatever reason, I didn't until what is now a decade later.

This game is basically classic God of War at home. The game has a lot of flash and excitement, but nowhere near enough polish to match the epic scale of the action on display. Most of the cutscenes involve static character models to save on the animation budget. But unlike Bayonetta, which also had certain scenes without character animations but used frequent cuts and voiceover to hide them, this game just slowly pans over its character models and poses them in new positions off-frame, all with little to no dialogue.

This is the biggest example of the low-budget-ness of this game, like Marlow's hands and fingers don't ever move throughout the entire game! There's decent voice acting and the gameplay variety is decently high, especially for a 3-6 hour game. But some of those gameplay diversions feel like mobile-style mini-games, especially with the random inserts of timed and scored challenges.

But with all that being said, there is a strange charm about this game. It's just so unsuspecting on the face of it. You'll likely pick it up for less than $5 or even for a few cents. You may be like me and just don't expect much, and with that expectation, this game is actually lowkey incredible. It might now be as good as any of the classic God of War games, but games like that are so rare nowadays, especially nowadays. And the cheap feeling of the game just makes every single thrill that the game DOES give even more enthralling somehow.

The entire game kinda reminds me of the action movie scenarios that I would imagine when playing with action figures as a kid. It's refreshing to play something juvenile in such an innocent way, free of any guilt associated with the objectification of women or with the cruelty of more graphically violent action games. You can feel the effort spent on the game through the cringy charm of the main characters and the bombast of the setpieces.

Sure, there are only 6 enemy types, but the game is short enough for them to not overstay their welcome. Sure, this is the most Unreal Engine 3 game ever made, but it runs perfectly on Steam Deck and likely all low-end PCs. And sure, the game is cheap, but that often makes the game feel like a scrappy miracle rather than a cynical cash grab.

I didn't just ask for that laptop back in 2014 to play Gone Home. I was in my first year of college, and I also needed it for schoolwork. Now, a decade later, I am returning to school after a year-long break. I guess I felt the pull to finally beat this game as I've been feeling like finishing what I've started a lot recently. I assume I picked this game up due to its similarity to the many PS3 action games I grew up with, the DmC reboot and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. But now that I've seen it to the end, it reminds me of that simpler time: when big, dumb, short games were the standard, not the exception.

I bet I would have ranked the game 4 stars back then, as it adequately stands toe to toe with other games in eh genre that I've played. But I'll give it that same score now for how refreshing it feels, thanks to the same attributes that would have kept it from sticking out all those years ago.

👾 Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death
(🇸🇮 2013)

Playing this Slovenian title felt like going back to the 00s with all the over the top action games like the first God of War. Feels like treating yourself with unhealthy comfort fast food but without the after regrets. It’s a solid hack and slash with decent enough visuals and a cheesy story. The fact that it’s short plays on its favour.

🎮 Played on Steam Deck
Rating: 💥💥💥🕷️▫️

A game that starts out strong and just falls flat. This game is, "what if God of War classic but everything is worse".

It starts out fun enough. It's just kind of insane and action packed. The mask is the best part of the game. He is very unhinged.

Controls are jank. Like they are fine. But don't expect it to control as well as GOW or ever Dante's Inferno. The QTEs are bad. They are hard to see as they are on the edges of the screen and give you zero time.

Platforming is not great either. It's hard to time jumps. Sometimes things just do not time their cycles and you just die. Sometimes it's hard to know if you can jump to something, where to jump, or how far it is.

This game lasts way too long. Like a few hours too long. It would be kinda more charming and the jank would not start to be annoying if it was a shorter game.

One neat thing are the cutscenes though. They are unique.

The final boss is thankfully a joke though. Which was well welcomed after it dragging on way too long.

The credit sequence is a choice. It's a mini game. But really bad. No music. Controls terribly. It was sure a thing.

This is a game that outstays it welcome. Thus waring thin and all the jank piles up. Ruining the experience by the end. It was never going to be a great game. But if it was shorter, it could have at least been mediocre or average. At least it's usually very cheap on Steam.