Review: IT TAKES TWO is a Masterpiece
Hazelight Studios and EA recently released the purely cooperative game It Takes Two. The game requires that you play with someone else either locally or online and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. EA was kind enough to give me a code for Xbox and I’ve been playing it with my wife. All the thoughts that follow are my own.
Embark on the craziest journey of your life in It Takes Two, a genre-bending platform adventure created purely for co-op. Invite a friend to join for free with Friend’s Pass and work together across a huge variety of gleefully disruptive gameplay challenges.
Master unique and connected character abilities in every new level. Help each other through unexpected obstacles and laugh-out-loud moments. Embrace the heartfelt story of a fractured relationship.
It Takes Two is a masterpiece. The story starts out sad and while I haven’t finished it, I like to imagine that it ends happier. At the start, a husband and wife fight and decide to get a divorce. Their daughter finds out and the news makes her sad. She then starts crying and asks a relationship book to help her parents. Somehow, this magically turns her parents into the dolls that she made of them. The book is also alive now and continually tells them they need to work together. Meanwhile, the parents, Cody and May, are trying to become normal again so they can go through with the divorce. I like to think that it will end with Cody and May deciding to not get a divorce, but I can’t say for certain.
Anyways, the game plays like a cooperative action platformer and is such a good platformer. This might be the best platformer I’ve ever played. Everything is just so tight. The game feels challenging at times, but never impossible. Plus, during each level, each character will have a unique item that they’ll need to progress. For example, in an early level May can use the head of a hammer and Cody can throw and magically retrieve nails. This helps each level feel unique beyond just a different setting. Each level looks and plays different. In addition, there are competitive minigames that you can play and they’re a lot of fun as well. If that’s not enough, there are moments that break the platformer mold. An example is that there’s a point where May has to fight a Squirrel on a plane in a pseudo-fighting game. This is just another way that the game keeps feeling fresh.
The sounds of It Takes Two are really good and I have no real comments other than the voice acting is incredible. As for the graphics, the game looks great. There is one exception though. The people don’t look great in my opinion. There’s always something off whenever we see the humans doing things. The dolls, animals, and environments look fantastic though.
Other than the humans not looking the best, my only other complaint is that the game feels lopsided. Now, I will admit that I haven’t finished the game yet, but so far, most of the cool things like the pseudo-fighting game are done by May. I’m hoping that this changes, and I think it will change, but my observations for now make me a little sad.
This game is near perfection though if you like platformers and/or cooperative gaming experiences. The humor is great, the overall graphics are great, and the gameplay is fantastic. I highly recommend grabbing a player 2 and playing It Takes Two.
