Open-world games are a dime a dozen, but very rarely are they a distinct, co-op first experience. Games like Grand Theft Auto Online or Minecraft can be played in a co-op capacity, but aren't inherently played that way. Very few new games are exclusively co-op, and even fewer are designed specifically as an open-world game as well. A few examples come to mind, like Ghost Recon Wildlands or Monster Hunter Rise, and now Avalanche Studios is trying its hand at a co-op iteration on its open-world formula. Contraband, the next title from Just Cause developer (in collaboration with Xbox Game Studios), will be an open-world co-op heist game set in the 1970s.
Already the premise and gameplay foundation for Contraband is intriguing: The potential of melding an open-world like Just Cause with gameplay similar to Payday 2 or GTA 5 could be incredible. However, while open-world games have seen iteration and innovation from several developers over the last few years, even fewer have been innovating in co-op focused game design. One co-op innovator is Hazelight Studio, with recent efforts like A Way Out and It Takes Two proving the studio's capability in creating compelling and varied co-op experiences. It's a stretch, but it'd be interesting to see a degree of Hazelight's influence rub off on Avalanche Studios.
Designing Co-op Centric Set-Pieces for Contraband
One thing that's always punctuated Hazelight Studios' games has been the degree of co-op specific scenario and cinematic design throughout each journey. These elements work in tandem to keep players working together, while still evoking a sense of awe and intensity in every moment of action. Both A Way Out and It Takes Two excelled at challenging players' ability to work together, while also ramping up the pressure through scenario design, audio, and visual flair to make moments engaging. Tailored set-pieces with the studio's distinct, 24-esque dynamic split screen helps to keep both players engaged throughout each game's presentation.
Despite being an open-world game, there's plenty of potential for Contraband to do something similar. Even if the game is inherently non-linear, that doesn't necessarily mean the game can't have tense moments and set-pieces like the hospital escape from A Way Out, or even the tree glider sequence in It Takes Two. Being a game based around high-risk heists, a degree of scripted moments specifically geared towards creating unique combat or escape scenarios could make the game more interesting. What would be even more interesting is incorporating multiple players into specific, Hazelight-esque co-op scenarios that require split-second teamwork to overcome.
Contraband's Open-World Could Generate Unique Side Activities
Another aspect of Hazelight's gameplay design are the extraneous activities that players can partake in throughout Hazelight Studios' games. Given that Contraband is going to be an open-world game, it'd make sense to have plenty of side activities, heists, and other objectives that squads can participate in outside of the main story.
Even if Hazelight's minigame and side activity design is mostly dedicated to fun distractions rather than full-on side quests, it'd be interesting to see more side activities that could serve as team-building exercises between players. Granted Contraband will presumably be a very different game, but there's potential in investing effort into engrossing side activities.
One area where this could take place is in a hub area in Contraband, something that may have been teased with the garage cinematic trailer in 2021. In between missions and heists, players could have simplistic minigames to participate in at a hub world as a distraction. On the flipside, the open-world could feature new side quests that ideally would feature a similar amount of depth and complexity as the side activities in a game like A Way Out. Not knowing anything concrete about Contraband's gameplay itself, it's tough to speculate how these side activities could pan out, but things like petty criminal work or smaller heist jobs could easily fit that criteria.
A key aspect of open-world game design is accentuating the main story, providing plenty of distractions to occupy the player's time when taking a break from the main story. Exploring the world, progressively finding new side quests and activities to do along the way, is what makes a compelling open-world game.
Contraband, a distinctly co-op open-world game, has the unique challenge of melding together and balancing side activities with greater interactivity between players. All of this generally has to work alongside any main story components as well. Contraband has plenty of potential as an open-world co-op game, and should borrow influence from some of the best co-op games in the last decade.
Contraband is in development.