Brave

Was Brave the last of the Disney movie tie in games before they started making match three games for all of their movies? I very well think it was one of the last! Anyway, Brave is one of the more underrated movies from Disney and this is the tie along game that was released to go with the movie.

A Tale As Old As Time

Ok so that line is not from Brave, but the story of Brave does follow the movie quite closely. It is about the young warrior princess, Merida who must do what she can to save her mother who has turned into a bear, deal with her three little brothers and take on an evil witch. Disney games based on movies usually do a good job of following the movie’s plot and Brave here is no different.

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Merida is no normal princess, she is an expert marksman and is lethal with a bow and it is this bow that you will be using to take down any enemies that try to stop you lifting the curse the witch has put on your family. What is interesting about Brave is that from a gameplay point of view it plays a little like a twin-stick shooter. The gameplay is nice and solid and no matter if you are shooting, platforming or jumping she is nice and easy to control.

Pick Your Arrow

One thing that is really cool is that Merida has different arrows that she can use. Charms can be used and these will add different elemental effects to her arrows. These are fire, ice, air, and earth and as you would expect you have to use different elemental arrows to defeat certain enemies and also get past certain sections of the game.

We Are Family

At its core, Brave is a story about family and no matter how crazy they drive you, you come together in the end and are there for each other. Brave the video game does this very well by getting Merida’s family involved. There are puzzle sections in the game where you are required to use her little brothers to solve them. Then there are these arena battles where you get to play as her mother who has been turned into a bear. The game does a good job in switching things up so that the gameplay never gets too stale.

Bring A Friend

One thing that is cool and surprising about Brave is that they do allow local co-op. The second player gets to play as a Wisp and this is great. They clearly knew that Brave would be a game most likely played by younger children so if they get stuck you can jump in and help them out. Which by the way is not a chore as Brave the video game is not bad at all.

Like A Million Bucks

Say what you want about Disney games, but since the 8-bit days, Disney games have looked great and Brave is no exception. They have managed to get most of the voice cast from the movie to reprise their roles and the graphics capture the look and feel of the movie very well.

In all Brave the video game is not going to go down as one of the greatest games of all time. However, this is a fun time and if you have kids and want a fun game to play with them you cannot go wrong with this. It follows the movie quite closely and the shooter mechanics are actually very well done. Who knows playing this today with your kid could make them want to play a real shooter with you down the line!

7/10

Pros:

• It follows the plot of the movie
• The shooting action is a lot of fun
• You can use different elemental arrows
• Platforming is fun
• There is a fair bit of variety to what you do

Cons:

• The game is very easy
• It is a little on the short side