"Knight Squad" is a one to eight player action/brawler game that was released on the digital distribution platform Steam, and also on the Xbox One. Developed by Chainawesome Games, it is one of the most addicting games that I have ever played. You have two different modes to choose from: you can play against your friends in an all out onslaught in Versus Mode, or you can try to beat other players' scores in Challenge mode. With an assortment of game modes within versus, a vast amount of playable knights—as well as un-lockable knights—and an easy learning curve, this game truly is the perfect game to play with friends.
Let's begin with the versus mode. You have a large selection of game modes to choose from, with each game mode having it's own set of maps to play. As in most multiplayer games, you have the standard modes such as Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag and Domination. Along with those, you also have many other modes to choose from, all of which have a different variety of gameplay. For example, there is Last Man Standing, in which you try to take out all the other knights and be the last one alive to win the round. Another game mode that is somewhat of a variation of Capture The Flag is Capture The Grail. In it, you essentially try to bring the grail back to your spawn in order to score points.
You have a choice to pick from eight different colored knights. There are five that are un-lockable and three that were released as downloadable content. They have no special abilities, it is just to help you distinguish which knight you are. The most appealing aspect of Knight Squad is the fact that you can have up to eight players all on one console. This is due to the fact that the game takes place on a top-down single screen instead of the oh so popular split screen.
When you start the match you begin with just a sword, but there are all sorts of different power-ups that spawn randomly over the map. You can choose to grab another sword pickup to increase the length of your sword, or you can pick up a large variety of other weapons such as a bow, boomerang, crossbow, laser gun and many more. You can only get hit once, which makes it very difficult to stay alive, unless you pick up a shield pickup, which allows you to take an extra hit.
In challenge mode, you have several different challenges that you can do to try and beat your previous high score or even your friend's scores. You must beat the first challenge to unlock the next challenge, and so on. This is a great way for you to practice your skills and also an opportunity for you to possibly unlock a new knight or two. This game mode has some of the hardest challenges I have ever played. They really test your patience, so be ready to die a few times before you finally beat it.
Overall, this game is one of the best games I have ever played and it is sure to bring you countless hours of fun with your friends. I had gotten this game for free, but even if I hadn't, I would have definitely paid the money for this.
Rating: 9/10
