Co-op

During cooperative play, both players work together to gain control over the host player’s city. Think of this gameplay as calling in a very special homie to enhance the experience of trying to conquer Steelport. Two players may play the entire single-player Campaign from start to finish.

They are both given full, unrestricted access to the entire world and are free to cooperatively utilize all the vehicles, weapons and options however they wish in their struggle to take over the city. Players that participate in a co-op game will retain weapons, guns, cars, and anything else they collect. These items can then be taken back to their own city and put to their own use in single-player.

Playing with a partner will also yield subtle differences in gameplay. All of the differences below show how one Activity may be different when you’re taking on the city in tandem.

CO-OP differences

Trafficking has one of the co-op partners driving.

Snatch only allows each player to have one Homie to recruit.

Escort has one of the CO-OP partners in the back of the car having to input commands separate from the other player who drives.

Insurance Fraud, Mayhem, Tank Mayhem, and Genki have different money values to reach in CO-OP.

In Trail Blazing, whoever does not trigger this activity rides on the back of the vehicle. In Cyber Trail Blazing Activities, the rider shoots the cyber weapon, while in the Angel’s Fire Trail Blazing Activities, the rider throws Molotovs.

Also, some missions will have differences as well. For example:

Mission 35 – One of the users will point the laser at the news van.

Mission 42 – The host player controls the RC weapon while the visiting player flies the helicopter.

Mission 44 – Both players switch in and out of the ring for tag team fighting.

Other CO-OP differences include:

During Vehicle Thefts, you do not get credit if you are not the one that has this Diversion activated, each player must do this on their own.

During Assassinations, whoever has the assassination selected will get the credit – make sure both players have this activated for both to get credit.

Whoever picks up a Collectible gets credit for it.

During Gang Operations and Survival both players need to be in range of the event radius to get money, both will get credit regardless.

Stores may be purchased by both players in the same game.

To reduce notoriety, both players have to go to a store that they, themselves, own.

The visiting player may not buy cribs or upgrade cribs or do any gang customization in the host player’s game.

Since having a CO-OP partner counts as having a Homie, only two Homies or followers can be recruited at a time. Some missions have an exception to this for story characters.

The host player’s voice will primarily be heard throughout the game for story-related lines, so the host should choose the favored voice.

Working Together

Victory or failure is judged upon the actions of both players in these modes, and if one player causes the mission to fail both will lose. Failure also occurs if either player dies without being revived by his partner within an allowed time limit. Having the ability to revive your fallen partner is one of key ways cooperative play differs from the single-player experience. In addition, co-op players will notice that mission gameplay is enhanced to provide a greater challenge, and that having two human players creates countless new tactical possibilities. Both players are required to work together when playing missions and activities. However, outside of the confines of a structured task, they are free to do their own thing through the entire city. One of the greatest advantages of a co-op game is that playing with a friend who has progressed farther in the game is a great way to gain access to more advanced weapons and vehicles. Also, one player can help mentor the other and get the partner through tough spots with their experience and resources.

Cat and Mouse

The goal of co-op is to work together to take the city from the Syndicate. The player hosting the co-op game has the option to set the damage taken from friendly fire. It can be completely turned off or set all the way up to full damage. If the damage option is set to on, Players can not only damage each other, they can also trigger a new minigame called Cat and Mouse. This competitive gameplay is activated when one player kills another and does not revive their fallen comrade. At that point, one of several versions of this mini-game begins. Cat and Mouse consists of one player (the cat) chasing the other (the mouse) while they flee.

The cat’s goal is to kill the mouse as quickly as possible, while the mouse tries to rack up points by going through as many checkpoints as possible. The round is concluded if the cat kills the mouse or the 3-minute timer runs out. Once the first round is complete, each player changes roles, and when that round is complete, a final tally of all points is shown. This scenario can be replayed as many times as you wish once it is activated. Also, there are several variations to this game of Cat and Mouse, including:

Version 1: The mouse gets a fast vehicle and the cat gets an aircraft to destroy the mouse with.

Version 2: This cat starts out in a tank while the mouse in stuck with a golf cart.

Version 3: This version gives the cat a STAG jet bike, the Specter!