The Return of Cooperative Game Play
Multiplayer cooperative game play has been around for quite some time now. I think it's safe to say that, at one point or another, even the most casual of players has played in some form of a cooperative mode. I know my first experience with co-op was in 1985 at the local arcade investing quarters into Gauntlet with three strangers. In today's golden age of the internet and video games, one could assume cooperative game play modes would dominate the rest. This is true in the popular MMORPG genre, where in games like World of Warcraft you can team up with 39 of your buddies to battle the computer in a dungeon. Seems safe to say that any modern game release would have co-op, right?
On the contrary, cooperative play has become as scarce as its arcade predecessors with first-person shooter games until recently. There have only been a handful of first-person shooters released with co-op worth mentioning in recent memory in my opinion. Online multiplayer competitive modes have ruled the first-person shooter for a couple of decades now. But with upcoming releases like Call of Duty: World at War and Resistance 2, will this change cooperative game play as we know it? Will co-op fans venture into competitive gaming leagues to test their skills?
Mark Lamia is the Studio Head for Treyarch, developer of the soon to be released Call of Duty: World at War. He previously stated on Call of Duty.com that the new game will include four-player online cooperative play. This is a big step from Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4, which had no co-op mode at all. Insomniac's Resistance 2 is set to be released with eight-player online co-op. This could be a huge step in the right direction from my point of view as it scales perfectly with the current team sizes in competitive ladders like the TeamWarfare League. Such ladders include two versus two all the way up to six versus six.
Imagine a couple of teenage friends who have never participated in a competitive gaming league but have recently picked up Call of Duty: World at War. For this particular image, let's say the teens bought this particular game due to the inclusion of cooperative game play. They quickly learn how to play along side each other, reading each other's moves, knowing what the other will do without having to say a word. Once the computer simply cannot compete against their skills any longer, will they tire from the lack of challenge and move on to a new game? Or will they seek the next level of competition for the army of two they have built by joining a competitive league? The latter seems quite feasible to me.
You can check out Resistance 2 when it hits the shelves on November 4, 2008 followed by Call of Duty: World at War on November 11, 2008. Personally, I cannot wait for these two releases. I am hoping these titles will be the trendsetters and lead other developers to launch their games with cooperative game play modes in addition to online multiplayer. It really gives a different avenue to polish your teamwork skills. More importantly, cooperative game play modes will give players the opportunity to recruit and train for their newly created competitive gaming teams. All hail, the return of co-op!
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Post edited by Jawbox at 11/6/2008 8:42:42 PM