This list will be continuously updated throughout the year.
Coop list for a different year
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 unless intent for release is stated
- 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.
Shooter
[ Metacritic - 82 ]
3rd person tower defense game similar to the last but more flushed out and perhaps less micro transactions.
- 4 player - May[ Metacritic - 69 | video ]
From the makers of Borderlands, its a 1st person PvE MOBA like game with a SP/coop story.
[ Metacritic - 79 ]
Tom Clancy's open-world RPG shooter oriented around a pandemic in New York.
[ Metacritic - 75 ]
Coop wave battles, with better graphics & more gore. More sci-fi guns.
[ Metacritic - 78 ]
I didn't play the original, but it looks a heck of a lot like a Painkiller game.
[ Metacritic - 54 ]
A separate set of missions, separate from single player story. Picking from classes with different abilities, following little stories.
Gears of War 4 - 2 player
[ Metacritic - 86 ]
Action shooter bromance returns to PC. Oddly, coop is the big selling point for this series.
[ Metacritic - 58 ]
Takes the Space Hulk concept of space marines wondering in a gothic space ships shooting space bugs, ala 1st person l4d.
[ Metacritic - 86 ]
DLC adds survival mode
RPG
[ Metacritic - 83 ]
In developmeny forever, this will be released this year.
Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear - RPG - 6 player - Q1
[ Metacritic - 77 ]
An expansion for the Enhanced Baldurs Gate, takes place between 1 and 2 with option to carry over players from v1.ED. 25 hours of gameplay.
Moon Hunters - aRPG 4 player - Jan 2016
[ Metacritic - 62 ]
Procedurally generated pixalated Diablo clone.
[ Metacritic - 62 ]
Procedurally generated pixalated Diablo clone.
[ Metacritic - 43 ]
Build a theme park with a friend. Details limited.
[ Metacritic - 80 ]
Work together as the Plague to wipe out humanity
[ Metacritic - 73 ]
2015 game that recently added coop to the non-linear campaign. A survival 4X RPG roguelike with crafting and card combat
Action
Cute cartoony Isometric shooty fest. Second player limited to a single character.
[ Metacritic - 84 ]
BAD
Older Marvel superhero game that never made it to the PC. Port has been reported a down right the worst in recent memory.
BAD
Looks like a fantasy version of BroForce. Cross Device gameplay (Xbox & PC)
[ Metacritic - 69 ]
Notable as its from Mojang
[ Metacritic - 38 ]
Isometric shooter takes place after the new movies.
[ Metacritic - 59 | video ]
Rouglelike dungeon crawler made by the Shadowrun Devs.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan - 4 player
[ Metacritic - 51 ]
Continuing from the success of the retro transformers game using cell shading; We get a full campaign of TMNT as a throwback to the old coop arcade era.
Rouglelike dungeon crawler made by the Shadowrun Devs.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan - 4 player
[ Metacritic - 51 ]
Continuing from the success of the retro transformers game using cell shading; We get a full campaign of TMNT as a throwback to the old coop arcade era.
Simulator
[ Metacritic - 79 ]
2 players control same car. Unclear if this is online or local only coop.
Survival
[ Metacritic - 83 ]
Due to popular demand, developers add coop to the Don't Starve license.
[ no review | video ]
Isometric survival game where you and friends scavenge for stuff in the jungle, fighting off demons that hate the light.
In the 2015 coop summary, I mentioned coop gaming was slipping into a slouch. For 2016, the slip has become a landslide. AAA play it safe with well worked formulas (such as Gears of War 4, Grim Dawn, Baldur’s Gate expansion); other AAA tack on Coop to a already srtong franchise (Tomb Raider); while the indies tire the field with 8 bit mundane crap. Speaking of tired, I am damn tired of games stuck in early access, to the point I pulled about 10 of them from the list. I'm done waiting one more year for these unfinished games that can not commit to a deadline. Needless to say, there was not much to get excited over coop gaming in 2016. Hopefully this can only mean that we'll have less games, but of better quality for 2017.
9 Shooters avg 74. A 2 point decrease, continuing the slide down.
4 RPGs, avg 70. Breaks even with last year.
3 strategies, avg 65. A drop of 15.
The Winners
Don't Starve Together
Indie dev Klei does the survival PvE genera proper. Instead of tacking on a coop component that you could try and play friendly, Don't Starve Together reinvents the original Don't Starve with strictly coop in mind. The result, is a well thought out, clean, and wonderfully original feel to an otherwise washed out field of all the same. It great to see that something that came by popular demand by their fans, were given such a warm response instead of a modded experience. The other plus, the game gets regular enhancements after launch.
Plague Inc: Evolved
Running with the successes of the tablet game, Plague Inc for PC adds coop, where 2 viruses can work together to wipe out humanity. Game adds additional gameplay elements to offset the extra player
Notables
Local Coop
When I started these lists, I had a strict online coop only requirement. In part it was to exclude all those damn Lego games and help keep the list short. The down side, I've missed out on some fantastic coop experiences. True, couch coop tend to be platformers, but the genera has seen some really great content recently; thanks in part to indie developers. Games like Child of Light, Never Alone, and Salt and Sanctuary are all artistic expressions of entertainment with all unique takes on the same genera. Looking forward to more original local coop experiences.
The Losers
Nostalgic games based on movies
Ghostbusters - Ultimate Alliance 2
Ghostbusters - Ultimate Alliance 2
Crappy nostalgic movies will always make for crappy games. Some place, some where, there is an executive that thinks that if you combine all that the right check boxes, such as a great IP , and coop, and explosion;. then you'll get a fantastic game. Nope, you just get metacritc scores under 60.
EA Games - Gears of War 4
EA Games - Gears of War 4
EA's insistance to keep games out of Steam, has left PC gamers wondering if the game ever came out. Gear's was a fun series, and its great it returned to the PC. But who knew? Because it never showed up on the most popular PC marketplace.
No comments:
Post a Comment