More mature gamers are going to find less lasting enjoyment, unless they’re playing with their kids. Achievements and Trophies are few and far between, focusing on unusual in-game actions as opposed to progress milestones. On top of that, there is no online mode whatsoever. Multiplayer/co-op is very fluid and easy to jump into, but only on the local side. The gameplay is fun...but after 20 races or so it would be nice to have some added challenge or something to show for the last six hours of racing.
Just how cooperative the game is depends on where you’re at in the campaign. The entire storyline is playable in splitscreen with up to four players...but until you reach each tier's end and unlock those races for Free Play, friendly fire remains on and players are scored individually. It’s arguable that the campaign is less co-op than Free Play (where you can turn off friendly fire), but ultimately all four players are assisting the person whose game save is being played on. All it takes to win a race is one player - so while teamwork isn't necessary, you're also not fighting against each other.
For its flexible gameplay and four-player local support, Cars 2 is a very worthwhile rental. I would go so far to say that gaming families would do well to buy it. There’s something here for nearly everyone, plain and simple. The pseudo-cooperative nature of the campaign is debatable, but it’s a solid casual game and worth checking out.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Up to four players can play locally throughout the campaign and Free Play modes.
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.