Knack features local co-op built with younger players in mind
Knack includes a local co-op mode that should, according to game creator and system architect Mark Cerny, help kids around 5 to 7 years old play the PS4 launch game. At Gamescom, Cerny showed us a brief demonstration of the same-screen mode, in which a second player controls a robot version of Knack who provides support for the first player.
Like Knack himself, the silver robo-Knack can combat and defeat enemies to grab their parts and grow bigger. The difference is that when Knack gets hurt and becomes smaller and weaker, robot Knack can donate his parts to the damaged Knack. Cerny noted that the two-player mode allows a parent to jump in and help his seven-year old child playing as the main Knack, and for a younger player like a five-year old to play as robot Knack without harming the overall experience.
"Progress is gated by what Knack does," said Cerny, indicating the second player won't hinder the first player as he or she progresses through the campaign.
Cerny wants Knack to be an inclusive, family-orientated game; he previously showed how developer Japan Studio built a giant DualShock to help its developers see how it would be to be an 8-year-old holding the controller. Knack will be one of the games available on the PS4's launch day, November 15 in North America and November 29 in Europe.
