Game developers, when porting PS3/Xbox 360 games to the Wii U, have been doing their best to leverage Nintendo's additional bag of tricks. Well, not everyone.
And thus far, a just announced exclusive, brand new feature for the upcoming Need for Speed: Most Wanted port demonstrates that EA is trying their best at least.
The new mode is called Co-Op Driving, and according to the official press release, which Kotaku quotes verbatim:
"… One player drives using the Wii Remote controller or Wii U Pro Controller, and another player uses the Wii U GamePad to provide control and navigation assistance on a fully interactive real-time map. Using just their fingertips, a partner can distract pursuing cops, switch from night to day or activate enhanced performance for any car and even control the amount of traffic on the road."
So it's a one-player mode, but two people are involved. Seems rather odd, but anyone owned Nintendo's previous console and played some of its games, will know already that such a gameplay approach is hardly new.
Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 had the second player playing the role of an assistant, who helped fend off bad guys by shooting star bits at them. But this time the other person plays a far more active role.
It sounds both awfully gimmicky, yet potentially tons of fun. The key will be to see how much the other player can intervene. If it's willy-nilly, then things will get old quick. But if the second player has to really pick and choose those moments, which in turn leads to planning (or arguing) with the first player…
We will just have to wait and see.
