The Best Coop Games of 2016

2016 was a pretty good year for gaming generally.  We had some truly great sequels like Dishonored 2 and Titanfall 2.  We also had some perfectly fine sequels like Dark Souls 3, Watch Dogs 2, and Uncharted 4.  On top of this we played some fun independent games like Inside, Firewatch, Oxenfree, and Samorost 3.  Even better, there were some surprising hits like Doom and Batman: The Telltale series.  And, of course, there was our favorite game of the year: The Last Guardian.  So while there were some high profile misfires, there was a lot to enjoy…..unless you like cooperative games.  This was a slow year for cooperative titles, though arguably it was somewhat better than last year.  Without further ado, here are our list of the best coop games of 2016.

5. Watch Dogs 2

Watch Dogs was a fun but overly serious game that didn’t deliver on the innovative gameplay the advertising promised.  Watch Dogs 2 avoids some of these errors by creating a more lighthearted world filled with people to rob, robots to control, and cameras to hack.  Still, playing the single player game can feel a bit dry once you complete some of the quests.  Here’s where cooperative play saves the day as Watch Dogs 2 wisely includes a pretty fun cooperative mode that lets you and a buddy tackle some individual missions and explore the sandbox world.  You can complete some short side missions, invade the games of other gamers, or defend against other gamers invading your game.  The experience is pretty shallow, but it can be a great cooperative game to pick up and play through on a slow afternoon.  Here’s hoping we see more cooperative play in future sandbox games.

4. Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens

At this point, Lego games can be divided into two groups: ones that are worth playing and ones that aren’t.  Lego Star Wars is one that falls into the former category.  The gameplay introduces a new cover-based shooting mechanic that breaks up the battles and the flying sequences hold up as well.  The designers, limited by the focus on just one movie, round out the game with backstories and side missions that keep things interesting.  Sure, there are some parts that feel like padding (seriously, EVERY SCENE in the movie is a level in itself) but the humor is sharp and fun (overhearing conversations between stormtroopers is a hoot).  The best part of the game, though, is the involvement of Harrison Ford as Han Solo.  He quips, he laughs, and he talks about Wookie Cookies.  Playing a game with Harrison Ford in it is worth the price of admission for me.

Man, even as a Lego, the man looks good.

3. Gears of War 4

We had been looking forward to the next Gears of War game for years.  The original is still one of the best cooperative games ever (it STILL holds up!) and Marcus Fenix is one of our favorite characters in any game.  Gears of War 4 delivers a fun cooperative cover-based shooting experience very similar to all of the previous games in the series.  Gears of War does everything fine but doesn’t really move the ball forward in any meaningful way.  New robotic enemies quickly feel repetitive, efforts to lighten the mood with Marcus’ bro-tastic son fall flat and the storm sequences annoyed more than anything.  As a result, it’s probably my least favorite game of the series.  However, there is an argument to be made that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and Gears of War’s gameplay is not broke.  Slamming into cover, tossing grenades at invading forces, stealing a few headshots and switching from guns to chainsaws as the enemy attacks is always a hoot.  We don’t know where the series should go next, but this title reminded us that the series has a lot of life left.  And, with the dearth of coop titles out there, we need Marcus Fenix more than ever.

Hey, Nathan Drake is way too pretty to be in a Gears of War game.

2. Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide

Vermintide was a surprise for us this year; we’d heard great things about the title on the PC but didn’t have a chance to play it until it appeared on PS4 this year.  In the game, you and a buddy pick one of the character types to play and head through some nicely designed 45-minute missions.  It feels like a modern take on the classic Gauntlet.  As you play, though you see the game lifts heavily from Left 4 Dead in terms of level design and enemy types, and this would really bother me if it appeared Valve had any interest in making cooperative games anymore.  But, absent a new Left 4 Dead or Portal title, I’m more than happy to play through a game that successfully mimics that style.  To our mind, though, the game actually improves on the template by letting you level up your characters with new weapons and skill points.  You can take on trickier tasks within missions to gain greater rewards and there are enough random elements in levels to make replays feel new.  While it is not the most creative game in the world, we loved the time we spent with Warhammer.  And, as long as Valve is slumbering, if anyone feels like making a game about a pair of medieval brawlers with a portal pistol or gravity gun, you have our support.

Just put out a few traps and that should take care of it.

And our number 1: The Division

We spent more time with The Division than with any other cooperative game this year.  We won’t argue that the game is perfect, but it provides a terrific vision of a bleak, post-apocalyptic New York.  Playing with a buddy to help the survivors take back the city feels empowering.  In the game, you wander the city and assist citizens against criminals and other evil elements who are attempting to capitalize on the chaos.  The skill points you obtain improve the survivors’ abilities to support you and the random weapons you find keep the gameplay interesting.  More than any cooperative title we played this year, The Division did the best job providing the rewards to keep us engaged, the environment that kept us interested, and the gameplay that we most enjoyed.  To be clear, The Division was not perfect: the enemies feel repetitive and the game ends somewhat anti-climatically.  But, more than any game this year, The Division did the best job keeping us engaged and was our best coop experience of the year.

Super nice to go out to look at the lights with a friend.