Screenshot: Knight Squad 2
I didn’t get to the original
Knight Squad until about last year or so when it released for the Nintendo Switch.
I thought, back then, that the party game was fun but needed a little more in terms of visual fidelity. Not to say that graphics are essential to a good game, but
Knight Squad was a genuinely fun game that was made incredibly unappealing by subpar art.
Knight Squad 2 addresses this and serves as a mostly visual upgrade to the original.
Knight Squad 2 is a multiplayer arcade party game. You can play solo, duos, or with a squad of up to four players in multiple mini games. You play as one of several different knights, defeating foes while picking up power-ups and trying to outscore your opponent.
Knight Squad 2 offers up a chaotic brand of multiplayer that can be played online, or locally with friends. It’s almost
Worms meets
Castle Crashers with a few other games thrown in to create an original, fast paced multiplayer party game.
Screenshot: Knight Squad 2
Some party games suffer from lack of game modes, but
Knight Squad 2 has thirteen different modes. While
Knight Squad 2 always gives you the option to slash or shoot enemies, the overall objectives can vary pretty wildly. There isn’t much originality though, as most game modes are variations of popular game modes seen elsewhere, like a protect the payload mission, capture the flag mission, etc. There’s even a mode called Minion Master that acts like a sort of
DOTA ultra lite, and is quite fun. And that’s the thing, despite these game modes being seen elsewhere,
Knight Squad 2 implements them pretty well, with the added benefit of being an armed knight.
Each game mode implements combat in some way, and
Knight Squad 2 has a good amount of variation in that regard. There are power-ups that you can find to make you faster, or harder to kill. There are also special weapons to find that alter your attack. Other weapon types can be found in fixed positions, and getting enough of them will even increase the level of that weapon. Combat is fast, and chaotic. You can kill in one hit, but that also means you can die in one hit. I really like the variety of game modes in
Knight Squad 2—there’s definitely enough that we didn’t get tired playing it for the hours that we did.
Screenshot: Knight Squad 2
One of the things I really liked about the original
Knight Squad was the designs of the different knights.
Knight Squad 2 continues this with cool knights to choose from and make your own. I wish each knight was more discernable from the game’s overhead perspective, however. The original
Knight Squad had this same issue, and I was hoping it was fixed with its newer, more graphically impressive release.
Knight Squad 2 can be extremely hectic, and I often lose sight of which knight I’m supposed to be controlling. This adds to the chaos, and hilarity—but can also be frustrating, especially in close matches.
One of the most important thing for a party game is for it to be easy to play.
Knight Squad 2 is extremely easy to pick up and play. It requires fast reflexes, but even more inexperienced gamers can get in a few blows. And if their knight meets their fate, depending on the game mode, they’re often back in the fray in only a few seconds.
Screenshot: Knight Squad 2
If you’re itching for an arcade multiplayer game to play solo,
Knight Squad 2 might be a good option. The bots aren’t always the most capable assistants in all of the game modes, but they’re not totally useless. The bots can also provide a bit of a challenge. Of course,
Knight Squad 2 is best when played with friends, either locally or online.
If you miss couch multiplayer with friends because of COVID, this could be a good game to pick up. It’s not the most original of party games, but
Knight Squad 2 provides a knightly twist on tried-and-true multiplayer game modes, and does so in a competent way. The
Knight Squad series is one to look out for if it continues to go forward. If you’re looking for a multiplayer party game,
Knight Squad 2 is good one.
Knight Squad 2 is available
tomorrow on Steam.
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