It Takes Two To Tango

One of the biggest changes that occurred when I made the jump from the PS2 to the PS3, was online gaming. The only game I ever bothered playing online on the PS2 was Amplitude . . . and that was only one time. So needless to say, when I popped into my first online game of Resistance: Fall of Man, I was quite surprised at what I found, forty players randomly running around and shooting at anything that moved. It wasn't something I would call "fun". I disliked the isolation and having to deal with players I didn't know. Strategies were non-existent and "teamwork" was seldom implemented. I found out very quickly that this kind of online multiplayer was just not for me. I almost had given up hope of ever really enjoying online gaming until I picked up a certain game.

I was in the lovely state capital for a summer Anime convention in 2007 and found myself with some left over money that I hadn't spent on anything. I ended up going to the mall and decided to pick up a new video game. I really didn't have anything specific in mind so I was quite surprised when I ended up buying Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas. I didn't enjoy first-person shooters at this time so it was really an odd choice for me to buy and to this day I still don't know why I bought it. When I got back from the trip I only played about thirty minutes worth of the game and never touched it again until a couple months later.

In a round about way I got talking to a guy in Florida (on the GameSpot forums) about how annoying players can be in multiplayer games and how it was hard for me to enjoy the experience. He agreed and we decided to try and play a game together. We didn't share any games but I mentioned that RB6V was the most recent multiplayer game I picked up. The conversation sort of died there until a week later when I got a friend's invite on the PS3 from him saying that he bought the game and wanted to play it with me . . . and the rest is history. We absolutely fell in love with the game and how it forces you to really work as a team and come up with a strategy. We worked so well together that we still play any and every co-op we can find under the clan name "Brain & Pinky" (B&P).

Even really bad games like Conflict: Denied Ops (do not under any circumstances get this game) were fun (and frustrating) in their own way. I have truly found my online niche. I have even expanded the genres of games that I play because of co-op gameplay. Those who know me well, know that I am a huge scaredy cat and dislike anything that can be dubbed "horror". But because of the persuasion of my friend, I picked up Resident Evil 5 just to play it co-op and I have to say that I enjoyed the experience (though I still don't like horror games).

Playing games cooperatively with my B&P buddy or my other friends has become one of my favorite ways to enjoy games. And with new co-op centered games coming out on the horizon, I hope that more developers will see the potential that this feature has and include it in games other than shooters. It's such a great way to connect people who might not live in the same state or even country, yet enjoy the same passions and pastimes.