Let's Talk... Marlow Briggs

With the recent success of both Payday 2 and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, 505 Games have proved themselves as a worthy studio, and the recent 3^rd person action game Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death is further proof of Starbreeze’s competence at developing or publishing great games. However, I’ll admit that I was pretty sceptical when I saw that it was developed by the makers of the abysmal Expendables 2. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised to find that Marlow Briggs is in fact not the disappointment that Expendables 2 was. With serviceable combat and a goofy story, Marlow Briggs is certainly entertaining but never stands out with anything unique.

The story is extremely over-the-top and never takes itself too seriously. You are Marlow Briggs, seemingly normal everyman who unlocks the power of the ancients after he is resurrected after being brutally murdered under the orders of the stereotypically evil Japanese dictator-wannabe Mr. Long. It’s as crazy as it sounds but it’s certainly entertaining to see what ridiculous thing the game will try to pass off as believable next. Your main aim is to rescue your archaeologist girlfriend, who is being forced to aid Mr. Long in becoming an all-powerful demon god… or something to that effect. The story is utterly nonsensical throughout; it serves as nothing more than a continued motive for Marlow to keep on trucking whilst providing a few laughs along the way.

The game has some visually impressive set pieces and decent environment variation

Whilst far too many 3^rd person action games fail to deliver effective combat, whether it be unarmed combat attempting to copy the Batman Arkham series or a combo-based hack ‘n’ slash trying to capture some of that God of War magic. With aerial and ground moves, chained weaponry, and a variety of powerful combos, Marlow Briggs certainly enters the God of War inspired group; the combat is hardly original but it still works as fun, serviceable combat. Over the course of the game, you’ll unlock four weapons of varying speed, impact, and range, as well as the four elements unleashed in four potentially powerful but ultimately lacklustre “ultimate” abilities. Each weapon has a decent variation of combos and they each have a fairly unique feel to them. Grabs and throws add a little bit of spice, whilst mounting larger foes in a very Castlevania: Lords of Shadow way makes defeating mini-bosses feel much more satisfying. The combat is fun and well-paced, but don’t expect anything new and unique.

Imprecise platforming and pretty weak puzzles act as filler in between combat sections. The puzzles are pretty basic, usually requiring you to pull a lever or move a box onto a button, these puzzle sections aren't inherently bad but they don’t feel all that necessary and I certainly wish that they weren't so frequent. The platforming is bearable for the most part but the imprecise and unpredictable nature of your jump makes it far too difficult to coordinate a successful jump, especially on the platforming sections that aren't side-scrolling. The game will often throw you into a sort of “race against the clock” mode that has you navigate through falling boulders and collapsing platforms or slide down a steep slope avoiding whatever is in your way. These sections mostly feel tense and exciting but punishing checkpoints combined with the poor platforming can quickly make them feel frustrating and unfair. Platforming does become somewhat more enjoyable when you unlock angel-like wings (which are unlocked several hours in) that allow you to glide when you hold down jump. The wings may make it more fun, but it still feels imprecise and frustrating and the platforming itself is still pretty unforgiving.

Combat is fun and well-paced, with some decent weapon variation

Level design is pretty good, even if it does consistently feel a little too narrow and restricting, and is accompanied by some often very beautiful and decently varied environments. The game is very linear but some basic exploration will reward you with plenty of experience points, which are used to upgrade your weapons and powers and so there’s a good reason to find as much as you can. In recent times we’ve seen an increasingly frequent emergence of visually stunning low-budget $15 titles, with recent games like Outlast wielding stunning graphics, and Marlow Briggs is certainly no exception. Gorgeous panoramic views of vibrant jungle scenes and a deep level of character detail make this title extremely visually appealing throughout.

Although the game is playable with a mouse and keyboard, I would recommend playing with a gamepad if possible. Awkward shimmying and QTEs that have you press P rather than use the mouse both point towards a console port that expects you to have a gamepad (unfortunately, my gamepad wasn't working and I definitely had a lesser time because of it).

Most platforming sections feel frustrating and imprecise. 

Marlow Briggs certainly has a fair number of frustrating areas, but if you can look past some of the game’s obvious flaws you’ll find a fun, surprisingly long (took me a good 6-7 hours to beat), and silly $15 action game that is well worth the price. Impressive visual design and some pretty okay sound design, with some pretty average voice acting, all add to the sheer mediocrity of Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death.