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The best co-op games on PC in 2024

By admin April 2, 2024

The best co-op games on PC in 2024, Playing games with other people is one of the beloved traditions of liking video games at all, and if you’re the friendly type like us at RPS, then you’ll enjoy games where you work with others, rather than against them. That’s why we’ve put together our list of the best co-op games on PC for you to find common ground with your besties. Whether you want to shoot monsters together, shoot robots together, or get a divorcing couple to work together as they run around their own home as tiny doll versions of themselves, then you can find something to enjoy on this list of co-op games.

We have broad tastes and definitions sometimes, but key for a co-op game is that you can play with a pal without fighting against each other – even if there might be friendly fire. This means you won’t find any team-based competitive games on this list, such as Dota or Counter-Strike, for example. That’s what our best multiplayer games list is for. We’ve also excluded games that switch between PvP and PvE like Sea Of Thieves of DayZ. They’re all great games, but they belong on a different list.

The best co-op games on PC

Here’s our full list of the best co-op games on PC. You can have a casual scroll through or click the links below to be directed straight to the game in question.

25. Monster Hunter Rise

After Monster Hunter World rampaged onto PC, the bar for Capcom’s next entry in the dino-adjacent beast-hunting series was high, but Monster Hunter Rise is every bit its predecessor’s equal and makes for a thrilling co-op adventure. That’s why we’ve booted World off the list and replaced it with Rise. That’s evolution, baby.

If you’re not familiar with Monster Hunter, it’s essentially a giant playpen where you and your friends can go out and, well, hunt monsters. The biggest appeal is a group of you wailing on some titan, but there’s a comradery and teamwork in Monster Hunter Rise that is different from other co-ops. You all have to meet in a tavern, eat a big hearty meal before you set off, make sure you all have everything you need, and then off you go, skipping into the deep dark woods where the scary monsters await. It’s these little rituals that really make it shine as a co-op.

24. Lethal Company (early access)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Steam always has to have at least one co-op ghosty game in early access, over which people are going bananas. Right now that game is Lethal Company, and not without reason. It’s a bit of a horror game, as you form up in teams for some good old PVE. As contractors for the Company, you collect scrap from abandoned haunted moons that used to be industrial centres. Successfully salvaging enough scrap earns you cash, which you can use to jet off to new moons with more rewards. The trade off, of course, is higher risk.

There are mundane risks like traps, which one player can spot from the ship scanner and call out to those on the mission. But there are, of course, monsters to contend with, especially at night. Some you’ll only find indoors, while others stalk you on open ground. It’s a great mix of learning a bestiary and knowing what to do in different situations, with having a concrete goal (get salvage), and there are many and varied ways to die, so you learn quickly. If you got tired of Phasmophobia and are looking for something new in the same vein, this is it.

23. Escape Academy

Escape rooms in real life are a lot of fun but extremely expensive for it. Escape Academy combines the twin benefits of being comparatively cheap and being designed by developers who made escape rooms in real life! It’s a great co-op game, whether you’re playing online or via asymmetrical couch co-op (i.e. one of you playing the game and the other writing things down and shouting).

The titular academy is a school where the entire curriculum is based around room escapes. Even art, which seems like a stretch. Each level is a timed escape, often in somewhat dangerous circumstances that you’d imagine would drive the school’s insurance premiums up, with secret codes, cryptic clues, and much frantic running around a library or a locked office as you collect special books, or put post-it notes in the right order.

It’s the right balance of fun and tense, and gets you all reacting exactly as you would if thrown into the Crystal Maze, fruitlessly telling each other you’ve found a paint tin, is that anything? The big, colourful 3D world is non-violent but successfully thrilling, and there are a bunch of DLCs to get stuck into, too.

22. V Rising

V-rising casts you as a freshly awoken vampire on a quest to conquer the human world. It’s an open-world survival game where you and your vampire squad reap havoc on neighbouring towns in search of blood, all while building a lavish castle and exploring the surrounding gothic world.

Crafting and combat are easily accessible – this isn’t a mega difficult survival game – and gaining your vampiric powers (the best part of the game) is quick work, since V Rising’s boss-focused progression is easy enough to follow. You can decide to join PVP or PVE, but if you’d rather have your vampire rule their own little slice of the human world, you can set up your own world and invite your mates to join. V Rising is highly recommended for folks who are looking for a breezy survival sim, but with just enough meat to sink your teeth into.

21. Overcooked 2

Overcooked and its sequel Overcooked 2 are both are silly games of simmering and sizzling, the physical manifestation of the phrase “too many cooks spoil the broth”. You’re in a kitchen with up to three other players, and you have to make food to order by preparing and combining certain ingredients. To get this done properly, everyone needs to carry out their appointed tasks pronto. Thing is, it doesn’t always work out that way.

The kitchens of Overcooked are constantly changing. Narrow spaces mean players get in each other’s way. Sometimes the whole level shifts. Benches on a ship will slide down the deck with each large wave, altering the layout entirely, while cooking in two trucks means that one part of the kitchen will occasionally accelerate, suddenly becoming off-limits. How will you get the chow off the hob before it boils into an inedible paste? By shouting at your fellow chefs, of course.

Overcooked 1 and 2 are much the same, but it’s 2 we’d recommend. For one, it’s now got online multiplayer as well as local, letting you play with those geographically distant friends. For two, you can now throw ingredients back and forth between chefs. Your co-chef needs more mushrooms? Maybe he’ll catch the one you just threw to him; maybe it’ll bonk him right in the face.

20. Stardew Valley

There is a lot of shooting and adventuring on this list, but very few opportunities to hang out in a turnip field. Stardew Valley lets you live out an alternate life as a farmer, away from the hustle and bustle of cities and video games with guns. It’s about escape. Ever since the multiplayer update, you can now escape with friends.

