Riot Games' upcoming fighting game title, 2XKO, is now in Alpha Testing. This comes months before its release later this year. Fighting game content creators have early access and I have seen them play matches. Right off the bat, the game looks like a 2.5D fighter with tag team as its core—which explains the title of the game.
Its gameplay is similar to Marvel vs. Capcom, Street Fighter X Tekken, and Dragon Ball FighterZ. Players will face off with each other in a two-versus-two tag match; the first to knock down the other team wins the match. Sounds simple, right? The excitement of the game doubles when four different players control different characters in each team, similar to the four player tag team match in SFXT.
click to enlargeTypical of tag team fighting games, the emphasis in fast-paced combat and hit-confirms to open up combo chains makes this a familiar mechanic for those who have played similar titles. The control layout is similar to Marvel vs. Capcom in that it has a simplified control scheme: light, medium, heavy, special 1, and special 2. Where it deviates from MVC is the addition of dedicated dash, tag, and parry buttons.
Another mechanic from another title is the implementation of a "burst" bar, which can be used to do Roman cancels to break combo chains. This is similar to games produced by Arc System Works, namely Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and DBFZ.
Lastly, the lobbies are similar to Street Fighter 6's Battle Hub, where players can meet in a virtual arcade and challenge each other.
While the game is still in Alpha Testing, players can request access to the playtests by going to the 2XKO Alpha landing page and signing up or logging in with a Riot Games account. After that, you will be asked to answer a short survey about your experience with fighting games and other titles. Then, you will have to wait for a confirmation email to get access to the playtest.
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