When Ubisoft announced Outland last September, the lack of co-op kept it off our radar. At PAX East, game producer Adam Sarasohn revealed that there would be two player online support. Outland just blipped. Housemarque, the developers of the excellent Dead Nation, are bringing the game to the XBLA and the PSN. The gameplay has been compared to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, as well as Ikaruga. The visuals invoke the minimalist look of Limbo, or Patapon. The title promotes acrobatic exploration with an added kick of bullet hell. You play as yet another Everyman called forth to save the day. There is a light and dark dichotomy at play in the game world. Enemies take on a red or blue color, while players will be able to switch between red and blue energy alignments on the fly. When a player is red they are immune to red dangers, but vulnerable to blue enemies, and vice versa.
The whole story can be played co-operatively online. When asked if the game would support local co-op, Sarasohn eliminated split screen, saying, "We wanted each player to have a full screen so they can see all the puzzles and not have to make blind jumps." Keeping both players restricted to one screen "proved too frustrating." Some co-op is better than no co-op. In addition to the story mode, there will also be co-op challenge rooms. Outland should hit the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in late April or early May. Be sure to check out the screenshots after the jump.