Four player co-op in Gears of War 2 would be too messy, the plot would fall apart, Mark Rein told me tonight as we sipped mojitos at the Ciudad restaurant.
But he and Cliff Blezinski both know how much gamers thirst larger co-op experiences. So the development team set out to create something that would be just as fun as four player campaign co-op, but not as problematic.
In Horde up to five players take on increasing large waves of locust, clearing rounds and scoring points until everyone dies. The idea is fairly straight forward and surprisingly fun.
I was lucky enough to sit down with Rein and Blezinski and play through a couple of matches of Horde as they looked on. It only took a minute or two for Rein to start back seat playing, pointing out where enemies were and chastizing my skill, or lack of it, with a sniper rifle.
"Head shot, head shot, you need to shoot him in the head."
"You know what we say in our studio, take your time, and do it right."
"Oh, you got him, OK you don't suck."
At one point Rein, apparently frustrated with how slow I was reacting to his shouts, tried to grab the controller from me to revive one of my dying companions. I twisted free and brought my guy back to life.
"It's fun isn't it," he asked as I continued to play.
Lots.