It provides a place to be rather than a challenge to overcome. Each of you gets to dodder around town, either working together and divvying up tasks or ploughing away at individual farms. It’s not that the Valley feels sterile without other humans, but there are only so many blackberries you can hand over to your NPC neighbours before your relationships start feeling one dimensional. With real people in the mix, you get an actual community. Maybe your pal has a spare melon you can give to Penny for her birthday. Maybe they’ll bake you a cake. Or steal your chickens.

People breathe warmth and life into this farming game fantasy that’s already about those things. You’ve got the freedom to pursue whatever charming humdrum activity takes your fancy. Go fishing. Comb the beach. Or, if you want, mercilessly compete to see who can optimise profits. It’s your farm.

19. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

You can play through the whole of Vegas 2’s brilliant but flawed campaign with a friend, rappelling down walls, breaching windows and taking out terrorists in unison. While that will keep you busy a while, it’s Terrorist Hunt – a mode where you team up with three buddies to hunt down a set amount of enemies across large sandbox maps – that will keep you coming back.

Guns are powerful and fast; death comes faster. This makes methodically creeping through the maps as a unit, covering corners and assaulting defended positions, an incredibly tense affair. This only ramps up when your squad inevitably gets picked apart on the harder difficulties, right up until three of you are sat watching the lone survivor, the whole success of the mission pinned on them scraping through. It could even be down to you and you’ll feel the tension ramp up as you suddenly become aware of being judged.

18. Payday 2

If you’ve never played Payday 2 or its predecessor, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was about perfect planning, stealth and crowd control. The reality is a bit different, and it usually goes like this: the four of you excitedly chat about how you’re going to approach a heist, you split up, someone fudges it almost instantly and every police officer in the world turns up to shoot you all in the head.

It’s more wave defense than precision stealth, with each player setting up traps, sharing ammo and trying to keep the police at bay as a timer ticks down. It’s chaotic and messy, but the shooting is weighty enough and the skill trees are satisfying to advance through. It’s possible get through each of the heists without raising an alarm, but it’s bloody hard and you stand very little chance until you’ve unlocked some of the more advanced skills. Still, the possibility hangs there like a 24 carat carrot, nudging you all to have another go until you’ve perfected every scenario.

17. Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes

The best example of asymmetry in co-op. It involves at least two players – one of you is defusing a bomb with judicious mouse clicks and cautious wire snips, the other is giving instructions from a bomb-defusing manual. Neither player can look at what the other is doing. It’s one of the most perfect set-ups for the destruction of a healthy relationship and a fantastic example of leaving the screen itself behind.

You don’t have to print out the manual to read from it (you could just read the PDF file from a laptop) but we think it’s the best way to play. You flip hurriedly through pages, trying to decipher the theory of these explosive devices. Then comes the challenge of communicating the quirks and symbols of the page in a way that won’t be misunderstood. As the bomb handler, you’re consistently double-checking and second-guessing your team mate as they stammer out their directions. In the end, you’ve just got to trust them.

16. Arma 3

Arma 3 takes place on a pair beautiful fictional Greek islands. It does have a single-player campaign, but it’s that island, the vehicles, guns and mechanics, and the painstaking attention to detail, that makes Arma 3 great. It’s a platform for the community to create their own games upon, and there’s enough community made content that if you get into it, you could be playing Arma 3’s cooperative mode to the exclusion of any other game.

There’s something about Arma’s design philosophy that makes it especially well suited to playing with other people. Partly there’s the realism, which obviously lends itself well to the kinds of genuine squad tactics you can enact when playing with some dedicated friends or a committed community like ShackTac. Partly it’s the way in which the islands are designed in spite of you, not in service to you, making your steady journeys across the landscape with another person feel more satisfying than overcoming a set of contrived obstacles. Hopefully one of you is a good pilot.

15. Dead by Daylight

This is one for folks who love playing as the monster. Dead By Daylight is an asymmetrical survival horror sim not for the squeamish. In this 4vs1 co-op, three players take on the role of survivors and one player the killer, in a cat-and-mouse style multiplayer game with simple goals. Survivors must repair five out of seven generators scattered throughout a level to power the exit and escape. The killer, meanwhile, is hunting them, and can strike survivors with a weapon, and then drag them to a hanging hook and impale them on it. Ew.

Skills and abilities are balanced between the survivors and the killer; the killer, for example, is faster than the survivors in general, but is slower at specific tasks, like having to destroy obstacles instead of vaulting over them. With a spookily long list of Killers to play as (including horror film and game favourites like Ghost Face, Pyramid Head, and Michael Myers) there’s plenty of spooky fun to be found with this one.

14. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Here’s a good ol’ fashioned beat-em-up, courtesy of Tribute Games. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is an old-school side-scroller that pays homage to the TMNT games of bygones past. If you’re a fan of the sewer-dwelling reptiles then you’ll love the pixelart renditions of favourite characters from the series, both heroes and villains alike.

This entry is a little different from others on our co-op list, in that its co-op playstyle is much more laid-back than many others of its stress-inducing co-op cohort. What’s great about Shredder’s Revenge that its undemanding basic button-mashing becomes one of its biggest strengths, making it perfect for groups of friends who just want an arcadey jaunt while also having a nice chinwag surrounded by empty pizza boxes.

13. Valheim

Valhiem’s Steam page describes it as “brutal” but I actually think this is one of the most relaxing co-op games on this list. There’s something for everyone here. If you’d like to focus on laid-back Viking settlement building and boar hunting in a peaceful environment you can hang out in the sandbox’s first area and do exactly that; if you and your friends are looking for some proper Viking action, you can head off into the world and get your butt beaten by skeletons, grey dwarfs, trolls, and its beastly Norse-themed bosses.

Valheim is still in early access, but there is already loads stuffed into its open world for you to dive into. A beginner’s tip: watch out for falling trees. Seriously, they can straight-up kill you in one splat.

