Thoughts on co-op Resident Evil

[JujuLodestar]

Weren't Moira and Natalia invincible characters? They can get downed, but I don't think they could actually die. If anything, I think their presence made the game easier because they're just essentially extra abilities you can exploit beyond the core gameplay.

And eh, the found footage just feels like an interactive cutscene. Nothing happens. Felt like any other walking simulator horror game that you'd find on PC or VR.

A.I were only susceptible to 1HK enemies, but as a player, they were able to die, obviously.

 

[PinkHerb]

I personally found the concept of forced Co-Op to be annoying considering my experience with RE5, RE6, and Revelations 1. There are only few exceptions that I do not mind like REO file 1 and 2. They give you the option of going through scenarios lone wolf mode if you choose, instead of dealing with idiotic ai partners. I also like RE0 and Revelations 2 because you are controlling two characters at the same time, which in my opinion give you more control. Even still, I would rather play with human partners than Ai which is a pain to deal with.

 

[UniqTeas]

I actually did not remember that the side characters in Revelations 2 were "unkillable". My mistake. I still agree that it felt more terrifying than other games, but that could be about level layout and enemy design more than anything else. Especially when you're Barry, because it feels like you have to protect Natalia at all times. It adds a level of fear I suppose.

 

[JujuLodestar]

I'm biased for it. At least the kind where it's a player.

I've had much more fun playing the co-op games just because well, it's co-op, and because it's significantly easier to ignore the staple RE problems with a friend.

While I do enjoy the SP experiences relatively more than I normally would, they always leave me wanting more, but never delivering, which is a problem that simply doesn't exist in the co-op games due to modes like Raid and Mercenaries, which I feel are enhanced by Co-op.
So where there would be fault in the story/gameplay in the SP games, isn't too much of a problem in the Co-op games just because they usually also have bonus modes, the co-op feature itself, and the shared experience counterbalance those same problems.

 

[Deleted member 21244]

When it was first revealed that Resident Evil 5 would have co-op, I was just coming off of beating my first Resident Evil game, being Resident Evil 4. I had followed the series from the beginning by watching my brother play through the games and I was still too young to have played any of the classics without any major help, so I was absolutely proud of myself for completing Resident Evil 4 all by myself.

So when news broke that Resident Evil 5 was co-op, my brother and I were excited at the idea of being able to play a Resident Evil game together, especially after the glimpse RE0 gave us into that possibility. We didn't question much about the series then, and we had a total blast playing through Resident Evil 5. It was a very different thing for not just the series, but gaming as well.

But by the time the hype for Resident Evil 6 had settled, I started to feel a disconnect from the series. I started to analyze things, see the way things have been changing and where they're going and I found myself disappointed. I had realized that despite how fun it was to play a Resident Evil game with someone else, it just wasn't Resident Evil.

And while the Revelations games were primarily single player, it still felt like they hadn't fully abandoned that co-op mentality. You were never completely alone, with an a.i. partner always following you around, and it never really felt like true survival horror.

And despite how I feel about RE7, I will say, it was definitely refreshing to see the series ditch co-op and return to complete isolated single player horror and then done completely right with the RE2 REmake. This is definitely what I want from the series moving forward, but lately, I've been feeling a little nostalgic for RE5.

I think it's just the similarities in gameplay I've noticed while playing RE2 REmake and realizing how much RE5 got right that RE6 and RE7 didn't. Not to mention, how amazingly the game still holds up graphically after 10 years. It's just been popping up in my head so much lately, and maybe it's the lack of Resident Evil games lately, but I just feel like I could really go for another co-op Resident Evil experience.

It sounds hypocritical as a long time survival horror fan who has been begging for a return to single player, but I also never hated co-op and now that it's gone, it just doesn't feel right. Like, I totally wouldn't mind if the Revelations series became pure co-op games, but like RE5 and not too over the top like RE6 or boring like Revelations 2. They should still lean more towards horror, but with great action set pieces and big boss battles designed for co-op.

I think that's really something to think about as well. Co-op doesn't necessarily have to mean action either. If they could manage to make a survival horror co-op game work really well, I'd love to see it. But I also want it to be distinctly Resident Evil. As in traditional Resident Evil gameplay, characters, and story rather than some meaningless co-op spinoff that's just set in the Resident Evil universe but feels like an entirely different game.

