| | Co-op Multiplayer Blast Fest! My buddy Kyle and I sat down together to a game of cooperative play. We plugged in our two controllers and loaded the first of the multiplayer options. Together, we took on the single-player campaign. When the bullets began to fly, it didn't take long before we got so boisterous that Aunt Caitlin asked us to turn down the volume. Heh. 
You Go Left! I'll Go Right!
Playing as a team, us against them, made it all the more exciting. The action moves faster, and you have to pay closer attention so you don't wipe out your partner. And you can coordinate your efforts as well. At one point, Kyle played sniper and took out the Covenant scouts from a distance, while I positioned myself for a charge.
Once they'd discovered us, I went in with guns blazing while he changed weapons and prepared to join me. Sometimes we even successfully flanked the enemy, moving in from both sides to meet in the middle in a puddle of alien blood. Alllll good.
Behind You!
Of course, we really felt it when one of us died because it left the other guy standing alone. The game doesn't bring you back to life until your partner has either died or cleared the immediate area of all threats. The wait didn't seem long, but when you're itching to get back in the game it's tough to watch your partner dodge plasma bursts alone. When you both die, the game sends you back to the last checkpoint, as in the single-player game.
It's best if one of you can avoid dying and clear up the area so the dead one can return to the game at the same spot. This means that the surviving player has to take extra care and play ultra-defensively in order to avoid throwing both of you back to the last checkpoint. All the responsibility—and pressure—falls to the player left standing alone. I died first more often than Kyle, so I cheered a lot: "It's all you, dude!"
When I died, the screen remained split, so I had to make sure to keep an eye on my half. They don't give you any audio warning when you're reborn so sometimes I'd get caught flat, still watching my partner's action while the bad guys had started firing at me again.
Also, we noticed to our dismay that when you quit and save, the game doesn't save at the last checkpoint like it does in the single-player game; it puts you all the way back to the beginning of your current level.
Easy, Now. Keep it Steady!
I found vehicle combat the most interesting in two-player. Kyle drove the jeep (running over Covenant weenies) while I stood in the back and handled the mounted machine gun. I had a hard time at first trying to counter his… driving… while aiming. It added a whole new, frenetic dimension to the action that surprised me. But I got the hang of it. Plus, standing in the back gave me a 360-degree view so I could serve as a second pair of eyes for him.
The advantage to playing with a live person right next to you rather than through an online network is that you get to talk while you play. We were hooting and hollering, tossing back and forth hurried directions and talking strategy throughout the game.
We coordinated our movements, learned each others' tactics and began to work together like a well-oiled machine. Even Kyle said, "We make a pretty good team"; he was right. And then he had to go back to high school and I had to go to work. Sigh. by Martyn Rose |
