Knack 2

Knack 2 is an action-adventure where you control a shape-shifting robot called Knack. Following the original game, you battle your way through Pixar-style enemies and solve simple puzzles using your size-shifting abilities. It's familiar territory but stands out for the cooperative play in a beautifully realised cartoon world with really high production values.

CONTENT RATING

Mild Violence

PLATFORMS

PlayStation 4

POSITIVE GAMEPLAY

Exploration

Popular Choice

Quick Reactions

Comprehension

Empathy

Excitement

Lateral Thinking

Navigate World

PLAY STYLE

Co-Op Local

Co-Op Story

Join/Leave Anytime

Player vs Enemies

Team with Game Allies

Team Up With Players

Following the events of the first game, Newhaven is under attack from four Titans. Knack, and his companions Lucas and Ava, embark on a quest to uncover ancient weapons and stop the Titans' rampage. You work through a series of long, linear levels, journeying from start to finish, while battling enemies, such as humans, robots, and vehicles, finding secret hidden objects that give Knack upgrades, climbing, destroying objects, and completing jumping and switch-based puzzles.

As you progress you collect parts that allow you to change size. This not only offers greater impact for larger enemies but also allows you to shrink down to get through small gaps. You steadily upgrade your abilities through the skill tree as you collect treasures from the chests you find.

The result is a game that extends not only the story but the features of the first game. It adds offline multiplayer, so an extra player to join and leave the main story at their leisure.

GAMEPLAY TRAILER

Good to know

Insights to ensure your child's gaming experience remains safe and enjoyable

Review difficulty level

Some children might feel frustrated with different game levels or obstacles. Talk to them about recognising when it's time to take a break and turn their attention somewhere else. Often, when they come back relaxed, they're more likely to find success.

Master skills together

Some platform games require a lot of skill and combination movements, which can be frustrating to master. For younger players, set time aside to help them learn and practise the skills.

Build resilience

Platform games can promote perseverance. Encourage children to "try, try again" until they succeed while taking regular breaks.

Skill level age

Suggested by Family Gaming Database

The game is more accommodating than the original Knack as it scales the difficulty of the experience to match how the player is doing. Still, younger players need to cope with the frantic action and button pressing. Some puzzles require lateral thinking and good navigation. Harder sections of the game require resilience and forward planning. There's a strong story to follow that needs some maturity to appreciate.

Content rating

Rated PEGI 7 for violence that lacks any apparent harm or injury to fantasy or mythical beings and creatures, mild violence that lacks any apparent harm or injury to human-like characters and non-realistic violence in a child-friendly setting or context. The game features somewhat frantic violence. Fantasy characters and human characters alike always react with an exaggerated reaction (i.e. robots explode and disintegrate, orcs get knocked back a couple of meters, etc.). Knack has a variety of attacks that can be upgraded later in the game. By default, you have a punch and a kick, as well as a double jump and short hover. The reaction of the characters does not change significantly if you choose a different attack. In this game there are humanlike characters which you need to fight. These humans look very cartoonlike. When hit, the humans flinch or are knocked back. When they get up, they show no signs of pain, injury or any other signs of damage. When defeated, the humans fall to the floor and are launched into the air short after, as if they all have a wire attached to their back. Because of this there are no human bodies in the game area. You can also not hit these bodies as they quickly disappear. The game does feature a disturbing boss battle at the end of the game. Here a relic creature (like Knack) appears. This relic is black and has red glowing eyes. This boss passes as a disturbing element but is not enough to trigger a fear content descriptor.

PEGI rating explained?