The mandatory plotline begins as Brave, a young Native American brave (oddly enough), is passing the final trials to become a full-fledged warrior. And it's not a moment too soon, of course, as for some reason an ancient evil called Wendigo suddenly decides to resurrect itself and lay waste to Brave's peaceful valley. With his tribe decimated and his grandfather killed, Brave follows the old man's final advice by setting out to find Spirit Dancer, the warrior who defeated Wendigo long ago.
Ways of the Warrior
Like many recent 3D platformers, Brave imposes a sense of order on its large environments by giving the player clear-cut mission objectives that must be accomplished to move the story forward. For example, one early level has you hunting down three queen beetles in a huge series of canyons so that you can use their colorful blood to complete a crucial trio of cave paintings. A later mission sets you loose in a large wooded area, tasking you to slay twelve huge wolves that are rampaging about.
Brave also gains new abilities and equipment as he soldiers on. A lot of the first upgrades are really basic, such as the ability to dive underwater for short periods, climb ivy on trees, and mimic animal calls (for puzzle-solving purposes). As for weapons, Brave's arsenal starts out with a mere stick. It can be set on fire, mind you, but that doesn't make it much more imposing. Luckily he soon scores a tomahawk, which can slice enemies to ribbons and destroy boulders with a special charge move. A bow and arrow is also in the cards, which adds a ranged element to the action.
I played a couple hours into Brave for this preview, and the game was still introducing new elements every so often. One of the more interesting is the possession power, which lets Brave temporarily take over animals for recon or chase purposes. He can also learn to transform into spirit creatures to give an edge in certain large battles. The first transformation Brave acquires is a massive, ghostly bear; this proved quite adept at destroying a large mob of attacking zombies with a full set of nasty new attacks. Altered Beast, eat your heart out. Hopefully this element will expand on itself as the game progresses.
