My g/f and I are looking to play something new. Preferably something progressive. We have outplayed Left 4 Dead 2 (we both like zombies, what can I say!) We’ve given it a few more runs, but nothing serious and nothing with any longevity.
We’re looking for an RPG that is progressive and allows cooperative play. We both loved Diablo 2, but it is also outplayed. D3 is the obvious choice, but alas… Blizzard has not chosen to bless us with its release yet. C’est la vie.
Anyway, we aren’t opposed to FPS games either. She’s not big on the war genre (or mostly any other FPS genre except slaying zombies, which I’m cool with), but we’re looking for something…anything.
I was browsing Steam and noticed Sacred 2, which is apparently a pretty good D2 clone. We aren’t STRICTLY looking at hack-and-slash, but something as complex as a D&D-based PC game is probably a bit much even for me. I played through games like Neverwinter Nights (1 and 2) and Baldur’s Gate, respectively. I don’t think I have the patience for how MASSIVE they are. Big is fine, sure. We aren’t opposed to MMORPGs either, but probably not something that’s a massive time sink and allows casual players to compete.
I’ve been trying to find games my girlfriend and I can play as well. Unfortunately her computer is pretty slow so it limits us. I had success with Diablo 2 as well since she enjoyed it quite a bit but that got old and we don’t play much together anymore. We had some success with Titan’s Quest, which is a decent Diablo clone but very dated now. We also played quite a bit of League of Legends but that stopped being fun since our skill levels were drastically different and it can get competitive. I wish I could convince her to buy a new computer…
Progressive…Character development, assigning skills, all the common traits of a well-constructed RPG. I’ve heard the term used to describe games of that sort before…Guess it’s not very mainstream.
She has a decent PC so that shouldn’t be an issue for most games. We played D2 a bit and also got bored (we’ve both played it in its entirety probably 25+ times). Titan’s Quest was an idea but like you said, it’s dated.
Dragon Age: Origins was atop our list until we learned it was SP.
NWN2 I’ve played and beaten. There were also many bugs with the game that often pissed me off (especially in online play).
Hellgate…Pretty sure that’s down for the count.
DS2 is dated, I think, but satisfies the D2 clone possibility.
It seems there are co-op mods out for Oblivion. I have never tried them and sorting out all the mod stuff may be a hassle for you but it might be your best bet.
Here’s another vote for Titan Quest. I would only consider it somewhat dated; I find the graphics and technology to be more than adequate. It’s the best Diablo2 clone I’ve played.
Borderlands is also a great game in co-op; it’s a post-apocalyptic FPS with some Action-RPG elements (levelling up, loot, and some skills). Plus, there are a few DLCs out there, one of which offers zombies.
I’ll have to check it out when I get home from work. Chances are we’ll just tinker around with L4D2 a bit more until we get sick of it again. I’ll mess around with Oblivion in the meantime.
I second (or whatever) the recommendation for Dragon Age. If you like the game there are a bunch of DLCs available for the first one (definitely get the golem one, if nothing else), and there is an expansion with an additional bunch of DLCs for that as well. It’s a pretty captivating story, and has all the classic RPG elements to build your character in which ever way you like. I went the elf bowman route, but you can do pretty much anything, and there are a pretty wide selection of companions with a variety of skills and abilities to augment your party in which ever direction you want to go.
I’d also second Fallout 3 if you like FPS RPGs…it was, IMHO, a really fun game to play, and again there are tons of DLCs (plus user made content) out for it. Oblivion is similar as someone else mentioned.
Personally, I’m waiting for Fallout New Vegas to come out in October…should be really good from what I’ve seen.
Lord of the Rings Online is a MMORPG but it’s now free to play. The “main” epic story quest is very RPG-ish in that it leads you through a long obvious plot line rather than just saying “Go out and kill stuff until you level”. Not that it’s lacking in “Go kill stuff” style quests either or stuff to do outside of the main quest line.
The “free to play” does have restrictions but you can decide for yourself if it’s eventually worth upgrading to a monthly paid account or buying perks a la carte. Nothing to lose if you decide it’s not really for you.
Links would be appreciated; the forum over at the ES Nexus has some discussions about some multiplayer mods, but apparently they are rather buggy, as the original game was not designed for it.
Thank you all for the suggestions. We’re probably gonna stick with L4D2 and maybe check out “Dead Rising 2” on Steam when it comes out at the end of the month.
If you enjoyed Diablo 2, I would definitely say check out Titan’s Quest. It’s old, but the engine and graphics hold up well. In fact, I would say D2 is more dated than Titan’s Quest, but I haven’t played D2 with the latest patches released earlier this year, so I don’t know whether they made any updates to the engine or graphics.
Borderlands, mentioned above, is also a fun co-op FPS. It’s got Diablo-style random loot generation, plus character classes and progression, and a quirky post-apocalyptic sense of humor. Very stylized.
For casual-friendly MMORPGs, well, you can pretty much take your pick. Casual-friendly is almost required nowadays if they expect any hope of market penetration at all. You can always pick a setting you like and do a free trial (most offer one). MMOs I would check out for casual-friendly gaming: World of Warcraft, Age of Conan (avoid crafting, though), City of Heroes/Villains, Champions Online. MMOs I would avoid as a casual player: Everquest 2, EVE online (though you’re bound to find differing perspectives on that). Of course, these games are designed to hook players in and get them wanting to push the button on the Skinner Box, so while you say you want to avoid time sinks, they may well turn in to time sinks anyway, depending on your level of obsession and love for Skinner Boxes.
Definitely not for everyone so I am careful to recommend it.
Can it be casual? You bet. Can it be hard core? Definitely.
Still, I wouldn’t recommend it for casual gamers. That said its focus on team play and achieving goals (and not getting “X” loot from “Y” dungeon but rather actually affecting the whole gamer universe in real ways) is better than anything I have found elsewhere. Definitely not for everyone though and not for the faint of heart.
And EVE is far from the Skinner Box that WOW and its ilk are. Unless you want to say anything we do for reward/enjoyment can be reduced to a Skinner Box.
Mount & Blade: Warband is multiplayer and it’s fairly cheap and works great on older machines. It’s RPG single-player aspect doesn’t carry over to multiplayer, but since you played L4D2 that shouldn’t matter. The graphics are dated, but it’s a lot of fun.
Borderlands is probably the most co-op friendly game that’s come out in a while, but I see it’s already been mentioned. The Rainbow Six games also have integrated co-op. Dead Rising 2 will have it, when it comes out in about a month.
For strategy games, Red Alert 3, C&C 4 and Dawn of War 2 all have co-op campaigns, IIRC.
