10 Best Co-Op Games You Need to Play This Summer

Among the many video game genres that are best enjoyed in the summer, cooperative titles are undoubtedly the most outstanding.

Getting together with friends or family to enjoy the same interactive experience is almost unparalleled, whether you're a young newcomer to the industry or have dedicated decades of your life to it.

Since the cooperative genre is more of a concept than a specific mechanic, the variety of games designed for shared gameplay is extraordinary, offering options for all kinds of players.

So, if you and your chums are looking for something to do during the hottest time of the year, I invite you to check out this list of the ten best co-op games you need to play this summer.

10 Elden Ring Nightreign

A Timeless Formula

While I'm a confessed critic of Elden Ring Nightreign, and I hope FromSoftware doesn't replicate its model ever again, there's one thing I can't deny: it's quite fun when played in a trio.

Although the credit belongs almost entirely to the original game, the formula is perfectly suited to always-online enjoyment, as this is one of the elements most missed in Elden Ring.

The ability to finally play entire adventures without interruption, even if they're separated into different sessions, is fantastic, as the combat is as fun and challenging as ever, but with new bosses that are definitely the game's biggest draw.

Cooperative games typically don't have such a long learning curve or demand as much skill, so only summer provides the necessary respite from responsibilities to fully immerse oneself in their complexities.

If you and your friends are fans of the Soulsborne philosophy and have already played through every game by the developer countless times, Elden Ring Nightreign is a great alternative, both for killing time and for teasing your teammates when they can't revive you.

9 Resident Evil 5

As Criticizable as It Is Entertaining

Resident Evil 5 is a game that can be condemned for valid reasons, though one thing we can't attack is its cooperative experience, as it's probably the only way to enjoy the campaign.

Playing with an AI partner is among the most exasperating experiences imaginable, but it becomes extremely satisfying with a competent human player, with situations that are both tense and hilarious in order to energize the sensations.

Everything in Resident Evil 5, from bosses to exploration and puzzles, is carefully designed to be executed in pairs, which is why playing with a partner is phenomenal and playing solo is an unprecedented disaster.

Its desert atmosphere and more lighthearted character make it an extraordinary alternative for the season, not only in itself but also because it will give you and your friend a reason to also enjoy another game relevant to the summer: Resident Evil 6.

Whether you're a fan of the series or not, it's the kind of entry that guarantees fun, especially because it evokes the design styles of a bygone era, adding a rather pleasant layer of nostalgia.

8 Castle Crashers

Classics Are Always Fun

Speaking of nostalgia, every time I think of Castle Crashers, I'm flooded with some of the best memories I've had as a gamer during school vacations, given it's a game that remains just as exceptional as when it was first released.

Beat 'em ups have historically been among the genres that best utilize their cooperative nature, and this particular title invites us to a festival of eccentricities whose iconic visual style is only surpassed by the sheer fun of experiencing it.

Forming a squad of friends to fight the strangest array of enemies you've ever seen, using a diverse array of weapons and abilities that turn every skirmish into a riot of colors and particles, is and always will be a highly recommended way to spend time with your buddies.

It's not the most complex or the most profound in terms of length, but what Castle Crashers can boast about is that it's one of the longest-lasting and most timelessly enjoyable cooperative experiences you can think of.

These weeks are a great moment to remember old times, whether personal experiences or by trying to emulate the feelings that others experienced in the past, and this indie gem fulfills both purposes without a problem.

7 Diablo 2: Resurrected

Renewed but Faithful

Given the growing importance of accessibility and preservation efforts in such dark times, I believe it's essential to commend projects like Diablo 2 Resurrected, which strike the perfect balance between nostalgia and modernization.

Blizzard's reimagining of its historic classic is impeccably suited for players seeking the original product and for those looking to refresh it to modern standards, without losing any of the original's defining characteristics, regardless of your approach.

Although the passage of the decades is evident in its design and structure, it remains a textbook adventure, taking you and a friend on an unadulterated dungeon-crawling journey that can ensnare you for dozens of hours before you know it.

Cooperative campaigns where both players customize their avatars to their liking, working together to cover each other's shortcomings and enhance their strengths, are always a source of fine entertainment when you have the necessary hours to really delve into it, and this one in particular does it faultlessly.

I thought replaying Diablo 2 after so many years would be a dated experience, but this iconic RPG proved me wrong so dramatically that all I can do is express my gratitude for brightening my summers as a young man and making me feel at home during my summers as an adult.

6 PEAK

The King of Friendslop

Recent years, driven by the growing prominence of content creation, have seen a considerable increase in so-called “friendslop” games (low-budget creations whose value lies almost exclusively in chaotic and spontaneous moments), though PEAK is more than just that.

Being the only title to which I apply said adjective non-pejoratively, Aggro Crab took a basic idea and executed it brilliantly, transporting you and your friends to a fantastical island where survival ceases to be a tense affair and becomes the most hilarious thing in the world.

Given its proximity chat, emphasis on physics, and countless situations that can go wrong, the game makes time fly by, especially considering that reaching the top and actually winning the match is no easy feat.

