Everyone loves a good co-op game. It is often the first thing we look for when picking out a title to play with friends, family, or an online group. But as any veteran player knows, "co-op" can mean very different things depending on the developer. Sometimes it is a seamless experience, and other times, it is a tacked-on feature that leaves one player doing all the heavy lifting while the other watches.
Resident Evil 6: The Passive Partner
Resident Evil 6 is a prime example of a game that offers co-op, but with a major caveat in its specific modes. While the majority of the game is built for two, Ada Wong’s campaign is strictly a single-player affair. If you bring a friend in anyway, they will simply stand there, unable to contribute. It is a bizarre, albeit hilarious, way to hang out if you need to step away from the controller for a moment.
Sonic Series Quirks: Shadow the Hedgehog and Superstars
The Sonic series has experimented with co-op since 1992, but the results vary wildly. In Shadow the Hedgehog, a second player can join in to control the character tied to the current mission. However, if you are on a neutral path, you are on your own. Furthermore, the camera remains locked to Shadow, meaning if you wander too far, you get warped right back to the lead player.
Sonic Superstars suffers from a similar identity crisis. Despite its marketing, the game feels like a single-player experience with co-op added as an afterthought. While the camera now follows whoever is currently on screen—saving Tails from being left behind—later bosses can kill everyone except the primary player, leaving them to save the day while everyone else waits to respawn.
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker's Tingle Tuner
Some co-op modes were so niche they were almost destined to be forgotten. In The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, players could use a Game Boy Advance connected via a Link Cable to activate the "Tingle Tuner." This allowed a second player to drop bombs and provide hints on their own screen, but it was essentially a peripheral-heavy gimmick that added very little to the main experience.
Aliens: Colonial Marines and Predator: Hunting Grounds
Movie tie-ins are notorious for their uneven co-op implementations. Aliens: Colonial Marines is infamous for its bugs and technical issues, though some players argue that experiencing the chaos with a friend makes the awkwardness more entertaining. Meanwhile, Predator: Hunting Grounds struggles with balance; because the Predator is so easily countered by a team of agents sticking together, the intended "trophy hunter" experience often falls flat.
Overcooked! All You Can Eat
While Overcooked! is a staple of the couch co-op genre, the transition to online play is not as smooth as one might hope. Overcooked! All You Can Eat is great for local play, but its online servers are notoriously unstable. Players looking for a consistent online experience often find themselves frustrated compared to the performance of Overcooked 2.
Super Mario Galaxy and Tales of Zestiria
Super Mario Galaxy offers a "co-op" mode where the second player simply waggles a Wii Remote to shoot Star Bits. It is minimal, but for some, it provides a low-pressure way to share a game with someone who is not accustomed to complex action titles.
Conversely, Tales of Zestiria allows for a full party of players, but only during battle. Outside of combat, Player 1 handles all exploration. Additionally, the game's Armatization system can be frustrating for the second player, as the lead player can essentially take control of the character the partner is using without warning, effectively stripping them of their autonomy.
Ico: A Hidden Reward
Finally, there is Ico. A second player can control Yorda, but only after beating the game and starting a new run. It sounds like a sweet way to experience the journey together, but in practice, the second player is restricted to moving around, making the feature feel more like an unused prototype than a functional co-op mode.