Coop Gaming 2014:
All the online cooperative oriented PC games for 2014!Coop list for a different year
Shooters:
- November[ Metacritic - 80 ]
Drop in coop will stop single player main campaign missions, while the rest of the world remains open for coop rampages (side quests, outposts, etc).
Titanfall
[ Metacritic - 86 ]
New coop PvE horde mode has been added, to what is mostly a team PvP oriented game.
- Tower Defense/Shooter - 4 player[ Metacritic - 78 ]
Four classes to pick from: Peashooter (Assault), Sunflower (Healer), Chomper (Damage Dealer), and Cactus (Tank). As expected, Garden Ops is a wave based, shooter/tower defense hybrid. Play, collect coins, spend coins, and get upgrades trading card style.
[ Metacritic - 76 ]
More of the same Borderlands, a standalone expansion running with different characters then BL2. Dev being outsourced, but using same engine. Oh, and Jetpacks.
[ Metacritic - 77 ] Indie
Focus on tactical realism. Described as a Red Orchestra: Modern Warfare. Coop elements include mission-based objectives, defend an outpost against waves of swarming enemy, or newly added survival stealth mode.
[ Metacritic - 72 | Video ]
The series once called a killing simulator, now moves to WWII era Africa. Dedicated Coop modes: Overwatch & Survival.
[ Metacritic - 71 ]
Salvage and craft weapons to kill Zombies. Series know to go way over the top, not taken seriously. A Saints Row is to GTA as Dead Rising is to Dead Island.71
[ Metacritic - 60 ]
Looks like a cross between Tribes and Borderlands. Free-to-play, but has a coop gameplay element as well as PvE. Limited info at this time.
RPGs:
[ Metacritic - 91 ]
Allows you to jump into another's game, and assist in battle and collect souls.
[ Metacritic - 87 ]
Prequel to Divine Divinity. This could very well be the next Baldurs Gate like traditional coop RPG. Combat is turn based; PoV is overhead; Level editing/campaign creation tools; You have a party or characters; and as an added bonus, the in game dialog lets you disagree with your teammate.
- aRPG - 4 player[ Metacritic - 85 ]
Dragon Age will indeed have coop as speculated. It will have no connection to the single player coop, nor will it have character progression crossover. The mechanics removes the pause element, turning this into more of a aRPG Diablo clone in the DA universe. 4 class options.
[ Video | Metacritic - 79 ]
The original came out only a year ago with good reviews, considering its low price point. Has a bit of a steampunk feel to it. This is the second of a planned trilogy, with many new features.
[ Metacritic - 75 ]
Generic action RPG with lots of grinding. Rolls with a voodoo theme, hence the full mojo jojo.
- aRPG - September - 4 player[ Metacritic - 68 ]
[ Video ]
ZZZzzzzz ...another reboot tha... What!?!...made from the makers of Magicka? Okay, this just got interesting.
Play as: Warrior, Valkyrie, Elf, Wizard.
[ Metacritic - 57 ]
Sacred changes its formula and tries the action RPG route. campaign is designed to fill AI with missing human players. Gameplay rewards multi-player skill combos.
Strategy:
- Simulator[ Metacritic - 74 ]
Classic islander "Dictator Sim" adds coop gameplay, allowing to share resources and citizens. Game will cover eras from colonial times to the 21st century.
- RTS - 2 player[ Metacritic - 68 ]
Two people can defend a single castle.
- RTS[ Metacritic - 69 ]
Based within the WWII timeline, this series has been known to have a little of everything. From infantry battles, to tank runs, to stealth, to massive defenses, to a little of everything. Its diversity made it interesting, however its low budget showed in the end, mainly in the lack of UI testing. The great thing about a sequel, is now they can try to get it right with a new engine.
[ Metacritic - 83 | Video ] Indie
Game that released over 2 years ago, finally put to the PC. It it unique in the sense that your character defies gravity, much like VVVVVVV.
Trine 1 - Platformer - 2 player
[ Metacritic - 80 ]
The original is back, now on the Trine 2 engine. Meaning, better graphics and online coop. Original only had local coop.
[ Metacritic - 78 ]
Hackable open sandbox, allow multiple way to approach a mission. Oh, and it takes place in Chicago, which is apparently a "thing" right now. 8 player free roam mode
Metal Slug 3 - Arcade
[ Metacritic - 77 ]
Take a beloved classic and add online coop. One of the better enhanced titles.
