co-op
Latest
Joystiq gets a crack at Crackdown
The dapper gentlefolk at Joystiq recently got a chance to play the latest from GTA creator, David Jones, Crackdown. You may recall that we brought you a super great video of the game recently. So, go watch that video and then come finish this article. We'll wait ... and ... good. So, the question is, of course, did Joystiq find the game fun? The answer is yes. Crackdown is a sandbox game with a heavy bent towards action. As Joystiq puts it, "the game's frenzied pace doesn't pause for soul-searching or deep social commentary; gamers will pick it up for its action, not nuance." Naturally, we can't speak for everyone (though we do try), but that sounds like our kind of sandbox game. The co-op in particular sounds like a great way to spend time with a buddy over Live, just tearing around the city doing whatever you want. Rest assured, we're keeping our eye on this one. Hit the read link to check out Joystiq's hands-on with the game. It's chock-full of information and pretty, pretty pictures.
Joystiq hands-on: Crackdown (Xbox 360)
Future-cop shooter, Crackdown, prides itself on nonlinear, sandbox play. It's set in a sprawling city with many areas to explore, and I had fun wandering through a pre-release version at a recent meeting with developer, Real Time Worlds. The game is violent and visceral; you play a Judge Dread Dredd-style super-cop with no moral ambiguity. Every criminal you kill is a victory, and any bystanders that die between you and the baddies were just doing their part for their city. This premise is sure to appeal to the adolescent boy in all of us (and actual adolescent boys). But for a game that gloats about its open, let-the-gamer-decide play-style, I thought that the violence was sometimes too mandatory and too realistic. I had fun with Crackdown, and I want to play more. I enjoyed the sandbox elements -- blowing up parts of the city, jumping between rooftops, and driving cars -- but those activities didn't always help me progress. It seemed like I needed to keep killing thugs to advance through the game, and that repetition may violate the sandbox ideal. To Crackdown's credit, the Xbox 360 game doesn't take time to dwell on its blunt-instrument kill-the-enemy-gangs premise -- it even approaches it with a crooked smile. And the game's frenzied pace doesn't pause for soul-searching or deep social commentary; gamers will pick it up for its action, not nuance.
Contra's craptacular co-op
Game|Life and IGN report that Contra's co-op mode is broken (see evidence above). The screenshots were taken at the same moment during an online co-op match, showing how the two players' games were completely out of sync (on the left, Player Two is already dead).Both reports indicate that the co-op mode glitches during the Waterfall stage. Can anyone corroborate?[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Valhalla Knights details in lengthy interview
GameZone recently interviewed Jimmy Soga, Assistant Localization Producer of the upcoming PSP-exclusive RPG Valhalla Knights. Like in most RPGs, the main hero seems to have lost his memory, and must go on a journey to find out the truth behind his past. And also like in most RPGs, his destiny will most likely intertwine with the fate of the world. Pretty dramatic, no? The interview is very, very long, so for those of you that are too lazy to read it all, here are a few excerpts: Character customization is key: you can customize the main character, and all the playable characters that join your party. "You are able to select the race, gender and job class of additional party members you hire (create)." Each character can carry more than one weapon: "Backup weapons can also be equipped on a character and can be switched out almost instantaneously during battle. For example, if your thief starts running low on HP during melee combat with a sword, you can back him away and switch to a bow and arrow to continue with ranged attacks from a safe distance." The game features a relatively unique leveling mode, where your physical strength and class skill level are independent of each other. So, if you switch classes, you won't lose any of your physical strength. (Read the full interview for a good example.) "Valhalla Knights offers a 2-player versus mode as well as a co-op mode... The co-op mode features 30 co-op missions exclusive to the multi-player mode." So what do you guys think? It seems like the game's going to be loaded with features. The game was one of IGN's favorites at Tokyo Game Show, and I can see why.
New Killzone screens show off multi-player features
Those nice chaps at Games Radar have just posted some mouth-wateringly new Killzone: Liberation screens that show off the game's multi-player and the single-player squad-command system.In case you didn't know, Killzone will feature six-player Ad-Hoc multiplayer modes including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Assault and Capture the Flag, in addition to a complete two-player co-op mode.There is infrastructure support in the works, but it won't be available with the game when it ships on Halloween.The squad-command system is pretty interesting. "Hit the command button and the fighting slows to a crawl, giving you time to pick out specific targets or positions for your squad without pausing the danger around you, keeping the battles tactical but tense," according to Games Radar.