12. Deep Rock Galactic

It’s a simple pitch: a group of dwarven friends with class-based skills walk into an asteroid, mine for materials, and fight back the critters who fancy them for dinner. What complicates matters is the need to leave again: once their pockets are full, the dwarves have got five minutes to down pickaxes and reach an escape pod before it leaves without them.

This is even more complicated than it seems, because the asteroid’s tunnels and caverns are a twisting warren interspersed with enormous drops. Re-trace your path inwards in reverse, in a rush, and it’s easy to get lost – and those drops are now, of course, climbs. If you thought to make your ad hoc constructions two-way when you threw them up on the way in, then no problem. If you were hasty, or if your platforms were destroyed by explosive enemies, then you’re going to need to construct a new route. The adrenaline rush of your extraction is a thrill with friends over voice comms all panicking together.

11. Diablo 4

Like Diablos before it (notably Diablo 3), Diablo 4 is a muddy, grim fantasy world beset by demons, which means it’s sensible to take a friend or two. And, again like previous Diablo games, it’s playable with a squad of four from start fo finish, with drop in multiplayer that tracks progress you made so you can go back to it in single-player if you want. But why would you bother! Exploding skeletons and werewolf monsters is a breeze in Diablo 4, requiring a lot of clicking and spamming your favourite DOT spells, but little else. This means you have a lot of time to bond with your friends.

That’s maybe reductive; one of the best things about Diablo 4 is that it has an admirably freeing levelling system for all the classes, so you can respec on the fly to suit whoever you’re playing with. And if a particular boss is giving you trouble, you can change tactics. Get your Rogue a spell to go invisible so you can more easily res your colleagues, while you can change your Necromancer’s spell path to have more debuffing spells, giving your Barbarian attacks more bite, and you’re on your way to victory.

10. Borderlands 3

Borderlands 3 is classic “bigger is better” sequel design: everything you liked in Borderlands 2 (still a great co-op romp in itself) but with more. More gun variables, more character abilities, more locations, more vehicles, more rifles that grow legs and run around as a lead-spewing sidekick. The only thing it has less of is Claptrap, which is a blessing. And so it makes sense that co-op is the way to go in this bombastic FPS game.

At any one time one friend could be ordering a giant battle ant into the fray while another hops into a Titanfall-ish mech suit, a third activates a drone and a holographic double and the fourth performs psychic powerbombs in the middle of it all. The way these character skills can be further differentiated means you never really know which version of each character you’ll be rubbing shoulders with, turning co-operative sessions into a showcase for builds. Of course, the main takeaway is always: I want my own battle ant.

Importantly, it’s a friendlier co-op game than Borderlands 2, too. With instanced loot drops, players don’t have to fight over the same spoils of war, and the difficulty scales to each combatant, so a casual dabbler can comfortably leap into an old pro’s game.

9. It Takes Two

Hazelight have a knack for designing clever, co-op-only puzzle games, and It Takes Two is definitely their best yet. You and a mate play as bickering couple May and Cody, who get turned into tiny doll versions of themselves after upsetting their daughter. Despite their relationship being the verge of a big divorce bust-up, they must work together to get back to their normal selves, and maybe learn a few life lessons along the way.

It’s not the happiest of stories, all told (and features some truly horrifying moments involving stuffed toys and broken vacuum cleaners), but its puzzles are absolutely top notch. Players must really work together to conquer It Takes Two’s imaginative obstacle courses, and its range of ideas is a clear step up from Hazelight’s first co-op-only game, A Way Out. Even better, only one person needs to actually buy the game, as every copy comes with a free friend pass for your player two.

8. Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

While many are purists when it comes to From Software’s masterful action RPG, refusing to summon help or forcing themselves to equip just underwear whilst wielding only an overgrown twig, Dark Souls is fantastic in co-op. You can jump in with a friend, with a bit of planning, taking turns to help each other through each section. Even without friends, though, Dark Souls will have you forming bonds with silent strangers.

There’s an unwritten etiquette to the Souls games that sees people treating each other with respect, bowing to each other once summoned and waving each other off or cheering after a defeated boss. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of relief when a summoned co-op partner helps you finally beat Ornstein and Smough – the only thing that comes close is paying it back later, becoming the saviour in someone else’s story. Adam said it best in our review: “It’s superb, populating an already haunted world with phantoms and memories, and providing an eventual gateway by which to become an all-but anonymous hero or villain.”

7. Spelunky

Spelunky is a moreish 2D platformer with roguelike elements that kicks your arse until it straightens your spine. Although the geometry might be constantly shifting with each frequent death, the rules that govern the enemy types remain constant. After a while, reflexes handle the enemies of The Mines – it’s like peeking into another dimension, but instead of losing your mind you become Neo. Can you dodge bullets? Yes.

Co-op changes the rules, making it perfect for seasoned players to team up. You might think things would be easier with more health and attack power, but stunning, whipping and blowing each other up will be a regular occurrence in the claustrophobic confines of the levels. More players only add more complication and four player co-op is chaos, creating more hilarious ways to fail. Timing, as ever, is key. Now see if you can make it to Hell with friends.

6. Grand Theft Auto V

Los Santos is a gorgeous playground, each bend in the road bringing you level with a postcard view – every angle feels scrutinised. Trace a route from the peak of Mt. Chiliad, driving down through the dusty plains of the Grand Senora Desert, snaking by the hilltop mansions of Vinewood Hills, cruising on through the twinkling city itself and finally coming to stop at Vespucci Beach – all this, including the skies above and the sea beyond, is your online playground.

Grand Theft Auto Online is stuffed full of co-op scenarios, but the best experiences are found in the Heists. These multi-part missions ask you and three other players to take part in everything from the setup – casing the joint and grabbing getaway vehicles – all the way to the caper itself. While not all of them are literal heists, each one does an incredible job of making sure all four players are busy.

