It Takes Two

To make it outta sight?

One fellow who's made quite a name for himself over the past few years in the gaming sphere is one Josef Fares, remember him? He was the guy who turned up to the Game Awards in a heated state and took it upon himself to verbally denigrate The Oscars, for whatever reason, in reverence of Geoff Keighley's event. From there he started to become a bit famous, first in the tongue a check way of being "That guy who went kinda crazy at that awards show", and eventually as "That guy who was perhaps the most honest voice we've ever seen at a tradeshow. And he was funny." As a natural result, the game he was promoting got quite a bit of press and 'A Way Out' became quite a success. Thus seeing the man pop up again for another game, even if he is behaving a lot more professional this time around, has already caused a bit of a stir, and looking at the game he's backing this time: I think it's well earned.

A Way Out, for those who missed it, was a return back to the oldschool days where games could be played in a co-op capacity, because the modern march of game design tends to lean towards monetizable online modes over worlds to share with immediate friends. It even came with a 'buddy pass' system which allowed owners of one copy of the game to gift a free one to a friend so that they enjoy the story together, which was astounding given that this game was published from freakin' EA, of all people. (Who are you and what have you done with the real EA?) The story followed two convicts that wind up bumping into each other and forming a pact to break out of Prison and escape the law together, with the story and gameplay emphasising the ways in which their efforts and actions require the other to really get anywhere. The entire game was built around the co-op play and it really set itself apart as a unique little adventure because of it, thus it makes sense that they'd want to remain with that identity going forward.

'It Takes Two' is the second mono-syllabic three-pronged title from Hazelight Studios and unlike it's predecessor, you can tell immediately that this game has a more happy-go-lucky heart beating in it's chest. Unlike the old school 'prison-movie' aesthetic that the previous title was going for, 'It Takes Two' looks like something you'd see out of a Disney movie. (And I mean that as a compliment.) Immediately the first thing we see is a book with eyes telling us about the world, so the tonality shift is set-up pretty early on; the heart of this game appears to be about adventure-based couples counselling, and I'm sort of intrigued off the bat. I mean there's nothing inherently threatening or intimidating about the concept that this trailer builds and maybe that has something to do with my allure towards platformers, but I could really see this becoming a goto party game with all the fun and interesting environments this debut trailer has dangled in front of us.

So with the concept we're basically looking at a husband and his wife that have hit a rocky patch in their relationship and, through as-of-yet-undisclosed means, have transformed into little toys and are told by the sentient 'Book of Love' that they have to work things out to get home. Of course this merely serves as the impetus; the real meat was, in my opinion, the gloriously imaginative locales that we see them traverse. Every scene has this concept of scale to establish that you're playing tiny characters, but only half of the locations we see capitalise on that typical 'Honey I shrunk the kids' aesthetic, (Although the do capitalise well) the rest is all magical, fantastical locations that glimmer and spark impressively, almost in direct contrast to the comparatively muted palette of 'A Way Out'.

Now when I said that this game looked like something Disney would put out, I mean that in terms of concept and design, although I will admit that the art itself isn't exactly to the heady standards of your everyday Pixar film. But that's a small gripe to adress when you consider the creativity and diversity on display here that threatens to give even the classic platformers from the 2000's a run for their money. We've seen classic garden variety mammals contorted into towering monsters, caves of glittering ice, a blocky minecraft-esque world doused in lava and a dreamy twilight-scape with odd clock imagery everywhere. I even saw a little callback to oldschool Atari thrown in there, so you know there's a labour of passion happing somewhere in the writing room at least. There's little to no overarching theme beyond general whimsy, and that's rather endearing honestly.

Touching on something that I mentioned earlier, I think it's very important for high quality co-op experiences to still exist in an industry that's been trying to be rid of them. Many folk younger and older than I know can recount some of their earliest gaming experiences being those times of cooperation between parents, siblings or friends, because those create the most lasting impressions and forge the most dedicated gamers. I understand that monetarily there lies greater profits elsewhere, but when working with art it's important not to forget the heart beneath it all, and that's something which Nintendo have been rather good with of late. Hazelight are some of the few companies who understand this and nurture it, and that makes them special in my eyes.

Whatsmore, the fact that Hazelight is still going strong is an example of one of the more favourable angles of EA's empire; their support structure. The director himself has gone on record to stand in support of EA and whilst I found that his comments were a little reductive to the bigger picture he was right; EA does allow for great games to be made that never could have been otherwise. No, that doesn't automatically relieve them of all the anti consumer and anti industry practises that they simultaneously lionize, but maybe that scores a few points. I mean they indirectly helped revitalise the co-op sub genre, which is a genre they themselves helped smother, so confused backpats all round?

Ultimately I'm just happy to see Mr Fares and his team come to some level of success for the genuinely great game that they made, they sure do deserve it and they aren't resting on their laurels either. It seems we're on the cusp of this great revival of solid platforming with Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet and Clank, Psychonauts and now It Takes Two, and it might be my nostalgia talking but I think this is a great direction for the gaming world to lean towards. We've had enough with the dour military-style FPS' for one generation, bring back the colour and excitement I say. And as for 'It Takes Two', I think it'll end up being something quite special, I just feel it.