Developer Hazelight has baked this into the core of the game’s design just as before, with two very different gameplay experiences to be had that are unique to either character. Yes, like A Way Out before it, It Takes Two’s defining feature is that it can only be played in two-player co-op, either online or off, with one player taking control of Cody and the other May. The whole thing is sharp, vibrant and fluid on next gen consoles too if you’re lucky to have one, which is no mean feat given the nature of its asynchronous split screen gameplay.
In fact, a particular chapter in the game centred around music is a clear highlight, followed closely by a lush garden stage that not-so-subtly calls Plants vs Zombies to mind. It helps too that there’s an immense amount of variety on show in both level locales and thematic elements, and the soundtrack ties it all together wonderfully. Everything from cutscenes to gameplay looks and moves like a DreamWorks film with production values to match, and the entire cast is animated and voiced to energetic perfection. And whether or not the narrative content works for you, It Takes Two remains gripping to observe thanks to some stellar visuals and performance work. There are a decent number of humorous (and some shockingly dark) moments that come from the supporting cast of Dr Hakim and the various sentient household objects that the couple meets along the way. That said, everything that comes before is still a great time. It could be that my expectations betrayed me after Hazelight thoroughly nailed the ending in A Way Out, but the penultimate chapter in It Takes Two feels at odds with the established narrative for at least one of the characters, and then ends rather abruptly. It’s a fun and lighthearted video game take on a romantic comedy that’s just ridiculous enough to be entertaining, though it does end with a bit of a fizzle. What follows is a romp that sees the now-doll-sized Cody and May navigate their still-house-sized house and its surroundings in search of a way to return to their human bodies, while Dr Hakim himself – embodied in a sentient version of his book – tries to use the situation to fix the couple’s broken relationship. Incidentally, those dolls spring to life imbued with Cody and May’s souls after Rose hilariously consults a book on love from ‘Dr Hakim’ that absolutely wasn’t aimed at children. Naturally, Rose is troubled by the idea and taps into her imagination and a pair of dolls that represent her parents, a lumpy clay doll for Cody and a blue-haired wooden doll for May, as a coping mechanism. With May feeling overworked and isolated, and Cody underappreciated and misunderstood, the pair has decided that calling time is the best path to putting themselves and their young daughter, Rose, first.
It Takes Two finds a straight married couple, Cody and May, at the end of their ropes and on the cusp of divorce. Passion is muy importante, a talking relationship self-help book once told me.
It’s bold to have taken this subject matter and spun it into a full-length adventure that can only be played with someone else, but it works because almost every inch of the game is the product of developer Hazelight’s passion. It Takes Two is a game about what happens when two people fall out of sync, when personal aspirations lost to the daily grind become fodder for resentment and every new day sees things slip further. There are varying degrees of give and take to navigate when sharing a space, or a life, with someone whose desires, goals and bathroom schedule won’t necessarily always line up with your own. No matter who or how much you like each other, co-existing with other people is tough.
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