Everyone has their own job to do, sometimes all together, sometimes in pairs and sometimes alone. This, along with the randomness of the open-world’s systems, gives each one massive replay value. The only real downside is that you really need to play with three friends to get the most out of it. With each heist taking a couple of hours from setup to execution, it can be as difficult to organise as an actual heist.

5. Minecraft

Nobody knew how huge Minecraft would be when the alpha released in 2010, but there were hints of it even from the first few hours, when the game’s initial players started building rudimentary shapes and sharing screenshots of what they’d created.

Today, Minecraft is played by people of all ages. Part of its appeal, aside from its openness, is the social aspect. Whether helping your child stave off monsters as you build a fantasy land together or collaborating with a group of adults to make a working hard drive, there’s something for everyone.

You can even play it as an RPG, killing mobs with your co-op partner, levelling up and building equipment to grow stronger, with the eventual goal of taking on the final boss, the Ender Dragon. Minecraft is whatever you want it to be and you can play it all with friends.

4. Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 is based on the Dungeons & Dragons world and ruleset, and that’s a party-based tabletop roleplaying game – so why wouldn’t you want to make it a party in its digi-form? BG3 is the tale of a rag-tag bag of heroes saving a lush fantasy world, getting into scrapes, meeting weird NPCs, and engaging in huge turn-based battles against monsters and ghouls. Much of this, like Larian’s Divinity games, is based on using the different skillsets and abilities of your characters effectively, and that’s much easier to do when the different characters are specced and controlled by other people, rather than you juggling it all yourself.

Unlike other co-op games, Baldur’s Gate’s co-op is tied to a single save and campaign. No fairweather dropping in and out! But this makes it feel like more of a collegiate story that you’re telling together, like an adventure you’re having as a group. Like, in fact, a game of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s worth the effort, and the game itself is a beautiful and complex playground for you and some friends to explore.

3. Left 4 Dead 2

Panicking with friends can be sublime. That shared fear and desperation, the yells and shrieks of people facing the same horde, each convinced they’re moments from being overwhelmed. In a sense, they already are.

Horror games reach into your lizard brain and convince your amygdala that you’re in trouble. Left 4 Dead 2 is one of the best, because it’s built around saving your friends from that state. When the necrotic tongue of a Smoker comes grasping for your mate, you get to save the day with a well placed shot. When a Hunter pounces on your pal who’s straggling at the back, there you are with a punch and shotgun blast. When a Tank jumps right into the middle of your group… well, you can’t survive every time.

That’s part of what makes triumph taste so sweet. You’re pulling together against an AI director that keeps you on your toes, sending in hordes when it thinks you can take them, but rarely throwing so much at you that it feels unfair. Every level is an appropriately intense ordeal, where cries of frustration can quickly turn into tears of laughter. Ten years on, Valve are still the kings of co-op horror. Especially if you play Versus mode, and know the Hunter tearing into you is your mate Dave.

2. Portal 2

What happens when you take a single-player game about traversing intricate puzzle rooms with portals, and then double everything? It becomes twice as complicated and twice as satisfying. Portal 2 already expands on everything introduced in the bite-sized Portal, adding things like Excursion Funnels, Thermal Discouragement Beams, Propulsion Gel and other fancy sounding words, but the addition of another player changes things the most.

Four portals make each room more confusing to explore, especially when you consider both players need to reach the exit. In essence, many rooms require two solutions. Some puzzles require both thought and dexterity, and firing your friend across a chasm by moving a portal while they freefall through another eventually becomes as normal as walking.

There’s a lot of personality in the design of the two robotic protagonists, too – the Laurel and Hardy of shiny metal. When you’re working together, you’ll be high fiving each other’s metal hands and barking possible solutions through your headset.

If you’re not using chat, Valve were kind enough to provide lots of ways to communicate in-game, with players able to place markers and emote. Every puzzle solution is punctuated by a dance. Portal 2’s co-op is an experience you can’t quite replicate, its systems a perfect balance of cooperation and friendly rivalry. Grab a friend and become the most stupid pair of geniuses around.

1. Helldivers 2

In like a bullet to the top of this list is the extraordinarily popular Helldivers 2. Robots to the left of you, bugs to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you, a squad of my pals, merrily immolating all the enemies before us and, quite often, each other.

Helldivers 2 combines a lot of things. Great shooting against horde-style enemies? You betcha. Improbably huge special abilities like actual nukes? Sure thing. Pretending you haven’t set off the bomb in the enemy nest and then exploding your mates for the jape? Absotively.

The titular Helldivers are teams of hard-hitting expendable soldiers sent to clear enemies on planets surrounding Earth, which is at the centre of a global war with giant bugs on one side and advanced robots on the other, so you head down in timed missions do beat them back a bit. The always-on friendly fire is a daring choice, but one players have embraced, along with furious debates over whether the Terminids or Automatons are the worse enemy to come up against.

Buried in amongst this, though, are hints that actually both murderous robots and murderous insects are both the fault of the Super-Earth, though many players enjoy the roleplay aspects of screaming “For democracy!” as they call down an airstrike on a giant monster spitting acid at your mate. Helldivers 2 is simultaneously layered and simple, and it is an instahit you’re sure to love.

Top 20 Best Co-op Games To Play With Friends on PC in 2024 | Best Multiplayer Steam Games

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The best phones to buy in 2024

By admin February 3, 2024

The best phones to buy in 2024, Fivu has tested just about every major smartphone released over the past year, including foldable Androids and the latest iPhone and Samsung Galaxy models. These are our picks for the best phones.

We’re in the early days of 2024, which means we’re at the start of another year of new phones expected from most of the big manufacturers. Samsung kicked off the year by unveiling its new Galaxy S24 line, the company’s first to build in generative AI features like real-time call translation.

