Most of my friends who are PC gamers either checked out League of Legends over the past 15 years or became hooked on it and lost huge amounts of time playing. But whenever I asked them if it was worth downloading it to my school laptop, they told me not to stain my pure soul and to stay away from it. However, with the release of 2XKO, I couldn’t resist checking out this free-to-play experience to satisfy the fighting game fan inside me.
Ready?!
As I mentioned in my introduction, I have never played League of Legends. My only experience with the franchise is watching Arcane on Netflix. However, I recently heard that Riot had developed an arcade fighting game. When I started investigating, I discovered that it was quite a project. Apparently, Riot announced this game as Project L in 2019: a fighting game set in the world of League of Legends: Runeterra. While the development process took some time, the involvement of renowned figures such as Tom Cannon, Seth Killian, and Daniel Montiago ensured that the game would deliver on quality. Each of these individuals has several accomplishments in the world of fighting games to their name. These include co-founding EVO, community management on classic fighters and being a pro-level player.
What was released on 20 January was something we don’t see too often in the fighting game community: A 2v2 tag-team fighter under a free-to-play model. But is the gameplay really that innovative, and just how ‘free to play’ is this game?
Fight!
When you first boot up 2XKO, you are taught the basics of the fighting system. Each character has the standard array of light, medium and heavy attacks, as well as supers and two special attack buttons for performing character-specific moves. I’m not going to go into any specifics here. It’s just like most other fighting games. My advice would be to pick a character whose design you like and test out whether you like their fighting style in the learning hub. There are basic lessons and character-specific lessons. You can even play as characters you haven’t unlocked yet here, but more on that later.
What 2XKO markets as unique is the Fuse system. It’s a twist on the tag-team combat that we’ve come to know and love in classic fighting series such as Marvel vs. Capcom. Instead of choosing one fighter, you choose two to form a team. You can use the partner to support the active fighter with attacks or disengage actions to prolong combos or escape chain blocks. You can also let the other fighter tag in and take over. A cool twist on the formula is that you can choose how to use your tag-team partner. Each of them is unique. You can use Double Down to quickly switch between your two characters. This allows you to cancel your super move and use your tag team partner’s super move instead. However, you can also fight using Juggernaut, which means you lose the ability to use your partner, but gain extra power for the first fighter. There are currently five styles to choose from, so see what suits you best.
Multiplayer
But what about the multiplayer experience? After all, this is a fighting game. Well, I have to say that this game’s online functionality is already incredibly smooth, but I would expect nothing less from a company with as much esports experience as Riot. Joining a lobby or a match is quick, and more importantly, the matches themselves are stable. I never felt locked in, taking damage due to lag. The lobbies also have a cosy design. They are laid out somewhat like an arcade, with cabinets and TVs. Matches are displayed in the overworld and can be spectated in full screen with the push of a button. Imagine the Street Fighter VI lobby, but with the added benefit that I can easily navigate this one with my fight stick thanks to the fixed camera angle.
I played with some friends in a private and public room. It was cross-platform, with one player on PS5, one on console and one on PC. I didn’t notice any lag or other issues because I was on a different platform. We even tried grouping up as a two-person tag team, which is what made the game truly click for me. The tag partner uses the tag button to jump into the match and provide support, and then the active player can press the tag button to let their teammate take over. This keeps you engaged in the fight, even if you aren’t the one fighting. You have to decide when to help your friend. Should you jump in to save them when they’re under attack, or wait for an opportunity when they’re on the offensive? There’s a level of strategy to the system that few other fighting games get right. But I have to say, there’s nothing like seeing your naturally talented friend dominate an opponent instead of you for once, with you assisting in the destruction and extending his combo.
Free-to play or pay-to-win?
With a focus on tournaments and a desire to foster a competitive scene, it’s clear that Riot really wants this game to succeed. But are there pitfalls in this free-to-play model? From my experience of playing 2XKO over the weekend, I would say it depends on the type of player you are. Most of the paid content in this game is for skins and cosmetics. These are for both your lobby avatar and your champions. It’s true that six out of the twelve champions are locked. However, for the first 15 days after launch, you can unlock Caitlyn by gaining 10,000 EXP. I gained 2,500 EXP in two nights, but I could have gained more if private matches with friends had counted towards this. Characters can be unlocked by buying them or by playing and earning in-game credits. If you want to buy a champion, it will cost you about 10 Euro (in-game credits converted to real money), but you get one free unlock at the start of 2XKO and one after playing five tag-team matches with a friend. If you don’t mind unlocking champions at your own pace and playing with stock skins, you can easily sink a huge number of hours into this game.
Conclusion
2XKO is a fun arcade fighter and a great introduction to the genre for newcomers. The Fuse tag-team mechanics offer a fresh take on the existing formula and provide plenty of strategic depth, whether you’re playing alone or with a friend. Match and lobby creation is seamless, even when playing cross-platform. The free-to-play model doesn’t restrict access to major content. Everything can be unlocked by playing; it just takes longer to unlock characters this way. However, if you enjoy playing it as much as I do, spending time on it won’t be an issue. If you want to try out 2XKO, it’s available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
