Lost Planet 2: Co-op Demo thoughts

I downloaded the Lost Planet 2 demo on the basis of one little hyphenated word: co-op.  Of course, as usual, I’ve managed to grab myself an online co-op game as opposed to a split-screen one.

That said, the game actually looks like a whole bunch of fun, especially if you swing with the whole co-op thing.  Using between two to four players, teams must work together to take down enormous enemies.  The demo features a Category G boss battle, with what appears to be some kind of badass demonic axolotl on steroids, which you have to take down from both the inside and out.  The gameplay is strong, fun and offers a couple of different ways for a team to work together.  There is a good mix of support weapons, and several very fun (and oversized) offense options.

However, the fact that Lost Planet 2 hasn’t been given the thumbs up for split-screen play yet kinda crushes my desire to want to play it when it’s released.  While you can have a lot of fun with online co-op play, it’s also the worst type of gameplay if you end up having some asshole on your team who doesn’t want to work together, or worse, just wants to stuff everything up for the other players.  Since you’re expected to work with these people, your enjoyment of the game can suffer badly.

Which is why I’ll always enjoy playing a co-op game in split-screen (or system link, at a pinch), because you’re always ready to deal out the physical vengence on your co-op partner if s/he is acting like a dick.  It also allows someone who has a fairly crappy internet connection (like moi!) to enjoy a game’s multiplayer action without having to rely on an Xbox Live connection.

Luckily, Capcom and the development team has realised the desire for split-screen, and creator Jun Takeuchi (of Resident Evil fame) has been reported as giving it a definite “maybe”.  So, OK, it’s not the most inspiring news to fans of split-screen co-op, but at least it shows that they’re acknowledging the need and attempting to implement it.

Other than that, the completed game sounds like something I could dig.  A co-op shooter with character customisation and RPG elements?  Consider me officially looking forward to this title, pending the news on split-screen!