Below, I’ve compiled the definitive list of top phones you can buy right now, based on over a year’s worth of hands-on testing. My pick for the best phone overall goes to Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for its immersive and vibrant display, reliable battery life, and wealth of special features, including generative AI.

The best phones of 2024

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Best phone overall

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra specs: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Display size: 6.8 inches | Storage options: Up to 1TB | Rear cameras: 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto (5x), 10MP telephoto (3x) | Front camera: 12MP | Battery: 5,000mAh

Samsung’s newly-released Galaxy S24 line is the first to go all-in on AI, and the S24 Ultra is the most premium phone you can buy. The new Galaxy AI model embedded in the device brings a number of generative capabilities, including real-time phone call translations, the ability to circle an object on screen to perform an image-based Google search, AI-assisted photo editing and transcriptions, and a Chat Assist feature for figuring out how to phrase a message in different tones.

Like its predecessor the S23 Ultra, the S24 Ultra is built with a large 6.8-inch AMOLED display and a reliable 5,000mAh battery. Though the price has gone up to $1,299 ($100 more than the S23 Ultra), the phone’s upgrades make it well worth it: The S24 Ultra is made of a lightweight yet durable titanium frame, compared to last year’s aluminum, and features Corning’s new Gorilla Armor. It feels lighter in the hand, noticeably grippier, and more durable.

Under the hood, it includes an upgraded Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset for improved graphics and AI features, 12GB RAM (an increase from last year’s 8GB), and 2,600 nits of brightness — a big improvement over last year’s 1,750. The four-camera system also got an upgrade, with a 50MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom for higher-quality shots of distant objects, sharper images, and clearer shots in dimly-lit environments.

iPhone 15 Pro Max

Best iPhone overall

iPhone 15 Pro Max specs: Processor: A17 Pro | Display size: 6.7 inches | Storage options: Up to 1TB | Rear cameras: 48MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 12MP telephoto (2x), 12MP telephoto (5x) | Front camera: 12MP

The new iPhone 15 Pro Max offers everything a premium flagship smartphone should, including a brilliant 6.7-inch AMOLED display for all the media consumption — and mobile productivity, of course.

This year’s model also looks and feels different than any prior Pro Max devices, as it’s made of titanium instead of stainless steel and, therefore, significantly lighter in the hand. This makes the iPhone 15 Pro Max noticeably more comfortable to use.

Another major feature of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the USB-C connector; particularly, one that supports faster charging and data transfers, the ability to charge other devices including the Apple Watch from your iPhone, and the ability to connect to an external 4K monitor. These benefits are game-changing for professional content creators.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max also features a new 5x zoom camera lens — the equivalent of a 120mm focal length on a mirrorless or DSLR camera. A new Action button lets you better customize shortcuts and easily open the apps you need, including firing up the camera with a press-and-hold. And the A17 Pro chip rounds out the year’s upgrades, offering improved graphical performance.

Apple is charging you more for this year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a starting price that’s now been bumped up to $1,199. In turn, the device comes with a base storage of 256GB.

The best phones to buy in 2024

Google Pixel 8 Pro

Best camera phone

Google Pixel 8 Pro features: Processor: Google Tensor G3 | Display size: 6.7 inches | Storage options: 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB | Rear cameras: 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto | Front camera: 10.8MP

When it comes to camera performance, you really can’t go wrong with any of the flagship devices from the big three (Apple, Samsung, and Google). Depending on your preference for color temperature and feature set, you may lean towards one manufacturer over the other. But more often than not, it’s Google’s Pixel camera system that satisfies the most users, and the latest Pixel 8 Pro remains a champion both for instant capturing and post-processing.

This year’s model features a reliable triple lens setup, with a 50MP primary lens, a 48MP ultrawide that’s notably more capable at capturing macro and close-up photos, and a 48MP telephoto lens for far-distance shots. Should you want more granular control over the Pixel 8 Pro’s camera quality, there’s now a series of Pro controls that allow you to tweak settings like the exposure and shutter speed.

But real-time capturing is only half the battle with mobile photography; there’s also post-processing and how flexible devices are with editing and tweaking subjects around. To that regard, the Pixel 8 Pro may just have the most flexible and creative photo toolbox on the market, with AI features like Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, and Best Take that can turn any bad photo into a good one.

OnePlus Open

Best tablet-style foldable phone

OnePlus Open features: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Display size: 6.3 inches and 7.8 inches | Storage options: 512GB | Rear cameras: 48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 64MP telephoto| Front camera: 32MP (outer) and 20MP (inner)

The number of foldable phones on the market this year basically quintupled compared the 2022, thanks to the collective effort of just about every manufacturer, including Google with its Pixel Fold, Motorola with its Razr lineup, and OnePlus with the OnePlus Open. While Samsung has held the reins of the best foldable honor for years, I’m giving the top spot this year to the OnePlus Open.

Unlike its competitors, the OnePlus Open strikes the best balance of weight-to-size ratio. When folded, the phone is as light as an iPhone Pro Max, and when unfolded, it expands into a thin slate of visual goodness. OnePlus leverages the 7.8-inch display by offering some of the most intuitive multitasking features I’ve tested, headlined by “Open Canvas”. With it, you can open up to three apps at once, and as you tap into each one, the other one or two will tuck itself to the side, ready to reappear when needed.

The triple camera setup, while presented in a casing that sticks out more than I’d prefer, captures spectacular photos and videos, with an emphasis on blue and orangish hues that cinematographers and photography buffs know and love. By nature of the foldable form factor, the Open is also capable of taking hands-free selfies and group photos.

OnePlus got the fundamentals down pat with the Open, too, including 65W fast charging capabilities (with a charger in the box) that blow past Samsung and Google’s foldable standards, a base configuration of 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, and a crease-less inner display. The cherry on top for me is its $1,699 price tag, with OnePlus offering $200 off when you trade in any phone in any condition.

