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Once you've beaten the main campaign you can play community made maps and featured stages. Yes, there is a level editor, so you can create your most masochistic platforming nightmare and share it with your best friend, or worst enemy.
The Arena is home to several different modes, which basically boil down to collecting, racing, or beating on the opposing team. These matches can be played cooperatively by four local players against enemy AI, or two teams of two can battle against each other. Online players are limited to versus play.
Yes, you read that right. The Arena lets you play with four friends cooperatively on the couch, but if you team up with other players online you'll be playing against each other in teams of two. Why did The Behemoth make it this way? I have no idea. Probably to make it difficult for people who are trying to describe the specifics of co-op, and since I'm the only one I know of who's writing a Co-Op Review, I take it as a personal attack. It's a good thing this game is great. But enough about me, let's talk more about BBT. A reliable source said it's "great."
BBT's difficulty ramps up in the later levels. Around the fifth chapter I started having problems, and by chapter six I was loudly cursing at the cheeky narrator. Stages normally take two to five minutes, and I was getting stumped by difficult jumps for... way too long. Some of the later levels also have strong puzzle elements, which add another layer of depth to an already solid, if at times frustrating, game. Platforming pros won't be too ruffled by the difficulty, but casual players will be facing a challenge. And every time the narrator chimes in with "I can't believe you died there!" or a "You're doing it wrong, do it right!" you'll be one step closer to controllercide. Don't worry. The game is so much fun. You'll get over it.
BattleBlock Theater is a triumph of a platformer. It's clever gameplay, fun level design, crazy story, and excellent score compliment each other perfectly. Grab a friend and make yourselves famous.
A review copy of BattleBlock Theater was provided by the publisher.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: BattleBlock Theater features a co-op campaign for two online or local players. Four local players can play nine different Arena modes against bots.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.