Favorite 4x online co-op games?

[JoshGuru7]

I've been regularly playing online co-op with a group of three other friends for about 10 years. However, we've been stuck in a rut lately playing the same few games over and over (L4D1, UT, World in Conflict). I'd love some suggestions about new games to try from people in similar situations.

Value (fun vs. cost) is important since a few members have limited disposable incomes. Borderlands at $150 for 4 copies is probably still a little too expensive as is L4D2. Also, games are judged in 2010 terms so Q2:AvP mod doesn't make the list even though it's my personal favorite.

Another option would be a competitive game if there was a way to heavily handicap certain players (some of us are much better than others).

~$20 and under
1) Killing Floor
2) Left 4 Dead 1
3) UT '99/ UT3 (Galtanor's Invasion)
4) NWN 2
5) SC: Swat 4 (Chaos Theory only supports 2 players)
6) World in Conflict
7) D2
8) TQ Gold
9) Rise of Nations
10) HL2 Mod: Obsidian Conflict
11) Rainbow Six Vegas 1
12) League of Legends
13) Serious Sam HD
14) Company of Heroes: Joint Operations mod

More expensive
1) Borderlands
2) L4D2

I know Torchlight is supposed to be getting a co-op mode so that could also be a good option in the future.

 

[Martimus]

I haven't played a 4X game online in co-op since Heroes of Might and Magic III. Elemental will have this option though. I don't think that game is getting released until the fall though.

 

[Hopeless]

Since you listed D2, if you haven't already tried Titan Quest gold for $10 at newegg. I haven't played it in awhile but it's pretty fun.

Not sure if you like RTS but Starcraft $20 at newegg

That's all that pop in my head at the moment.

 

[HeXploiT]

Hate to say it but...Left4Dead2 is worth the money. Pay the little extra dough and get out of your rut.
The levels of L4D2 make for an incredible co-op experience.

 

[Chapbass]

Serious Sam is screaming in my ear right now...

How about some RTS Games?

Rise of nations is amazing, I play it in skirmish mode with my buddies (and my g/f) all the time. In fact, if the CPU is too difficult for the lesser-skilled players, you can have two people team up and play the same nation (controlling the same people). I did this a ton while learning it, I would control the economy and he would control the military (this way your economy wouldnt go down the tubes and stop progressing when the cpu starts harassing you).

Company of heroes is another one you could do like this (not the same nation, but another RTS that is solid).

What else...what else... Does half-life synergy support 4 players or just 2?

Guild Wars? 4v4 skirmish battles, plus all the single player, no monthly fees.

Decent freespace/freespace 2 with the mod packs to up the graphics?

I'm sure ill come up with more....2-4 player coop is like all i play...

Ghost Recon with custom mods/maps? Rainbow Six?

 

[zerocool84]

Hate to say it but...Left4Dead2 is worth the money. Pay the little extra dough and get out of your rut.
The levels of L4D2 make for an incredible co-op experience.

Well to me it still feels the same. I bought it on the New Years sale and while it's fun like the first one was for a short time there still isn't enough content to keep everything fresh just like the first one.

 

[heat901]

I would say get L4D2.... its not worth 50 but it is worth 30. Dell.com was selling it for 30 as was gamestop for sometime.... I would just keep looking around for a sale.

 

[VooDooAddict]

For cheaper games ... they were mentioned:
- Titan Quest
- Serious Sam HD
- Guild Wars

And I'm going to repeat what everyone else is ... and what you already know.
- Borderlands and L4D2 are awesome and worth it. The sad thing is though you missed on on the recent sales of both. Log into steam regularly and check the deals. These two are so worth it for Co-Op.

And the key reason why I'm posting ... Torchlight is getting co-op?! that's great news!

 

[McRhea]

Well to me it still feels the same. I bought it on the New Years sale and while it's fun like the first one was for a short time there still isn't enough content to keep everything fresh just like the first one.

Get Borderlands then... there was an amazing sale over the holidays. Even now the Borderlands 4 pack for $150 isn't a bad deal at all. $37.50 per person is a good deal on it.

Serious Sam HD is fun, that was on sale for $6.70 on Steam last week...

Do you guys like the HL2 world? If so, there is a coop mod that lets you play through HL2 and all the episodes called "Obsidian Conflict." Plus it comes with a ton of usermap maps and scenarios to mess in. Not all the maps are combat, many of them are puzzle as well.

Another stand alone HL2 mod is Eternal Silence. It's a space combat mod, complete with spaceship dogfights and shootouts in the large capital ships that server as bases for the two teams.

 

[Kromis]

Rainbow Six Vegas 1/2

Terrorist Hunt with 4 people is pretty fun

 

[JoshGuru7]

Hate to say it but...Left4Dead2 is worth the money. Pay the little extra dough and get out of your rut.
The levels of L4D2 make for an incredible co-op experience.

Is it worth $120-$150? The only way we'd upgrade to Borderlands or L4D2 is if I bought a four pack myself, hence my price sensitivity.

TQ and Starcraft are both pretty good recommendations. TQ was so-so in singleplayer, but I can see it being much more fun in co-op. My concern with starcraft and the RTS genre is that there is a large disparity in skill level amongst the group that makes RTS games difficult. I'll look into Rise of Nations as having two of the lesser skilled players control the same faction might be a good idea.

Do you guys like the HL2 world? If so, there is a coop mod that lets you play through HL2 and all the episodes called "Obsidian Conflict." Plus it comes with a ton of usermap maps and scenarios to mess in. Not all the maps are combat, many of them are puzzle as well.

We all have the orange box, so I'll definitely give Obsidian Conflict a try.

