We have heard many times that some games are designed with co-op in mind, but what does that mean? Most of the time, this means that users have to work as a team and help each other to pass it on. For example, in some moments you need your partner’s help to get to the highest spots, in others you need to coordinate and while one is driving, the other needs to shoot. It Takes Two director Josef Fares and his studio Hazelight went much further, however, and we dare to say that this title has become one of the greatest references for co-op experience.
We are introduced at the beginning of the game the two protagonists: Cody and May. It’s about a marriage whose love has unfortunately faded, which has led the couple to argue over petty nonsense (nothing that doesn’t happen in real life). In addition, it is getting a little more complicated with children because their situation is not that easy. That’s exactly what happens Rose, the daughter about Cody and May who, in one of these fights, desolate go to the bathroom and cry and want their parents to stop fighting and make up. What happens next? Now what at first glance was just a girl’s wish is becoming a reality. The two parents then magically transform into little dolls trapped in a fantasy version of the real world, where toys come to life and animals become intelligent.
Apparently, Dr. Hakin, a rather charismatic audio bookis the only character who knows what is really going on, and that element acts as some kind of nexus in the story. In this well-written comedy, both parents face the mistakes they made in the past and have to help each other in an attempt to escape from this home-inspired fantasy world and return to their real home. where is his daughter Rose.
We all know that this adventure, which takes place in an ordinary house, wouldn’t have worked half as well if it had been easy. However, as you can imagine, it turns out that in this title Things are pretty difficult, as our signs are the size of a thumb. Another thing to keep in mind is that It Takes Two is entirely about entertainment. So if you’re looking for realism, you’d better look elsewhere. This basically means that while playing the game you can do a variety of very fun activities that you will not get bored with, such as B. rafting, exploring space and helping some armed squirrels fight the wasps.
Let’s see we try to give a few details so that you can discover the game for yourself. However, we want to make it clear that the fact that the entire adventure takes place on the property of a house in no way means that there is a lack of variety in terms of settings and gameplay. Of course, to be honest, the aspects of the The co-op mode really makes this title that good.
If you’ve played Hazelight’s newest game, A Way Out, you may be familiar with the setup and gameplay in It Takes Two. Most of the adventure is split-screen whether you play locally or online. Why? The answer is obvious: Because here it is crucial that you can see what your partner is doing so that you can act and be coordinated correctly. As we said before, the studio introduced aspects that remind us a lot of its previous title, although this time everything is much more refined and complex.
As for the challenges that we will find in It Takes Two, we can say that they contain a wide variety of elements: Puzzles, action, platform, memory tests, coordination exercises, boss fights and much more. We have to say that as the game progressed we were quite surprised at how creative these tests could get, where the two players had to work together and communicate with each other. Come on, the coolest thing of all is that there isn’t a single player, but two, and it’s virtually impossible for your partner not to communicate with you.
Some of the challenges are simpler and we’ve seen them in other games, such as: shooting with a cannon where one shoots and the other aims; or driving vehicles with one responsible for turning and the other for speed control. In most cases, however, the challenges are much more complex and ingenious. These are tests that we have never seen before and that remind us of Nintendo’s wildest ideas [en sus Mario Party, por ejemplo]. Additionally, at some moments of the level we can access tools or gadgets that animate the gameplay, and at no point does it make us feel that It Takes Two is stagnating or no longer surprising us.
Likewise, this title includes mini-games that you can play throughout the experience and even encounter your partner in it. These settings are usually simple and intuitive, but deep enough to be entertaining. For example there is one Mini game of tanks, another of a horse race and another of marksmanship. If we want to play them outside of the adventure, we can also do so from the game’s main menu.
Not all is rosy in It Takes Two, however, as we identified a few flaws. When we are faced with a very complete title that has so many things to offer, it is difficult for everything to work perfectly. The main problem here is the controlsthat are not as sensitive as we would have liked, and the developers themselves are certainly aware of this. This problem has been solved by introducing a low level of difficulty (optional) where you can revive at any time if your partner is still alive, and also offering fairly generous checkpoints during boss fights.
Another weak point we find is this Boss crashes. They’re usually one of the best things in all games, but It Takes Two isn’t. In fact, we believe they contain some of the worst elements. On the one hand, in these confrontations, the game format changes completely and focuses more on the action. something that doesn’t work quite well considering how imprecise the controls are. On the other hand, it is not always clear what to do to hurt the boss. It is true that the fact that we have to find solutions without any extra help is one of the game’s strengths, but during the bosses confrontations, if we fail, we die. Hence, the only solution we can find to overcome these confrontations is to focus on the trial and error system.
Despite all of these flaws, It Takes Two is still very well done. Not only does dubbing offer a co-op mode that goes way beyond anything we’ve seen so far, the synchronization is good too, the music is well composed for the type of experience, and the graphics are very attractive. The story may not be worth a literary award, but its romantic approach to comedy works perfectly, and our interest in seeing how Cody and May’s journey ends is never lost.
Ultimately, It Takes Two got as high a rating as it deserves. So, you know, don’t hesitate to play this title with someone you get along well with, be it a good friend or a life partner, because having to work on this adventure will put your friendship to the test, and that it will also strengthen it if you manage to solve the problems together. Another plus is that if you can share the game with someone else online, it doesn’t have to be very difficult to find someone to play with. Definitely make sure you do as this title has been fixed a new standard in game cooperationfrom which other similar ones will be rated in the future.