Motorola Razr Plus

Best flip-style foldable phone

Motorola Razr Plus features: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 | Display size: 3.6 inches and 6.9 inches | Storage options: 256GB | Rear cameras: 12MP main, 13MP ultrawide | Front camera: 32MP

Flip phones have made a (somewhat) triumphant return, even if teenagers and young adults are opting for the dumber option of the two types. The Motorola Razr Plus marks the return of the old-school handset, or as I put it in my full review, “a return to form, modernizing a classic flip phone into one of today’s best foldables.”

With the new Razr Plus, Motorola has equipped the outer cover of the phone with a 3.6-inch display. Besides doubling as a rear-camera viewfinder, the external display basically serves as a secondary, smaller phone. You’re able to run the same apps and services that you would on the inner 6.9-inch panel, including making phone calls, text messaging, watching TikToks, and playing games. The same can be achieved with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, though you’d have to jump through a loophole or two.

The foldable form factor of the Razr Plus ultimately lends itself to an improved camera experience. Since you’re able to flex the display at an upright angle, it’s easier to get everyone in the frame for group photos, take selfies, and capture long-exposure shots that would typically require a tripod or mounting accessory.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

Best budget phone

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G features: Processor: Exynos 1380 | Display size: 6.3 inches | Storage options: 128GB | Rear cameras: 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 5MP macro| Front camera: 32MP

Believe it or not, Samsung’s best-selling smartphone last year was not one of its S-series or foldable devices, rather it was the humble Galaxy A53 5G, which delivered an uncompromising phone experience with a smooth-scrolling screen, reliable battery, and up to five years of software support. The device was priced at just $449, undercutting its more premium competitors and heavy-handedly beating Apple’s own mid-range handset, the iPhone SE.

This year’s A54 5G ticks just as many boxes as its predecessor but with a series of subtle yet useful upgrades. For example, the display is still a large 6.4-inch panel that ramps up to 120Hz refresh rate, but now shines at 1,000 nits of brightness (from 800 nits), the battery size is still a healthy 5,000mAh capacity, and the unit is now powered by an Exynos 1380 chipset. That’s a minor bump from last year’s Exynos chip, but a bump nonetheless.

The Galaxy A54 also features an exterior design that’s more in line with Samsung’s S-series phones and a new camera system that’s headlined by a 50-megapixel main lens. From our testing, the photo results — both in daytime and nighttime — were evenly lit and sharpened just enough for you to share with others with confidence. Video capturing is capped at 4K, though the 128GB internal storage that can be expanded via MicroSD card should be ample enough for use.

OnePlus 11

Best fast-charging phone

OnePlus 11 features: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Display size: 6.7 inches | Storage options: Up to 256GB | Rear cameras: 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 32MP telephoto| Front camera: 16MP

A slow-charging phone can be a real pain point, especially if you’re always on the go. That’s why the OnePlus 11 carves out its own best category, beating Apple, Google, and even Samsung when it comes to charging speed. The latest model comes with 100W SuperVooc fast charging or 80W in the US, which is still great.

For reference, the highest-end iPhone 15 Pro Max has a charging speed limit of 30W and Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra caps out at 45W. From ZDNET’s testing and comparisons, both of those devices take a least an hour to go from 0% to 75% battery, falling noticeably short of the OnePlus 11’s numbers.

In less than 27 minutes, the OnePlus can go from empty to full. That charging speed, and the fact that OnePlus includes its proprietary charger in the box, put it a step above the rest.

The best part is that the rest of the phone is no slouch either; you’re getting a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, a 5,000mAh dual-cell battery, and a competitive triple-camera array that gets the job done. In total, OnePlus is charging you a starting rate of $699, which is just as good of a value pickup as the best budget smartphone on this list.

Asus Zenfone 10

Best compact phone

Asus Zenfone 10 features: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Display size: 5.9 inches | Storage options: Up to 512GB | Rear cameras: 50MP main, 13MP ultrawide | Front camera: 32MP

There’s no denying that, over the past five years, smartphones have become more and more unwieldy. Apple now offers Plus and Max-sized iPhones, Samsung has an “Ultra” beast, and even Google has a foldable that opens up to 7.6 inches. On the other end of the spectrum sits the Asus Zenfone 10, a device that deviates from the norm in favor of ergonomics and in-hand comfort, and the decision pays off.

Like last year’s Asus Zenfone 9, which I called “the iPhone Mini alternative for Android enthusiasts,” the newest model features a compact 5.9-inch AMOLED display, all the power you’d need in a modern-day phone thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and two capable cameras on the rear.

The battery life on the Asus holds up surprisingly well, too, with my review unit recording nearly two days of usage before hitting 0%. Some smaller yet significant details to note include the 3.5mm headphone jack on top, a physical side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a texturized back cover that looks and feels great in the hand.

What is the best phone?

Our pick for the best phone overall is the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. It features everything you could want from a smartphone including a large display, four cameras that can shoot 200MP photos and 8K video, up to 1TB of storage, a built-in S Pen for writing and drawing, and a 5,000mAh battery powering the system. Here’s how the S23 Ultra fares with the rest of our top picks.

Which phone is right for you?

Choosing a phone can be a daunting task. But having a list of your must-have features can go a long way toward narrowing down your options. If you’re a mobile professional or travel a lot for work, you’ll want to choose a phone that can provide you with at least a full day of use on a full battery as well as both LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity.

If you’re looking for your teen’s first smartphone, a budget-friendly and less feature-heavy option may be better to prevent overspending as well as misuse. And if you’re a content creator or other creative professional, you’ll want a phone with an excellent front and rear camera to capture photos and videos for your social media feed.

