Couch Co-Operative games

JemyM

JemyM

Okay, now roll sanity.
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Me and my friends sometimes enjoy gathering to play games together rather than online.

With that we have a continued quest to find games that offers support for at least 3 players on screen at the same time. I wanted to dedicate this thread for what we found.

We have access to XBox Live, Playstation Network, PC, iPhone and PSP.

Castle Crashers (XBox Live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsLHvg93bX4
The most fun game we played together was Castle Crashes on XBox Live. Castle Crashers is a mix between a sidescrolling beat-em up and rpg. It's short enough to beat in a single day but if that isn't enough there is more to do. One particular note is the awesome music this game have.

Scott Pilgrim vs the world (XBox Live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAY4vNJd7A8
A sidescrolling beat-em up for XBox Live with oldschool pixel art. I would say that this was a much harder game than Castle Crashers but still fun.

Dungeon Siege (PSP)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flFM7ZtLkco
Dungeon Siege for PSP is similar to the PC version but allow for players with multiple PSP's to connect to the same game. I personally didn't find this way of playing games was as enjoyable to use a television screen. It can also be quite expensive for multiple players to buy the same game.

Dungeon Hunter 2 (iPhone)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qq3-5Vajw8
I do not know if DH1 have co-op. A diablo-clone that allows multiple players to join up for a co-operative game. Have similar issues as Dungeon Siege for PSP above, a bit pricy for multiple players and not as enjoyable as using the same screen.

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance (PSN)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrdz_ohdSJw
We have yet to try this out but I will tell you when the day comes whether or not it's good enough. A diablo-clone with support for up to 4 players on screen at the same time.

XMen (various)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYXS_SdlIsM
The title sums up a wide range of RPG's with co-operative gameplay such as XMen: Legends, XMen: Legends 2, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. I found theese titles a fun mix between beat-em up and RPG, where players really fulfill unique roles and have to teamwork to suceed.

Magicka (PC)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgn0WJFxWNI
One of the better recent co-operative games on PC. In Magicka each player plays a wizard with the ability to combine various powers into stronger spells. The game is set in norweigan mythology and looks like a cartoonish version of Baldur's Gate. It have quite a lot of humor which might fit a group of players that doesn't take what they do too seriously.

Trine (PC)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k7Zkp_4ro4
A tremendously beautiful three-player physics-based platformer. Requires a quite strong PC to play, or a PS3.

Champions of Norrath (PS2)
Including it's sequel. These two are among the best co-operative multiplayer RPG-stylish games on PS2 that unlike Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance have support for up to 4 players.

OpenBOR
http://lavalit.com:8080
OpenBOR is an engine capable of playing custom made sidescrolling Beat-Em Ups. Among it's titles are several sequels to old arcadetitles such as Final Fight and Double Dragon. You must be a member to be able to download games from the site.

MAME (PC)
When all else fails, the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator contains tons of great games done to be played by multiple players that can also be beaten within a reasonable timeframe. Best of all of these is probably the two Dungeons & Dragons games that was universally enjoyed.
 
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If I'm not mistaken, I believe at least one of the Halo games supports this as well. But I may be remembering it wrong.

It's the kind of game that I really love - and it's hard to find my kind of game that supports even 2 players on screen.

The Dark Alliance games don't work on Xbox 360 (Xbox versions). At least, I can't get them to work. Some say the US versions can work.

The only recent one I know of is the Lara Croft Guardian of Light thingy - but since this thread is for 3+ players - it's out.

What about the Alien Breed games? Only 2?

There are some board game conversions, I believe. Catan should be one?
 
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A way to find co-operative games is to go to http://www.co-optimus.com/games.php.

Select system. On the right select Couch Co-Op and "filter". In the URL you can change playerNum=2 to playerNum=3 if you like.
 
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When I was a kid my friends and I played a lot of games huddled around the TV like Mario Kart or Street Fighter. Though I had moved on to PC gaming at the time a friend of mine had Goldeneye and Smash Bros. on the N64 and we had some good times with those.

Now-a-days though I am the only one in my friendship circle that still plays games, so no couch co-op for me. My wife played Trine with me briefly but she did not enjoy it (she only plays puzzle games like Peggle and such).
 
