Ever since the Xbox One released, I’ve been telling everyone that we need more competitive couch co-op games on the platform. In the past few months, couch co-op games have been making a comeback – with Nidhogg and even Super Smash Bros, but neither of those games have been on the Xbox One. #IDARB, an upcoming release which will be free in February as part of Microsoft’s Games with Gold program, is an extremely satisfying return to a genre that the Xbox One desperately needed. Created by Other Ocean, #IDARB is a game that was created when they showed the internet a picture of a red box and asked what they should do – and the internet answered. There’s not really a way to describe #IDARB – it’s a mix of Football (soccer) & Smash Bros, all put into one competitive online/couch co-op game. It’s extremely fun, vibrant, and chaotic.
In #IDARB, players are placed into a arena with 2 “nets” and one ball, where two teams must battle to see who can get the most points. However, it’s not that simple. What’s amazingly contemporary about #IDARB is it’s Twitter & Twitch integration, which allows for other gamers to “hashbomb” your game, even if they’re not playing. Hashbombs completely change up #IDARB, with “#bomb” making the ball, well, a live bomb, which when scored gives you 2x the amount of points you would usually get from your goal, but it will also explode after a short amount of time – and if you’re caught in the explosion, you’ll get put in the penalty box. However, people can let you out of this box with the hashbomb “#freedom.” I absolutely love this feature because not only can viewers watch the stream, they can be part of the game themselves. Hashbombs are what really make #IDARB, and the social integration in #IDARB is a fantastic feature, and something I’d love to see in other games.
#IDARB is a simple, hilarious and all out fun game to play as soon as you pick it up, and the controls are relatively easy to work out and get used to quickly. There’s not really any limitations or rules, which is one of the many things that makes #IDARB unique. Whether it’s players trying to jump on you to stun you and take the ball, or use the “steal” button to grab the ball from you, you have to stay vigilant when in possession – and stay focused on your aim, trying to get a clear path to be able to score, make accurate passes, and do incredible things that will make you confused in what even happened. You’ll be rewarded with more points if, for example, you bounce a ball three times off a platform and, almost like a pinball machine, it goes into your opponents “goal.” This is all topped off by the incredible VO work of Bob Baffy, who also composes a lot of the music in the game. Whether it’s announcing interceptions, goals or a subtle humorous movie/pop reference, it makes every match feel so much more lively. The music in the game is absolutely fantastic, with the credits song being my personal favourite. (you can download “The Soothing Sounds of #IDARB by Bob Baffy here) The graphics bring a lot of nostalgia, and what the game lacks in fidelity it makes up in an amazing pixel art style – and each character in the game has a different design. Whether it’s characters from Swery’s detective game D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die, your own custom characters you can create in the game’s character creator (or someone else’s that you can scan into the game using QR codes) or breakfast (bacon, mmm), #IDARB has so much to offer, and there’s enough content to keep you going for a ridiculous amount of time.
It is arguable that there’s too much chaos going on at the same time – however, they even created something for this – if you press the View button at any time, your player will be highlighted.
#IDARB offers 1v1 through 2 Xbox’s online, or up to 4v4 for couch co-op. However, Mike, a developer of the game (who we interviewed, you can view the interview here) has stated he wants to up the amount of players able to play together online. In the next update to the game, you will be able to add AI characters to #IDARB online play. Looking for people online is difficult at the moment, but this is understandable as less than 1500 codes for the game have been given out at this point in time, and I’m sure this issue will be fixed when the game becomes available for free as part of February’s Games with Gold. The game also has a single-player with a small story and humorous dialogue, which is extremely fun and offers some AI characters to play with on a team. If you don’t think your #IDARB skills are quite up to par, there’s a practice mode. If you’re feeling creative, there’s a sprite creator where you can create your own characters and share them to the world through QR code scanning. Whatever type of person you are, #IDARB has an incredible amount of content to offer, and the game hasn’t even released yet. With many updates still to come, #IDARB is a blast to play in its current state.
@CameronMines it's couch vs couch, two Xboxes, up to 8 players. 4 v 4 is possible. Not 8 unique boxes. We'd have to cut the game speed.
— Mike Mika (@MikeJMika) January 2, 2015
#IDARB Verdict
#IDARB is an incredibly fun, content packed game, and with many updates still to come, a PC version coming sometime this year, and many players to flood in when the game becomes Games with Gold in February, I can only begin to imagine what things lie in store. #IDARB is one of the greatest ID@Xbox titles I’ve ever played, and honestly, I’m beginning to think it’s reality.
10/10