It Takes Two is another title, like Split Fiction and A Way Out, that requires two players to beat it. Thanks to its pure co-op design, two players must play it together, and they must use the tools found in the game to solve numerous puzzles.
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Story campaigns aren’t only for solo players, plenty of games let you take the journey with a friend.
Not only must you and your friend solve puzzles, but you must also fight bosses and navigate your surroundings as a team. If one of you falls short, the other one can’t carry you through the game.
While some moments, like exploring, aren’t designed purely around co-op, there are some key gameplay moments that only work because of the game’s co-op design.
8
Fire and Ice
Crossing Paths
While traversing the castle in Rose’s room, the game switches to a top-down perspective. It is a weird change, but this moment is one of the best because of the game’s co-op nature.
You and your friend are tasked with traversing through this castle. One of you has the power of fire, and the other has the power of ice. Ice can freeze fiery platforms, allowing you both to cross.
Meanwhile, the one with the fire abilities can use them to zip around the map. However, you must work together to get from point A to point B, as you can’t make it through this area alone. It’s very clever design and requires solid communication skills to make progress.
7
Time Manipulation Jumping
Take Turns Activating Platforms
It Takes Two is full of puzzles that work primarily because the game is truly co-op. You can’t cross a bridge without your partner helping you to reach the other side.
A prime example of this is when you are going through the clock level. One of the towers requires you to jump across platforms that only exist when a clock is pointing at the symbol that represents the shape of the platform.
To cross this area, one player first needs to press buttons to make the clock move to specific symbols. Once that player crosses, they need to use their time manipulation ability to make the clock hand move to the different symbols, allowing their partner to cross. It is a great puzzle that makes you rely on the items you are given.
6
The Nail and Hammer
Co-op Platforming
The first level of It Takes Two throws you and your friend into the shed. During this level, one of you receives a hammer, while the other gets a bunch of nails. Together, you must figure out how to navigate the shed.
Various obstacles work in this game because you have a partner helping to guide you. For instance, there is an entire platforming section where one player must jump across various platforms while the other activates buttons using thrown nails.
You must time it appropriately to get your partner up the wall and to safety. Other sections of this level require similar levels of coordination, with each of your tools being necessary for different parts of the level.
5
Sing Star
Destruction
Every level of It Takes Two focuses on you and your friend each having an item that is necessary to complete the level. In the attic level, May has the ability to sing, and Cody has a cymbal.
However, the cymbal is not required for this part of the game, as it is May’s voice that we are focusing on. She has the ability to sing, but she cannot destroy the objects in front of her without help from Cody.
May must use her voice to create sound waves that travel through a speaker that Cody carries around. It is another area in the game where you need to work together to progress, and it works very well with the game being co-op. It especially works well with being able to see each other’s screens, as you can more accurately time May’s sound waves.
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4
Ship Battles
Each Controlling a Wheel
Imagine only being able to control half of an object that is necessary for your survival. Well, that is exactly what happens in It Takes Two when you and your friend must control a boat and sail it through treacherous waters.
You each take a wheel, forcing the two of you to work together to maneuver the boat around obstacles and defeat enemies. This is a prime example of what the game focuses on, and that is cooperation.
This part of the game works very well because the game is fully co-op, allowing you and your friend to coordinate to make it out of the situation alive. There is even a boss battle at the end that can get pretty tricky if you both aren’t on the same page.
3
Magnetism
The Laws of Attraction
When you reach the snow globe level, May and Cody learn about the laws of attraction through the use of magnets. One gets the negative pole of the magnet, while the other gets the positive pole.
This entire game section only works because the game is co-op, as the two must work together to solve puzzles centered around repelling and attracting items using their magnets.
With one player having the positive pole, and the other having the negative pole, each player can only perform specific tasks at specific times, making cooperation necessary. One of the greatest parts of this level is shooting magnetic pucks at the wall so your partner can use them to cross.
2
Teamwork in Boss Fights
It’s Mandatory
It Takes Two has several boss fights, and each of them requires the use of cooperation to defeat. You can’t let one player take on the boss alone, as they are sure to fail.
For instance, the boss in the greenhouse requires May to hack-n-slash her way through enemies while Cody controls the boss, revealing its weak points. In the Moon Baboon boss fight, one player must go inside the UFO and take it out from the inside while the other dodges lasers outside.
Each boss has a mechanic like this that requires both players to work together, and they only work like this because the game was designed to be entirely co-op. Again, being able to see each other’s screens is very helpful here because it lets you know what the other player is doing and allows you to better coordinate with each other.
1
Every Mini-Game
Be Competitive
Mini-games aren’t inherently something that only works because a game is co-op. There are plenty of games that have numerous mini-games that are single-player experiences.
However, the mini-games in It Takes Two only work because the game is co-op. Each of these is meant to be played by more than one person. In fact, each of them is designed for you to be competitive and challenge your friend, a change from the strictly co-operative action elsewhere in the game.
You have mini-games where you fight each other to the death and others where you fight for the most points. Each of them is designed with two players in mind, and it shows. It makes each of them a great experience and unique to It Takes Two.
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Released
March 26, 2021
ESRB
T for Teen: Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence, Language
Publisher(s)
Electronic Arts