Co-op games are plentiful today, but this one’s doesn’t really fit the usual “friendslop” mould. Iterco announced O2GETHER, a game developed by the indie developer’s new Jakarta studio (the Singapore-based team has now expanded to Indonesia) in which 1-4 players must find a way to survive a zero-G environment filled with hazardous debris.
However, players can’t move around freely, as there’s only one oxygen tank available, and it’s big, requires people to physically push it rather than pulled, and the tethering cable that attaches the suit to the tank can only go far before it’s detached. The suit can store some O2, but that buffer can only last so much before someone has to come and revive you, hauling that tank with them.
Having movement area tied to a singular, moveable object should conjure some memories of moving the bucket in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. But with O2GETHER being set in space, you have six degrees of freedom movement.
And yes, the game name is a pun. Not only do you share your O2 tank together, players need to push the O2 tank together. All together, now…
Of course, there is an incentive to peel off from the group from time to time, like grabbing a stray item. And one nimble person can fly off faster to do so than having the group haul away from the critical path, wasting precious oxygen along the way. So there is a push and pull to O2GETHER that’ll get the gang of players into physics-based antics.
“O2GETHER is built around the idea that cooperation should feel chaotic, physical, and fun,” said Matthew Quek, CEO of Iterco. “We wanted to make a game where what happens to one player immediately affects everyone else. Sometimes you save your friend; sometimes you accidentally send them flying into space.”
If the idea of having to push a big tank while avoiding hazards in zero-G with potential friendslop-ish shenanigans sounds like your jam, get your friend all together for O2GETHER.
O2GETHER launches on October 29 on PC (Steam). A demo is available.