
I have no idea why any of my characters were so willing to die for their cause. Not that it stopped me from pressing onward though. Monsters got bashed, traps were skillfully avoided and gold was grabbed greedily, as I manoeuvred my little party around the battlefield. But sooner or later, everyone always ended up dead; often just a few levels from the finale. Darn shame.
In The Nightmare Cooperative, you’ll be controlling several characters at once, moving everyone in the given direction, provided a solid object or an enemy isn’t blocking the path. This may sound easy, but unless you plan accordingly, chances are one or more will be left to fend for themselves. Or maybe you’ve managed to place them so that the only viable path leads through acid pits or past an enemy.
While there are only a few different environmental hazards and enemy types, the game does make good use of its limitations. To aid you in what I assume to be a rather important quest, potions and hearts are scattered across each level; do be careful, however, for there is no way to bring back dead characters. So I’d recommend steering clear of acid pits and racing towards the exit instead; live to fight another day.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. During this supposedly rather important journey, you may come across more party members who are all willing to fight (and die) by your side. From the skull-crushing warrior to the gold-digging miner, these fellas bring all sorts of unique traits (or abilities) to the already quite tactical turn-based combat. Just remember that everyone acts as one. One player, one army, one mission!
After playing for a good bit, I’d say the slightly annoying aspect is that, well, the AI is somewhat lacking. It isn’t downright broken, but it could certainly do with a few improvements and tweaks. What’s there does get the job done though, as my repeated failures to even reach the 10th level shows. Maybe you’ll fare better, in The Nightmare Cooperative?