It's hard to believe we made it to 2013 unscathed, but here we go barreling towards a new generation of consoles. Luckily your Xbox 360, PlayStation and PC won't be collecting dust as the first half of the year is just JAM PACKED with co-op games. Electronic Arts comes out with the crown releasing four major co-op games in the span of 6 weeks. Some long awaited co-op games also hit and the PC is filled with some smaller titles sure to satisfy their audiences. Let's take a look at what 2013 has to offer for co-op gamers.
January
Anarchy Reigns (360, PS3) - Anarchy Reigns is a modern day beat em up with a focus on multiplayer but does feature a three player co-op survival mode. [3 Player Online Co-Op] [Review]
Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable (Vita) - A remake of the classic Xbox game with a fully featured online mode. [4 Player Online Co-Op] [Review]
The Cave (PSN, Wii U, XBLA, PC) - Ron Gilbert gives us an original adventure platformer full of his trademark comedy and plenty of style. [3 Player Local Co-Op]
Dungeonland (PC) - A somewhat interesting mixture of Gauntlet and D&D, DungeonLand lets three players take on enemies in a theme park. A 4th player can join in as a dungeon master for competition. [3 Player Local and Online Co-Op]
Retrovirus (PC) - You've got six degrees of freedom in this indie shooter that puts players in control of an anti-virus weapon. Play the campaign with a buddy either online or locally. [2 Player Local or Online Co-Op]
February
Dead Space 3 (360, PS3, PC) - Can a horror game have co-op? Oh noes says the internet. We say otherwise. [2 Player Online Co-Op]
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 (360, PS3) - I'm not sure what's going on this game, but they look absolutely fabulous beating the crap out of each other. [2 Player Online and Local Co-Op]
Aliens: Colonial Marines (360, PS3, PC) - It's game over for the Aliens as we team up in four player co-op and spout as many quotes from the series as possible. [4 Player Online Co-Op and 2 Player Local Co-Op (console)]
Alien Breed (PSN, Vita) - What's old is new again as the classic game is polished up for the modern age. [2 Player Local or Online Co-Op - Cross system play too!]
Omerta: City of Gangsters (360, PC) - Strategy? Check. Gangsters? Check. Simulation? Check. Nucky Thompson? TBD. Two co-op scenarios are available to players. [2 Player Online Co-Op]
March
SimCity (PC) - SimCity is being reborn as an online game where players can specialize and share resources. I'll be the city with the biggest red light district. [16 Player Online Co-Op]
Soul Sacrifice (Vita) - It's like a portable version of Dark Souls, Luckily this isn't developed by FROM Software, so hopefully you won't be "invaded" while playing this on the toilet. [4 Player Online Co-Op]
Gears of War: Judgement (360) - The only thing we'll be judging is how quickly this lives up to its predecessors - especially when Gears of War 3 was so fully featured. [4 Player Online Co-Op]
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel (360, PS3) - BRO! Did you see that mask BRO? The series takes a serious turn with two new "heroes." [2 Player Online and Local Co-Op]
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (WiiU, 3DS) - The popular Eastern series returns with cross platform play and plenty more monsters to kill. [4 Player Online Co-Op, 2 Player Local Co-Op (Console)]
FUSE (360, PS3) - Insomniac's first foray into multiplatform has been a long time coming but squad based co-op combat could be satisfying with their history of zany weapons. [4 Player Online Co-Op, 2 Player Local Co-Op]
April
Painkiller: Hell and Damnation (360, PS3) - Classic FPS shooting with plenty of things to shoot and the infamous "stake" gun - which sounds like a food, but only if you shoot it at a cow. [2 Player Online or Local Co-Op]
Dead Island Riptide (360, PS3, PC) - The surprise hit is back with a full fledged sequel adding in more intense battles and more strategy and of course, more bikini clad zombies. [4 Player Online Co-Op]
Star Trek (360, PS3, PC) - Kirk! Spock! Co-Op! BROS! Will there be lens flares? One can only hope as the game inspired by the Star Trek reboot hits this spring with the character likeness from the JJ Abrahms movies. [2 Player Online and Local Co-Op]
Defiance (360, PS3, PC) - It's sort of an MMO, but without the annoying subscription fees. Plus it ties into a real life TV show. [16 Player Online Co-Op]
The Rest of 2013
The rest of 2013 features a whole lot of unknowns, unconfirmed, and well, it's just plain empty. It seems the impending next-generation of consoles has put the announcements of whatever is going to happen in the Fall of 2013 as a virtual no-show. There's a few games to speak of for co-op fans, but for the most part it's a barren desert that'll only be satiated by new expensive hardware and the games that come with it.
May
Dynasty Warriors 8 (PS3) - No details yet on the sequel other than we'll be jumping in with over 70 characters to choose from. So far it's a PS3 only affair. [Co-Op support unconfirmed]
June
Dragon's Crown (PS3, Vita) - Dragon's Crown is a co-op brawler from Atlus and developed by VanillaWare. Slick visuals and hopefully tight controls will make this appealing in an otherwise empty summer. [4 Player Local and Online Co-Op]
August
Splinter Cell: Blacklist (360, PS3) - We're still waiting for more details on the next Splinter Cell's co-op, but we do know the game has some sort of co-op mode. Hopefully we'll see the same campaign treatment we saw in Splinter Cell: Conviction.
TBD
Monaco (360, PC) - Bank heists have never been this fun as players jump into different classes and try to avoid being busted. This one should be hitting sometime this spring, but a solid date hasn't been confirmed. [4 Player Local or Online Co-Op]
Earth Defense Force 2025 (360, PS3) - There's nothing more satisfying than killing thousands of bugs and robots with buddies and a beer. [4 Player Co-Op]
Disney Infinity (360, PS3, PC, Portable) - Taking a play from Skylander's, Disney is mixing toys with games and making an addictive drug. Franchises mix in this adventure game. [2 Player Local Co-Op, 4 Player Online Co-Op]
Divinity: Original Sin (PC) - A fully featured RPG featuring co-op combat and conversations. It's ambitious and if it works, it should be very rewarding. [4 Player Online Co-Op]
Brother's In Arms: Furious 4 (360, PS3, PC) - Unsure if we'll see Gearbox's next title this year, but if we do it promises to offer some solid co-op gameplay with players dropping into different roles in a bit of an over the top scenario. [4 Player Co-Op]
And that's it for now. Bring on the PS4 and the Next Xbox!