In a world where a new multiplayer game pops up every week, and people’s time is constantly being divided by live-service games, it can be tricky to find a game that provides you with the simple pleasure of besting your friend in 1v1 combat. Friends vs Friends gives me exactly that, and now I settle all of my disputes in this world of cartoon violence.
The Friends vs Friends premise is simple, defeat your opponent in an old-school style Call of Duty cage match. However, the unique twist is that you can add modifiers to yourself and your opponent using cards that are dealt to you every round. Whether you’re making your opponent’s head bigger, dropping a deployable turret, or literally nuking the entire map, it’s a blast.
It’s time to Duke it Out Cage Match Style
You’re able to change your character, which are all animals that you know are just absolute sickos. Each of them carry a unique card that can change your starting weapon or even give you a double jump. I stuck with the good ole Stevie Gull, who gave me a gold pistol and a sick attitude to match.
Friends vs. Friends creates the perfect environment to just try and beat your friends in 1v1, and once your disputes are settled, you can team up for some 2v2 action against others online.
The moment-to-moment combat is exhilarating. I was trading shots from across subway tunnels as the bullets whipped by me, I planned the perfect moment to throw an explosive and then use my bullet time card to slow down time to shoot it and kill my friend. It created the perfect mini-moment within a match full of bombastic action.
Combining these unique modifier cards really changes the pace of a match. Sometimes you’re given a sniper, which provides you with a slower-paced approach, while other times, you’re increasing your speed and barrelling toward your friend with a shotgun and a dream.
The maps are perfect for all types of encounters. Whether you’re taking shots from the rooftops map, duking it out in a theater with movable scenery, or jumping from car to car on a speeding highway, Friends vs Friends provides a ton of experimentation and high-stakes action.
After matches, you can head back to a hub world and purchase more cards with in-game currency. You’ll crack packs and level up existing cards or get brand-new cards altogether. You can then swap them into your deck and try out new strategies.
My friend and I found ourselves constantly going back to the hub world and opening packs, seeing the wild and weird combinations we could use on each other to get the upper hand.
My friend used a strategy that filled my hand with garbage cards and then used a card that wrapped all of my cards in thorns. Anytime I would try to use a card, I would lose health, and since my hand was full of garbage, it became impossible to try and sift through my hand for anything I might need.
These small moments and combinations keep the fun going long after the initial gunplay has worn off. That’s not to say the gunplay isn’t satisfying, though. Whether you’re rocking a pistol, revolver, grenade launcher, or anything in between, Friends vs Friends gunfights are intense. Constantly popping out of corners to try and get the jump on my friend was a rush I haven’t felt since 1v1’s on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2’s Rust.
If you and your friends are arguing or need to settle an important dispute like “Is Orange Juice better with or without pulp” then download Friends vs Friends and get to settling your dispute.
