Reviews:
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Inherently multiplayer games are always a risk, but there’s no doubt this truly cooperative platformer is pleasant
One terrific thing about this generation in particular is that it feels like every possible audience has games being made with them in mind. One more neglected group out there are people who simply enjoy some more low-key platforming that has some challenges but is also forgiving… but would also like to share that joy with others. So many times multiplayer platformers end up feeling quite adversarial, more intent on people trying to one-up each other and act to antagonize each other, but as its name implies KarmaZoo is precisely in the opposite direction. Here, it’s all about either playing with friends locally or finding some people online (thankfully crossplay is in place) and working together to get through a series of stages, trying to find and grab everything you can along the way. You’re not just encouraged to stick together, you’re just about required to, with a bubble around you that will slowly shrink if you get too far away. You’ll need to separate to do things like trigger levers or pads to allow your associates to progress at times, but nobody will be able to just run off on their own for long. Success will reward you with karma points which can be used to unlock different avatars with a variety of useful abilities, but the core experience here is just a pleasant co-op bit of pretty relaxed and enjoyable fun with others, which makes for a nice change of pace.
Justin Nation, Score:Good [7.9]