ps vita | The Weekly Co-Op

Is “frustratingly-fun” a term? Well, this game is that.

Welcome to the Weekly Co-Op!

This week’s cooperative game will be Mercenary Kings!

Players: 1-4

Platform: Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch

Price: $19.99

image from http://store.steampowered.com

Fight your way through plenty of soldiers, robots, and other… interesting… enemies! Mercenary Kings is a story-driven, 2D, modern-pixel-art platformer.

To be completely honest, I could not tell you what the story of the game is. While I am sure it is just fine, that’s not what makes me remember this game. What I remember most is getting very frustrated due to my friends. Playing this game with other people is what makes this game worth playing however. Playing by yourself is fun and relatively simple, but this game shines when others are involved. This game requires a lot of precision throughout (as with most action platformers), and adding other players just makes it harder to see things and get through a level. While this sounds like a setback, it makes the game so much more fun. The game is relatively basic in terms of a 2D platformer: run, jump, shoot your way through each level, and adding people makes doing that just hard enough that it becomes a fun challenge to play with others. It will also help test your teamwork as the game is kind of hard for anyone that does not game regularly.

One thing that helps this game stick out is how much you can customize. You can choose different players that each function a little differently, you can change and upgrade your weapon HEAVILY, and you can change up how you play the game (jumping through the game, strategically planning how to traverse each room, etc). The variety of this helps the game feel different throughout along with progressing through an ever-changing storyline. While I personally think this comes in a little steep at $20, I do think that it is worth the buy if you are looking for something more retro-feeling that you can sink your teeth into with some friends.

Uh oh! It looks like next week will be my last two scheduled posts! I may continue to post in the future, but they will not longer be coming out every Tuesday and Thursday. Make sure to check in next week to see my last two local multiplayer choices! They are some of my favorites!

Shooting arrows, dodging monsters, or even dodging your friends! More in store if you pick up Towerfall!

Welcome to the Weekly Co-Op!

Players: 1-4

Platform: PS4, PC, PS Vita, Xbox One, Ouya

Price: $14.99

image from towerfall-game.com

Welcome to the world of Towerfall, a strategic nightmare. This game is easily in my top 3 of favorite competitive multiplayer games. There is so much to do and so many ways to change up what starts as a simple game.

Before I continue, I should let you know that there is a cooperative mode for this game too, but that is only 2 players (unless you buy the DLC).

Towerfall is a game focused on shooting things with arrows. That is the basic concept of the game. The reason the game is so fun is because of how it accomplishes this goal. The game is a 2-D arena shooter. You pick the little pixel person you wish to destroy with, and then make your way into the game. The base game lets you shoot in any cardinal direction, pick up used arrows, dash away (or towards) arrows, and wall jump. There are so many tiny nuances to the game that can change these mechanics up. Want to regenerate arrows? Sure! How about wings that let you fly? Why not! There is so much customization within the variant options for the game. One of the main changes that the game allows you to make is to the arrow type. Instead of shooting a regular arrow, maybe you’re shooting an arrow that can blow up. Maybe your arrows can drill through walls. There are so many zany and wacky options to pick from.

On top of the base game being fun and enjoyable, there is DLC for the game priced at $9.99 that I would recommend if you plan on playing this with friends. The DLC adds more variants (like a double jump or longer dash) and some new maps and cooperative arenas.

This is a must-get for anyone who plays games with their friends often. 10/10 would recommend.