Support Higher Plain Games on Patreon

Knight Squad 2 – Review

Knight Squad 2 is a fantastic party game for 1-8 players to play locally, online, across four controllers on any of the platforms its available on. It is built from the ground up to be accessible to all in so many ways that it almost trips over itself to entertain you. It is easily one of the best party games I’ve played in recent years and I’ll explain why.

The race to the chalice to return it back to your flag will contain much stabbing…

Across its 15 mini games, all of which take place on a single screen, your coloured knight is easy to control. You move with the analogue stick and then attack and block with a button each. These mechanics carry over all the games but what you do in each mini game is different. One is a race, another is soccer, another is a capture the flag, another is to stay inside a golden area or another is to paint the floor with your colour. Each game is about doing a task and to do it well, you’ve got to keep killing everyone else.

Scattered around each mini game and its four maps are weapons. These are collectable and upgradable in three tiers so if you can survive long enough to build up your weapon of choice, it’ll be a beast. Being killed sends you back to your respawn and out of the action for a couple of seconds and that’s enough to swing the balance of power for many of the games. The weapons are well balanced too. A sword is fast but melee only whilst a bow is fast but requires precision. Bazookas are strong and can be fired from afar but with a decent reload time and a drill is a melee weapon that can break through trees, ice and rock to change the level layout. Others like magic spells work like ranged attacks mostly too – just try to upgrade them for better attacks. Only one mini game is a out and out kill fest – the rest use this strategically.

8 players from any console or PC location really opens up Knight Squad 2 to everyone.

Playing online or offline is simple and easy with AI bots of 4 difficulty levels filling out any of the 8 slots not taken by humans. You can join any room with a code and that allows crossplay to be easily pulled together. More surprisingly, on PC only one person needs to buy the game! The other seven can download Knight Squad 2 Trials which allows them to join online games completely free of charge. It’s a bold move that is exceptionally rare in gaming and should be applauded. Thankfully the game is so addictive, fun, chaotic and enjoyable you’ll want to pick it up anyway!

To spice up the 15 mini games, modifiers are available too. They may change what weapons are available, how characters move and so on but be careful of the randomiser as sometimes you can get crazy combos that really don’t work well. You can save presets for your own amusement though. Completing challenges unlocks additional knights to play as and although they all handle the same, the amount of character shown in their winning motifs are great. What’s also fun is that almost all mini games can be played in free for all, duos (4 teams of 2) and teams (2 teams of 4). A few are only available in teams such as soccer and two castle defence games but aside from that, you can play the game just how you want.

Rounds will be chaotic but you’ll always be enjoying yourself.

I had a blast with Knight Squad 2 even with just bots playing. It is so enjoyable to pick up a game that has been made for pure fun in a way that’s simple to understand but requires skill to really excel in. This is a game that is going to be a firm favourite on my multiplayer rotation and I’ll be enjoying it for years to come. Definitely a top tier local multiplayer experience.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Knight Squad 2
Final Thoughts
Positives
Instantly playable.
Cross platform, shared controllers and the Trials version lets Knight Squad 2 be ultra accessible.
Every game feels engaging and promotes being aggressive.
AI auto filling everything and largely works very well.
Negatives
AI on the vault game doesn't work so well.
9
Buy Store Credit

Higher Plain Games is part of the Higher Plain Network. If you like what I do, please consider supporting me via Patreon for as little as $1/£1 a month. There are additional perks for supporting me, such as behind-the-scenes content and downloads. You can also share the website or use the affiliate buy now links on reviews. Buying credit from CD Keys using my affiliate link means I get a couple of pence per sale. All your support will enable me to produce better content, more often. Thank you.

%d bloggers like this: