It's been a crazy and interesting year. We launched Co-Optimus.com some 11 months ago with two goals in mind - promote co-op gaming and provide co-op gaming information. Since that time co-op gaming has gone from a bullet point on the back of a box to the main feature promoted by publishers at press conferences. In total there were over 100 co-op games released this year, and that my friends is pretty damn awesome. As the staff looked back over the list it was pretty clear what the standout titles were, but that didn't make the decision any easier for choosing our Co-Op Game of the Year.
So now I present to you our first annual Co-Op Game of the Year Awards. Each staff member has picked their respective GOTY followed by the pick for the site.
Staff Picks
There are so many reasons to call a game your “favorite”, and it mostly boils down to what’s available to you. Of the co-op games I’ve played this year, my all-time favorite was Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2. It’s not the definitive shooter nor the definitive co-op experience, but it’s still a load of fun. Customizable face and clothing (including your own face if you choose), a great selection of weapons, and the best environment interaction I’ve ever seen make for some great co-op sessions if you have the patience for tactics. While issuing a patch to fix some community complaints, Ubisoft went the extra mile and added a mode that made versus combat less forgiving…similar to the wildly popular Hardcore modes in the Call of Duty games. I’m an amateur shooter in real life, and the gun models and animations in RSV2 are appealing, if not completely realistic; the handguns in particular draw me back to the game from time to time. There’s just something about a pistols-only co-op Terrorist Hunt that can make a rainy day so much fun, and this is one game that managed to keep the local and online co-op gamers happy: all modes can be played in splitscreen or online, and all modes contribute to your overall rank progression, so that no matter how you play…you feel like you’ve accomplished something.
Mike "Pheriannath" Katsufrakis
When five minutes of gameplay you get from a preview is better than anything you've played in the past few years, you know you've stumbled upon something special. From the first time I played Left 4 Dead at PAX '08 until its release, I championed this game's qualities everywhere I could. Upon its release, the rest of the gaming world got to experience that same magic: Valve managed to create a game where co-op was not only the star of the show, it was essential to the success of your team. The fact that by virtue of design, players naturally learn to work together and keep each other alive instead of being funneled into certain playstyles keeps your sense of freedom intact. It doesn't hurt that the competitive mode also requires precise teamwork. After all, one zombie does not an apocalypse make. Properly coordinated and executed attacks? That's just awesome.
When I saw the request for this article come in, I did my homework. I went back over all of the co-op releases over this past year and started thinking about what was a really outstanding co-op game. I tried, in other words, to think of some fantastic co-op title other than Left 4 Dead... and frankly I couldn't. The first time you and your friends face off against a Tank while simultaneously fighting off a horde of zombies amidst shouts from your teammates of "A hunter's on me, help!"… nothing else just seems to compare. For not only does Left 4 Dead put you in a situation where your very survival depends on working together, the game also wonderfully captures the feel of its source material and provides you with the opportunity to create your own zombie-horror flick narrative.
The first time I played through "No Mercy" with some friends, not all of us made it. Oh, we worked together as a group and had a few narrow escapes leading up to the finale, but that final standoff proved too much for some. When the chopper was almost there, a horde of zombies pinned down one of our comrades. Two of us ran back to attempt a rescue; the fourth just ran for the chopper. We were overrun and literally left for dead by our teammate, but none of us were mad. We were laughing. It was exactly like what you would see in a movie; one person manages to get clear of everything while the others get torn to shreds. In what was more or less a very un-co-op moment, I knew that this was a great co-op game. For even though our teammate left us, it was only thanks to being a team that we even got that far.
I first played Left 4 Dead around a month and a half ago, when the demo came out. I can honestly say that I played the demo more than I played most full games, and that's saying a lot coming from a big RPG fan. The game was just pure fun, before co-op even entered into the equation. Once you play co-op in Left 4 Dead, you never look at co-op the same ever again. Every other game seems to be lacking...something. In this game, teamwork isn't just fun (and often funny), it's essential. Walk away from your friends in Left 4 Dead, and you will soon find yourself dead or maimed by the special infected. The game is also excellent because it is exquisitely designed. Environments are varied and filled with hazards, multiple paths, and billions of places for zombies to hide. The weapons are balanced pretty well, and the different difficulty levels really give you different experiences.
My friends and I had a boatload of fun playing the game, but the really amazing thing is that some of my friends just had fun watching us play the game. My roommate just loves watching us play and he knows all the different bosses and their sound effects. The game just rocks, and there's something in it for everyone. Co-op fans can rejoice, as the standard for co-op has just been set.
As the resident casual gamer here at Co-Optimus, I am quite torn when choosing my favorite this year. If you had asked me a month ago, I'd have quickly picked Rock Band 2. In addition to delivering one of the finest co-op experiences of any game ever, RB2 tuned the already solid game play elements of the original to perfection. The user-friendliness of being able to import all your RB1 songs, plus DLC, sends it over the top. However, it's NOT a month ago. I've played Left 4 Dead, and I love it. It's like actually being in a zombie movie, from the music to the scares to the overwhelming eerieness of it all. Replayability and Vs. mode ensure that I'll be enjoying this title for a long while. If Rock Band 2 wasn't a sequel, maybe I would choose it, but the appeal of Left 4 Dead makes it my choice for game of the year, co-op or otherwise.
If Marc is the resident casual gamer, I am probably the resident single-player gamer who dabbles in co-op experiences. I have not had the luxury as of yet to play Left 4 Dead outside of the demo on the PC, but I find it hard to deny it is probably the best co-op experience this year given the amount of things people like Nick and Mike have said about it. For the games I have played and the Co-Op Nights I have experienced here at Co-Optimus, I have to say that Saints Row 2 and Rock Band 2 really stood out for me. I loved Saints Row 2, especially the Insurance Fraud mini-game that I talked about in the Co-Optimus review of the game. Rock Band 2 was also a lot of fun even though I could only hear Nick and Coop through my headset because I honestly never knew there was a slot for it in the darn guitars...heh. I'd have to give the nod to Rock Band 2 simply because of the immense amount of fun I had playing it during the Co-Op night.
For me, the game of the year really came down to two contenders. In one corner you have Gears of War 2, a solid sequel to one of the best cooperative games of all time. The game continues the standards it set in the first one and adds a 5 player co-op Horde mode. In the other corner you have Left 4 Dead. And while the game doesn't have an epic story, or many levels, it does have a bunch of intangibles. Whether it's the AI director, the level design, the graphics and sound cues, or just about anything the game simply exudes quality. Left 4 Dead creates a co-op experience out of necessity and gameplay, not by forced mechanics. It was a close race for me, but I have to tip my hat to Left 4 Dead simply because I had the most fun with it.
Co-Optimus 2008 Co-Op Game of the Year It should come as no surprise that Left 4 Dead is our Co-Op Game of the Year. The game exemplified a cooperative experience by simplifying things, and taking the basic need for survival to drive home teamwork. Solid graphics, great sound, and near infinite replayability all add to this title, but it's the sheer fun you have when playing with friends that make this the easy pick. Like nearly all of our editors have said - there's nothing else like it out there. So kudos to Valve, Turtle Rock Studios and everyone involved with Left 4 Dead. I'm sure we'll be playing it well into 2009!
Left 4 Dead