I’m Sick of Playing “Catch Up”

Like many grown adult men I occasionally feel the pull to try out something in the Warhammer universe. Please don’t get it twisted; it’s not because I think the universe’s childish lore is even remotely interesting. No. Instead, it’s the typical situation of “I have a handful of friends playing a game together that looks half decent, maybe I should check it out”. In the past it was Vermintide 2. But now the culprit is Darktide, the comeback kid! When Vermintide 2 was the craze I actually went as far as playing the game before completely riding it off. This time around I looked out for one thing. I found it immediately.

Can you see it? Admittedly, that’s a dumb question because of how large this image is, so I’ll ask a different one. Do you know why seeing a skill tree in an otherwise fine looking co-op shooter is discouraging as hell? The answer will shock you.

A long time ago in the mystical time of 2008 a hidden gem of a company called Valve released a similar mission based co-op shooter called Left 4 Dead. Surprisingly, Left 4 Dead contains no progression system whatsoever. How it sold any copies is totally beyond me. God forbid a new player be able to enjoy the same deep experience that other more experienced players get to enjoy as they start out the game. This is exactly why I despise these types of progression systems so much. During Left 4 Dead’s heyday (to be fair it’s still pretty popular), it was so incredible to be able to recommend or even gift the game to a friend with the knowledge that they’d immediately get the same experience I was. This was all regardless of difficulty setting too. That’s crazy when compared to the amount of hours I was told I’d have to spend before I could reach the difficulty setting my friend’s playing Vermintide 2 were on. Give me a break. Co-op games should be intrinsically enjoyable above all else.

This type of design has proliferated almost every popular release in the online co-op space these days. Even though I think Helldivers 2 is very fun without any unlockables, I’d be lying if I said a couple of key unlocks, which take at least a couple of hours to get, don’t make the game more enjoyable. This is where I have to give props to one big release which stands alone amidst all of this drudgery. Lethal Compay was another co-op game I was late to, and yet I haven’t experienced this problem once despite a massive time gap with my friends. Boot up Lethal Company for the 1st or the 100th time and it doesn’t matter; you’re still getting the great core experience with all of the laughing and shouting that goes along with it. And surprise! It doesn’t have a progression system.

This is all just to say I’m glad I know what to look out for these days. If Darktide had come out a handful of years ago I might’ve even bought it and given it an honest try. But living your life is about learning lessons and I’m glad I’ve learned this one. Maybe a game with such a deep and important progression system is really fun to play co-op if every one of your friends plays at the same pace. As an adult though, I think that’s a pipe dream. Everyone around me has an increasingly different schedule and set of priorities when it comes to gaming. I’m happy I won’t let progression systems make that situation even worse anymore.