[EGD 9] No Need For Cooperation

Cooperators is a game created by makever

Nice to be in action again everybody! It's ya boy Troyio here for my EGD 9 review. I am taking an in depth look at a Physics Puzzle Maker entry called Cooperators by makever.

Intro

Epic Game Drop 9 has already surpassed the previous two with its amount of quality games. It seems that every one I click and play exceeds expectation. I am noticing a trend of seeing relatively unknown game makers publishing magnificent games. I do not know much of makever; I do remember his only feature, Jumpie, which was a very unique and well made game. I had high hopes going in.

Review

The first thing I noticed about Cooperators was its jam packed thumbnail. There was a lot going on. I was somewhat confused on what the game had in store. For some reason, I assumed it would be a larger version with a similar concept of one of jeff185's famous PPG's. However, I was gladly surprised.

Before I even dive into my amazement, I must add that though I consider myself pretty good at the Physics Puzzle Maker, I have NO IDEA how some of these game makers do what they do. Makever quickly blew my mind. The opening sequence was pleasing to the eye, almost professional looking. His introduction to the concept was superb.

What is the concept? Basically, you have two different characters. According to the story they originated in the pyramids? I'm not really sure haha. Aside from that, each character has the ability to either go horizontal or vertical... with them sometimes being able to do both. Puzzles possessing keys and hazards are planted and the two (or more) must, hence the title, cooperate.

Continuing, makever did a very solid job on the gameplay and puzzles. It reminded me of a game made on miniclip or another small game website. With the large amount of levels, the difficulty gradually improved as did the stages. The first five begin with low amounts of spikes and only several keys but the numbers increased further in as well the introduction of new concepts such as passing through certain colored passages or different controls. Makever did a great job on capitalizing upon a simple concept and slowly turning it into a complex world. A world that looked quite nice.

About that world... the graphics quickly impressed me and I was digging the simple and effective concept. However, my mind was not ultimately blown out of my skull into I beat 'Level 9'. This is where I realized that I had only gotten to the actual level two on the creator. I have zero idea how makever managed to create a intro screen and five levels with tons of detail and solid gameplay into one level. I was stunned.

So let us look beyond the fact that this man just did that... How was the actual gameplay? It was great. The puzzles started simple and easy thus letting the player get acclimated. A little warning would've helped when the controls changed such as when you play as both characters and they can go all directions in level 9 (level two). The deeper you got into the game, the more I saw how much work was crafted into this... which was a lot. It seemed glitch proofed mainly and superbly made. Well done.

Coinciding with the very enjoyable puzzle gameplay was a very vast and nice looking scene. Travelling over many different areas, the Cooperators (who themselves looked very smooth and well made) visited beautiful sights and gave it a great feeling. The contrast with colors, detail in graphics, and fluidity in which they moved took this game to a whole other level.

Whoever is reading right now must think that I believe Cooperators is perfect. I assure you, it is not. No game is truly flawless. I have several but minimal beefs with makever's design. Though the difficulty curve was thought out and great, preparing the player for what was to come next lacked. So if you were to accidentally die you would have to restart the entire level which is several levels in itself. I will give makever a pass on this one as I am still amazed on his ability to create multi-level levels. The lag also made controls buttery or sluggish, something that also was out of makever's hands.

So after reaching max fatigue on level 6, I gave the game a break. I was still stunned with makever's excellence in creating the physics within the levels. Every area and character was memorable and artistically superior. The gameplay was built upon ideas done before with new and refreshing puzzles. It had its flaws but many of which were just side effects of makever's other goals. I was extremely impressed. It had exceeded my expectation and then some.

Ratings

Creativity: 9/10 (A new and superb structure)

Effort: 9.5/10 (So many levels... so so many)

Gameplay: 8.5/10 (Simple and refreshing)

Scenery: 10/10 (A gorgeous game with awesome graphics)

Fun: 9/10 (It was a blast to experience)

Overall: x2 92/100

Conclusion

If you can not tell already, I think very highly of Cooperators. It has received the highest rating I've ever given out. Makever will forever have my attention when releasing a new game. Cooperators should have a very good chance of placing high in EGD 9 and maybe even more than that. Spectacular effort and stunning execution on Cooperators, makever. Well done.