I don’t know if such a game exists, but if so, please point me to it!
I’m looking for a game that would be two players against each other. Clear roles for each side, and very much diametrically opposed to each other (Sith vs. Jedi, Good vs. Evil, Sauron vs. Middle-Earth, Dark vs. Light, etc). Preferably a game where both sides are different enough to make it interesting. Most likely the only games that would work for this style of competitive play are going to be real-time or turn-based strategies, but I’m open to any style.
I would prefer LAN play on PC, but if there is something on console I would still be interested.
Alien vs predator maybe. The multiplayer pits the three factions (aliens, marines, predators) against each other. Great fun, though I don’t really know how fun it is with only two players.
Another that randomly popped in my head is Hunter Hunted. It’s a 2d side scroller where a minotaur like beast and a man fight each other in the dystopic far away year of 2015. I’m not sure you can even get it anywhere legally nor do I remember if it had LAN play. Had fun playing it with my brother back in the day.
I don’t think there’s any game that meets all those criteria (2v2, clear sides). The best I can think of is RTS games like Starcraft or Warcraft 3, where you put house-rules on the races (Terran+Terran vs Zerg+Zerg or whatever).
There are plenty of 2v2-friendly games, especially local multiplayer console games which traditionally support 4 players. Super Smash Bros, for instance, supports this easily. But there’s no game I can think of that’s both asymmetric (either tonally or mechanically) and built for 2v2.
The possibilities probably open up a lot more if you allow board games.
2v2 would be… weird in that game though. One shooter and a commander per team.
Most of the asymmetrical games I can think of are either built for 1v1, or like 5v5 minimum.
So… completely in the other direction, but you’re going to find much richer ground in board games than video games if we stick to your criteria.
On computer, your best bet is going to be RTS games - particularly if you go a few years back. Modern multiplayer games are almost all designed around larger teams since the best-case scenario for any online game is a following robust enough to support an eSports scene.
Anyway, older RTS games include:
Star Wars: Empire at War
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth
The Starcraft series (Starcraft II just released the last of its set, actually)
The Warcraft series
The Homeworld series (just recently got an HD re-release - these games are brilliant)
Lots and lots more and they’ll all support 1v1, but that’s not what they’re designed for.
Sidenote: Hunter Hunted was fucking phenomenal. A buddy and I got hours and hours of split-screen play out of it.
After posting, I did pick up Empire at War and played that- it fit my criteria quite nicely. That then led me to pick up Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, with the Sins of the Prophets mod (Halo-themed). Enjoyed that as well!
As for board games, I do play lots of those (game night is on Saturdays) but I also like to do lan games with my son sometimes during the week if I have the free time- and not spend half of my free time setting up/putting away a board game.
Mortal Kombat?
WoW if you want to get 2 accounts, lvl up, then do some battle grounds v each other, (maybe those arent 1v1 though…) But on Wow you can lvl totally different classes and fight each other all you want out in the world instead of battle grounds.
most fps games will allow you to host a server and you can play 1v1 all day if you want.
Not really my first suggestion for a fighting game, but it has some name recognition.
I’d probably suggest either Street Fighter V or Guilty Gear Xrd Sign but the former isn’t actually OUT yet. I guess you could go with SFIVinstead.
Honestly, I think MMOs make TERRIBLE PvP games, because gear is so much more important than anything else, so they become a contest of “who has done more grinding” than “who is actually better at this game.” I’d avoid this option.
To me, the requirement for well-defined ‘sides’ implies the desire for a backstory that informs the gameplay. Fighting games don’t have that - they have just enough backstory to tie things together, but that’s it.
Try again; Guilty Gear and Blazblue both have…more story than I’ve been willing to sit through. BB has like, 40+ hours of VN style story stuff. Probably more story stuff in terms of dialogue/events than StarCraft.
Now it could be argued that in all that storyline, it’s hard to find clearly defined “Good” and “Bad” guys, but there are certainly sides and some are better than others.
I might’ve added a “generally” to that, but the overall point stands. The vast, vast, overwhelmingly vast majority of fighting games have no plot beyond “we must fight because this is a fighting game,” and that’s fine because fighting games don’t need stories.
Twilight Struggle is a Cold War two player board game. One player plays the Soviets and the other the United States and its absolutely brilliant. Just looked and there’s an online version so that might be a candidate.
Of course, that’s not strictly good vs evil but it perhaps has the same spirit that you and your son are looking for.
