Fun 2-player split-screen cooperative games for the PS2?

November 27, 2007 1:21 PM

Fun 2-player (split-screen, not online) cooperative games for the PS2, for me and my fella?

I've seen previous AskMe questions that were similar, but the answers didn't really fit our needs. We love FPSers, especially if there's some sneaking around and problem solving involved. We have played Turok: Evolution (in shoot-each-other mode) and Star Wars Battlefront II (cooperatively, which we have finished), and we enjoyed both. What now? We just bought (used) Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow because the box said it was for 1-4 players; unfortunately, it turns out they meant online play, which I'm not interested in doing right now. Shooting/fighting each other is fun, but can get a little wearying when one of us is getting beat down by the other all of the time...

Other games we've liked, singularly: Katamari Damacy, Halo 3 (at a friend's house), Citizen Kabuto, Oblivion, Deus Ex, various Zeldas, Marios and Metroids. Played Lego Star Wars but found it kind of unchallenging after a short while.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

posted by chowflap to sports, hobbies, & recreation (20 comments total)

guitar hero?
totally not a FPS, but who knows
posted by jessica at 1:30 PM on November 27, 2007

You can play Katamari Damacy 2 against one another in group mode!
posted by onlyconnect at 1:33 PM on November 27, 2007

The Red Star is a fantastic beat-em-up in the old school style (think Cannon Spike meets Contra) with great 2-player co-op.
posted by Oktober at 1:33 PM on November 27, 2007

x-men: legends!
posted by InnocentBystander at 1:45 PM on November 27, 2007

Dance Dance Revolution!
posted by procrastination at 1:52 PM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Kind of silly, but my friend and I loved Tak 3: The Great Juju Challenge for the PS2. Although the premise is a bit childish, some of the challenges are HARD, and it was truly 2-player cooperative.
posted by nkknkk at 1:53 PM on November 27, 2007

The Simpsons Game!
posted by modofo at 1:58 PM on November 27, 2007

The Warriors is a great co-op game. It's a beat em up and there's not a lot of puzzle solving but it's really a fantastic game.
posted by Diskeater at 2:08 PM on November 27, 2007

The 2-Player mode in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is pretty clunky, but enormously fun. Instead of split screen, you both run around on a single screen. If you get into a vehicle, one can shoot while the other drives, which is a hoot, or you can drive (slowly) with someone standing on the hood and causing havoc.

You have to play for awhile to unlock two-player but GTA also functions reasonably well as a two-players-taking-turns game (passing off between missions.)

Almost certainly not what you had in mind, but worth looking into, I'd venture.
posted by SpiffyRob at 2:15 PM on November 27, 2007

Ooh, 2nding Warriors.
posted by SpiffyRob at 2:16 PM on November 27, 2007

3rding Warriors - I was very happily surprised by how fun that game turned out to be. FTR, I didn't like the movie.

Conflict - Desert Storm (or Global Conflict, or the other desert war version, but not so much the Vietnam one). Good 2-player combat action, though not FPS (it's 3rd person)

Rainbow Six - I loved this game.
posted by Pecinpah at 2:55 PM on November 27, 2007

The Adventures of Cookie & Cream: split screen, very challenging, and requires a lot of cooperation.
posted by teki at 3:08 PM on November 27, 2007

The Adventures of Cookie and Cream is a cooperative split-screen action/puzzler. It's not for everybody, but there's nothing else like it I've ever seen.
posted by Durhey at 3:12 PM on November 27, 2007

Not split screen...but the most engrossing cooperative I've tried is Champions of Norrath, or Champions - Return to arms. Great dungeon crawler type, customize the look of your warrior male female etc. just a total blast, Fun. My son and I just wasted 2 weeks straight last Christmas. Total blast. Can play up to 4 players cooperatively, but 2 is just right.
posted by greenskpr at 3:17 PM on November 27, 2007

Also, if you can find them, Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 (Dark Alliance).

I personally credit BG and Champions of Norrath for helping my then fledgling relationship get off the ground with my now future husband. He credits those games for falling in love with me.
posted by santojulieta at 4:25 PM on November 27, 2007

Thank you, everyone! Lots of games for us to look for. And santojulieta, we have been dating about 3 months and playing together is a great bonding method.
posted by chowflap at 6:48 PM on November 27, 2007

3rding Cookie and cream, and seconding baldur's gate, but I couldn't get into Warriors. My friend and I found it clunky. Just my two cents.

For the record, the first baldur's gate game is better, the second was unbelievably easy but still okay. You can get either for less than 10 bucks, although Cookie and Cream is harder to come by.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 8:31 PM on November 27, 2007

If you've never played the Metal Slug series, you have to get the Anthology for PS2. Amazing 2D graphics and some of the best co-op you'll ever play. I cannot believe no one has mentioned it.
posted by kepano at 12:36 AM on November 28, 2007

They're both PS1 games (which will run on your PS2, but you'll need a PS1-formatted memory card), but Fighting Force was a fun arcade-style 2-player co-op beat-em-up. I'm sure you can get it cheap as well.

Also, Future Cop: LAPD was fun as well, but I think I actually preferred the deathmatch and CTF modes more than the co-op.
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 5:09 AM on November 28, 2007

this series of games isn't for everybody, but what about Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors? They can be pretty fun together.

Also seconding the Warriors!

There needs to be more 2 player co-op games... The only ones I have are the Warriors, a bunch of the Dynasty/Samurai warriors games, and (soon!) the two PS2 Katamari games. We wound up playing games like Dark Cloud 2, but passing the controller off to each other between levels.
posted by actionpact at 10:19 AM on November 28, 2007