8 Mediocre Games Saved By Co-Op

We all have those games – it might have been a gift from friends or family or it might have been buying into the hype too much or just bargain bin shopping(that’s bundle shopping nowadays, isn’t it?). The games we try out and find not to be all that great, it can be a terrible game or something that just don’t jive with us fully.

Among those games though there are a few with an odd blessing; sometimes when you’re pushing through all those grey corridors or the bad voice acting, a friend makes all the difference. Here is a list of games that might not be great but are greatly improved by having a friend and perhaps a cooler full of brews at your side.

 

Ghost Recon Wildlands

In many ways this is the game that made me write this list in the first place. By yourself, Wildlands is a rather mediocre military shooter with some interesting stuff in it. Its main problem is dumb AI and that your squad is overpowered. Most situations can be solved by just waiting for the sync shot to cool down, kill some guards, rinse and repeat. In co-op, though, your squad gets replaced with other players and all of a sudden you need to actually plan ahead and play carefully. There is something really satisfying in making a plan, having it go sideways, stealing a helicopter, throwing a drone into its rotor blades and parachuting out of the flaming wreck to victory with your friends.

 

Gears of War series

The early Gears of War games were awesome and gave me tons of enjoyment. However, after a decade or so of chainsaw rifles, knee-high cover and do-rags, it has become a tad stale. With a friend, the co-op gameplay is still highly enjoyable both in the campaign and especially in its horde mode. Survive wave after wave of increasingly strong and angry baddies while building defenses and obstacles. I don’t think I could play another hour of a Gears campaign at this point but I’d happily jump into some horde mode with friends.

 

The Lord Of The Rings: The War In The North

The War in the North is a butchering of Tolkien lore that has since only been surpassed in its offensiveness by Shadow of Mordor. Come to think of it, that game might be fun in co-op as well if it had any. Anyways, as an action RPG it is an ok venture that lacks anything resembling a good story or atmosphere. For the diehard Tolkien nerd, there are some fun tidbits of lore that are interesting, if you can rummage through all that other gunk first. It’s lucky then that it has a pretty fun co-op mode that lets you and your pals take the role of the ‘not quite the fellowship’ fellowship as you stride north to defeat ‘not quite the dark lord’ dark lord. This one comes with a strong recommendation against the PC version though as the developers were soon sacked after it was finished and the built-in voice chat is just atrocious, with no chance of getting fixed.

 

Donkey Kong Country

Now this might be a bit controversial on a list of not quite great games. I enjoyed the game when it came just as any of you, however looking back at it, it has its problems. The controls aren’t as precise as you would like and there are a few really bad parts in the middle of the game. That said it is still a blast running through the levels with a friend. With the impending release of the SNES classic we all get another chance to just listen to the groovy music, sit back for a while and dream of 1994.

 

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

There is no doubt that the game before Wildlands was much worse overall. Buggy graphics and again stupid AI paired with somewhat boring setting and levels did not make for a particularly great venture, far from the golden days of GRAW. Still, it had a little something when it comes to multiplayer, and especially coop. The sync shot ability is perhaps 80% of why I include it in this list. There is just something satisfying about counting down until death together. You can probably pick this up for a song and a dance right now but Wildlands might be the better investment if you crave a military shooter.

 

Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5 had a bit of an impossible mission; surpass the pinnacle of the series and retain both its survival horror roots and more recent action elements. The game certainly ups the action with mutated crocodiles and a missile-eating lava-Wesker. Horror? Not so much. You are teamed with an AI partner the entire game, which not only makes you have to babysit inventory and weapon management for 2 characters but also sucks any and all horror out of it. With a friend, though, the previously dumb as bricks partner is suddenly someone you can rely on to help you out when the biting starts. I recommended playing co-op on higher difficulty for the most fun experience.

 

Assassin’s Creed Unity

Unity had so many problems at launch that it is hard to list them. Most of them got patched out, but alas there is nothing to do for lackluster gameplay or a tired and boring story. It’s a shame as the setting and themes could have been something really special. In the end the game wasn’t bad, just bland and mediocre as a single player experience. When you go to the game’s excellent challenge missions with a friend, that changes things completely. You get to plan, coordinate and panic together. Just as a good co-op game should be.

 

Faces of War/Assault Squad series

In the early 2000s, there seemed to be a wave of these games. Imagine and RTS with all its grand scale and big battles but with the ability to zoom in and take direct control of your soldiers. Faces of War and Assault Squad, as well as their predecessor Soldiers, took this promise to WW2. The games have physics based combat, impact values for armor and every soldier, gun, tank, artillery piece have an inventory with ammo, fuel and other stuff. Add fully destructible buildings and terrain to this and you should have a winner, right?

Unfortunately, all the games are plagued by voice acting that is so bad it’s funny, and it seems the simulation of damage and such has become worse with each iteration. All of this before we even mention that the bugs are as plentiful as in a summer day swamp. Additionally, the publisher seems content with re-releasing the old games as sequels with minimally updated graphics instead of improving and make a proper sequel. That said, there is something really fun with capturing enemy artillery pieces and leveling buildings when you’re in good company.

What otherwise lackluster titles have you found were saved by the ability to screw around with your buddies? Sound off below!