A two-week period in November saw the release of three titles: Resistance 2, Gears of War 2, and Left 4 Dead. These three titles hold the key to what NGai Croal of Edge writes as "the breakthroughs that game creators have made with co-op play that goes beyond adding support for more players to the story mode."

Despite having the key common ground, each studio went about it differently. Insomniac made a separate 8-player campaign, with fixed positions for soldiers up front, spec ops right behind them, and the medics taking cover in the rear. Epic lets you play the main storyline with a friend, but also lets you play the Horde Mode, wherein you let it rip on waves and waves of locusts. Valve takes four players and sends them unloading all their ammo on zombies.

Croal writes,

Now, there’s nothing wrong with giving players the ability to play a game’s campaign mode with their friends. In fact I approve wholeheartedly. Co-op serves as a motivator for me to start and finish games that I might not have completed in a timely fashion were it not for teaming up with a friend. It adds a social element, whether it’s planning strategy with my teammate or simply commiserating over having to retry a boss battle for the umpteenth time.

Regardless of the style they implement, one thing's for sure - co-op gaming makes a huge difference. Remember the old days of Contra on the NES, and how it was so much fun to be able to have a teammate. Today's platforms take that experience so far up the scale, with all sorts of modes and features available to players.

Croal leaves us with this thought, "I can’t help but feel as though co-op gameplay brings with it a set of possibilities that are worthy of more exploration, untethered by the dictates of a story that has been authored for a single player – or untethered from story entirely." I agree, and more power to the devs to try and come up with a co-op game that'll blow us all away.

---

More on co-op gameplay:

• Insomniac: Resistance 2 co-op mission setup takes 15-20 hours to complete
• Resistance 2 co-op video