In Russian culture ‘Brother’ is more than a movie. This is a cult work about the devastation and lawlessness that took place in the 1990s. It is not surprising that once the developers did not miss the opportunity to release games based on the famous series. But what was the result? I appreciated such creations of Russian gaming as “Brother 2: Back to America” and “Brother 2: Danila is coming back”, and I hasten to share my impressions!
What is Brother 2: Back to America?
The game “Brother 2: Back to America” was released in 2000 – then the work schedule of Russian publishers and developers was often original. The point was that the game turned out to be at least a few: it’s not a problem if it has terrible graphics, broken mechanics and bugs. It is much more important to invest in marketing, agree to a few specialized publications and make as much noise as possible.
The Brother game was developed on the same principle. Burning PR people said it was the first game based on a Russian movie. In addition, the plot will continue the story of Danila Bagrov and tell what the hero did after the end of the sequel.
The promotion was epic. The publishing house even arranged a big concert, attended by the main actors Sergei Bodrov and Viktor Sukhorukov. It was impossible not to be interested in the project.
Unfortunately, we all know what the result was. A masterpiece of course! 12 out of 10, no less.
What do you think of Russian games from the 2000s?
The Plot of “Brother 2: Back to America”
The story of “Back to America” was written by a gifted screenwriter who grew up with the best works of Tolstoy and was inspired by Dostoevsky. How else to explain the plot plot, which seems philosophical and inspiring at the same time.
At the end of “Brother 2”, Danila showed the treacherous American businessman Mannis Kuzkin’s mother and returned to Russia. Brother, meanwhile, ended up in an American prison. This is where the game starts.
It turns out that the same businessman, after meeting Danila, did not calm down and for some reason kidnapped his brother. He probably changed his last name to Minos for conspiracy purposes – the option that the screenwriter did not familiarize himself with the original and messed up the names, we immediately delete. However, it is not so easy to hide from Bagrov: the veteran of the First Chechen War is already packing his things and heading back to the United States.
The plot is not the best part of the plot. Throughout the game, Danila will have to wander through strange warehouses, mansions, police stations, clubs and ghetto areas. He’s looking for his brother everywhere, but he’ll find him… in Minos’s office. It turns out that the villain was not hiding and was sitting quietly in place all this time.
Such an artistic technique is nothing more than a metaphor indicating that what you want is worth seeking in the most obvious place, sometimes even right under your nose. This can be called the “Occam’s Razor trick” when the most obvious assumption turns out to be true in most cases. In everyday life, gamers usually forget about it, but after the scenario move, the principle will certainly be remembered forever.
As you can see, the story turned out to be brilliant – but what about the gameplay? He also holds the line.
Gameplay “Brother 2: Back to America”
The game designers of “Back to America” subtly grasped the essence of the dilogy, and each of their gameplay decisions proves it. For example, at the very beginning of the passage, the hero is given a saber as a weapon. Do they remember how Danila famously chopped off bandits’ heads with cold weapons? The game will do the same.
The only negative is the lack of blood. Before the release, the developers promised to introduce a bleeding effect that would torment both Danila and enemies, but later the mechanics were cut out. It’s not that they decided not to bother or not to cope with the task. According to the makers they are simply “tired of the violence”.
To further reduce the intensity of passions, enemies’ heads playfully fly away even before the saber strikes. Also the animations turned out to be comical – the lifeless bodies of enemies occasionally fall on the screen and it’s like hearing a funny anecdote.
In other mechanics, however, the authors refused to compromise. The original “Brother” was famed for its realism, when one shot killed Danila and got the chance to catch an olive. “Back to America” is true to those principles: it doesn’t have a health bar and first aid kits – if the enemy goes into a spacious room behind Danila and shoots, go to the respawn point.
Given that the locations are often impressively large, there are many enemies and the shooting is skewed, the system will seem unfair to some. However, remember that there is no justice in life either – finish another lesson from the developers.
And the authors regularly urge creative thinking. For example, what to do if there is a closed door for the hero, but there are no solutions. That’s right: you need to find the phone in the inventory and throw it to the threshold – soon it will ring and the guard will run to the sound.
What’s wrong with the mechanics not being used before? The ingenious Kojima (Hideo Kojima) did not make such puzzles for gamers before.
By the way, the creators haven’t forgotten about Danila’s love for music either. There is a player in the inventory – you can turn him on at any time, listen to “Nobody write to the Colonel” and get high. For such a project, it is worth throwing a few points right away.
It is also felt that the developers felt confident and knew the value of their creation. That is why they treated bugs as features and refused to fix them. If the hero entered the plot elevator and could not get to the desired floor, then you should know that it is the soulless western capitalists who do not give a damn about their duties. Try starting the game again – maybe the elevator operator will deign to come and fix everything.
Images in “Brother 2: Back to America”
In 2000, a lot of good games came out: counter attack, American McGee’s Alice, Thief 2 – in terms of graphics, however, they are far from “Back to America”. The Russian game confidently broke through the ceiling and was known as a technological masterpiece.
The quality of the textures and design of the sites were impressive, but the main benefit of the project was the attention to detail. For example, the authors hung posters with naked women on some walls, next to whom they wanted to hang. Perhaps some gamers were cut into “Back to America” just for the sake of such pictures, and the game closed and admired enough. Or when the mother entered the room.
All this makes the Russian project a 100% success ahead of its time. Unfortunately, the game didn’t get the title of “the biggest hit of the year” – the reason was clearly a conspiracy of villainous capitalists just figuring out how else to spoil Russia.
The game “Brother 2: Danila returns”
Aside from the jokes, there is also a regular game for “Brother” – however, it was released exclusively for push-button Java phones. You cannot run the project on other platforms. In the early 2000s, few people had a computer and even high-end telephones were considered a luxury item. It is not surprising that the game of the Russian studio FlySoft “Danila Returns” did not become popular.
The trick is that the mobile phone was superior to Back to America in many ways in terms of graphics and gameplay. Because the game followed the plot of Brother 2, the story turned out to be more adequate. The picture was juicy and attractive. The gameplay did not seem boring and had to resort to tactics on a regular basis.
According to the genre, we are talking about a two-dimensional action game with platform elements, where the hero had to run through the level and kill the enemies. At the same time, the opponents were dangerous and forced to act with caution, attacking from behind and hiding behind shelters during a firefight.
Since you had to be smart on a regular basis and the enemies bled spectacularly, going through Danila Returns was fun. It’s a shame that in modern times it won’t be possible to evaluate the project – only if you don’t have an old Java phone lying around, of course.
The only big brother game was Back to America. Unfortunately, the Russian publisher and developer Russobit-M’s project turned out to be purely commercial, and the developers didn’t even try to add artistic value to it. It’s a pity: the potential of the series is great – even now many would like to control Danila Bagrov.
Want a new game based on “Brother”?
Source: VG Times
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.