I recently got a new computer, and for once, I got it before my old computer was so obsolete it would only function as a door-stop. For the first time in my life, I have two computers capable of playing any game on the market, networked together.
The thing is, I don’t really like most of the multi-player modes in most of the games I have. Death Match is one of the most tedious gaming experiences of my life. Unreal Tournament 2004 has a lot of different game modes, and some of them are really cool, but they all get pretty repetitive pretty quickly. What I really want is something like the co-op mode in Halo, where two people can play through the game’s main storyline. Unfortunetly, the last PC game I remember that had anything like that was the original Doom. Is there anything out there on the PC that has a co-operative multiplayer that actually has some sort of plot to it?
I’m not just interested in FPS: I’ll play just about anything, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, but what I’m chiefly looking for is a shooter of some sort.
Well, a lot of FPS games have third party ports that add co-op. For instance, Half-Life has Sven Co-op (http://svencoop.com), a mod that allows you to play through the Single player game with friends, or any of hundreds of custom “co-op adventure” levels. Not really a huge huge fan, since the HL SP game isn’t really built to be as fun with multiple people, but its fun. And before too long, it’ll all be redone to have state of the art graphics.
Right now, my favorite MP game is Natural Selection. (http://www.natural-selection.org), a mod for Half-Life (with updated graphics). What you might like about it is that it’s built like a strange merging of an RTS and an FPS and because of this, the game, at least the classic mode, plays out much like a joint adventure, full of strategic stands to hold certain areas, building up tech, getting orders from your commander, etc. At least on the games that are well balanced, it’s a very exciting cooperative experience, because your team really needs to work together well to succeed and coordinate your efforts.
A mike (to talk to your teamates without typing) and broadband are a must.
Morelin and I just broke out our copy of Diablo 2 and the expansion to play on the LAN. As old as it is, it’s still an awesome game and in coop, it’s a blast, especially once you get minions.
My flatmate and I play a load of RTS games, best ones are Warcraft III, Rise of Nations and Command and Conquer Generals, verses computer players. It really helps if you can shout at the other guy to discuss strategy.
The Rainbow Six series support co-op, but it can be a bit anal retentive at times. Serious Sam (the first one and ‘the second encounter’) have terrific co-op modes - just you and you mate verses 1000 enemies
System Shock 2’s patch has a co-op mode, but it’s a pretty slow FPS.
I second Diablo II. There’ nothing like having two paladins beating the living snot out of everything.
I did not know that! Awesome, I’ll have to fire that up again.
Thanks for the great suggestions so far! Neverwinter Nights has been, so far, the only game I’ve really gotten any play out of on my network. Should’ve mentioned that in the OP. I love me some Diablo II, but all of my friends are sick to death of it, so that’s unfortunetly out. Serious Sam had been previously recommended to me. I think I’ll have to move that up to my “must buy” list. Should be cheap now, too. Always a plus.
Hadn’t thought of looking for Half-Life mods, although I should have. Heck, the reason I bought the new computer in the first place was in anticipation for Half-Life 2, although the way things are going, it looks like it’ll already be obsolete by the time the game finally ships. :rolleyes: Thanks for that suggestion, Apos.
RTS games are not really my cup of tea. I buy maybe one a year, and that generally fulfills my RTS needs. I do have Rise of Nations, though, and like it pretty well, so maybe I’ll give that one a shot.
Thanks for the suggestions so far, and keep 'em coming!
Sudden Strike 2. This amazing RTS is severely underrated, mainly because most of the single player scenarios outside the German and Russian campaigns blow. The multiplayer is astonishingly good, with five playable factions available (though the Japanese are poorly balanced on land-based maps), chokepoint-driven gameplay (capture and hold positions for reinforcements to arrive), a necessity for cooperation, etc.
Unlike Blitzkrieg, your troops are not resuppliable here, and must be conserved. The game has a heavy emphasis on artillery and air support; it is often crucial to get your bomber and fighter escort airborne before anything else to bomb the living crap out of the enemy airfield. A careful, combined-arms approach is always necessary: a column of Koengistigers is not very effective unsupported, as the tank commanders will get plinked by enemy infantry, lose a lot of visibility, and probably take heavy artillery fire before they can achieve much. Binocular-equipped snipers and officers are worth their weight in gold. It can take well over an hour to gain two hundred meters of properly defended land. It’s just fun as hell.
Ghost Recon has great multiplayer co-op. As far as plot goes…you can play through the original game (and it’s two expansions) in Mission mode, which have you accomplishing goals (rescuing downed pilots, destroying a weapons stash, etc.) in co-op mode.
Bonus: you can get the Gold Edition (Ghost Recon + Desert Siege + Island Thunder) for under $20.
Added bonus: there are thousands of mods for the game. It has a very dedicated fanbase. Once you play through the original game, you can dowload new single missions or entire campaigns. If you end up getting the game, I highly recommend the Frostbite mod.
Heck, e-mail me if you want to do some co-op Ghost Recon! I can usually scare up a couple of people to join in.
Serious Sam was already mentioned – I’ll throw my vote behind that one as well. Did you ever play “Smash TV” in the arcades many years ago? Sam is like that – wave after wave after wave of more enemies than you’ve ever seen on a single computer screen, all attacking at once. Fortunately, you’ve got big guns to handle it, and when you play multiplayer you can respawn an unlimited number of times, so you’re basically playing for score/death ratio. Plus, you can have multiple people play split screen on one computer, while other people can join in on LAN/WAN at the same time. You can also start/save anywhere, and have new players join in at any time. The only drawback is that after several hours of play, you’ll get the worst case of claw hand you can imagine because most of the time it’s constant run-and-gun. It’s a BLAST!
As a bonus, you can find both Serious Sam and Second Encounter in most places for $5-$10…
Operation Flashpoint is an outstanding co-op game, though it’s a pretty tough, unforgiving shooter like Rainbow Six.
If you’re going to dust off System Shock 2, head over to System Shock Rebirth to pick up a graphics update. Some modders out there have redone some skins and textures to help it out in this day and age of advanced graphic cards.
Are co-op games not popular enough for companies to make them? When I heard Halo was coming to PC I was overjoyed because playing it co-op on an X-Box ROCKED. But sadly, the PC port did away with a multiplayer co-op campaign. I keep wishing games like AVP and Half Life, or WW2 shooters like Call of Duty would offer multiplayer co-op campaigns, but alas all we get are the same ol’ team deathmatch and capture the flag. (Though Onslaught in UT2K4 is pretty sweet!)