There are a lot of great M-rated games to enjoy on all of the current consoles, even Switch. The 2018 reboot ofGod of Waris a great example. Kratos may not technically be as angry as he was in the early games, but he still punched enemies with the force of a thousand suns.
Cyberpunk 2077is another great open-world M-rated game with even more variety and mature content. It would have been cool to go through the game in co-op orGod of Wartoo. While these two M-rated games don’t have co-op, the following suggestions do and are indeed not for the young ones.
Diablo 4was a great surprise in 2023 as it launched without incident unlikeDiablo 3. It was received well by critics and fans alike who enjoyed the many improvements. There was a centralized villain, Lilith, whose omnipresence in the story helped players stay engaged.
The open-world was fun to explore and the non-linear main quest system made things feel less narrow. Plus multiplayer worked like a charm at launch and it is only getting better thanks to Blizzard launching seasonal updates.
Demon’s Soulschanged the industry in 2009 when it launched on the PS3. The Soulslike genre was born and while there were improvements to the formula by FromSoftware and other companies over the next decade, it also started to feel a bit one-note. That’s when FromSoftware changed the game yet again by making an open-world SoulslikeviaElden Ring.
Players now had more agency to tackle areas at their own pace. Plus they could summon two friends to play with online too who would disappear after a boss fight but they could be summoned again after. That was the only clunky part of the co-op.
Gears of Warwas like the Xbox 360’s new shooter craze afterHalomade big waves on the original Xbox. This game was instead a third-person cover shooter and had players fight against big beefy aliens known as Locusts.
Nearly every entry in the franchise featured couch co-op or online co-op between two players. It made chainsawing Locusts in half all the more fun with a friend. They’re all good too, but beginners should stick with the original to work their way up.
Gears of Warfreshened things up, butHalowill always beHalo. It was, and still is, an important game as it kicked off the original Xbox with a bang and showed developers that it was possible to make a good first-person shooter on consoles.
It’s easier now more than ever to play the original thanks to theHalo: The Master Chief Collection. Every single main entry can be played in it and there are spinoffs with co-op too.Master Chief’s fight against the Covenantfeels as classic as Mario’s fight against Bowser asHalohas become a staple in pop culture beyond video games.
Left 4 Deadis one of those games where it was absolutely necessary to play with other people. It is possible to do it alone, but the partner AI is so bad compared to the zombie AI meaning that partners are basically useless. Those mutated buggers will tear players to shreds in an instant if they aren’t careful.
A perfect game would see four friends collaborating online and trying to survivethrough zombie-infested levels. Many games have tried to recreate the thrilling experience that isLeft 4 Dead, likeBack 4 Blood, but even that spiritual successor couldn’t hold a candle to this first game.
3The Lord of the Rings: War In The North
Two Players Local/Three Players Online
The Lord of the Rings: War in the Northis one of the more forgotten video game entries in the series since it wasn’t based on the movies. It does follow some characters vaguely hinted at in the books though as a human, dwarf, and elf are tasked with trying to stop the Witch King while the other main party deals with Sauron. These three races fall into classes too as the human is essentially a ranger, the dwarf is like the brute force warrior, and the elf is a mage.
Players could team up locally for two-player action, they could go online and have a three-way session, or players could do a combo of each and the two local players could go online to join one other. Unfortunately, the game is trapped on old hardware because it still slaps and ranks up there as one of the best in the franchise.
Resident Evil 5was the first mainline game to incorporate co-op which was a big leap. Chris was accompanied by his partner, Sheva, who could either be controlled by another player or could be controlled automatically through AI. Counting bullets was still a major thing in this game and AI Sheva loved to waste bullets.
LikeLeft 4 Dead, this was a game better played with a partner. It may have made the experience less scary, but the series was already heading into a more action-oriented direction anyway for better or worse. It was a divisive sequel toResident Evil 4, but there was no denying the attraction of co-op in aResident Evilgame.
Tom Clancy’s The Divisionhad a wild premise that kind of came true in reality. Around Black Friday, terrorists spread diseased ridden paper money around. It spread like wildfire in New York City, leading to the country shutting the city down and declaring it a war zone.
The Division was a secret military organization that was sent in to clean things up which led into a funDestiny-like looter shooter. It was one of those rare snowy games that was fun to play around Christmas but now support from Ubisoft shifted to the sequel which is also fun with friends albeit to a lesser extent.