So what are your guy's thoughts on the co-op Resident Evil games? Did you enjoy them? Did you have someone to play with? Was forced co-op really that awful? Are you glad the series is single player focused again or would you like to see co-op return in some capacity?

You described my entire life here, the first game I manage to play alone was resident evil 4, I was 5 years old when I first watch my brother play the first resident evil, I was too scared to play it alone so I watch him play it until the end, than we played togheter resident evil 3 and code veronica too... Than re 4 came out and after watching him playing for some chapter I decided that it was probably time to play re 4 alone and then I finally ended it after my brother...

When Co op was announced for re 5 I was exited and me and my brother were waiting to play it togheter...
When it came out we played it in Co op the first time and was an amazing experience...

Unfortunately when re 6 came out my brother had left home to go study so I first played re 6 alone, and when my brother played it, it was so disappointed by the game that he left it after finishing leon campaign, fortunately I manage to convince him to play the other campaign by playing it whit Co op togheter...

After re 6 my brother was a bit driven away by the series but returned when he played Re 7 and re 2 remake even if he doesn't liked the remake that match because he was not driven by the story since he never played the original like me and find the remake plot a bit to poor...

Returning to CO op, I think that a good re game can be made whit Co op, like re 0 or revelations 2, also the chronicles series does an amazing job in putting Co op into the orginal game, since it almost look like re 1 2 code veronica could have been done whit Co op since you always had two main character...

While I do like Co op and could be implemented well into an horror game, I still personally think that it could destroy what residet evil really is, the isolation...
Resident evil 5 was amazing in Co op, playing it whit my brother was a beautiful experience that no other game gived to me, but in a sense Co op killed that game for me and I think it should have been optional like resistance and killzone 3 or completely single player...
If you play re 5 in single player, Sheva is really boring and the Co op became frustrating especially on higher difficuy since Sheva tend to die easyli and use herb whitout meaning thank to het stupid ia

 

[Loki]

I'm a fan of both Co-op and Single player RE games. RE5 is one of my favourite games in the series and is probably my most played due to the great replay value that the game has. I've played every RE game that has co-op with my sister and it's such a fun experience, it's probably one of my favourite co-op games of all time. That's not to say that it has the same feel as the other RE games because it doesn't, but the co-op doesn't ruin the experience for me. I consider RE5 much more of an 'RE game' than I do e.g. RE4 because of the story and the context of the game rather than the addition or lack of co-op. It may make the game overall less horror-like but I think it makes up for that in other areas.

Revelations 2's method of co-op was really interesting as it was non-symmetrical and although many may have found it annoying e.g. not to be able to shoot as Moira/Natalia, it worked quite well with us as I enjoyed the combat the most and my sister liked finding all the items and using the other character's melee abilities.

Even though RE6 is my least favourite mainline RE title, I still had quite a good time playing through it (the first couple of times). I'm not sure I would've been able to say that if the co-op wasn't there.

My favourite RE's are pretty varied as I don't really mind what game mechanics/camera view/player number is being used as long as I enjoy the game and it fits well/contributes good narrative to the RE story as a whole.

I don't think I've ever played any of those games solo so I can't really comment on the ineptitude of AI Sheva :lol:

 

[Ayen]

I never have anyone to play with in co-op except my brother, so co-op Resident Evil games don't interest me very much. Maybe I should get a second controller for my Xbox 360 and see if RE6 is any better with somebody else playing with me. I haven't played much of 5.

Though it would be fun if Player Two could be everything that is trying to kill Player One. Though I don't know how that would work.

 

[Turo602]

I never have anyone to play with in co-op except my brother, so co-op Resident Evil games don't interest me very much. Maybe I should get a second controller for my Xbox 360 and see if RE6 is any better with somebody else playing with me. I haven't played much of 5.

Though it would be fun if Player Two could be everything that is trying to kill Player One. Though I don't know how that would work.

There's actually a mode in Resident Evil 6 called Agent Hunt, where real players can control the enemies in the campaign.

 

[Deleted member 21244]

There's actually a mode in Resident Evil 6 called Agent Hunt, where real players can control the enemies in the campaign.

Unfortunately it's a boring mode and the control mechanics are pretty frustrating and stupid

 

[Turo602]

Unfortunately it's a boring mode and the control mechanics are pretty frustrating and stupid

I'd imagine. Taking the role of enemies is nothing more than a novelty and obviously they wouldn't make them too good to control because you're invading someone's campaign. I never understood why they even explored this option. Should have spent that extra time polishing the game.