3/5 ★ – clunkymechanics's review of Knights and Bikes.

Completed: May 08 2021 Time to beat: 7 Hours Platform: XBox Series X via Game Pass Games With Jared 01 I didn't realise until recently how few online co-op campaign based games there are. Without thinking about it I had assumed there were plenty of online co-op games that were shorter experiences, except now I am second guessing myself after combing through every single game I own and finding maybe 5 that fit this description. Anyways, given the circumstance Knights and Bikes is a great co-op experience you can play online with a friend and it only takes about 6 hours. The catch? It’s not very fun… Knights and Bikes falls victim to the same thing an unfortunate amount of co-op games fall victim to - it is only as fun as the person you are playing it with. Lucky for me @TrailBlazerr is absolutely hilarious to play games with which perhaps artificially enhanced how much I was actually enjoying this game. There were so many moments that were made better by the fact that I was playing with someone else, where I otherwise would not have found enjoyment in the content. Knights and Bikes does a lot of things that I personally believe hinder indie games ability to shine. This is unfortunate because I could have overlooked a few of these errors but encountering one pet peeve after the other was really disappointing. Without getting into too much detail the main grievances I had with this game were: empty open areas, uncomplicated ‘puzzle’ mechanics, collectables that feel inconsequential, characters that feel samey, and an overly complicated plot. Together these things made for a muddled experience that didn’t feel unenjoyable, but instead was a glimpse of an enjoyable experience that left just enough to be desired. That is not to say I disliked this game at all, it was fun and I enjoyed my time with it but overall it was a very forgettable experience. Realistically, when I think back on this game I will most likely remember it as “worse Tearaway with bikes”.