LongShot #112: The New Co-op Trend

[GamerDad]

David Long's LongShot #112: The New Co-op Trend article - http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=3092

[happycamper]

Hmm, I read the title and thought... isn't this title about 3 or 4 years out of date?

I think the issue is that FPS games have finally started to become far more cooperative lately.

I've been playing coop on my PS2 for years and harping about how nice it is to have voice chat, etc... while playing. However, I play mostly RPG titles (or action/RPG Guantlet/Diablo style games) or strategy games (RTS and turn based) and have been enjoying how well they improved from 2000 to 2003 or so...

From the offline perspective, I see the N64 with its 4 controller ports as one of the largest coop breakthroughs of late.

On the PC side, coop game play predated the console stuff by another 3 or 5 years... (anyone else out there go through the original Baldur's Gate in coop mode? my wife and I made it a good part of the way through after I explained dying wasn't a big deal...)

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I do have to admit that XBox live has put together the tools to make online gaming on consoles much better with a standardized system for hooking up with people across all games...

In any case, I prefer coop games. One reason I like computers/consoles is that I don't have to play against my friends but I can play with them and beat up the computer.

Long live the coop games!

[Freakhead]

I'm not sure it's a trend. The other big fps games on the 360 I don't believe have co-op. CoD2 and Quake IV for instance.

Also Ghost REcon had online co-op 5 years ago on the pc.

There's quite a few other games too on the pc that have co-op. From Rainbow Six to Joint Ops to Diablo2 to Age of Empires to Serious Sam.

NOt to mention the big world of mmorpgs.

Also played a little Champions of Norrath on the PS2 too with the voice and co-op.

So not sure we're breaking any new ground yet.

[Dave Long]

I realize other games have had co-op in the past, however, that's not something that's at all common ONLINE on a brand new console in the first three months of release. There are multiple games that support it on 360 with more on the way.

So few PC games have it, specifically first person shooters. It's always the thing people ask for and never get, yet there are now two FPS games on 360 already that feature it. It's certainly a surprise and something that's noticeable.

[txa1265]

It's easy to just dismiss this as 'Dave pimpin' the X360 again', to assume it is like people with the first XBox saying 'you can play online!' like it was some great revelation that hadn;t been around for years and years on the PC by then, to just say 'the PC had this years ago' and dismiss it.

But that misses the point, in my opinion.

Is Nintendo *really* doing anything new with their WiFi? Not really, but the *way* in which they are doing it is totally brilliant and friendly in a way other simply dream about, and they deservedly get kudos for it.

But perhaps it is the XBox vs. PC competition (for games, mostly) that makes PC gamers so quick to dismiss these things. Whatever the reason, they don't take the time to learn how the X360 is bringing something that has been done before back to the table, but doing it in a new way that gives gamers more value. That is what it is all about, isn't it? Getting value for your dollar, and value for your time?

Nice article Dave!
Mike

[happycamper]

Right, all I'm saying is that I think this "trend" is for FPS games, not for many of the other genres. The whole proposition is weaker when other genres are considered.

As for XBox360 having online coop games within a few months of release... it not really a fair comparison as the internet adaptors for many of the previous generation weren't even available in the first few months... (at least I think so).


It's a good trend, I'd be much more interested in FPS games cooperatively rather than competitively. (I liked that in SOCOM I was on a team with others rather than solo, although that wasn't much in story mode.)

[Freakhead]

I think it's a plus, but I think trumpeting it as a new trend this early and trying to pimp the 360 as leading the charge is a bit much.

GR has always had online co-op. It had it on the pc 5 years ago and it was there on the Xbox in GR2.

So if you take that game off the table because it's always had online co-op then you see one 360 fps game with online co-op. A trend? Not exactly.

That doesn't mean that more online co-op ain't welcome. But pimping the 360 for it because of one game well eh seems a bit off. As did the vague hinting at pcgaming not having co-op experiences.

[Dave Long]

Wow, I never thought in a million years that someone would say I'm pimping an Xbox.

[momGamer]

I wasn't going to say anything. I was just grinning a bit. Hey. Pimpin' ain't easy.

