The online co-op works well for the most part with a little more seamless experience than the local. Players aren't tied to the same area, and menus can be manipulated separately. There are a few issues with connections, mostly server issues - but from what we hear all this will be ironed out in an upcoming patch in the next few weeks.
Even with these quirks, Sacred 2 is a fine co-op experience. Both players share experience, no matter who completes the quest or gets the kill shot. The experience does scale somewhat based on level, with lower characters receiving proportionally less than higher partners. Buddy tactics work very well in certain situations, like having a melee character wade in and take a few hits while a caster or other ranged attacker hangs back and unleashes the damage. The whole game has an MMO feel to it, which I find intriguing. I can see myself hanging onto Sacred 2 for a long time, and revisiting it often.
I don't normally explain my scores for reviews, but in this case it deserves mentioning. The PC version earned a 4, and the console version adds in local co-op, which I consider worth at least half a point more. However, I must deduct that same half-point for the puzzling lack of local item trading. Nonetheless, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is great, arguably excellent, and hopefully a patch will fix this issue in the future.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
The Co-Op Experience: You have the option of running co-op campaigns, where you and a few friends can go through the main story of the game, leave it open in a free for all where only secondary quests can be played and the entire map is available to explore, and arena modes where the same groups can fight waves of enemies or each other. Enemies scale up and down as players drop in or out, keeping the balance even. You don't have to keep playing with the group if you want to be alone, just go to your own game and come back when you are ready for more multiplayer action. The 16 Player Co-Op mode does not allow any quests, but rather a free play. Questing can only be done with 4 players.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.