Hello fellow co-op gamers, Jenkins of the Madballs in...Babo: Invasion B-D-I faction here with the one and only fabulous co-op Survival Mode survival guide. This guide is designed to help you survive wave after wave of increasingly horrible creatures surrounding you and three (3) of your best co-op mates in the PC version of Madballs. Have I got your attention yet? Jolly good, Let us begin - unless of course, you wish to look like a twat in front of your best mates.
The first thing any survival expert needs, is the game. Co-optimus has 10 codes to give away on behalf of Playbrains to 10 randomly chosen community members that leave a comment below. Now that you've visited Steam and made your important purchase, it's time to explore the co-op. The survival mode, however wonderful and entertaining it may be, is a treacherous land that only the bravest of explorers dare to experience. This list, created by designer John Harley of the Playbrains employ and put to the test by your Co-optimus staff, will give you the basics necessary to survive.
Rule 1: Healers are essential to your survival. Of course that means I am the most valuable character since I can heal and use the science bomb to nuke the enemy. However, that beastly Asceu is awfully handy when honking "barf" that heals you while harming the enemy. If you've got any sense about you, you'll heal between each stage and communicate that you require health when it's low. (Set up your chat to be activated by a button press - I used the 'ctrl' key.)
Rule 2: Bring a fearsome pet. Bringing a Magmor along in any of his charming downloadable skins can be quite handy, as many of the smaller enemies will flee when Magmor changes to his Colossus form. This gives your adventuring team a moment to regroup, or chase down the little blighters.
Rule 3: Find no shame in hiding. Hold up in one corner of the map where there are ruins that create a brilliant choke point for the onslaught ahead of you. This allows your team to cover each entrance with relative ease, as well as cover each other for healing during the heat of battle.
Rule 4: Find your friends to hurt your foes. Hit the 'E' key if you get separated from your group. This will show a cursor with your pal's steam names listed so you can regroup. Sticking together is essential.
Rule 5: Reconnaissance: Split up when there are one or two small enemies remaining, or between waves to locate (and share, unless you're daft) 1-ups and stronger weapons. These weapons appear randomly, generally scattered around the edges of the map.
Rule 6: Don't neglect the Rock, Paper, Scissors balance. The Madballs universe holds a delicate balance with what enemies are weak against different damage. For instance, fire enemies are weak to ice attacks, energy enemies are effected by standard bullets, etc. Switch weapon powers with the mouse wheel (each weapon has two possible damage types) to be the most effective survivor around.
Bonus rule: Wear new skins to impress your friends! They'll be green with envy...or that sickly
greenish splotch.
Now a dire warning before setting out on such a perilous task. Survival mode has a new enemy, and it's not your standard Madballs foe. This enemy is quick, small, and powerful. Some call them "Kamikaze spiders," but those of us who know call them "Spider-Chompii." You must beware the Chompii, for they are fearsome and relentless, easily draining your team of their precious health quickly and most effectively. Survival mode also limits the available characters, so don't go into Madballs thinking you'd unleash the spinning top attack from Horn Head and be finished with it. This mode is a challenge for even the most seasoned of Madballs adventurers. Heed my words, and survive. Ignore them, and parish under the mighty ball.
Now that I've got all the "British explorer" out of my system, we really are giving away 10 copies of the PC version of Madballs in...Babo: Invasion, and we encourage as many people to play as possible. Comment below to have your name entered into the random drawing, which means you'll be expected to play co-op. We're 100% serious. The developers have also assured me that there will be ongoing support for the Madballs survival mode including additional maps which will have their own unique strategy in order to make it to wave 20, which is harder than it sounds.
New Uncharted Screen Shows off new skin.
New in Download/DLC:
The most important news in downloadable games since last week is: Death by Cube is not co-op as initially expected. Nick was disappointed to discover that the definition for co-op wasn't even considered with this game. We have sent out a request to clarify with their PR, but have heard nothing back at this point.
In the not-so-distant future of April, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will be adding a new co-op mode available for download, on top of a few skins and multiplayer map packs. Finally, Perfect Dark has been "potentially" priced for the Xbox LIVE arcade at 1200 or $15.
Free for you:
This weeks "Free For You" wants to see you defend the town of South Park in the demo for South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play! You can join online in 4 player co-op games to help players defend the first 3-4 levels of the game from ginger kids, 4th graders, underpants gnomes, and other familiar enemies of the South Park kids in this beefy co-op demo on the Xbox LIVE arcade.
On The Download will be bi-weekly starting with this issue - we wanted to get an "official" post up after the introduction. This way we don't have too many features on the same bi-weekly schedule. Don't forget to comment below if you'd like to get your hands on some Madballs. Tell us what kind of Madball you'd be, or who you'd play with? Let Co-optimus know what you'd like to see with future issues of "On The Download," just leave a comment about something, and you're entered!