Choose this best phone…	If you want…
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra	A no-compromise smartphone that virtually any type of user can take advantage of. It’s the only 2024 smartphone with a built-in stylus.
iPhone 15 Pro Max	The best iPhone money can buy. It has a large screen, the longest-lasting battery out of all the models, and a toolbox of a camera system.
Google Pixel 8 Pro	A flagship camera experience at your fingertips. The Pixel 8 Pro differentiates itself with a slew of AI-powered camera tricks like Magic Editor and Best Take.
OnePlus Open	The best phone-to-tablet foldable that money can buy. And if you’re a power user, the multitasking and charging features especially will serve you well.
Motorola Razr Plus	A flip-style foldable that’s both compact and performant. With a large 3.6-inch external display and the market’s first dust-resistant build, this is the foldable to buy for most people.
Samsung Galaxy A54 5G	A more budget-friendly smartphone that doesn’t compromise on performance and battery life. The A54 5G is also eligible for up to five years of software and security updates, besting that of any phone of a similar price.
OnePlus 11	A phone that lasts long and charges from 0% to 100% in just 30 minutes. The OnePlus 11 is quietly good value, too, starting at $699.
Asus Zenfone 10	A compact phone that’s easy to pocket but doesn’t compromise on performance and specs. The Zenfone 10 is also competitively priced, starting at $699.

How did we choose these phones?

The process to make our phone selections includes real-world testing and researching about the phones for weeks, consulting with colleagues, industry experts, and analysts who also have hands-on experience with the smartphones, and then selecting the best from all of the available choices.

Ultimately, we weigh in the following aspects when curating this list:

Design: There’s only so much you can do with a slab design, but size differences, material choices, color options, and even the ability to bend a screen in half give shoppers enough diversity to have a preference. That’s why we have a recommendation for every form factor.
Performance: For many, smartphones are the center of our lives, which means the best ones are performant and can handle most, if not all, tasks you throw at them.
Camera: Arguably the most valuable feature of a smartphone; the consistency and reliability of a camera system can make or break the overall mobile experience. We test every device in broad daylight and in the darkest of nights when finalizing this list.
Battery: Every option in this guide should last you at least a day of moderate use. We also take into consideration what devices support fast charging and/or wireless charging.
Value: Price points are noted, but the most important thing with buying a phone is getting your money’s worth. With these picks, you can rest assured that you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

Which phone has the best camera?

It’s debatable between the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Google Pixel 8 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. For long-distance shots, Samsung’s 200MP rear camera with 100x Space Zoom can capture subjects as far out as the moon. For point-and-shoot pictures and a rather simplified (but effective) camera experience, Google’s Pixel phones have always been at the top. If you’re a videographer at heart, then the iPhone 15 Pro, with Cinematic mode and Action mode, makes for an excellent tool to get the shots you need.

How long should a phone battery last?

The average phone battery gives you about 22 hours of use on a full charge, which is great for staying connected on your commutes, work flights, and at home in the evenings. But that’s just the average, actual use time varies by phone model and by what you’re using your phone for.

For example, the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max boasts a 29-hour battery life. But you’ll most certainly get less than that if you habitually scroll through social media or stream video and music. And the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 has just a nine-hour battery life, which is further reduced by streaming, social media, and making calls.

How much storage should my phone have?

Most smartphones have a base storage capacity of 128GB, which is plenty of space for average users to download apps and music, take photos, and shoot videos. However, if you’re a mobile or creative professional, you’ll need more space. Many smartphones have expanded storage options up to 512GB or even 1TB, and you can always sync your phone to your preferred cloud storage service to free up local storage space.

Which phones are also worth considering?

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, there are tons of options out there. Whether you’re looking to upgrade or get your first smartphone, Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus have great choices:

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The best Mac apps for 2024

By admin January 12, 2024

The best Mac apps for 2024, One of the best parts about owning an Apple computer is the massive ecosystem of superb Mac apps it gives you access to. There are apps available to Mac users no matter what you are looking for, whether that’s productivity, photo and video editors, security suites, and more. You can get them from Apple’s own App Store or from third-party developer websites, and many of the best Mac apps are even free.

Whether you just bought your first Mac or you’re a longtime Apple customer, here’s a look at some of the best Mac apps you can get.

Alfred

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Think of Alfred as Spotlight with a dash of Siri. It’s an application launcher, but it can do a lot more than just that. With Alfred, you can quickly perform calculations, execute web searches, and find word definitions, among many other functions.

It’s a Mac app that fills the gap between Siri and your Spotlight search by allowing you to automate tasks and perform advanced functions that, frankly, Siri should be able to handle on its own. Version 4 improves the workflow creator, introduces rich text snippets, and more.

Get Alfred

The best Mac apps for 2024

The best co-op games on PC

By admin January 10, 2024

The best co-op games on PC, PCs were where multiplayer gaming began. While consoles stole the spotlight for a while by allowing multiple people to easily play on one system together, PCs have always taken the lead in providing players with the most options for multiplayer gaming. Most of the time, people come to PCs for competitive action, and there are a ton of options for those looking to go head-to-head in just about any genre imaginable, but there’s also a wealth of high-quality and unique experiences that focus on cooperation.

PC gamers almost have too many co-op games to pick from now, which is why we have scoured all the storefronts and picked out the best co-op games you can play on PC.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is technically a spinoff from the core Borderlands series, but essentially in name only. As far as co-op fun, this game is exactly the thing you expect from the looter-shooter series, only with a much-needed change of tone and coat of fantasy paint. The humor, for once, is actually appropriate and not immediately grating, and the new mechanics that are introduced for the tabletop-style framing device are used to great effect. It’s not the longest game, but if you just want a fun time blasting tons of skeletons, looting, shooting spells, leveling up, and looting even more, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a perfect choice.

