Big Walk’s Stellar Reviews Still Can’t Solve Its Biggest Problem

Big Walk is one of the most anticipated co-op games of the year and for good reason. An open world full of puzzles, mysteries, and fun that can all be experienced with a group of friends sounds amazing, but the game suffers from a problem that the whole co-op genre has been struggling with for decades. Because of the lack of a single-player mode or online matchmaker, you are forced into finding a group to play with, and when you factor in different schedules and the need for everyone to be involved and feel invested, it can be borderline impossible to get a hold of a handful of pals that all want to keep walking all the way until the credits roll.

On the surface, the game sounds incredible. Reviewers are giving it borderline perfect scores across the board, and the hype surrounding it is spearheaded by the cozy nature of the experience, as well as the recent explosion in friendslop popularity. Yet all that greatness remains gated behind the requirement of a cohesive and constant group that won’t get bored, refund, or be too busy to solve a couple more puzzles. There is an argument to say that Big Walk is no different from any other recent co-op releases, but that claim is simply untrue. Rather than you hopping in to complete a run or climb up a mountain, you are progressing towards a shared ending over several sessions, and as a result, there is much more weight placed on having the whole team there at once, as not only does the game feel worse in smaller numbers, but you also risk some major FOMO from those who were unavailable to play.

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Big Walk Is Great, But It Needs Friends In Order To Work

When looking at the bigger picture, Big Walk looks like a charming and genuinely unique co-op game that virtually everyone can get involved in. It has every ingredient for the perfect cozy multiplayer adventure, including everything from proximity chat to lovable mascots, and coming from a developer that has already made a name for itself in the world of silly games, I find it hard to see how anyone could actively dislike it. And even before the world has gotten their hands on it, the journalists have given us a taste of what’s to come, rating it among the highest games released this year and pushing it into the 9/10s alongside so many other great co-op games.

Put the consoles in the correct order.

Easy (5)
Medium (7)
Hard (10)

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Big Walk Review Scores

Eurogamer – 5/5

Game Informer – 9/10

GameSpot – 9/10

Insider Gaming – 10/10

Restart.run – 5/5

These review scores are high for any game, let alone a pretty simplistic co-op one about some colorful birds going for a walk. However, in a lot of these cases, the perception is taken in isolation and is based on a much more controlled scenario where everyone involved is automatically more invested in playing and completing the game. They didn’t have to worry about awkward scheduling or finding a hungry group of friends to jump in with, and instead, were given almost a perfect case study that showed off all the best parts of the game, whilst overlooking the biggest pitfall. In practice, you are going to stumble upon an issue that many people who have played Dungeons & Dragons will know all too well that has always existed ever since co-op gaming hit the mainstream.

If the goal is to have half a dozen friends in the same room, all role-playing and ready to remain invested for a few hours, then I can tell you from personal experience that the ideal situation is borderline impossible to come by. You have to compromise or cut sessions short, or make concessions for those who took a little longer to arrive, and while the constraints are a little less egregious when it comes to an online game like Big Walk, the co-op issue remains fundamentally the same. The reason for that is the more strict style of gameplay progression that the game offers when compared to other titles in the genre. Instead of playing a match or helping take down a boss for the day, you are all moving through the same shared world, finding things out together and learning how to cooperate even when distances become too far for speech to travel.

Big Walk’s Biggest Problem Is the Cost of Its Genre

I will say, it is a bit harsh to make these complaints about a game that is otherwise incredibly fun. When you actually get to waddling around and exploring as a group, this conceptual issue fades away into nothingness, and the core gameplay loop becomes your only focus, alongside having a great time with your friends. The problem isn’t an intentional one created by the devs, nor one that can really be solved; it is just a symptom of the style of game that you are either able to completely ignore or will be unable to experience the wonders of the walk in the way it was intended.

What it comes down to is whether a player who wants to give the game a try can cobble together enough people willing to sit down and play through a continuous world for more than a single night. Where other co-op games like Lethal Company, Peak, and RV There Yet are playable in much shorter bursts, and can even be beaten in under an hour with the right know-how, Big Walk is going to demand much more of the group, and if you want everyone to see all the puzzles, share in the laughs, and see the ending at the end of the hike, then it is going to be a little trickier than just hopping in a call and randomly queuing up another game.

The barrier exists, and it is one that isn’t going away any time soon, so for those who have it wishlisted and have been waiting ever since those initial trailers back in 2023, you may need to be prepared to wait or hold fire until a larger group is available to play. But if you do end up with that Goldilocks moment where everyone is happy to buy the game and get walking, then I guarantee you will be treated to a truly exceptional co-op game that really has no contemporaries.