Thus, it's among the most convenient on the list because it literally takes you to a paradise island, magnificently representing the plan of meeting up with your friends to act silly and laugh until your stomach hurts.

It has one of the most prominent diminishing returns on the list because, ultimately, it doesn't have nearly the same amount of systems or depth as the rest, but the pinnacle of fun PEAK reaches is also one difficult to match.

5 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Camaraderie Among the Shadows

The more you play games, the harder it becomes to find recommendations for your favorite genres, but I'd bet my bottom dollar on Splinter Cell: Blacklist's cooperative mode as a niche invitation few others have made.

Besides delivering an extraordinary stealth experience, Ubisoft introduced a cooperative mode where you can enjoy that same excellence with a friend, infiltrating heavily guarded locations around the world's sunniest locations to unleash your lethal power from the shadows.

These objectives, specifically designed for co-op, feature excellent level design and a well-balanced difficulty, making coordinating with your partner to perform simultaneous takedowns, watch each other's backs, and scout areas necessary and satisfying.

While they're completed in about five hours, believe me when I say that it's phenomenal for those who, even in summer, have responsibilities to fulfill, so you can meet up with a friend on a Sunday and have one of the best afternoons of your life.

Sadly, there are few cooperative stealth games in video game history, but fortunately, Splinter Cell: Blacklist proves this is an approach developers should definitely explore further.

4 Army of Two

A Couple of Friends and Millions of Shots

Modern co-op games tend to focus on retention, long-term progression, convoluted schemes, and so on, which is why summer calls for rejecting modernity and embracing games like Army of Two.

You grab a gun, your buddy grabs a gun, and together you embody a pair of semi-immortal mercenaries who aren't afraid of death and whose breakfast is a shootout against every kind of thug imaginable.

It's pure, straightforward pleasure, with no greater ambition than to exchange bullets left and right in various urban settings, always giving you the occasional opportunity to yell at your friend for not providing cover fire or for not hitting an enemy, even by mistake.

You'll finish the game and won't remember the plot or the characters' names, but it'll be etched in your memory thanks to the unbridled, carefree laughter that only basic but functional games like Army of Two can provide, which is especially suitable for summer times when you solely and exclusively want to have fun.

3 Cuphead

Bullet Addicts

However, if you're looking for an unforgettable bullet-fest, Cuphead is the perfect choice, as it's among the finest and most challenging indie games ever made.

Playing it solo is an extremely enjoyable contest for victory, but sharing the grueling boss battles with a friend elevates it even further, as entering a flow state together while facing colossal, chimeric adversaries is simply wonderful.

With its distinctive and pristine art style, as well as its tremendous soundtrack, Cuphead boasts an immeasurable level of presentation, making it all the more stunning that its main appeal lies precisely in its gameplay.

The effort required to master its mechanics is fun, and testing what you've learned is addictive, striking a perfect balance between avoiding frustration and maximizing engagement to the level only the best in the genre can achieve.

Furthermore, its arcade feel is beautifully reminiscent of the era of coin-operated machines where you and your friend would get thrashed in Contra, so the invitation is for nostalgics and for those who want a glimpse into what gaming was like between the 80s and 90s.

2 Left 4 Dead 2

Valve's Unbeatable

Days, months, and years go by, and the entire video game industry continues to try to replicate what Left 4 Dead 2 did and continues to do, though Valve's cooperative masterpiece remains the undisputed king of its branch.

Nearly two decades later, teaming up with friends to fight zombies still finds its best expression in this gem, particularly because of how its characters, weapons, enemies, and levels have become ingrained in the community's hearts.

Action-horror FPS titles have struggled tirelessly to refine their gunplay, make challenges more dynamic, vary the scenery, and improve objectives, but none have even come close to surpassing Left 4 Dead 2's revolutionary perfection.

The campaigns, AI, sound effects, atmosphere… Think of the most trivial or the most significant aspects, and you'll almost certainly find in this video game its most iconic expression of the entire century.

Between friends, snacks, laughter, and the inescapable fear of seeing a Tank running towards you at full speed, if Left 4 Dead 2 doesn't offer you the most unforgettable summer afternoons of your life, nothing will.

1 Absolum

A Perfect Symbiosis of Eras

Despite the above, which I wholeheartedly stand by, I'll take the liberty of awarding first place to Absolum, both for its meticulous craftsmanship and for the way it takes a historically cooperative genre like the beat 'em up and updates it in the best possible way.

By incorporating Roguelike elements, it eliminates the long-standing problem of short playtime, making each game unpredictable and demanding a high degree of adaptability from the players.

Nevertheless, more than just its procedural nature, Absolum stands out for its attention to detail, with four characters boasting dozens of attacks and upgrade options who must navigate numerous branching paths that reveal countless secrets, unexpected interactions, sizable rewards, and awesome bosses.

Add to it a truly divine art style, coupled with controls as precise and responsive as we've rarely seen, and you have a product that can easily become part of your catalog of favorite games to play with friends.

It's not as challenging as Cuphead nor as long-lasting as Left 4 Dead 2, yet it's so refreshing and enjoyable that it feels like drinking a glass of cold water in the middle of summer, which is precisely the kind of sensation this article seeks to capture.