A recent trend in game design shows that not only can dying be fun, but it should. Games like Super Meat Boy encourage us to take on intense challenges through failure and frustration because of that succulent little splat and the short time it takes to get there again. An upcoming 2D platformer by the name of Battleblock Theater continues this trend and adds the opportunity to off your friends—over and over again—while cooperating in order to reach a common goal.
In a nutshell, Battleblock Theater is a series of races set in multiple labyrinths decorated with triggers and traps, a combination likely to bring kinetic thrills and sudden death—but we like that, right? With cooperative and competitive modes, expect the same multiplayer madness you get from games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure. Do you help your friend up the ledge, or do you knock him off? Even in two-player co-op, which I tried at PAX East, the game was gushing with equal amounts of fun and insanity. It was undeniably a Behemoth game.
