I don't really like to play my single player campaigns with a partner, whether it's AI or human. I played Gears of War 2 by myself, but it was pretty clear that it was designed to be played in coop mode. Don't get me wrong the AI controlled Dom was ok, but there were certain moments when I felt like I was helping him out instead of him helping me out. During the moments of the game where you had to select a path, I always had to select the path that would cover Dom, because he wasn't very good at providing me cover. Sometimes during some heavy fighting he would be standing next to an enemy and they would ignore each other, kind of like the uncomfortable feeling you get when you run into an ex-girlfriend at a party.
That brings me to Killzone 2 and the Rico/Garza situation. I'll be honest, these are probably my 2 most hated video game characters on Earth. The fact that I am stuck with one of them throughout the campaign is pretty annoying. Aside from the abundance of expletives that they utter, they really add no value to me other than giving me someone to revive during a heavy firefight. Oh and by the way, thanks Rico for walking in front of my missile launcher during the Radec level. You single handedly preventend me from clearing the level with zero kills (On Easy).
So I am beginning to accept the fact that more and more single player campaigns are being designed more for coop rather than individual play. These design choices effect everything from level layout, ai decisions, and scripted events. The problem is when the single player campaign is noticeably better when it is played cooperatively than individually. I am sure that many people enjoy coop, but it is likely that the vast majority of people will only play the campaign by themselves. So if I am one of the many people that will not play Resident Evil 5 in coop mode, will I still enjoy the game?
Note: I know that you can't play Killzone 2 cooperatively, that's why I don't understand why Rico and Garza were in my hip pocket 95% of the time.
Thanks for the input, Jeff.
