Creating an entire game off of a simple mechanic that doesn’t have a lot of variety to it isn’t something that you come by often. Managing to pull this off in a way that keeps players entertained throughout is nothing short of finely tuned development. Taking this game setup head on is NExT Studios with their recent co-op based title Biped. Challenging players in ways that force the use of proper teamwork to pull of a bonding experience is a goal they most definitely achieved!

Story

After a strange event happens that wipes out all the broadcasting signals on an inhabited planet, bipedal robots Aku and Sila are sent down to get the signals back online. In order to do this, they will have to work together to overcome the challenging pathways in order to reach the reset button.

Gameplay

While this game is strongly focused on the two-player aspect, there is also a solo mode for players to play. This version of the game features the same levels with only slight differences that make it possible for them to go through the game alone. It definitely isn’t as fun nor challenging to play this game alone, so I recommend grabbing a buddy or partner to work your way through the levels with together.

Movement on this game is the base of all mechanics you will be working with. By that I mean the control of your robot legs. The right analog stick controls the right leg while the left analog stick controls the left leg. You will use this mechanic to walk in small steps, take big step strides, hold them down in the same direction to slide on surfaces that allow it, press buttons by placing a leg on it, opening crates and grabbing objects by holding your leg up against it, operating platforms in their various different challenge styles, and move levers.

When I mentioned the platforms and their various operating styles, the range of this isn’t too large but definitely unique. The most common one will be color based platforms where only the robot with the matching color can step on it and once they do it will switch to the other robots color. This means that players will have to take turns take steps to progress through these platforms together. Other than the color based platforms, you have the turning ones that require players to stay centered or move the cylinder shaped platform in one direction or another in order to get themselves or their partner across. Then there is the occasional password style “match-the-shape” kind of platforms where one player has to use a panel of shapes to press in the appropriate order to get the platform available to cross.

Overall, the puzzle styles vary widely outside of the platforms themselves. When in levels that have both players connected by a rope, which helps with keeping players close and unable to stray far enough away from each other to get a death counted for one only to spawn them next to the other player, you can expect that rope to come into play. For instance, the ice based world has players going on wall side platforms and use the rope to swing one player across gaps in order to grab the next wall platform so the first player can swing across as well.

Where I was most impressed with movement in this game is the water level. It is the only level that has the players using raft boats, but it is worth a mention on its own. Instead of trying to introduce a unique, one-level use mechanic to move the boats, they just had boats that move based on the players steps speed and direction.

When you aren’t focused on completing puzzle sections, the other part of your focus can go to collecting coins and stars. While the stars are nothing but collectibles, the coins you collect can be used in a shop thats available from the main menu. This shop is full of little cosmetic items for players to put on their robots to give a little personalized flare to the basic style you are given at the beginning.

Visuals

Fitting to the family-friendly gameplay, this game is full of cartoon styled levels. There is more detail in each level than necessary, but it also really brings out the atmosphere behind the level itself. This makes it pretty to look at for players of all ages.

Sounds

Going right along with the cartoon graphics, the game is full of upbeat and cute tunes to go with each level. They did a great job having the music and sound effects bring out the inviting yet challenging atmosphere that these puzzle-filled levels have.

Replayability

As I mentioned in the beginning, there is both a co-op and solo campaign that feature the same levels with some variations to their style. On top of this, every time you beat a level in the co-op campaign you open up two new challenge levels to bring out a true test of the player’s teamwork capabilities. These challenge levels are all 100% optional, but they are definitely fun and way more challenging than the levels. On top of the level variations, completion hunters have lots of stars to collect in each level, including the challenge levels, along with thousands of coins to gather in order to get all the cosmetics in the shop.

What Could Be Better

When it comes to the gameplay mechanics being used on the spinning slider, the control is almost nonexistent. The puzzle near the end of the game where both players have to use the spinning sliders to get the ball into the tube for the gate took me and my partner over 8 minutes where all the other ones took us a max of 3 minutes and the entire time it was due to our inability to properly control the spinning slider itself. It would do full 360-degree spins without the analog sticks moving at all, the sensitivity was so intense that light movements on the analogs were overly dramatic, and the hassle of just trying to control something that should be simple was frustrating. We enjoyed all the challenging puzzles, but we did not enjoy the challenging control of this tool.

Conclusion

Biped is an amazing co-op game that truly pulls off the teamwork bonding experience they were going for! Playing this game with my partner became a daily event for us and it was always enjoyable, albeit satisfying, to complete the challenges together that the game presented us. Not a great title if you plan on playing by yourself, but easily one of the best couch co-ops of 2020.