Whatever Happened to Co-op Gameplay?
Remember when you were a kid and there was no online gaming? A time when players could actually invest time with each other in a game? Just you and your brother or sister or best buddy sitting in the living room playing Contra or Double Dragon side by side and yelling at them, “Come help me! Save the health for me, stupid! I want the special weapon!” You could reach over and hit them if they deserved it. You could see the look on their face when you defeated the boss character together and advanced to the next level. And it was glorious! Oh, how we miss the inclusion of co-operative play in a wide range of our games!
What ever happened to those days? The main focus of most modern day games is massive online multi-player, but some of us long for the good old days when it was just you and a friend next to each other on the couch, killing every Nazi or zombie or mutated soldier that you see. Army of Two had the right idea a few years ago, but the execution was not quite up to snuff. What the gaming world needs is a return of 2-4 person co-op gameplay with their own unique stories, not running around from one online match to another to see who can get the most points.
It seems like some developers have gotten a bit lazy with their writing. Since the demand is so high for quality MP the single-player campaigns are getting shafted. For example, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Medal of Honor were two of the most highly anticipated games of 2010, mostly for their MP. Because of that the developers had only about six hours of campaign play for each and focused the rest of their attention on the MP. People basically payed $60 for a MP experience. Now it is true that MP has an almost infinite replay value, but where’s the challenge? There is no change in difficulty level; no Easy, Medium, Hard, or Insane in the MP realm, only try to be the best person to point and shoot and not get shot in return. Yes, there is some small amount of strategy involved, but MP situations rarely require much team thought and players can go rogue if they decide their team isn’t doing their job. The cooperative style of gameplay seems to be dying off again. When we first bought our next-generation systems companies were playing up the Co-op play style, but as the years have gone on there are far too few games in which players can proceed through the story with a friend. MP combat is booming in a big way, but we miss the good ol’ days of Toejam and Earl where one of you gets chased by the boogie man, while the other is running from the creepy dentist; the thrill of yelling at your partner, face to face, for falling off the edge of the world and needlessly dying.
This is a feeling that pretty much made Arcades what they were back in the day. I remember going to my local arcade and standing in front of the Turtles in Time machine where I’d choose whatever joystick was Leonardo (Of course) and sink my quarter into the machine with a satisfying “clink.” It would take less than a minute before someone else walked up and do the same. By the time two minutes had passed, four people were at the machine bantering like they were the best of friends. All too often in video games nowadays these kind of social moments are being missed out on. Sure, we have a fantastic time killing each other in Battlefield and Call of Duty, yet those games lack any sort of camaraderie unless you have a team. Many of us who grew up with video games as kids have turned into adults with the want to sit down on the couch and play games together with our friends, even if it is on our own couches from the other side of the world.
What we need in the gaming world is a shift back to the way things used to be. There is nothing wrong with massive online MP games, but the demand for co-operative campaigns is coming back. There have been several arcade titles recently that are realizing this and making the jump (Lara Croft: Guardian of Light, Castle Crashers, & The Dishwasher to name a few), but these are baby steps. Baby steps in the right direction, but baby steps none the less. Ever wonder why companies are re-releasing old arcade games like Turtles in Time or X-Men Arcade? It’s not only because of the nostalgia of those games, but because we can play them with friends both online and at home.
Just recently Rocksteady announced to us all that Batman: Arkham City would be devoid of multiplayer. This would be a perfect opportunity to use a great deal of Batman’s partners. I don’t see how Nightwing, Batgirl, Catwoman, Huntress, Robin, and Red Robin could sit back and watch such a disaster unfold in front of their eyes and then suddenly say “Meh, Batman can handle it!”. It’s a wasted opportunity so extend the game to open the playing field to you and a friend.
This isn’t the only game where the opportunity is squandered. Guerilla Games pretty much puts you in a heated war versus the Helghast in Killzone 3. In design you’re pretty much matched up with a partner throughout the entire game so it confuses me how another player could not have been in control of one of the soldiers. It could have lead up to some great fist pumping moments with friends as you both shot your way through a heart pounding struggle.
Now there are a good number of games that DO promote a cooperative style: Gears of War, Resistance, Halo, even Rock Band, while games like Uncharted 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction include a separate form of co-operative modes. Finally we have games that get the point but fall short of what to expect in the internet age. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is an amazing 4-player beat ‘em up, but unfortunately you can only play this game offline with your friends. Which used to be great when we were all kids and didn’t have internet lines everywhere. Nowadays we want the option to play on the couch AND online; either/or shouldn’t be the only option in any case as gamers have grown up and so has the world. Technology has advanced so far in the past 20 years that there should be a solution to this. Why pick one over the other when you can have the best of both? The opportunity is there. So many games and players are just begging to have a co-op option without making it an absolute necessity. All we ask, as players, is that developers put a little more time and love into the idea and give us what we’ve been longing for for so many years: a return to the classic co-operative format so we can sit and enjoy a game the way we used to. And maybe just punch the guy next to you when he snags your well earned weapon.
[Article co-written by Kevin “Games” Jones & Christina “RogueNurse” Weber]
