There has been a trend in the game industry to move away from split-screen gaming to online co-op play. This removes the experience of shoulder-to-shoulder game play and replaces it with games where two players may never meet in the real world, despite hours of game time shared in playing a co-op game.
Is this a good move?
What do we lose when games are online co-op rather than local split-screen co-op?
Headsets and QWERTY keyboards for game controllers help to give players better communication options, but the close interactions shared by local co-op players is not present in the distance of online co-op play.
Even in games that provide for local split-screen play, such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, there are local game play options for split-screen co-op play, but to earn the trophies the player who plays in position one needs to complete objectives for trophies, and many trophies can only be earned in non-split-screen single player campaign mode or in online co-op gaming.
Resident Evil 5 offers good intense gaming for local split-screen play, as do the Army of Two games. Each providing full campaign play that allows two players to sit together and play through the entire campaign story as a team. Other games that allow players to experience the full game in split-screen play include Call of Duty: World at War.
Other games fall short of the local co-op play potential, such as Uncharted 3. Players can play a series of local split-screen scenarios that are not actually connected to the main story line, but the main campaign is for solo play only. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 also falls into this category of games that failed to hit their true potential for local split-screen enthusiasts. Special Ops missions in the game allow for split-screen game play, and the game features online co-op modes, but the main story line is intended for solo play.
Mortal Kombat 9 is another mixed play game where players can battle in turns in local multi-player game play on an un-split screen, but the main campaign is for solo play only.
It is not uncommon to see local players share a spontaneous high-five or bump fists in celebration after completing a level on game play. There is a level of interaction that is unique to local co-op game play where players will watch out for one-another’s characters and protect their partner from in-game harm. These shared experiences build stories that are talked about by the players long after the battle is over.
In online co-op play there is limited interaction between players and in some games, such as Dark Souls, two players may never encounter one another again after a few minutes of either cooperative play or player-vs-player battle. This is true as well with many online co-op games where players are randomly assigned to a game session. Teamwork is difficult to build when players may or may not see one another in future game sessions.
The website Co-Optimus provides a list of co-op games. Filters can be applied to allow the list to be sorted to show only “couch co-op” which provides a list of games that support local split-screen co-op game play. Rows provide further details, such as rather or not the games provide campaign play or only special co-op modes outside of the main storyline.
What do you think? Are split-screen games a thing of the past, or is there still room in the game world for those of us who enjoy sitting shoulder to shoulder and battling through campaigns as a team rather than solo gameplay?
