You are hereWhat about Blackwalt and Stormblade??
What about Blackwalt and Stormblade??
Being a cooperative gamer for the most part, I've spent 20+ years playing games that were desiged to provide strong cooperative play. While these types of games go back further than that (Gauntlet II), for me it was really Doom that started it all.
The problem of course was that the characters were just duplicates of each other or, in later years, constructs with different abilities and appearances, but without individuality within the game. Gaming has progressed to allow for complex individuals to be created within a gaming environment, but often this becomes overblown and, for me at least, takes away from the gaming experience.
By now your twitching and saying "get to the point!!". I found this list of the Top Ten Duos in Video Game History on Joystick Division, and it got me thinking. Most of these I either don't know, don't remember finding them particularly interesting, or made me want to barf (see no. 1). But at no. 7, they have Marcus Fenix & Dominic Santiago (Gears of War). For me, this is a game that really got the relationship between the cooperative characters right. There is enough individuality and character development to maintain the interest level and add to the gaming experience, while not being overbearing or overly complex. For the type of games I enjoy playing, they are the top of my list when I think of great video game duos.
Mario and Luigi are not.
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For the most part a character duo that is used for co-op gameplay cannot have a lot of character development or individuality because most of the time you will be taking to your friends while playing, and not listening to your character speak (and most people seem to want to skip cut scenes these days). The best thing to do is have a mostly aesthetic difference (as in Halo Reach armour), to individualize players.
For the record I also disagree with Mario and Luigi at the top, as they are often not a true "duo" but are simply interchangeable characters (in fact I can't think of a game that has them playing together at the same time, unless it's with a bunch of other Nintendo characters).
Not bad for original content from someone who's been in hibernation for months (years?)!
I noticed it most recently with Halo Reach: any kind of cinematic dialog or plot development was quickly drowned out by banter between rounds. This is only going to get worse as games support more and more co-op players.
Although from the few levels I've played alone, I've ascertained that there is a relatively compelling story line. And finally some kind of explanation as to why there are a group of you together, rather than the developers just shrugging and saying "I dunno, four Master Chiefs!"
I wouldn't really call the story compelling. More like clichéd and derivative.
But that's not what this game is about in the end.
It's about shooting midgets.
But how can you tell with so many distractions?