BattleBlock Theater review: blocked and loaded

It’s a testament to BattleBlock Theater's excellent level design that the stages are modified only slightly to accommodate those who go it alone. An assortment of friendly non-player characters assist in tight spots where a teammate would normally be on hand, and the simple AI never let me down during the course of my playthrough.

The story mode’s stages were designed for co-op play, which adds tension. You'll need to cooperate to succeed, but screwing with your partner is frequently as rewarding — and funnier — than helping them.

BattleBlock Theater also allows you to focus on messing with others in a more developed way in its multiplayer arena modes, in keeping with the simple combat mechanics set up in the main game. Traditional game types — such as a race to the finish and a pure combat mode — are joined by more creative variants that have up to four players coloring blocks, grabbing adversaries’ souls, and stealing opponents’ “horses” and racing them to their own goalposts.

The soul-stealing and king of the hill variants are particularly wild, since they encourage continual give-and-take among players. Unique arenas appear in each mode to complement different play styles, and “playlists” often mix levels from different modes to keep things fresh.

On top of this, BattleBlock Theater features a robust level editor. Since every stage in the game is constructed from a limited set of blocks, it’s easy to intuit The Behemoth’s design sensibilities (if not their skill and experience) after playing for a few hours. The editor controls are simple and hassle free — simply select the desired block or item type, and slot it in where you like on the stage-sized grid. It’s easy to get a simple level up and running within minutes. I spent hours building devious gauntlets and trying them out, long after I was through with the story mode.