2008 was a co-op fan's dream come true. Dozens of quality co-op games were released on all platforms. From January to December, you could be busy playing some fantastic games alongside your friends. 2009 looks to continue that trend, with intriguing titles like Resident Evil 5, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Halo Wars, and many more on schedule for release this year. Our staff members share their most anticipated games for 2009 after the break!
Jim
"I'm looking forward to moving away from the shooter genre, but not too far from the action. I'd have to say that Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. really has my attention. I dabbled in the Ace Combat series, and while I had fun with it, I'm more excited to see how Ubisoft puts a western vibe on dogfighting. A four-player drop-in/drop-out campaign pretty much puts this at the top of my list. I've been reading the EndWar novel for kicks, and it's surprisingly very, very good...Ubisoft has really been outdoing themselves with the Clancy universe, and I think - and hope - that H.A.W.X. will not be the exception to their recent slew of quality games that Shaun White Snowboarding was."
Mike
"Demigod. I'm really intrigued by the multiple playstyles (mixing up action-RPG controls and a standard RTS), and out of everything I've seen set for release this year, it looks the most unique."
Jason
"I'm very torn about my most anticipated co-op title for 2009. I'd like it to be White Knight Chronicles, as I've been itching for an RPG title that offers a co-op experience that's even remotely akin to Secret of Mana, i.e., play through the whole epic with a friend. But early reports of its online system haven't been favorable. So with that out of the way, I'm going to have to go with Aliens: Colonial Marines. I remember playing the Aliens vs Predator PC games in college and loving those but thinking the whole time "if only I could play this with my roommates instead of doing deathmatches." I think there's a lot of potential there for a really great co-op game. Especially if the tempting promise of another Left 4 Dead-style co-op experience is true, that in itself makes it a game that would be hard to pass up. My one wish is that they release DLC that lets you play as 4 aliens out on the prowl for Bill Paxton, Paul Resier, and Michael Biehn."
Nick
"With all the fun I've had with Left 4 Dead, Aliens: Colonial Marines actually excites me more. While zombies make a great adversary, Aliens with acid for blood are a step above. I can see already team work is going to be even more crucial for survival. Top it off with a more cohesive story and the possibility for some truly tense moments (can you say Motion tracker?) and you can see why this is my most anticipated co-op game of 09. Plus I can't wait to say "Game Over man...game over" until people tell me to shut up over Xbox Live."
Marc
"It's tough to choose, really. I'd say of the titles the others have mentioned, White Knight Chronicles and Aliens: Colonial Marines are the most intriguing, especially the latter. However, the superhero fan in me has to go with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. The first game was like crack to me, being a comic nerd from way back. The four player co-op allowed the two younger comic book fans in my family to play along with me, which is about as good as it gets. We still play the game often, two years later. The sequel looks to take the interactions between the heroes up a notch, so I'm totally sold!"
Loren
"I'm most excited about Borderlands if it actually comes out this year. Ever since I read about it and how Randy Pitchford talked about it I was sold. An MMO-like game with tens of thousands of weapons available and a dynamic mission structure has me at 'hello'. I just hope the game sees the light of day this year. I'm also sure there is a lot of co-op games we haven't even heard about and maybe one of those will be earthshattering."
What say you, Co-Optimus readers? Let us know what your msot anticipated game of the year is!
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BTW Jason! There's a mod for AVP2 and you can play Coop with that (if it works...), it's called X-Coop
ahhh, cool! Unfortunately, when I played those games they were during my... "wilder" days of PC gaming and the copies I had may not have been entirely legit, shall we say, so I don't have them anymore. However, I know they're cheap to pick up now and if I get the urge, I'll certainly be sure to get the mod too.
Don't give up hope if any of these will I think Aliens will have local play I'm sure.
Also, Marvel Ultimate Alliance should support local co-op!
--I agree, local co-op is the reason I play co-op!
2. Sacred 2 (360) - Not interested in the PC version because it's no Diablo. But I am interested in the 360 version because it tries to be Diablo and because XBox Live will give something this game needs: a community!
3. Aliens: Colonial Marines (360) - The first time I played a full game of L4D, one thought came to my mind, how cool would this be if someone did a full conversion of the game replacing zombies with aliens and survivors with colonial marines? Seems someone else had a similar idea. I doubt it'll be in L4D's league, but with co-op it should still be a blast!
4. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (360) - One of the most fun local co-op beat-em up RPG's gets a sequel!
5. L4D DLC (360) - Ok, so this isn't a game per se. They could put it on a disk, package it in a case and sell it in stores as a new game and I'd buy it.
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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves on Playstation 3
Call of Duty: World at War on Wii
AI War on PC
Castle Crashers on Xbox Live Arcade
Pixel Junk Monsters on Playstation Network
View the top Co-Op Games by platform including our family friendly list!
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