co-op lan games for the pc

January 15, 2006 7:42 AM

Inspired by this thread; what are some good networkable co-op PC games for 4-6 players?

We currently enjoy the Battlefield series, Alien vs Predator 2, and SWAT 4 (and from time to time the original Doom). We have a preference for first-person games, but it's not a requirement.

(what we wouldnt give for multiplayer Cannon Fodder over LAN!)

posted by lemonfridge to computers & internet (11 comments total)

GTA 2 is one of the best games over LAN. Starcraft with Broodwars is pretty fantastic too.

MS Hearts can be fun too, depends on who you are playing with. Unreal Tournament 2004 was also quite a lot of fun.
posted by riffola at 7:49 AM on January 15, 2006

When my friends and I are in the mood for some co-op, we usually load up a rts like age of empires 2 or rise or nations and play us versus computer. It is alot of fun!
posted by meta87 at 7:50 AM on January 15, 2006

cannon fodder!!! i just saw the box of that game in the basement from years ago!

civ 4 was very fun when i played it with one of my friends coop... i would love to get half a day and some friends to get a huge game going...
posted by stratastar at 9:23 AM on January 15, 2006

The various games in the Serious Sam series are tremendous co-op fun.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein and its follow-on release Enemy Territory are great fun, although you'll need to divide into teams to get the maximum benefit of the game.

It's not co-op, but I've enjoyed Half Life 1 (not Counterstrike, or any of the other mode, just the original) in deathmatch mode with relatively small groups. Likewise, Hexen II is enormously amusing in multiplayer deathmatch.
posted by majick at 9:44 AM on January 15, 2006

System Shock 2 is totally awesome for 4 player co-op. Make sure you have the latest patch though.
posted by LukeyBoy at 9:50 AM on January 15, 2006

You didn't mention what genre you're looking for. Action? Strategy? Something persistent-state so you can play a single game over weeks?

For persistent state, any of the MMORPGs can work well. You can achieve so much more when you're working in teams, and having an effect on the game-world gives you a sense of accomplishment.

For strategy, there are games that allow alliances... FreeCiv comes to mind immediately. In between stragety and action, I found Starcraft very enjoyable for Real-Time Strategy when playing in teams.

For action, there's a huge plethora of action games that have team modes. Unreal Tournament's "Domination" mode was something I found most enjoyable for six players. These days I'm playing the Dystopia mod for Half-Life 2, although I think that is better suited to 8 or more players.
posted by Mozai at 11:05 AM on January 15, 2006

Action is best probably. But we like something that requires a bit of thought. Im trying to convince everyone we should play the new SplinterCell games - but my PC is the only one able to run them.
posted by lemonfridge at 11:08 AM on January 15, 2006

Any of the Serious Sams are great fun, it's FPS, but has a cooperative mode so that you're all running together shooting against the same bad guys. Ammo is well divided and if you die you respawn with the rest of the pack. It's a pretty brainless schooter but the scale is good and the pace is fun.
posted by furtive at 1:25 PM on January 15, 2006

Enemy Territory for SURE. Most cooperative online team-based shooter I've ever played. When you're good and when you play with lots of people...man, it's a fuckin' blast. And it's *free*. How are you not sold already? Once you learn all the nuances, you're set for life.

Of course, if you're doing half-life, you have to have a schedule for each mod: Natural Selection, The Specialists, etc. Counter-Strike, too.

Quake 3 (with or without the add-on) is wonderful mayhem.

If you're looking for other genres, just say the word.
posted by Lockeownzj00 at 5:26 PM on January 15, 2006

Third vote for any of the Serious Sam games - except for The Second Encounter - the netcode on Second Encounter is terrible and buggy and never worked right. But the first game was designed well for it, and the second one (Which came out just before Christmas) is...well...awesomely fun.
posted by TeamBilly at 6:28 AM on January 16, 2006

There's a great third party co-op mod for Half-Life called Sven Co-op. In addition to letting you play co-op mode through the entire Half-Life singleplayer campaign, there are also custom-made co-op maps to play through. Last I played it (a few years ago) it was a bit buggy, but still a blast to play with friends.
posted by nakedsushi at 10:43 AM on January 16, 2006