The Jackbox Party Pack 2 is a crazy compilation of five party games that can be played, not with a controller but with your phone, yes as most people have phones it’s a nice way to take on cross compatible devices linking up to your Xbox One. This only allows for local play but each game can be joined over streams with remote players.
So what are these games that are on offer to wet your whistle, first game on the go was:
Fibbage – this is a quiz like game where you can bluff your way out of trouble with over 500 brand new questions which is about double of the original. Fibbage can have up to 2 to 8 players in a lobby at one time.
Earwax – for me this was one of the funniest games, where hilarious sound effects are used to a question, with at times some crude answers being given such as “What goes on in a Zumba Class” with the corresponding sound effects being a simple YES,or a rooster crowing, a crowd of zombies /ghosts or finally a Fart with a Surprisingly Wet comment beside it. This game mode allows for 3 to 8 players to join in.
Bidiots – this tests your artistic skills whereby you draw on your phone or tablet whilst in the game and try to action of your masterpiece of art for as much money as possible. This game allows for 3 to 6 players within the lobby.
Quiplash XL – this is the deluxe version of the game which includes the original Quiplash game plus all the content of the Quip Pack 1 and over 100 new prompts, this game comes up with some cracking moments as you choose hilarious answers to a question such as how to spell Mississippi in a different but funnier way, but some questions can really hit below the belt such as “The weirdest place to see an image of The Virgin Mary” with two prompts coming up, Porn Hub or On Porn Hub. This is another game that can have 3 to 8 players.
Bomb Corp – the final game in the compilation is where you or up to four players must defuse a bomb within the time limit, as the game starts a pixelated office worker challenges you to defuse the bomb as the sweat pours from your hands as you think… should i cut this wire or that wire, but if successful you get a crowd cheering you for your bravery.
So with the breakdown of the games, the first fault i would have to bring up was the lack of people joining the streaming lobbies which is the closest thing you get to a multiplayer mode, it was extremely hard trying to get a game of any sort on the go as the game is primarily local play, but when you do it really can be fun, hence the label of a party game as this would be ideal fun for having a night in with pals.
Graphically The Jackbox Party Pack 2 consists of the standard 8-bit pixelated images for games like Bomb Corp which is perfect for this type of game as you don’t want to be distracted with glorious detailed imagery, especially when you’re up against the clock, but most of the games are simple text based with a static backdrop, yet nicely presented on screen.
With Jackbox Party Pack 2 being aimed with a party atmosphere in mind the ingame music is very upbeat, and it’s not just the music but the in game speech is crisp and clear when a question is presented to yourself.
Summary
This is a perfect party game especially when you have probably had a couple of drinks, the game is extremely funny and most of the time very crude which works for this title. There is a good mix of games to play through with plenty of content that doesn’t repeat over time.
But with this in mind the cost of the game and the difficulty of sometimes trying to start up one of the games you want to play can be frustrating.
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