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It’s not that I dislike hard games – Dark Souls III and Crypt of the Necrodancer are personal favorites. The element that hurts long-term appeal is the difficulty. The music by Joey Grady is far less catchy and doesn’t fit the mood of the game (and you’ll also want to turn up the sound levels to even hear it, at least on Xbox).
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The blend of Oregon Trail- style travel, action, humorous writing, and charming pixel art are very enticing. It can already be hard enough to talk a co-op buddy into playing when they can’t use their own profile, so these arbitrary restrictions on the second player’s actions don’t do the game any favors.ĭeath Road to Canada is a charming game that really had me hooked at first. Player 2 can’t talk to NPCs encountered during event stages or shops, either. So the first player has to lead the way, and the second player has to follow. Player 2 can’t go through doors – only the first player can.
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The second player’s experience is also needlessly inferior to the primary player’s. You never have the option to just switch with the bumper buttons, etc., which is unintuitive and needlessly slows the game’s pace down at times. In co-op, the second player can switch between unused party members whenever the team enters a new area or building. Solo, you have to pause and navigate slightly clunky menus to switch between party members. Switching characters is not intuitive whether you’re playing solo or in co-op. It’s odd that the game is limited to two players when the party can consist of up to four characters, but supposedly 4-player support might be added in the future. The second player can’t use their own profile or earn Achievements – they’ll simply tag along in the primary player’s game, with access to the primary player’s custom characters and random characters who join the party. Playing as a co-op partner is somewhat less satisfying than as the primary player, unfortunately. If only one party member remains, the other player has to sit out until a new character joins the party. That’s important, because teammates can’t revive each other. You might find yourself surrounded by the undead, only for your partner to rush in with guns blazing and save the day. A human partner can be more effective in combat, enabling the party to strategize rather than blindly following the lead player. I’ve also experienced a bug on Xbox One in which my unlocks don’t display properly until I’ve completed my first run of the session.ĭrop-in, drop-out 2-player local co-op does, thankfully, make this ultra-tough journey slightly easier. But after a certain point, I had leveled the perks I wanted and the remaining unlocks didn’t seem all that helpful. It’s good that Death Road has a proper permanent unlocking system. These include leveling up existing perks for stat bonuses, unlocking new perks and traits, and more. Between runs, players can spend Zombo Points (awarded after certain events or found within event stages) on various permanent unlocks.