I think the newest parts of this trend are it's extension to game genre's that ordinarily never see it at all. Kameo's an action/RPG; it was as surprising as like finding an online multiplayer for Crash Bandicoot or Wild Nine. And the even cooler part was it really was cool. It wasn't just tacked on, and it provided some interesting gameplay options.

The addition of this to the casual games realm has also started stretching this into interesting directions.

[Freakhead]

Here's the b.s. quote from the article:

"With Xbox 360, that seems to be changing. In a trend that will hopefully continue throughout the life of the system, game makers are suddenly offering the one thing PC gamers have clamored for ever since DOOM: Cooperative Gameplay Modes."

[Dave Long]

Outside of real-time strategy, where are all these co-op PC games? Seriously. I want to know. Even RTS doesn't have full campaign modes that are co-op. It's only in skirmish.

These modes on Xbox 360 are full co-op campaign games. You play a series of linked missions or the entire single player game with a friend. There really aren't many PC games that provide this, despite cries for co-op gameplay for years, especially in first-person shooters.

[txa1265]

I think the newest parts of this trend are it's extension to game genre's that ordinarily never see it at all. Kameo's an action/RPG;

... but heck, even *DUNGEON LORDS* had co-op on the PC

I still think that the people who are just doing the 'PC had it' don't get the difference that the X360 brings to it ... it is like the difference between the PSP and DS. The PSP MP betas I've been doing feature talk capability which as often as not sounds like a CS session with a bunch of foul-mouthed 13-year olds. The DS is just ... transcendantly wonderful.

Mike

[Freakhead]

Outside of real-time strategy, where are all these co-op PC games? Seriously. I want to know. Even RTS doesn't have full campaign modes that are co-op. It's only in skirmish.

These modes on Xbox 360 are full co-op campaign games. You play a series of linked missions or the entire single player game with a friend. There really aren't many PC games that provide this, despite cries for co-op gameplay for years, especially in first-person shooters.

Well they just released the xpac to Swat 4 the other day. And then there's Swat 4 itself from last year.

There's Rainbow Six 3 and it's expansion pack.

There's Joint Operations (suprisingly good online co-op mission modes btw.) I think some of the other Novalogic games have it too.

NOLF 2.

GR.

BAttlefield.
Rogue Spear. Rainbow Six.

CS

Unreal games.

Mods put in co-op for stuff too. Doom3 co-op mod is out there. And there's others.

That's a bit more than zero. I just think it was a bad comparison because I think the pc has been the most prolific co-op platform. I think comparing it to what came on the Xbox before would have been better and also clarifying whether you're talking about fps or other genres too. Using a game too that traditionally has had online co-op doesn't exactly make your point.

Believe it or not tho big fan of the column.

[FastCargo]

Outside of real-time strategy, where are all these co-op PC games? Seriously. I want to know. Even RTS doesn't have full campaign modes that are co-op. It's only in skirmish.

Just about every decent flight sim has had full up co-op in campaigns. Starting from WAY back in the early 90s with Falcon 3.0. And that sim was with a dynamic campaign (ie no scripted missions)!

Too bad the flight sim genre is just about dead...:/.

FastCargo

[txa1265]

Well they just released the xpac to Swat 4 the other day. And then there's Swat 4 itself from last year.

I should have thought of that immediately - I read about it, and it is expanded from the original game. I'm playing the expansion right now, and there are definitely times I could have used a bit more 'intelligence' from my squad, especially whichever group I wasn't micro-managing at the time. One time I got really busy and had the Red team all over a building mopping up resistance and restraining hostages, then realized that the Blue team hadn't budged since I gave them an 'open & clear' order quite a while before ...

I know that co-op should be my panacea in terms of multiplayer - while I think that humans are better than AI, I have never found the MP style of gaming all that compelling. However, since I love single player modes, co-op makes loads of sense - and I've tried it in several games, mostly RPG's. But I can just not get myself to commit to playing a certain game at a certain time on a certain day, regardless of how much gaming I do in general.

Mike