10 Most Memorable PS3 Couch Co-Op Games

The seventh console generation was arguably the last era of gaming where couch co-op gaming was as much of a priority for publishers to focus on as online multiplayer, with local co-op capable games appearing far less frequently in succeeding console generations.

From the late 2000s to the early 2010s, countless wonderful games were released that not only often featured stellar single-player options but also featured fantastic couch co-op and online multiplayer modes as well.

This could be seen in long-running series like Xbox's Halo or Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii, but there were many other great co-op games that released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 or launched across most gaming platforms.

While several games on the PS3 have lost their online functionality over the years, there's still a good number of titles available on the PS3 that offer unique couch co-op experiences that friends and family can enjoy.

10 Aliens: Colonial Marines

Two Marines Are Better Than One

Gearbox Software's Aliens: Colonial Marines is well-known for being one of the most disappointing games released during the seventh console generation, but despite that, it did manage to feature some pretty decent co-op and multiplayer modes.

Set between Aliens and Alien 3, Colonial Marines follows the crew of the USS Sephora as they investigate the disappearance of the USS Sulaco near LV-426, only to find the warship and the ruins of Hadley's Hope infested with Xenomorphs and Weyland-Yutani mercenaries alike.

Colonial Marines is typically played through solo as Corporal Christopher Winter, but people can actually play through the game with two-player split-screen or four-player online co-op.

Playing Colonial Marines this way not only makes the game way easier than it was designed to be, but often makes for unintentionally hilarious moments with how infamously glitchy the game is, such as having one player be killed by the Raven Xenomorph while the rest of the team remains safe.

9 Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One

The Four Musketeers

The Ratchet & Clank series is one of PlayStation's best exclusive franchises, having been around since the early years of the PlayStation 2, but despite featuring the dynamic duo of Ratchet and Clank, the series didn't often include co-op. One entry that did was Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One.

All 4 One wasn't the first Ratchet & Clank game to feature co-op; that honor goes to Ratchet: Deadlocked, but it was the first entry in the series to allow for four-player co-op with Ratchet, Clank, Captain Qwark, and mad scientist Dr. Nefarious being playable characters.

In terms of gameplay, All 4 One plays fairly similarly to the other mainline third-person Ratchet & Clank games, but the story of All 4 One is a ton of fun as all four characters struggle to get along whilst attempting to stop the Brainiac-like drone Ephemeris from capturing creatures across the galaxy.

While All 4 One can be played through solo, it's far more fun to play through it with three other friends to experience Ratchet & Clank's wacky cosmic universe together.

8 Borderlands 2

Borderlands At Its Best

In 2009, Gearbox Software launched one of the most prolific new game franchises of the seventh console generation with Borderlands, and while the first Borderlands is great on its own, Borderlands 2 improved upon it in every way to become the peak of the FPS series.

Much like the first Borderlands, Borderlands 2 follows a four-man squad of brand-new Vault Hunters, including the Siren Maya, the dual-wielding Salvador, the turret-deploying Axton, and the stealthy, hologram-using Zer0, but unlike the first game, Borderlands 2 added two additional DLC playable characters in the form of the Mechromancer Gaige and Krieg the Psycho.

All of these characters can be used in single-player playthroughs, but their abilities are best used in tandem with one another in two-player split-screen or four-player online co-op.

Borderlands 2's story of the Vault Hunters striving to defeat Handsome Jack is great, but the game is especially more fun to play with friends in all of its many DLCs, making this adventure across Pandora a highly memorable one.

7 Resident Evil 5

Chris and Sheva's African Adventure

Despite being a highly popular survival horror game series known for its horrifying single-player experiences, the Resident Evil franchise, oddly enough, has many entries that feature multiplayer, with the best arguably being Resident Evil 5.

Resident Evil 5 wasn't the first RE game to feature multiplayer; that honor went to Resident Evil Outbreak, but RE5 was the first to feature split-screen co-op, with one player controlling veteran protagonist Chris Redfield while another player controls RE newcomer Sheva Alomar.

RE5 was designed from the ground up with multiplayer in mind, as even if gamers play in single-player, Sheva will still be around, albeit controlled by an AI, helping Chris fight Las Plagas and Uroboros-infected people and animals in West Africa.

While RE5 may be one of the most action-packed and less horror-focused entries in the RE franchise, often to unintentionally hilarious degrees, it's still a blast to play through with friends and makes for the best RE co-op experience released to date, at least until a remake of RE5 is announced.

6 Killzone 3

The Fall of Helghan

Guerrilla Games' Killzone series was often labeled as Sony's Halo killer franchise, but while both series are futuristic FPS games, Killzone never featured a split-screen co-op campaign in any of its entries until 2011's Killzone 3.

Killzone 3 takes place immediately after the end of Killzone 2, with remnants of the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance's Helghan invasion force struggling to repel Helghast troops after assassinating Helghan Emperor Scolar Visari, as remaining Helghast leadership begin to fight among themselves to see who will succeed Visari.

