The view in Wanderer mode is accentuated by the sound of static interference. It is not soothing.
Jim has the ability to leave his body and "Mind Hack" the bodies of civilians, soldiers, and machines. This is an interesting mechanic. You can take over an enemy soldier as long as you have previously hit him with the Mind Slave ability. There always seems to be civilians right behind the bad guys. Using them to flank your enemies is a satisfying tactic. When your host dies you simply move on to the next available body. If Jim himself is incapacitated he can be revived by the ever-present partner NPC, be it Weiss (the girl from the airport) or whoever. The AI takes control of Jim while you're floating around in your "Wanderer" phase. If Jim is downed in battle and you have no one left to hack, you lose. You must replay the battle. These skirmishes can last 20 to 30 minutes, so losing a round is like losing as episode of your life, in short sitcom format.
MindJack is best enjoyed with a friend. You can team up with two other people and play the entire campaign online. The host player controls Jimboy, while the other two players take on the roll of Hackers. Between battles Hackers float around in Wanderer mode. They appear as floating blue clouds to the host player. Once Jim begins a scenario the Wanderers can take over anyone, just like Jim. At the end of the battle the Hackers return to Wanderer mode. Hackers gain experience and level up, as well. If you don't want enemy Hackers jumping into your game you can adjust the private slots in you Set-Up screen. If enemy Hackers do enter your game you can choose to kick them.
As I mentioned earlier, you can choose to Hack a game instead of Hosting it. You can do a quick Hack or Custom Hack, where you choose a game according to the Host's experience level and campaign progress. Then you can choose your team colors, which determine if you want to help or hinder the host. Blue is for friendly, red is for foe. If you choose to be on the red team your goal is to attack the host player and any other blue team members. You also have the ability to Hack into enemy soldiers, civilians, and mechs. Every time I was on the red team I was kicked after winning a battle. I would probably do the same thing if I was the host, since you can't progress the story without winning.
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Mechs. Meh.
MindJack's biggest flaw as a co-op title comes from the lack of an option to specify what type of Hackers you can let into the game. I would like to leave my game open to the public for Blue Hackers, but there's not way to block Red Hackers. You have to constantly kick them. If you have two friends you can make a private party, problem solved. I have noticed that there aren't that many games available online. That might be because I'm a degenerate and game at 2 a.m. Pacific Time. MindJack is a flawed but fun title that is much better when played with a couple of friends. Just watch out for Red Hackers and that damn mech gorilla.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Mindjack allows players to take control of any character in a game. Co-Op gamers can seamlessly join a friends game to help out as long as the host player is still alive.Other gamers can take control of enemies as well, turning the game into a versus type mode, but you can disable it. This would make it 3vs3
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.