Cure (A Tale of Two Brothers)

"Cure, a Tale of Two Brothers", is a two-player co-op story-driven game set in a dystopian, cyberpunk future where cybernetic implants have become the norm and can both enhance an individual and cure any disease known to man. For a price. The problem lies in where these implants are held by; the rich. Turns out they're not as willing to share their toys as they should be.

The rich hoard and control the production of these implants in order to keep themselves in power. While thousands of people are suffering in the streets below, the elite are augmented and enhanced in every way, leaving the less fortunate to their own devices. A plague known as "the Itch" fills the streets, food is low. They do not care, they have grown gluttonous and petulant and it's not their problem. After all, if you work really hard, maybe one day you could be just like them.

The game follows the protagonist 'Max' and his brother 'Jason'. Like so many others, you are living in the disease-ridden slums, making ends meet by creating and selling your own bootleg cybernetic implants on the black market. Everything was fine until Max came up with a new design that could potentially help everyone down in the slums: an implant that can cure the disease that has been plaguing your streets.

Plus, y'know, it'll fetch a pretty penny too.

During testing, while Jason is plugged in, the chip malfunctions, and he gets infected with the Itch, now it's a race against time to synthesize the cure before his time runs out.

The first track, 'Fireside Lullaby' plays as Max and Jason talk around a fire, reminiscing on your youth, wondering how you got here, and where you have yet to go. This also serves as "The Brothers" theme. I chose to use a mandolin as the instrument here to really hammer home the intimate, close and delicate bond between the brothers, surrounded by the warmth of the fire.

'The Underground', the second track is a more upbeat change, I imagine this playing as the theme of the black market, a literal marketplace in the slums as you have no need to hide it, not like the elites are watching any of you anyway. This is where Max and Jason set up shop, creating and implanting cybernetics into your customers.

The final track, 'Last Resort'.. oh boy, as the name implies time has run out for Jason, and Max can only watch as he begins to go mad. Flailing and frothing at the mouth as he attacks Max with all the cybernetics you helped fit him with throughout the game.

The players are forced to fight each other as the person controlling Jason tries their best to stop themselves through a host of button mashing and sequence inputs.

Based on their success or failure, there are two endings:

Jason resists long enough to get a hold of himself, in a moment of sanity, he takes one last breath and turns his weapons on himself. The "brothers" theme plays at the end as Max holds him in his arms, his life flickering away but he holds on just long enough to tell you that it's alright and not to blame yourself.

or,

Jason is unable to resist any longer and in a fit of cyberpsychosis, kills his own brother in cold blood. Max's cry of pain brings Jason back to reality and he drops to the floor, he barely notices when the sirens arrive and the police take him away. The 'Brothers' theme also plays here as the camera pans to a wide shot of the depressing city which brought them to this point.