Agent 11 is down to his last 4 HP. I’m surrounded. Gun wielders lined up blocking my escape, knifeman in front frothing at the prospect of gutting me. I’m screwed. That is until I discover the flip card. With an almighty Obi-Wan vs Darth Maul maneuver, I fling myself over my assailant, before grappling him into the line of fire of an assault rifle. Push kicking another gun-totting foe, off a railing, my safety is secured. I end the turn, and watch in awe as my enemies smash each other with righteous indignation.
Only, I missed that one other enemy. The one who can charge 4 tiles and has a push attack. He flings me head-first off the very same railing. My run is over, my dignity slain. Can’t deny the absolute rush of it all, however.
Having kicked and jabbed its way onto Early Access, can 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces match up to the stellar original and its spiritual follow-up, Knights in Tight Spaces? The initial impression would certainly suggest so.
2 Timer
At its core, 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces sticks to Ground Shatter’s penchant for slick, turn-based, deckbuilding action. Much like the original, gameplay consists of using your limited action and momentum points to select attack, movement, defence and improvisation actions. You take your turn, before all of the enemy assailants take theirs. The secret sauce of these games is the layers of strategy.
The head smash card, for example, can only be used if an enemy is stood adjacent to a surface. Equally, you can only use a slip movement card if there’s an empty space akin to one. Some foes will counteract whenever they’re hit, others will get to move when you do. This was all accounted for in the previous entry, but re-learning all the rules and permutations is supremely rewarding… and challenging. It’s a loop I adored in Fights, but it’s just as good, if not better, getting to do it again in 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces.
Reliving my John Wick fantasies in video game form was expectedly great, and the moment-to-moment decision making is still just as enthralling as I remember. However, 2 Fights has a few new strikes, kicks and uppercuts that gives it even more of the feel of The Raid.
Tight Margins
The most notable additions, from my perspective, are weapons and environmental hazards. 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces introduces disarming and pick up cards, allowing Agent 11 to karate chop a goon’s weapon right out of their hands, or scoop up a machete lying in the environment. Weapons deal massive amounts of damage, but having one of your hands occupied means other cards can’t be used. It’s something of a trade off, though in truth, the DPS output was so high, it was often the better option without fail. You can even throw your weapon in sickeningly cool style.
Environmental hazards appear to have more focus placed upon them as well. Head smash an enemy into a deep fat frier and they’re going to be left with more burns than a Brit on a Spanish holiday. Electrical conduits, windows, railings, you name it, you can probably boot someone into it. While it’s not a massive innovation from its predecessor, 2 Fights’ focus is clearly on refining and improving the established formula that made Fights so viscerally brilliant.
New enemy types, levels and cards round out the offering. There’s plenty of novel introductions, but for my taste, 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces excels in nestling perfectly into a homely feeling, while having enough refinements to make it feel fresh and invigorating. Outmaneuvering a flamethrower grunt to have him roast a row of enemies is pure, unadulterated joy, and none do this kind of stylish deckbuilding madness as well as Ground Shatter.
Fight For Your Tights
Probably the most seismic new feature brought to 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces comes in the shape of multiple silhouetted martial arts masters. That’s correct, 1-3 online co-op is a thing here. I’m sure there’s a joke about Keanu Reaves, Iko Uwais and Choi Min-sik walking into a bar and cracking every skull in it, but I’ll leave that to your imagination. I didn’t get to experience it myself, owing to there not being any matches available to join and having no friends to join me (feel free to insert a loner joke here).
However, the concept alone is an exceptional one. Given the campaigns are rather brutal gauntlets of resilience, having like-minded friends along for the ride will elevate the violent madness no end. I’m looking forward to trying it out with a buddy or two when I can, as the possibilities are likely endless given the decks and cards available. Right now though, I can only vouch for it on a hypothetical basis, much to my chagrin.
Speaking of decks, the variety of cards and pre-selected styles are once again superb. I got my ass whooped with the more balanced and defence orientated ones, but stick me with the counter, mobility or improv ones, and suddenly I’m Bruce Lee. While it may be daunting and off-putting for some to get wrecked in the early phases of learning, the variety of playstyles lends itself to both ongoing mastery and specialising in what you most feel attuned to. You just have to have some perseverance to get there.
Finding Spaces
At present, 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces has a full campaign mode with no story, alongside a skirmish mode with shorter runtimes balanced with more aggressive compositions of enemies. There are half a dozen or so decks to try out, unlocked through XP progression, as well as four agents and the aforementioned co-op mode. The roadmap suggests a lot more to come, but at present, you can see most of what the sequel has to offer in roughly 1-3 hours, depending on what difficulty you play on.
That’s not a whole lot, in fairness. However, Ground Shatter have proven their commitment before, so the omens bode well for future updates. I did encounter a couple of bugs along the way too. One particularly caused the game to lock up entirely when I whipped up a pistol and tried to use it with any card. Restarting a fresh run did fix this, but it was frustrating. Animations can sometimes be cut short or the physics engine can go wonky, but that kind of works given the stylish eccentricity of the game anyway.
With a relative lack of content and some issues with bugs to iron out, it’s not the [head] slam dunk I can recommend without caveat, but personally I feel there’s enough history to feel confident it’ll reach its potential. The art style still emanates with a minimalistic swagger that channels your favourite action movies. Loud colours and slick animations go a long way, it seems.
2 Can Fight At That Game
As an avid fan of Fights in Tight Spaces, I went into 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces with a sense of excitement and trepidation. Could Ground Shatter recapture the violent, extravagant carnage that made the first so special? I can confidently state that yes, they have indeed. Bear in mind that this is an Early Access version that will grow and improve over time, and you’ll find plenty to appreciate in this knife slinging, gun totting, sweep kick heavy festival of fighting.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must return to drop kicking goons off of ledges, before proceeding to get drop kicked myself. Ah, the pinnacle of joy matched only by the desperate shame of failure.
2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces is available now on PC via Early Access (review platform).
Developer: Ground Shatter
Publisher: Ground Shatter
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
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