Hazelight Studios: It Takes Two is still pretty damn good says Fares

Co-op adventure game It Takes Two, developed by Hazelight Studios, is still one hell of a game for Josef Fares.

When you read the name Josef Fares, you probably first think of “F*ck the Oscars”. The video game designer made the statement at the Game Awards in 2017, expressing his displeasure with the negative attitude towards video games.

But the name also stands for three cooperative games: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, A Way Out, and It Takes Two. He thinks the latter is a damn good game, as he revealed in an interview with VGC.

When asked which level he liked most in Hazelight Studios’ co-op adventure, Fares replied:

“You know, it’s weird, most of the time I don’t play the games I’ve been involved with. We’re so focused on the next game… I can’t say it’s just one [Level] but I still look back at it now and I’m like ‘this is a damn good game’ [lacht].”

A particularly emotional scene with an elephant in the game is also addressed in the interview. As he revealed, this one was originally even worse.

“To be honest, that scene was a lot worse in the beginning. I cut away a lot, but I think it still made sense to the story. In A Way Out we had a scene where you tortured a man with tools in so many different ways and no one really cared and now it’s an elephant and everyone goes nuts.”

“I think a lot of people didn’t get the dark comedy side of the elephant, but it’s one of the scenes I’m most proud of, it was a lot worse in the beginning. It was a lot more violent. Not only was it more graphically violent, but how the music was and how May and Cody reacted. We even had to shorten it a bit to make it a little less [intensiv] close.”

“But for me it was always a funny scene. I know some people reacted very strongly, but for me it was always a funny scene. I think some people got it.”

Fares and Hazelight are already working on the next game. And while making good progress and working in the right direction, there is still work to be done. The game will be a surprise in a good way.

In December, he’ll use the Game Awards to reveal more about the game…and he’s already revealed it’s designed to blow players away.