This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Sean Kearney.

We Love Katamari, the sequel to last year’s clump-ball rolling game Katamari Damacy was on the showroom floor today, and Gaming Horizon got a chance to check it out. The playable demo featured two levels, and was E3 themed, with a few jokes thrown in specifically for the E3 attendees.

For those of you unfamiliar with the original Katamari Damacy, it is a uniquely addictive game in which you play as “The Prince of All Cosmos”, a young alien creature who is on a mission for his father, rolling up large clumps of random items into his “katamari”, or ball of collected stuff, to replace the stars in the sky, which have mysteriously gone missing.

You spend your time rolling your katamari around Earth, picking up items as you go along, and with each item you collect, your katamari gets a little bigger, until it becomes so big that you can collect massive homes and giant ships in it, as the goal of each level is to make a katamari of a certain size. It’s a simple enough concept, but it is in the game’s simplicity that its addictiveness and sheer pleasure really shine. The game is controlled mainly using the two analog sticks on the PS2 controller and features graphics that although rather simple for the power of the PlayStation 2, are completely stylized in a quirky and interesting way. These elements in the game, along with one of the most eclectic and catchy soundtracks in modern videogames, makes this a title that you can pick up and play again and again.

The demo of We Love Katamari showcased some familiar graphics and gameplay, and featured the return of the “King of All Cosmos”, who appeared in the demo to be a much more sincere character than in the first game and far less sarcastic to his son, The Prince, who returns as the game’s main character.

The most exciting new feature in the E3 demo was a new multiplayer co-operative mode, in which you and another player each control half of the same katamari, and have to communicate with one another in order to move the ball. The gameplay changes dramatically in this mode, as the two analog sticks on your controller function as one, and you are forced to work with the other player to get even the most simple movements from your katamari; in order to move forward in the game, both you and the other player must move both of your analog sticks forward at the same time, in order to stop moving, you must both stop at the same time.

The interesting thing I experienced while playing this game on the showroom floor was the many ways I was able to communicate with the player next to me without saying a word. I found myself leaning in to the turns I wanted to take, and often times looking or gesturing with my head in the direction I wanted to go in order to get the player to follow the same path as me. As well, it seemed that towards the end of the level, the two of us started to anticipate how the other one played the game, and reacted in a way that made the gameplay a lot smoother, and allowed us to complete the level much more easily. By the end of the game, it was obvious that we were rewarded for our ability to communicate with one another, an idea that was very interesting and unique.

The co-operative feature in this game is done in a very unique way, and one that I think it was executed excellently in the demo. It really put a new spin on the Katamari Damacy series, and I believe gaming as a whole. The co-op mode made me think about communication in video games, and brought the idea of gaming as a cooperative art to the front of my mind. I think that this is going to be a major title when it is released on the PS2 sometime next year, and that it is going to be well- received. And for good reason.