Spare Parts Hands-On

It looks like developers are paying more attention to cooperative play these days. At the EA Studio Showcase in Redwood Shores, we took a look at Spare Parts, an action adventure that stars two robots who have been dumped on a strange planet ruled by the nefarious Lord Krung. The game supports both offline and online co-op and looks to be a fun button-masher with puzzle elements sprinkled in.

Who's Making It: This robotic adventure is developed by EA Bright Light.

What It Looks Like: The game has a simple premise, but you'll be traveling through a colorful and lush environment full of evil Krofax. It kind of reminds us of the Ratchet & Clank games, but that also could be due to all the screws and bolts flying around.

What You Do: You play as the robotic duo Mar-T and Chip who must collect spare parts littered throughout the planet in order to repair their space ship and get home. On your adventure you'll pick up action parts that allow you to gain new abilities, which in turn can be upgraded using the coins you collect. The game is focused around cooperative play, so you can play with a friend online or offline. Some areas can be accessed only with a partner, but you can play through the game solo if you wish.

When playing with a friend, there are special abilities that benefit both of you if you work together. For example, if you both double-jump at the same time, Mar-T and Chip will give each other a high-five, and you'll receive a health boost.

You'll also use your special abilities to interact with the environment and solve a variety of puzzles to progress through the game. The entire game should take anywhere from six to seven hours to complete if you blaze on through, but there are 100 action parts in the game if you want to track them all down.

How It Plays: Spare Parts is a button masher where you hit the X button to attack and the A button to jump. It's pretty straightforward, but as you gain more abilities, you'll be able to do more with the action parts that you've collected.

What They Say: Can our heroes rescue their other stranded robotic friends and unearth all of the spare parts they need to make their escape?

What We Say: We sure hope so. We always welcome cooperative gameplay, so it's nice to see another game come to the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network that supports online and offline co-op. Look for Spare Parts when it's released this winter.