As the end of the original Killzone trilogy, Killzone 3 ends the Second Extrasolar War with a bang, both literally and figuratively, as the game's campaign is a nonstop trip into the chaos of galactic and xenophobic wars.

Killzone 3 is a ton of fun to play through in single-player, much like its predecessors, but it's even better to play through with a friend in two-player co-op, as it better showcases the uphill battle of ISA survivors struggling to survive on Helghan and end the war by any means necessary.

5 LittleBigPlanet 2

PlayStation 3's Ultimate Sandbox Game

The PlayStation 3 saw many great franchises from the PlayStation 1 and 2 eras continue to much acclaim, but it also saw many new PlayStation-exclusive franchises begin on the console, such as the puzzle platformer LittleBigPlanet.

LittleBigPlanet 1 proved to be a widespread critical and financial success, largely due to the game's unique toy-like designs and its level editor, which allowed players to create their own 2D levels aside from the game's story mode and share the custom levels online for people to play on.

The first LittleBigPlanet was great, but LittleBigPlanet 2 greatly improved upon every aspect of the game, with players now being able to create fairly complex puzzle, fighting, and racing levels instead of just platforming levels.

Additionally, players can share these new custom levels with friends online and locally, as LittleBigPlanet 2 offers four-player local co-op, allowing four friends or family members to try out custom levels or try making new levels of their very own.

4 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Diving Into Uncharted Co-Op Territory

Naughty Dog's Uncharted series was one that arguably defined the PlayStation 3 era better than any other series on the console, and while its entries primarily focused on single-player campaigns with online PvP multiplayer, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception did manage to feature some co-op mechanics before the series transitioned to the PlayStation 4.

Sadly, there is no co-op mode for Uncharted 3's campaign, but it did offer an alternate campaign mode called co-op adventure, which featured short, story-based missions set throughout the Uncharted series up to that point and starring a wide variety of playable characters, protagonists, and antagonists alike.

For example, one mission has gamers play as Uncharted 1 and 2 antagonists Zoran Lazarevic and Eddy Raja, while most other missions will have people play as series protagonist Nathan Drake alongside Sully and other side characters such as Charlie Cutter.

While Uncharted 3's main PvP multiplayer servers may have been shut down for many years now, these co-op missions can still be played today and offer a unique co-op perspective on the Uncharted universe that the series should strive to revisit one day if the series ever gets a new entry.

3 Castle Crashers

A Comedic Medieval Romp

Much like the Xbox 360's digital game marketplace, Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation 3 offered players the option to purchase a wide variety of digital-only games online, with one of the best being The Behemoth's Castle Crashers.

Castle Crashers is a side-scrolling, beat 'em up game set in a cartoony medieval world centered around a band of colorful knights as they set off to save four princesses from an evil wizard.

That premise may sound rather unimaginative, especially in the world of gaming, but Castle Crashers stands out among other medieval games by having a heavy emphasis on comedy, with the knights running into bizarre monsters, aliens, and even taking part in a game of beach volleyball during their journey.

Plus, Castle Crashers features four-player local co-op, allowing friends and family to go out together on the knights' wacky journey to save the damsels in distress, all while unlocking the game's many items and playable characters along the way.

2 Portal 2

Valve's Best Co-Op Experience

The seventh console generation was truly the last time Valve ever released games regularly, and they were all well-received by PC and console gamers alike, with one of the best being 2011's Portal 2.

Set many years after the AI GLaDOS was defeated, Portal 2 sees the series' mute protagonist Chell reawakened by the personality core Wheatley, only for Chell and a reactivated GLaDOS to join forces to defeat Wheatley and uncover Aperture Science's past after the personality core took over the facility.

That story is entirely shown in Portal 2's single-player campaign, with its co-op mode taking place shortly after the main campaign, following the two robots, Atlas and P-Body, as they complete tests and explore the depths of Aperture Science to find items and data for GLaDOS.

The co-op mode for Portal 2 is incredibly creative, fun, and a great way to test any relationship's strength, as players must be able to have patience and work together to solve every test chamber.

1 PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

PlayStation's Take on Super Smash Bros.

Some of the best games to play on the couch together with friends and family are fighting games like Super Smash Bros., and while many other franchises and companies have attempted to replicate that series' success, none of them have come close to competing against SSB like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Much like how SSB is the ultimate Nintendo crossover game, PASBR is the ultimate PlayStation crossover game featuring iconic heroes and villains from PS's exclusive franchises, from Sir Daniel Fortesque of MediEvil to Kratos of God of War.

PS exclusive characters aren't the only icons to be featured in this game, however, as characters like Isaac Clarke from Dead Space are also playable, with each character having unique interactions with others in the single-player arcade mode and epic super moves based on their respective powers and weapons.

Just like how SSB is a perfect party game on every Nintendo platform it's available on, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a perfect party game for the PlayStation 3, as people are able to use most of PS's iconic characters and battle it out across stages based on some of gaming's most famous locations.