As online multiplayer takes over the triple-A gaming space through the proliferation of endless live-service games, I’ve been sorely missing local co-op. While there are plenty of games you can sit down and play with other people, like and , there just aren’t that many narrative experiences being made explicitly for couch-style cooperation. Very few studios are interested iဣn specialising in that type of game.
Hazelight Studios is leading the way. When you look up local co-op games, It Takes Two and A Way Out are in the first row of results. Both games tell a focused, limited story, with puzzles built around two-player cooperation and communication. You can’t complete them without another person. I wish we saw games like this – there’s nothing like playing through a story with another person, ওknowing they’re integral to t🌊he experience and being able to share it exclusively with them.
The Game Awards Was, Predictably, Full Of Multiplayer
This year’s gave us plenty of multiplayer games, as usual. We saw announcements for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Thick As Thieves, Warren Spector’s 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:PvPvE return to the immersiv𒅌e sim genre. The developers of Sifu unveiled a 5v5 soccer game called . The Elden Ring spin-off, , is a co-op game that lets you fight fan-favourite bosses from Dark Souls and Bloodborn💯e alongside friends, though it remains to be seen if it has a narrative or is solely an act🎉ion game.
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Of course, will be a co-op like all previous entries, but it’s not a game that centers around couch co-op. There’s , a painfully ironic battle royale game. There’s a that looks pretty mid. , a new game from the creators of Payday, is launching in early access next year. And Midnight Murder Club is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a multiplayer FPS with a demo available now.
But to my surprise, there were two games that were designed for two player co-op that told specific stories announced at the show. One was , which we knew would be showing up. As a Hazelight Studios game, it follows the template that the studio has set for itself: two complicated characters, each with their own desires and agendas, are forced to work together to achieve a specific goal. This one is pretty cool in that it alternates between sci-fi and fantasy, leaning into genre in a way the more realistic settings of It Takes Two and A Way Out didn’t allow. You can read our own Eric Switzer’s preview here.
Another was , which I did not expect at all. From Ghost Town Games, the creators of Overcooked, Stage Fright tells a coming-of-age story through the perspectives of children, filled with “Overcooked-style chaotic moments and escape room-esque co-operation”. We haven’t seen quite as much of this game yet, but I expect it to be frantic 🐲and wholesome, perhaps less adult than Split Fiction, but just as fun.
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Two Games Do Not Make A Trend
Yeah, fine, these are two games from studios known for making co-op games. But Ghost Town’s pivot in particular is very interesting – after all, nobody was playing Overcooked for the s༺tory, but Stage Fright seems to be attempting to focus more on narrative this time round.
I think it shows us that studios are recognising there’s a ꦕreal hunger for narrative-driven couch co-op experiences. After all, It Takes Two has sold a mind-boggling . People want these kinds of games, and the industry isn’t providing, but maybe we’re starting to see the tide shift. There’s clearly untapped potential in this niche, and studios known for co-op are rising to fill it. Maybe other studios will stඣart trying to reach this demographic too.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Split Fiction
- Top Critic Avg: 90/100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- March 6, 2025
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Language, V🌱iolence
- Developer(s)
- 🌃 Hazelightꦫ Studios
- Publisher(s)
- 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Electronic Arts
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
The co-op masterminds are back, pushing the creative limits with their new action-packed buddy adventure, Split Fiction. From the studio behind 2021 Game of the Year Winner It Takes Two, venture into a world that jumps between Sci-Fi and Fantasy to overcome varied and unexpected gameplay challenges with a friend. Split Fiction’s vast array of ever-changing mechanics keeps you on the edge of your couch with surprising moments. Find out what happens when two radically different worlds collide in this fortuitous story of friendship.
Story
Mio and Zoe are contrasting writers who become trapped in their own stories after being hooked up to a machine designed to steal their creative ideas. To escape with their minds intact, they’ll need to overcome their differences to crash the system that holds them, uncovering secrets and personal struggles hidden within their own fiction.
Key Features
● True Co-Op Adventure - Split Fiction is an adventure tailored for two. As Mio and Zoe, you’ll experience split screen co-op gameplay where you have to coordinate your actions and timing, as well as work together to overcome challenges through unique worlds of fiction like lush Fantasy environments and Sci-Fi skylines. This wild ride comes to you from Hazelight, the co-op thrill-makers that brought you It Takes Two and A Way Out.
● Unparalleled Variety - Discover new mechanics and abilities in every level of your adventure, which will alternate between sci-fi and fantasy settings. Escape a sun that’s going supernova, challenge a monkey to a dance battle, try out some cool hoverboard tricks, fight an evil kitty, and ride everything from gravity bikes to a sandshark. Experience worlds that are entirely different from each other, unexpected new abilities, and a range of gameplay that includes platforming, puzzles, and more. There are surprises waiting for you and your partner around every corner.
● The Power of Friendship - Mio and Zoe don’t get along at first, but soon enough they become each other’s only hopes. This journey will throw unexpected twists at them and if they want to make it through, they’ll need to have each other’s backs. They’ll encounter both bizarre situations as they traverse stories born from their own wild imaginations. Most importantly – they’ll face it all together.
● Sci-Fi and Fantasy Worlds - Venture through fantastical realms and discover idyllic villages and mystical sanctuaries filled with magical beings in Zoe’s world of fiction. Board a flying train and explore Mio’s imaginary realms of futuristic space stations, intense battlefields and more. Engage in hidden “side stories” – vivid snapshots extracted from the depths of Mio and Zoes’ minds that go beyond Sci-Fi and Fantasy – where you can learn more about their past and the roads that led them to by Rader.
● More Ways to Play Together - Friend’s P𝕴ass - Hazelight’s staple feature that allows one player that owns the game to invite a friend to play for free - is back and makes playing with friends even easier with crossplay options enabled for PlayStation, Xbox and PC (via Steam).
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