// Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP

Hello again people, what’s happening? 

This week I’m happy to tell you I will be appraising my first IOS title meaning two things; firstly, all you clever IPad / IPhone users can get your dextrous digits all over it right now at the push of a button, and secondly that I’m going to be over-using words containing ‘app’!

There have been a host of appetising IOS titles lately which should appeal to anyone in need of a rapid gaming fix and before I start the main review I just want appoint a top 10 list of IOS games I most approve of: Plants vs Zombies (1 and 2), Galaxy on Fire 2 HD, Organ Trail, Dead Ahead, The Devil’s Attorney, Hunters 2, Plague Inc., Sentinel 3 Homeworld, Kingdom Rush (original and Frontiers) and Eufloria HD. If you’ve played any of them then I applaud you, and I am sure you will agree they are well worth the money. If you haven’t played any of these fantastic titles yet, then frankly I’m appalled. 

But before you rush off to the App store there is a game that has a certain quality that really sets it apart from the rest, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP. 

Join the tranquil bohemian musical masterpiece. Cure your soul sickness.

Created by the tiny 24 strong Canadian development studio Capybara Games, the pretentiously named Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP first appeared in February 2011 on the IPad, a device I didn’t own at the time (although I would have sawn off an appendage to!). As a result I could only read reviews that repeatedly recommended it and curiously admire screenshots from afar whilst wondering what all the fuss was about. It finally made the jump to IPhone in April of the same year whereupon I snapped it up like a hungry Anaconda. 

…Anacondas eat Capybaras in the Peruvian Amazon.

Nevermind.

The game has since received high critical praise and can proudly boast of accolades including ‘Best Downloadable Game’, ‘Best Indie Game’, an ‘Innovation Award’ and crucially for this review, an ‘Achievement In Art’. Not surprisingly Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is now available on Android and Steam along with a micro version, tailored to IPod touch and IPhones and has sold a total of over 1.5 million units. Its soundtrack by Jim Guthrie, which received a ‘Best Original Music Award’, is also available to download on all of the aforementioned formats and is to date the only videogame soundtrack I have ever parted with money for.

Anyway, I’ll begin recapping my experience. Upon starting up the game you’re met by the Archetype who asks you if you have “Got Headphones?”. I dutifully unwrapped mine and plugged them in and felt the music transform into true stereo before journeying into the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains for my appointment with fate. 

The ambient composition upon your arrival is relaxing and serine, a dog is yapping, sheep are bleating and a brook is babbling. It’s a peaceful and oddly beautiful place. You’re prompted to listen and to touch, and as you do your character (the ambiguously gendered Scythian) moves towards your fingertips, splashing pixels of water into the air as you step into puddles. Soon the real soundtrack fades in, one of several bittersweet melodies that set and maintain the uniquely immersive atmosphere of the game throughout its four chapters.

Androgynous apparel. Fan art tells me the Scythian is apparently a girl… I don’t see it myself.

Tap tapping on objects grants you more information on them: investigating a sheep for example yields the observation that several “worthless sheep are lazing around in the meadow” and interacting with a previously unidentified object may inform you that it is a “thingamajig”. Upon being introduced to Logfella, who is “cool”, you are told he will escort you up the mountain to Mingi Taw, although he isn’t all that “jazzed about it” due to the apparition who lies in wait. These bizarre and strangely colloquial explanations / one sided dialogues add an intangible air of mystery to the game and are clearly off kilter with it’s Iron Age setting. The experience approaches an almost dreamlike state in its surreality, particularly during its later sections where you can enter the night-time B-Side of the EP by napping at Logfella, Dogfella and Girl’s fireplace and meet the Grizzled Boor (a beat boxing bear); however it never runs the risk of being too kooky as these peculiarities are few and far between. A reward for people with a love of exploration.

Its much more impressive in motion...

And strap on your fur boots because a love of exploration is needed with this game, as is a persistent and patient mind capable of puzzle solving using fuzzy logic and trial and error. It is often the way with ‘arty’ games that there is no real tutorial or hand holding, a part of the experience is to learn the nuances in the mechanics and to paw over the stunning yet poorly mapped out environments searching for clues. 

It is well worth your time ‘just walking’ around and getting wrapped up in the lovingly crafted scenery. The roaming animals, from the fluttering birds to the dappled deer, have been reduced to their most minimalistically pixel components and yet remain familiar and adorable in their appearance and movements. The world is small, sure, but feels alive in a manner that most games don’t achieve. Even the famous Giraffe scene in the Last of Us (whilst deeply poignant) was a scripted event, appended into the game to add depth. The Giraffes don’t notice your presence, nor do they react to you in any way. Unlike most games where there is a clear and jarring boundary between the interactive and non-interactive world, the world depicted with aplomb in Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP feels unabridged, vibrant and tangible.

Animal, vegetable, mineral and pixel. Minimalistic beauty.

During the game you are tasked with locating the whereabouts of the haphazardly placed Sylvan Sprites (space babies), which by and large involves creating chains of musical notes by touching various flora and fauna in the correct order whilst your character “Sings a Song of Sworcery”. The game was made bespoke for touchscreens and it’s during these “Songs” that all of the elements pull together. Tactile, audio-visual, cerebral and emotive. There is a great sense of accomplishment when you apply yourself and solve a puzzle which is often accompanied by a ground-breaking and breath-taking event. Its apparent during these sections just how much love went into this games creation. 

An unforgettable moment.

The final gameplay element I want to mention is that of combat. Now, this is an RPG… of sorts. There is no levelling as such, but your character does change between each chapter. How these changes manifest themselves is something you just need to find out, they typically occur directly after grappling with one of the game’s boss encounters. The bosses, like all the combatants met during in this game (not that there are many, and yes this is a good thing) are beaten through the cunning use of rhythm. Listening to the crescendoing music and reacting to audio cues such as claps of thunder using either your sword or shield sounds disappointing and dull, but in practice the perfect pacing and awe inspired soundtrack generate an incredibly epic mood.  

 

Boss fights are tense. Don’t knock them until you have tried them!

I was always on the edge of my seat throughout combat, and during boss battles I never felt ‘out of the woods’ even as their health is sapped away. Battles are a tiring, but ultimately gratifying part of this wonderful and soul searching game. I could bang on for hours about this masterpiece, but it’s time to draw this review to a close and pop the question…

But is it art?

It’s not just art, but the quintessential art game. The yard-stick by which other games are measured. This title has gone a long way towards setting the standard of Apps and indie titles… perhaps even gaming as a whole. A simple, yet complex journey fully realised by the superb choice of platform upon which it has been presented. If you let yourself play it you will become trapped by its majesty. Buy it. Become enraptured.

Verdict = ART

Keeping eyes peeled and ears to the ground for this upcoming game.

Just a brief appendix: Capybara games are in the process of making a next generation console game, namely Below on the Xbox One. A snappy title. My tip is that it is going to be one to watch.

Thanks again to Andy Woo Woo for helping me on this one!