Cooperative Multiplayer Games

[TinCow]

My wife and I are both game addicts. Our office is setup so that our machines are next to one another and we upgrade them simultaneously to allow us both to play the newest games without one person being jealous of the other's computer. (Well, they're not precisely the same. Hers is .2ghz faster than mine at the moment. )

Unfortunately, we seem to spend a lot of our gaming time playing different games because we can't seem to find good ones to play together. Competitive multiplayer is fun, but only when we have relatively similar skill levels. When it comes to strategy/tactical games, I am simply much better than she is. This means she loses regularly and doesn't enjoy it very much. We are at about the same skill level for FPS, but there's not much fun to be had in 1 v 1 FPS matches.

The only place we have ever found any long-term multiplayer entertainment is in cooperative strategy games. With cooperative play, variable skill levels mean next to nothing and it becomes a very social experience. We've found success with HOMM3 and the Baldur's Gate series, but the vast majority of our cooperative gaming has been spent in Civ 4. It's perfect and we have had a great time doing it. However, we both like variety and there are times when we want to play together, but don't feel like Civ.

So, help us out. We need to find new (to us) gaming options that allow for cooperative multiplayer modes. I know Gears of War is coming out for PC soon with a coop mode, and we are looking forward to that. I already know about Doom, Doom 2, Quake, and Quake 2 coop. What else is there?

[FesterShinetop]

Well, SWAT 4 has great coop... and I enjoyed the coop in Raven Shield (Rainbow 6)... both FPS coop but also a lot different to the FPS games you mentioned!

[drone]

UT2004 has some great teamplay modes for co-op play, if you don't mind AI teammates as filler.

Most RTS games allow for co-op teamplay AI comp-stomps. Most should also have enhanced AI mods to make them even harder.

[Whacker]

Warcraft 3 vs. the AI is ok, but the only reason I played WC3 w/my friends is because I hate myself and my existence (I turtle, hence suck at most RTS's)

Starcraft also, but it's even worse because you'll die in about 10 seconds unless you rush yourself.

Rune Coop can be pretty fun, but it's different in a number of ways from the normal game. Rune is also one of my favorite original UT engine powered games.

GTR2 is moderately fun for a driving game, but we kinda questioned the physics implementation in it.

Some of the Doom3/Quake4 mods are good, like Last Man Standing, but they don't last very long in terms of replay factor IMO.

Playing BF1942 coop against the AI can be funny, the modern combat mod is great. It can be incredibly hilarious if you do stupid stuff, like try to crash into your friend/wife who's trying to drive a tank around with your jet/helicopter. It can also be a pretty decent challenge if you stack the odds enough in the AI's favor.

Jedi Outcast/Academy is ok for some interesting multiplayer, but that's going to be vs.

Mechwarrior 4 Mercs with the Mektek patch can be some good fun, but there isn't a whole ton of options in terms of replayability against the AI. If you collect some of the mods/addons out there, there's some good replayability at least for awhile. Mech3 on modern PCs does NOT work very well at all, in terms of MP and/or actual mechanical control, so I wouldn't recommend this.

Dungeon Siege II isn't... too bad of a dungeon crawler. You might try the demo and see if you both like it.

Diablo II was great back in the day, but the utterly ruined the game IMO with the 1.09 patches onward.

Titan Quest isn't bad either, but their network code is schloowww.


Will post more if I can think of any.

Edit - Consider yourself lucky too. My wife hates gaming. "That was gross! I can't believe you made that guy's head explode! EW is that intestines!??! GROSS JASON!"

[econ21]

My son and I enjoyed playing Dawn of War co-op, although the fact that we are already Warhammer collectors probably has a lot to do with it. I think the AI provides much more of a challenge in coop matches than solo, because it cooperates better than humans do (you often find yourself in a 2:1 battle if you are not careful).

I enjoyed playing Ghost Recon1 cooperatively - there is enough variety and tactics in the missions to make it rewarding.

[The Spartan (Returns)]

If you have a 360, Gears of War is really good.

[ElectricEel]

Recently, I got and have been playing Patrician III, which can be played in multiplayer cooperatively. A bit different from your usual choices, it seems - it is a trading game, set in Northern Europe in the heyday of the Hanseatic League. I think this short review gets across the idea of the game pretty well. I would add that due to the open-ended nature of the game, it is very possible to cooperatively work towards the goals you have set yourself in multiplayer.

I have no idea if you two would like this kind of game at all, but if you think it might be interesting, a quick googling revealed time-limited (but apparently, feature-complete) trial versions available here and here.

Links to a couple of other reviews:

Gamespot
IGN

[Papewaio]

For an FPS Gears of War is aimed first at 2 player co-op and secondly at single player. Great game, with fairly decent AI... although fairly linear paths (you should still deviate from the straight line to get the COGs).

Use crossfire to your advantage and cover, cover, cover.