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- Rabbids games. I assume they can be played in cooperatives, too. ;)

I played the demo of the then newest game "Rabbids Go Home" at the last Games Com - and it was huge fun, playing it with 4 different people ! :lol:

I think it can be played with 2 people as well …


As a sidenote, "Rabbids Go Home" *does* exist as a PC game as well - only not commercially : The *only* *legal* distribution of the PC version I know of was with the German magazine called "Computer Bild Spiele" 10/2010.
 
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Fable 2 XBOX 360 is couch co-op. It's an alright game.
Sacred 2 Fallen Angle is co-op as well.
Uhh Diablo for the original Playstation? Lol.
Xmen Legends 1&2

I could make a big list but,
these are ones I enjoy playing.

I remember being annoyed when the Playstation version of Darkstone did not have couch-cooperative :(

And just then BAM I realized this is a NON RPG thread. Retreats.
 
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The LEGO games are ok for this, but I believe they are limited to two players.
 
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The various Rock band iterations are great coop fun, but they demand a hardware investment.
Comet crash is a good 3-player tower defense game on PSN.
Little big planet should probably be mentioned as well.
X-men the arcade game on XBLA/PSN features 6-player coop, but the suspense is lost since you can't run out of quarters.
Otherwise I love the borderlands co-op for FPS/ARPG loot-grinding, unfortunately the local coop is limited to 2 players.
 
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Today we played Dungeon Hunter: Alliance and Magicka.

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance had an annoying inventory system that kept us from enjoying it. Loot was locked so only one player could pick it up, for fairness I guess, but this ended up mostly frustrating. With four players who have played Diablo before it could be quite fun, but it is not a game for an RPG beginner.

Magicka was awesome, incredibly fun to play like this. It is very difficult at first to figure out how to control your character, but after a level or two you do it with ease and you try complex spell combinations, you co-operate and you laugh to the hillarious stuff in the game. Magicka is currently the #1 game for 4 players on PC (on Co-Optimus).
 
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Not strictly legal, but for the old stuff we often using the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (M.A.M.E.). Many of those have support for 4 players, X-Men even have 6 player support. Golden Axe 2 was an odd title on Arcade since it kept no characters from Golden Axe 1. Mega Drive seem to be the best console for the Golden Axe series.

Enhanced remakes, usually with the option to play with 4 characters, can be downloaded for OpenBOR (Open Beats of Rage).

I have been a huge fan of retrogaming and emulation since the 90-ies. Many "complete collections" for various systems float around on the webs.
 
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What about red dead redemption (ps3, but xbox too I think) ? I almost bought a ps3 for that game alone :) It can be played co-op in an open world (think it supports >2 players, see no reason why it shouldnt). Tons of fun.

And it is a rpg too, well I roleplay it anyways :p
 
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I don't think there's a coop mode in RDR? Certainly not on the couch?
 
there is a free co-op DLC. But, indeed, I have somehow missed the 'together rather than online.' and interpreted 'couch' differently. Still, get a second ps3 in the same room and you can do it couch-like. :)

Not many games that still offer splitscreen support though, except if you go way back as mentioned. You got too many requirements, I'm already glad I find a good co-op game for 2 players online/over lan.
 
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"Micro Machines" was a great Co-Op game series ... But I don't think it exits today ...
I think a few later installments of the series of the series were also available for the PS2 ...
 
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ilm said:
What about red dead redemption (ps3, but xbox too I think) ? I almost bought a ps3 for that game alone :)
Click to expand...

Red Dead Redemption is the only console exclusive this generation that has me wishing I owned a console. I still hold out a small bit of hope that it eventually comes to the PC.
 
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I retract my words. I did bought my ps3 a week ago just for RDR. Though, perhaps I can play TW2 on it too, my 6-year old laptop isn't nearly that strong anymore (divinity 2 was ok on 640x480 :p ) and a console is still cheaper than a new pc.

In a way RDR is more rpg-like for me than some real rpg's, a huge world and lots of atmosphere.

sorry for the off-topic here.
 
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