This boots were made for rocketing, and rocketings what they'll do
Co-Op robots are the new bald headed space marine, cropping up in loads of games like the upcoming Portal 2 and Spare Parts. OK then, perhaps robots aren’t that popular in gaming, but neither are 360 and PS3 games for the more casual gamer. I consider casual gaming to be the type of experience where you sit down and play with a younger relative, or perhaps a partner who is not too great at gaming. This is a niche area, but one that must account for a decent proportion of the market – despite what some mainstream media believe, even gamers seduce partners and have children. Spare Parts is a game aimed at this demographic, but by being so specific, does it alienate the majority?
With its simple color palette and unlimited lives, Spare Parts will be rejected by some people as purely a kid’s game. To an extent their prejudices are true, Simon Pegg is on board as the narrator for the game and his clear and slightly patronizing voice indicates that the game is for a younger audience. You play as Mar-T and Chip, a couple of friendly robots that can work co-operatively on or offline. Between the two robots you must traverse a series of levels and collect missing parts of your space ship to fix the run down AI, Con-Rad. To aid you in this task, Mar-T and Chip are given a series of different tools, including magnetic boots and x-ray vision, to help complete a series of relatively simple puzzles, as well as a cacophony of enemies. You can even boost your health by a special co-op high five – like real life then!
Spare Parts is a simple game. The levels are short, you respawn with no consequence and with a little exploration you should not spend more than a few minutes being stuck in any given area. Despite the game feeling like a Playstation 2 era platformer, it is fun to play and the co-op really lifts it from being forgettable. In the early stages of the game the co-op aspects are hidden, as a single player can perform most tasks with ease. However, as the game progresses and the challenges become slightly harder, working together makes the game considerably easier and more enjoyable. The game design means that you can complete the game as a single player, but simple tasks such as one player opening a door whilst another pulls a switch makes things far more fluid.
Both characters won't always be on the same screen
Here at Co-Optimus we applaud any game that contains co-op. However, for a game to be a co-op must buy, the controls and mechanics of co-op itself must work well. Unfortunately, there are several aspects of Spare Parts that feel like the game was a little under tested. Setting up an online co-op game is not as straight forward as it should be; it took me several minutes to work out how to open my game to friends. When you do finally start playing co-op, the game can only concentrate on one player at a time. Player A will be the center of attention as the camera follows their actions; this means that player B can become lost off screen. The issue is similar to the problems seen in Fable 2. The saving grace for Spare Parts is that when the central player dies the emphasis shifts to the other player; back and forth throughout the game. Both gamers take it in turns to have the slightly poorer gaming experience, rather than one player being lumbered throughout.
Other aspects of the game that flounder are not co-op specific. On more than one occasion I managed to find a glitch in the game, such as managing to get into an area that was supposedly locked until later. The level design also feels confused as the vibrant colors and enclosed levels mean you do not always know were to jump. Finally, the combat feels repetitive and I ended up running past as many baddies as possible to avoid fighting them. This combination of slightly confused level design, colorful imagery, glitches and hurtling through levels, gives the game a distinctive Fairytale Fights feel. A comparison I doubt EA Bright Light would have hoped for.
With around 10 hours of gameplay to fully complete the game, Spare Parts is a fun downloadable title that at a cost of 800 MSPs or $9.99 is a good value prospect, especially if you are looking for a lighter game to play with someone who is new to HD gaming. This is a game that could have been like many download only games and remained offline co-op only. EA Bright Light should be praised for going the extra mile to give co-op fans an online experience. There are numerous issues with level design that prevent it from being a must have, but fans of the LEGO games should at least try the trial if they have finished all the games from that series. Though we’ve got some more LEGO games to look forward to this year…