Indie game studio Clever Plays recently announces Operation: Tango an espionage-themed asymmetrical cooperative adventure game coming to PC, Xbox One, and PS4 in early 2021.
It takes two to Tango
The games innovative approach to the co-op game genre, requiring two players to truly collaborate closely, with one in the role of “Agent” and the other in the role of “Hacker”. Constantly linked via voice communications and an augmented, fully connected world, each has a different play experience, leveraging each other’s skills to infiltrate, investigate, and eradicate the forces threatening the free world.
Set in a high tech near-future world, two players work together, each with their unique perspectives, to solve missions in exotic locations around the globe. Those playing as the agent find themselves physically within each location, while those playing as the hacker have access to the far reaches of digital infrastructure, unique to the network of each location. Both roles are critical to complete each mission.
While there are plenty of cutting-edge “toys” and technologies for sleuthing, verbal communication is the center of the experience, with dialogue between players being key to the progression of the game. Only by sharing the vantage points of each role can they overcome the many challenges that stand between them and completing each mission.
The end result is a feel-good spy-thriller adventure that keeps the focus solely on the two players, connecting them whether they are in the same room or across the globe.
“We set out to create a deep, shared, and bonding experience – When designing, my goal was to keep each player engaged, challenged, and communicating in a meaningful way at all times, so we really had to think through how people interact. It was really more like designing two games in tandem.”
Mattieu Bégin – Co-founder and Game Designer at Clever Plays