Brothers in Arms D-Day revealed
We knew a new Brothers in Arms game was heading to the PSP. It just took a really long time for any info to be revealed. Ubisoft just unveiled Brothers in Arms: D-Day, which will be exclusive for the PSP handheld. You'll be able to command a Bazooka team, use an MG42 and fire mortar rounds. Supposed additions include surprise attacks, improved AI and destructable cover points. Better yet, it'll feature a co-op mode. The game will be launching in November, a few weeks after the eerily-similar Medal of Honor Heroes.[Via IGN]
Cannon Fodder announced
The retro games keep on coming back. IGN has an exclusive where they reveal the very first details and screenshots of Codemasters' upcoming game Cannon Fodder, a remake of the classic Commidore Amiga game. But unlike most of the other retro games that we've seen, this goes the extra mile and is a real remake: with new graphics and gameplay, updated for the current generation. You and a team of soldiers will fight it out on-foot and in vehicles, while being able to call air strikes and radar sweeps. The game will offer four player deathmatch and co-op modes.
Couch co-op gives way to internet teamplay
Co-op mode in video games is often a very popular feature, probably because of the added intensity of competing with A.I. in partnership with a friend. Games like Halo and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory become entirely different (and better) games when played in co-operative mode. Of course, the early innovator was Contra, which, without a co-op mode, would have been just another side scrolling shooter. With the greats of the co-op gaming genre in mind, Vic over at Bits & bytes & pixels & sprites has written up a feature calling for a next-generation renaissance in co-operative games. Couch co-op has never been an assured feature with games, especially recently. Since 2000, developers on the PC platform have clearly ignored the co-op mode in favor of dedicated multiplayer modes with big name first person shooters like Half-Life 2, Doom 3 and Quake 4 skipping on the mode. Games with teamplay orientated multiplayer modes like Counter-Strike and Call of Duty have picked up the fundamentals of co-op based games and thanks to their easy accessibility over the internet, have become wildly popular as a result (especially in comparison to the limit of 2-4 players in a usual co-op game). There will always be developers that include couch co-op modes in their games (Bungie, Blizzard and Ubisoft come to mind), but there's unlikely to be a massive resurgence in the number of couch co-op games mainly due to an internet based takeover of team based gameplay. [Thanks, Daniel Zuccarelli]
Preview of new Guitar Hero II co-op mode
In case you missed it on Friday, IGN posted a pre-E3 hands-on preview of Guitar Hero II's new co-op mode. It's a departure from the first game's multiplayer mode in that the two players have to depend on each other a lot more to pass each song and thereby make beautiful music together.While the old multiplayer option will still be around in the sequel, the new mode mixes distinct lead guitar and bass or rhythm parts where each player affects the other in various ways, whether by failing if either performance slips (as in DDR), sharing the same Rock Meter (with mistakes from either player resetting the score multiplier), and needing to both go vertical at the same time to activate the shared Star Power. Thankfully, different difficulty levels can be assigned to each player.The Joystiq team out in L.A. will probably find something to do until they get their sweaty paws on a guitar controller or two on the E3 show floor (maybe one of those wacky press conferences will help pass the time), but we're sure the wait to try the latest build of this rockin' series will be worth it. The seven songs available at E3 are listed below.[Thanks, murph]
Battlefield 2142 scans of PC Gamer cover story leaked
The Battlefield 2142 hoopla is starting to look more and more real as scans of the PC Gamer issue in question have surfaced online with BF 2142 featured as the magazine's May cover story. Digg contributor Iced_Eagle has pointed us to an 8.5MB archive of images from the mag, with 9 pages concerned with 2142 and 2 pages having to do with Half-Life 2: Episode 1. If you're interested in knowing "where your unstoppable 20-foot Mech is," then you'd best get to that reading online or off ASAP. For those still skeptical of any gaming news outlet coming out with such a story in the general vicinity of April Fools' Day, keep in mind that the game appears to not only be the magazine's cover story, but that its coverage also fills up all those pages of print mentioned earlier. EGM merely dedicated a single page with a brief line in the table of contents to its Apple iGame prank this year, so this would seem like a lot of effort on PC Gamer or some extremely dedicated Photoshopper's part to fool the gaming public. Will this fall prove to be the point when the BF franchise finally frags in the future? At this point, it would certainly seem so. Read on for further details about the game; the cover pic links to the scans.
CliffyB says GoW is "oh-so-fun"
You gotta love Epic's Cliff "CliffyB" Bleszinki. And not just because he looks like a cross between a Backstreet Boy and some ad agency's idea of what a gamer "should" look like. I don't want to be accused of hanging on his every word concerning Gears of War, but why not? Here the self-proclaimed attention whore unleashes his giddy glee about the coolness of co-op:"We had a press junket this week at work where I was FINALLY able to unveil some of the reasons why Gears will be oh-so-fun to play” explains CliffyB.'It's not anyone's surprise that co-op is going to be a big feature and being able to show it off in full glory with good ol' Rod next to me was a heck of a milestone. It makes quite a bit of difference when both of us are actual characters in the story and not just clones of one another."Let's all pray GoW meets our co-llossal expectations. The rest of Cliffy's attention-whoring post was about Kobe Beef.
