While exploring the ground level of any area, you will quickly notice that there is always something above you to explore. This aspect was highly appealing to me, until I tried it out. The climbing and jumping controls were well laid out at all, and were unchangable. Instead of just pressing one button to jump and climb, as games like Assassins Creed did well, you'd jump to an area, then dangle like an idiot until you pressed another button to prep for climbing further. The sheer size of everything was breathtaking, and I would have enjoyed the game extensively if even the climbing had felt complete in the slightest.
Being set in steampunk style mining towns that absolutely screamed Wild West in design, the gunplay was another intriguing aspect. As is, its also another aspect that falls short of the finish line by a few yards. Targetting was a near nightmare, when spastic serum fueled bad guys jittered around the screen (intentionally or glitchy-otherwise) with absolutely no targetting assistance at all. The "Cover system" is only such by name, as none of the playable characters can actually attach to obstacles at all. Should you crouch behind a barricade, you are still completely worthless since you have no way of shooting over or around the "cover" at all.
One surprisingly fun aspect was actually the driving sections. This type of gameplay is rarely that much fun, but rather a necessary task to get from place to place in other games. Fortunately, speeding through caverns and towns, or flipping over rocks using a monster steampunk motorcycle was surprisingly fun. Co-op in this section meant the passenger character was able to shoot off the back of the bike - which was sadly worse than the normal shooting aspect of the game, but still a nice thought.
Damnation fell short in nearly every aspect of any playable game, and co-op barely makes the game enjoyable by making two people suffer similarly. With so many amazing features that felt more unfinished than anything I've played in a while, Damnation should only be played with caution, and perhaps an adult beverage or two.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
The Co-Op Experience: Play through the game with a partner in this wild west meets Gears of War style game.
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.