[ Metacritic - 76 ] Indie
Gameplay is 2D side-scroller similar to Contra and Metal Slug. Craft, upgrade and customize your stuff.
- Driving Sim - 4 player[ Metacritic - 75 ]
An open world Driving game with a few coop game modes.
Project Spark - sandbox game builder
[ Metacritic - 75 ]Ability to share and collaborate building video game worlds and stories.
- action - 4 player[ Metacritic - 73 | Video ]
A sequel to the top down action puzzler Guardian of Light. The 1st was an amazing coop experience that was smooth and exciting from beginning to end. Built around coop in mind. unknown if the addition of 4 player chill the synergy of the first, or enhance the experience.
Classes: Human; Supernatural.
- 4 player[ Metacritic - 71 | Video ]
Coop can be experienced in side missions, separate from the campaign storyline. Skills and gear will carry over from the campaign and will also add progression for your single player.
[ Metacritic - 53 ] Indie
A lighter take on ARPG, character classes are defined from historical characters.
Play as: Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Napoleon Queen Elizabeth I, Nikola Tesla, Julius Caesar, Blackbeard, Marie Curie, Montezuma, Cleopatra, Leonardo da Vinci, Genghis Khan
2014 Summary
Overall 2014 was an incredible year for both shooters and RPG coop gamers. Both genres saw a huge point increase average from last year. additionally, there was much diversity in these fields allowing a little for everyone.
7 shooter avg rating 77.
A 15 point increase from 2013.
7 rpgs avg rating 77. Again another stunning 14 point increase from last year.
3 strategies, 70 average.
The Winners:
Far Cry 4 - In
the original Fry Cry, modders added coop/network support. Though buggy as one would expect, it gave a
taste of what a open sandbox shooter in a graphic rich environment could be
like. It would take exactly 10 years
later for the series to finally give coop players what they were wanting. They also went about it the “correct”
way. Without compromising single player,
they gave players an option to invite a friend to assist with the many spin off
missions, which would get tagged as completed in the single player world.
Divinity: Original Sins brought back the traditional coop
isometric RPG (ala Baldures Gate). Given the hit and miss history of the past
Divinity games, there was low expectation, but in the end, it was a home run
for anyone looking for a solid coop campaign story with real RPG elements.
Notable mentions:
Insurgency. Though
perhaps not well known as it is from a small developer, Insurgency focuses on
realistic combat with clasic coop gameplay; comparable to Red
Orchestra, but in the modern era.
Dark Souls 2 - Seamless Coop, the ability to jump
in and out of someones game seamlessly with no continuity is now a regular
thing. Dark Souls 2 takes the concept of seamless coop, and bundles a clean and polished presentation.
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris – This was a late add last year, released in
December. It’s a sequel, so expectations
were already set. The thing is, people
wanted more of the same, that’s exactly what they got. That’s a good thing.
The Losers:
Action APGs. The coop list just gets flooded with these button mashing
RPGs. Please just stop making them.
The Crew. This game
had so much potential and so many promises.
Yet in the end, it broke the coop rule of cheating AI. No thanks.
Survival were supposed to be the next big thing for 1st person action. DayZ Clones I called them. Naturally, one could assume the genera would bleed into some juicy coop gameplay. The reality, many of these games were indie devs, meaning low funding and poor management. Unless you like unfinished gaming, they all missed their 2014 mark. Now we are seeing AAA studios ramp up (Sony, Epic, etc) into the field, making perhaps all the indie promises irrelevant or at the very least a smaller voice in a ver crowded field.
Survival were supposed to be the next big thing for 1st person action. DayZ Clones I called them. Naturally, one could assume the genera would bleed into some juicy coop gameplay. The reality, many of these games were indie devs, meaning low funding and poor management. Unless you like unfinished gaming, they all missed their 2014 mark. Now we are seeing AAA studios ramp up (Sony, Epic, etc) into the field, making perhaps all the indie promises irrelevant or at the very least a smaller voice in a ver crowded field.
The games on this list, must meet the following criteria:
- PvE - Player vs Environment
- Online, no split screens
- Available/announced for PC
- Involve 2 or more human players
- Players must work along a progressive storyline, campaign, or various goals
- Generic RTS Skirmishes and Team based game types like CTF and Deathmatch are not included
- No MMOs (game must have a conclusion or set goal)
- Greenlight & Early Access games are generally not listed
- I'll be subjective with Survival/Horde modes as the genera has matured a bit. However, most are slapped-on after thoughts and not list worthy.
[ Last update: Jan 2015 ]
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