Rainbow Six Vegas 1/2

I liked Rainbow Six Vegas 2 but I thought it only supported two players. Looking into it, I see that's only the story portion and you can indeed play Terrorist Hunt with 4.

 

[CP5670]

If you already have UT99, there are several Unreal-style singleplayer campaigns for it, which can be played in co-op. The Galtanor's Invasion mod for UT3 is also worth checking out. I've spent a lot of time in co-op with both of these things in the past.

I can think of a few other games as well, although they are mostly older ones.

 

[Firsttime]

R6LV:2 Was a super fun 2 player co-op and terrorist hunt is great with more, shame you all missed out on the $5 steam was having on it, although you might find it somewhere near that. L4D1 is a great time also. AoE2 is a fun co-op RTS available for cheap.

 

[Hopeless]

You might want to keep your eyes on Borderlands. I'm playing it on the xbox & it's a blast. It was posted in hot deals just a couple months ago where somewhere it was on sell for $20-$25 for the pc version, which would be in your price range. The holidays are over but it may go on sell again.

 

[spaceman]

borderlands was a pita to get workin mplayer via steam
tbh the game feels like a lowrent fallout w bad graphics and tacked on multi.
torchlight is awesome..solo.
if you are going to spend full amount ..i cannot rec l4d2 enough
i got borderlands as a gift..i wouldnt pay more than 20 for it..hell i wouldnt pay 10

 

[exar333]

L4D1 or L4d2. Both are awesome.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I thought this was going to be about MoO2 or Civ 4 or something : ( I am disappoint.

 

[JoshGuru7]

Has anybody tried System Shock 2 co-op? I wonder how it would hold up in 2010 or whether it might be too dated.

 

[shortylickens]

I thought this was going to be about MoO2 or Civ 4 or something : ( I am disappoint.

This is disappoint.

 

[CP5670]

Has anybody tried System Shock 2 co-op? I wonder how it would hold up in 2010 or whether it might be too dated.

I tried it once with some friends but we gave up after a hour. The levels don't contain enough weapons and ammo for multiple people and the repetitive level design makes it easy for someone to get lost, so we were wasting a lot of time just trying to find each other. It's a great game in singleplayer but doesn't lend itself well to co-op.

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

Borderlands is great for a couple play-throughs. It's not that good solo and the real fun is with 4x players it's got just the right challenge level/feel with 4 people.

Solo is WAY too easy.

The first content expansion was VERY lame. I'm not happy about the direction the game is going and would ahve been much more happy if the SDK was released to the community. Every company is looking for residuals from each game they make and it's starting to get lame because their efforts are just shoddy at best at least for Borderlands so far.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

You don't list UT2004, but if you have it give Alien Swarm a try. It's perfect for 4X co-op. ThieveryUT (UT99) is also a blast to play, though co-op isn't the most fun of the gametypes.

 

[ockky]

Has anybody tried System Shock 2 co-op? I wonder how it would hold up in 2010 or whether it might be too dated.

I tried it once with some friends but we gave up after a hour. The levels don't contain enough weapons and ammo for multiple people and the repetitive level design makes it easy for someone to get lost, so we were wasting a lot of time just trying to find each other. It's a great game in singleplayer but doesn't lend itself well to co-op.

I disagree. My pal and I played this co-op and it was great. of course, that was almost 10yrs ago at this point...i never did play it solo...but that said, it's still the game that flys out of my mouth when talking about 'Greatest Game Ever'

 

[VooDooAddict]

Is it worth $120-$150? The only way we'd upgrade to Borderlands or L4D2 is if I bought a four pack myself, hence my price sensitivity.

Yes. That's exactly what I did. Two of the three actually paid me back after playing it for a while. The third ... well let's not get off topic. Crazy? Yes. Impulsive? Yes. But I was bored the week it was coming out and there was a pre-release steam discount on the 4-pack.

borderlands was a pita to get workin mplayer via steam
tbh the game feels like a lowrent fallout w bad graphics and tacked on multi.
...
i got borderlands as a gift..i wouldnt pay more than 20 for it..hell i wouldnt pay 10

I couldn't disagree more. First let me address the Fallout comparison. Similar only in initial mood. Once it gets going the pacing, story, action couldn't be more different.

I'll use some other games from your initial list for comparison. Diablo 2 is to Neverwinter Nights what Borderlands is to Fallout 3.

Borderlands has much more action than Fallout 3

On Release Day - 1, yes a multiplayer game was a pain to setup. This was because of A) Server Browser bug. B) We didn't know what ports to open yet. Once we all knew what ports to open on our routers, it was no more difficult than any other listen server game. (Figuring out the ports was a pain, but only if you bought it on Day 1)

The full game is easily worth the $37-each for the 4 pack. For $50 solo? ... why would you play this game solo?

The Borderlands "Expansions" ... well that's another story. I'm mixed on the first one. My friends loved it. I'll probably buy the second one if friends do.

Any money you'd want to spend on the expansions is better saved for another inevitable L4D2 deal or future title.

 

[Coldkilla]

ARMA2, the best co-op game out there. (Includes campaign). Just make sure its updated to 1.05 as it was broken at launch.
www.arma2.com

Playing it in MP is its focus. It's a FPS tactical military simulator so you gotta think before you act. Not so much a handicap game, you get popped in the leg once your done walking. Unlimited replayability, 250 available coop missions and quality new missions added everyday by users. New vehicles are also a regular occurrence, everyday you can expect 1-2 vehicles to be released for you to enjoy in the MP environment. This also includes regular submissions of entirely new environments that span miles across, so your never fighting in the same place twice.

$26.50 Ebay New Shipped.

There's many large scale co-op missions too, but allow for smaller squad sizes so you and your 3 buddies can work separately as a team and be apart of something even bigger.