Unco-operative
Two players. One protagonist.
By Maddy Myers
My first serious relationship was already in its death throes by the time we discovered co-op gaming. Picture a not-quite-divorced couple trying ballroom dance to get the spark back; that was us with our new Xbox 360 and Gears of War. We desperately needed some romance, or at least a distraction from our lack thereof. We figured saving a planet together would do the trick.
We had started the relationship playing Counter-Strike together, so Gears felt like a chance to get back to our roots. We both had trouble using a controller instead of a keyboard and mouse, but we laughed through the learning process, and learned to love listening to the Lancer’s chainsaw make its blood-spattering music. We screamed in panicky horror during our first go against the Berserker. We erupted into frustrated groans as we struggled to stay in the light, lest the Kryll consume us. We became such a well-oiled machine that when we finally got to gun down General Raam, the game’s end felt too easy, an anticlimax.
