That's right... Pay no attention to the shirtless guy behind you...
Items gathered and soldiers/ POWs recruited during the course of the mission are shared amongst the players, so everyone benefits equally. The addition of another player, or two, provides more than just another gun (though for boss battles, that’s just as important), as he or she can act as a spotter for another player that’s attempting to sneak into a facility, or be a distraction to pull a guard away from his post while the other player sneaks up behind and knocks him out. The difficulty on each mission can also be increased to provide the players with more of a challenge and better rewards.
The major trade-off to Peace Walker’s move to the console, from a co-op aspect, is its lack now of the ability to play locally. The PSP may have been a bit frustrating at times due to its controls and lack of real online play mode, but the AdHoc mode that allowed you to play with anyone nearby was a great feature. You could go over to a friend’s house for a little help on a mission, or just to try and tackle a harder difficulty, and then just pick up right where you left off the next time you had a moment to play again. Peace Walker HD has dropped any form of local co-op, so you are limited to just online play. While you can still team up with your friend for a mission or two and then pick up where you left off with potentially better gear, there’s something missing from that interaction of being in the same room and being able to tell one another “soldier approaching from your flank.”
As a package, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is an excellent buy for MGS fans, be they PS3 or 360 gamers. In addition to Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Peace Walker, you also get MSX versions of the original Metal Gear 1 and 2 that have seen a little bit of polish as well. The overall tweaking to the graphics on all of these games isn’t jaw-dropping amazing, but it’s enough to make them feel modern again. As for the co-op play in Peace Walker HD, it’s still as solid (no pun intended) as it was on the PSP, though the removal of local play has dampened the experience to a degree. For a series that has gone this long without any form of co-op, though, Konami pulled off an incredible experience in its very first go.
Editor's Note: The Co-Optimus Co-Op Review of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD was based on the Xbox 360 version of the game.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Peace Walker is back in HD; play through 100+ missions with up to 3 other players in this previously PSP-exclusive 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.