There was a saying in the first season of Lost that summed up the survivors' best chances to stay alive on the mysterious island, "Live together, die alone". That mantra comes to life in the brilliant new XBox Live Arcade title, Schizoid. As the first fruit picked off the XBLA Game Studio Express tree, it is certainly ripe.
After getting a glimpse of what the Creators Club had to offer with enticing demos a few months back, Schizoid is the first such offering available for sale on XBLA. The game touts itself as 'the most co-op game ever'. It is one hell of a bold claim, landing on the platform that has built its success on amazing co-op experiences like Gears Of War and Crackdown. Still, they are absolutely correct. The title changes the way you think of a co-op game, and delivers the goods. In most co-op offerings, your partner is more of a bonus. It is great that they are there, but you could realistically play the game just fine without them. That all changes with Schizoid.
Warp Zoned writes:
"Jamie Fristrom is a name that you might not be familiar with, but you’ve certainly experienced his work. In 1996, Fristrom became part of the original team at Treyarch and had a hand in many of their earliest hits. But his biggest claim to fame is the creation of the webslinging engine found in Spider-Man 2 (and used in nearly every Spider-Man game since). In that dark period between GoldenEye 007 and Batman: Arkham Asylum, Fristrom’s work on Spider-Man 2 proved that licensed games could still be fun.
After his days at Treyarch ended, he went the indie route and created the acclaimed XBLA game Schizoid and founded his own one-man-studio, Happion Labs. His first game under the Happion Labs banner will be Energy Hook, a game that attempts to recapture the fun we all found in aimlessly webslinging around Manhattan.
Fristrom is readying a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the game, which will likely launch in a few weeks. In the meantime, I had a chance to talk to him about his career so far and where he plans to take it with Energy Hook."
Jamie Fristrom, Creator of Schizoid — and one of the lead developers of the critically acclaimed Spider-Man 2 — stopped by GamerCheese to give us an inside look into his exciting new project, the likelihood of Schizoid 2, and the thing he hated most about Spider-Man 2.
With over 250 games available and new ones every week, Xbox Live has a lot to offer. There’s so much content that you probably missed a few gems during multiplayer matches of Hydro Thunder Hurricane or solving puzzles in Limbo. That’s why we’re here to deliver the top five games you probably missed.
Robert Workman (RunDLC)
