10 Co-Op Games You Should Definitely Avoid

In the vast world of co-op games, there are unfortunately those that aren't worth our time or our money. Video games that fall into this category can be anything: from those that make you grind too much to those that are poorly built or have performance problems.

Whatever the issue may be, I thought it would be great if all these games were put in one place so you know which co-op experiences are better left skipped. That way, you can spend less time sifting through disappointing releases and more time enjoying the better multiplayer experiences with your friends.

10 Skull and Bones

"AAAA" Game That Sank

Skull and Bones is a piracy game that was in development for almost 11 years, and it delivered a naval combat-only experience with no mechanics for boarding other ships or any meaningful on-foot exploration. Even though Ubisoft's CEO announced it as a "quadruple-A game", the game has no traditional campaign, and instead, it features a couple of characters who act as quest dispensers.

What was the final nail in the coffin for the game was the introduction of microtransactions to a game already priced at $70 at launch in 2024. This move, as you can assume, didn't thrill the community. Even though you can find loyal fans here and there on various forums, the game still has a small active player base, and its price has been reduced dramatically, so it can now be bought for less than $10 two years after its release.

9 Redfall

Fall of The Arkane Studio

Redfall is a four-player co-op open-world shooter in which you chase down and kill a bunch of vampires. In short, I would say the game was trying, unsuccessfully, to achieve what games like Left 4 Dead did. Even though the game is open world, the missions around them get repetitive quite quickly, as they revolve around you performing a couple of similar actions over and over again.

The AI enemies, whether they are humans or vampires, can often be bugged, attack you in unnatural patterns, and make it easier for you to pick them off like clay pigeons. Combined with its other shortcomings, these problems led to poor sales and caused the game to quickly fade from the spotlight.

8 Gotham Knights

Batman's Gone. So Is the Fun

Gotham Knights was conceived as a game in which Batman's sidekicks take center stage after his death. Those playable sidekicks are Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Red Hood. And even though the idea is there, the execution is not. The main developments of the story are easily predictable, and the combat, which is at the core of the game, seemed dull and tiresome.

As you fight enemies, you often fall into the same repetitive loop, hitting them with default attacks until you charge up your special attack bar to unleash a more powerful strike. Also, some of the enemies' attacks seem unavoidable, which, for me, breaks the fun of fighting. Lastly, there were also performance issues, as console players were locked to 30 fps, which disappointed many fans.

7 Overcooked 2

The Game Needs a New Recipe

I know I'll be stepping on some toes criticizing this game, but hear me out. Overcooked 2 is a fun franchise to play with your friends, and I certainly had a lot of laughs while playing it. My problem with the game is that it requires grinding, which kills its chill vibe.

To unlock new levels in the game, you not only need to complete the old ones but also collect stars given to you based on your score on that particular level. For a while, the game is pretty accessible, and it allows you to progress without thinking about how many stars you have on any particular level. However, that changes quickly.

After a few stages in the game, you run into a virtual wall where you can't play levels in front of you because you haven't accumulated enough stars from the previous levels. So, you have to go back to the levels you already completed, and complete them again with a higher score, just to be able to get new levels at the later stages of the game. I believe this kind of setup is punishing for players, so that's why the game needed to be included on the list.

6 Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Rocksteady's Legacy Questioned

When looking at the loot shooter Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, I can't help but think what this game could have been if not for all the downsides. Firstly, this overhyped game has placed too much focus on guns and turned Suicide Squad members into Counter-Strike characters, where each one's damage heavily relies on shooting. Characters do have melee attacks, but the game lacks that strategic melee combat that was so good in the Batman Arkham series.

Even though the game has an open world, the missions are often repetitive because the game relies on a limited set of generic mission types. Lastly, there are five different crafting currencies which you'll use to upgrade characters, and one of them is, of course, a premium one offering costly cosmetics via microtransactions. Ultimately, these circumstances combined and many more even led to the cancellation of a planned Wonder Woman game.

Ever Heard of Charges for Save Slots?

Metal Gear Survive is a four-player co-op game with a single-player campaign that some gamers even called a disgrace to the whole Metal Gear name. The game puts you in a survival loop where you need to defend against zombie-like enemies trying to overwhelm you. Sounds simple? Well, because it is, alongside being pretty repetitive and boring, especially because enemies are often too passive, chase you only for a short while and have a very limited pool of attacks. The story starts with a few interesting mysteries only to unravel disappointing answers later on.

However, what I believe is the biggest downside of the game and one of the reasons the community turned against the game is the fact that they decided to charge $10 for purchasing additional save slots in the game. This is extra annoying because if you want to start over with a new character, you either have to delete the one you already have or pay up. I honestly haven't heard of anything similar since the PS1 memory card era.

4 Fast & Furious: Showdown

The Only Thing Fast & Furious Here Are Fans Who Are Avoiding This Game

I decided to put Fast & Furious: Showdown in this article as an example of one of the worst examples of a franchise game being pushed too fast to coincide with a movie release (in this case, Fast & Furious 6). The game's co-op campaign, where you could play with one more player locally, included generic and repetitive missions that could be completed in a few hours.

Additionally, the game's gameplay was heavily focused on shooting, with odd weapons such as a laser gun, as in the co-op one player would be driving while the other one is shooting. This drive-by element of the game really missed the racing-focused point of the franchise, making it totally unrelatable to fans.

3 Predator: Hunting Grounds

An Asymmetric Co-Op Game With No Balance

Predator: Hunting Grounds is a co-op shooter where a team of four marines need to complete objectives on a map while the fifth player hunts them down as the Predator. The map choice is pretty limited in the game with only six main maps where, as a marine, you'll face dumb AI soldiers that often sit there waiting to be shot.

When playing as the Predator, the first thing you notice is that he isn't as powerful as you'd like him to be. If the team playing the marines just sticks together in their tasks, it is almost impossible to beat them as they can melt down your HP bar quickly. The fact that the marines even have a mechanism to revive their team members makes the matter even worse when it comes to balance in this game.

2 Aliens: Fireteam Elite

A Co-op Shooter That Ran Out of Ammo

In Aliens: Fireteam Elite, you'll find a decent three-player co-op shooter that reminds you of the Left 4 Dead franchise and doesn't show any major flaws on the surface. However, when you dive deeper, you start seeing things like a shallow grind loop that takes you to interchangeably pushing through narrow paths and clearing hordes in areas designated just for that.

On top of that, I'd say that the story of the game is lukewarm and easily forgettable while failing to capture the tension of the franchise. Even though it has solid gunplay and can eat your weekend easily, you'll soon get a feeling that it would have been better if you played Left 4 Dead 2 instead.

1 Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr

You're the Martyr for Playing This

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr launched as an ambitious PvE action RPG project in the style of Diablo, but in a Warhammer 40K universe. Even though a great idea was there, the game was disappointing with its clunky and slow combat where distinct classes with their own combat styles didn't really synergize into meaningful combos. Playing a class like Crusader, for example, can feel too simple as you just aim down enemies until they're gone.

The game also had plenty of reports of freezing and FPS drops, running the friendly co-op matches over and over again. Furthermore, if you equip gear that's above your character's power level, your damage is reduced, making stronger-looking items a worse choice than weaker ones. This confusing feature leaves many of us forever calculating what our best choice for a particular mission is.