The highs of a great game can be so much sweeter when you share them with a friend or three, and co-op gaming has never been easier thanks to the rise of local multiplayer on PC and drop-in, drop-out online co-op. Here we've collected our favorite modern co-op games—grab some friends and dive in, and we hope you'll find something you haven't played before.
Left 4 Dead 2 (4 players, online)
Release Date:2009
Developer:
It's really saying something about the strength of Valve's terrific zombie shooter that it's still clawing its way onto lists like this one after six years. A fanatically balanced, cleverly written shooter, Left 4 Dead 2 is built on the strength of four survivors working as a team. As it throws zombies at the team, the group must coordinate their movement and help each other out of danger or death with last second heroics that give each campaign a story worth retelling.
Valve must also get some credit for how long it has supported L4D2, adding level editors, Steam workshop support, porting in the maps and characters from Left 4 Dead 1, and continuing to offer “mutations,” always-changing game modes that offer something new for experienced players.
Left 4 Dead 2's active modding community is also a huge part of why this game comes so highly recommended, as it has produced new campaigns, like Lord of the Rings' Helms Deep castle, which have kept L4D2 fun even after the base campaigns grew old. Plus, you can play as a velociraptor, which clearly warrants our highest praise.
Grand Theft Auto V (30 players, online)
Release date: 2015
Developer: Rockstar North
GTA Online has a whole of stuff going on, but the multiple heists in the game bring out the best in Rockstar’s open-world playground. Four players team up to conquer a series of story-like missions that involve each team member performing a different role building up to a bigger heist. This includes everything from stealing vehicles as part of the setup to assassinations and other interconnected tasks—the missions very cleverly allow everyone to feel like they’re playing a key part in the journey towards that endgame of earning mega money.
When all four players come together in the finale of each heist, making a dramatic escape from the cops as a collective is incredibly exciting and rewarding—more so than anything found in the main story. If only Rockstar would make more of them. They’d be worth paying for.
Arma 3 (64 players, online)
Release date:2013
Developer: Bohemia Interactive
Arma takes second place on this list almost entirely due to its massive scale. It's one thing to have an adventure with two or three friends, sure, but the Arma engine supports dozens of players at once. There's really something to be said for having a human pilot fly you and ten humans to a war zone, drop you off, and leave you to link up with twenty other humans for an assault. Arma 3 doesn't have to be strictly cooperative, of course, but it's included on this list because it shines the brightest when everyone's on the same side against an overwhelming AI foe.
While you're diving into Arma 3, be sure to check out the Zeus multiplayer mode. One player, as Zeus, runs the game as a D&D-style dungeon master, spawning equipment and enemies. Anger your vengeful god, and Zeus will strike you down with a bolt of lightning. It's a fantastic, flexible take on co-op mission scripting that should not be missed.
Far Cry 4 (2 players, online)
Release date:2014
Developer: Ubisoft
The quiet joy of Far Cry is anticipation. Creeping up to an outpost builds tension. Taking out a couple of guards builds even more tension. Eventually, someone spots you, you go loud, and all hell breaks lose.
With a friend, the peaks and valleys of a Far Cry 4 attack is even greater. Co-op partners can always see outlines of each other, so it’s possible to watch quietly as your buddy does something truly risky. When it’s time to go loud, Far Cry 4’s huge variety of toys makes the chaos amazing to play with. Why slink around in the shadows when you can drop grenades from a helicopter as your friend charges the front door on a war elephant?
Portal 2 (2 players, online and local)
Release Date:2011
Developer: ValveI know, I know: shocker. Portal 2, one of the most critically acclaimed games of the last five years, is on a best-of list? Surprise! There's no denying the raw quality of Portal 2's distinct co-op campaign, though. As the two testing robots Atlas and P-Body, you and a friend get to explore the darker, more dangerous side of GlaDOS's testing routines—the stuff that's too dangerous for (non-protagonist) human testers. The three-dimensional spatial thinking that makes the Portal series so addictive is only magnified when there's another friend getting stumped at the puzzles with you.
Portal 2's co-op is strongest when neither of you know the answer: if your partner waits patiently for you, you feel like a moron; if they don't, they'll be rushing you through all the discovery that makes the game great. Three years after release, though, finding two fresh players would be a rare trick indeed. Luckily, Valve's excellent map editor community has created a full array of excellent new maps to explore, and get stumped in, together.
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