The best co-op games on PC

Baldur’s Gate 3

When you look at just how well the game has done and all the records it has broken, it almost feels unnecessary to bring up Baldur’s Gate 3. However, even as popular as it is, you may not have fully explored just how great the game’s co-op is. If you thought the base game couldn’t get any more interactive, wait until you and a second player character start tweaking the systems. Trust us, even if you’ve played the campaign two or three times over, it is more than worth it to do it all over again with a real person by your side. Just like a tabletop experience, the fun you two will create can never be predicted or replicated.

Valheim

Survival games have been a hot genre for almost a decade now and don’t show any signs of slowing down. One of the newer ones to catch on in a major way is the Norse inspired Valheim. This early access title initially caught the gaming public’s eye for its interesting art style that combined somewhat low detail textures with high quality lighting and particle effects that make the game feel like it takes place in a fairy tale book.

Once you get into the game itself, however, it is clear that the game’s unique qualities are more than just visual. Yes, it is a survival game at heart, but Valheim puts its own welcome spin on things that make it even more fun to play with friends. Dropped into the randomly generated world of Valheim, survival is your first goal as you would expect. You and your friends will gather resources, build settlements, make upgrades, and all those classic survival game staples. Where Valheim starts to get interesting is in the progression.

There are a series of bosses that act as goals for you and your team to build towards. Each one has unique moves and drops, allowing you to advance further, explore new areas, and challenge even more difficult bosses. Of course you could always ignore these combat challenges and focus on simply creating your own ideal home, farm, village, or what have you as well. Valheim can be as calm and relaxing, or brutal and heart pounding, as you and your friends want it to be.

No Man’s Sky

From the ancient world of trolls and swords we head into the endless expanse of space for the next survival crafting game, No Man’s Sky. At this point this game has earned a near universal level of notoriety and acclaim for launching in a state that fell far below the expectations it set for itself, only to add more and more content, all free by the way, over the course of more than half a decade until it has become even more than what was initially promised.

In fact, the game is nearly unrecognizable from the launched product, and all for the better. In fact, it initially didn’t even allow for true co-op play, but now we can’t imagine the game without it. No Man’s Sky puts you in the shoes, or space boots rather, of an astronaut in a nearly endless universe of planets, ships, aliens, and mysteries to explore.

The game does technically have a main plot, simply reaching the center of the universe, but even accomplishing that goal doesn’t end the game and encourages you to explore all the other systems and events the game has. You and a friend can set up a base on a particular planet, go on missions throughout the stars, gather resources and craft upgrades, or simply explore a planet no one has ever set foot on. The sheer scope of No Man’s Sky make every discovery feel that much more satisfying and personal, and sharing that with a friend just makes it all the more memorable.

Monster Hunter: World

After so many entries locked to console, the Monster Hunter franchise finally came to PC with arguably the best version of the game made yet. Taking full advantage of the power afforded to modern systems, Monster Hunter: World not only looks amazing, but is almost dangerous in how deep it can suck you and your friends into the game’s satisfying loop.

The complex mechanics, deep systems, and almost endless amount of variety, customization, and content have never felt as well realized as they have with Monster Hunter: World on PC. Add in all the extra content they’ve added, plus the Iceborn expansion pack, and there’s easily hundreds of hours you and your team can sink into this experience. You’re a monster hunter with the sole purpose of going on missions to track, hunt, fight, and capture all types of massive beasts. While you can do it solo, Monster Hunter: World really begs to be played in a co-op party.

The different weapons all serve unique purposes, almost making each player their own different class in a way, so that teaming up and synergizing strengths and weaknesses against an overwhelming force just feels like the intended way to play. Monster Hunter: World is also a game perfect for chilling out and grinding familiar monsters for drops while you chat and relax with pals.

Deep Rock Galactic

This will start the trilogy of Left 4 Dead style games, but they’re all about as similar as a Call of Duty is to a Doom game. Deep Rock Galactic, as our first example, is a game that has been steadily improving since it was put into early access in 2018, and is now one of the most popular and best co-op games on Steam.

Again, as many games on this list are, Deep Rock Galactic is something you can play alone, but the game was undeniably intended for teams of four to play together. For the development team’s first game, Deep Rock Galactic has already been given multiple awards as a multiplayer experience. In Deep Rock Galactic you take on the role of a team of space dwarfs who undergo various missions in procedurally generated caves. There are four classes of dwarf to pick from, Engineer, Gunner, Driller, and Scout, that each have their own weapons, utility, and progression system.

Gameplay is a mix of the aforementioned Left 4 Dead style of gunning down endless waves of mobs while frantically trying to get to and accomplish your objective, plus dynamic terrain destruction and resource gathering for permanent progression. Thanks to the randomly generated levels, this is a game you and your friends can dive back into and chip away at time and time again.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2

The most obvious game on the list inspired by Left 4 Dead has to be Warhammer: Vermintide 2. This game, obviously using the Warhammer license, was the most notable attempt to not just copy that game’s formula, but really innovate and put a new spin on. Since Left 4 Dead 2 is still so playable today, that was the right call, and it paid off.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 has picked up not only fans of the Warhammer universe, but those looking to shake up the hoard based, co-op survival experience with new enemies, weapons, and systems that the aging zombie shooter just doesn’t provide. There’s even an upcoming sequel of sorts, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide that will take this same formula to the 40K universe. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is set in the first person perspective, but with a much heavier emphasis on melee combat.

There are some guns and ranged weapons, but for the most part you’ll be swinging swords, hammers, and other blunt and slashing objects. The target? Giant humanoid rats and mutants, which seems like a no brainer in terms of the perfect enemy to send at players in massive swarms.

There are five classes to pick from for your team, dozens of weapons, abilities, and four massive DLC expansions that have more than doubled the content the game launched with. If you’ve played all the Left 4 Dead maps forwards and backwards a dozen times already, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 will put the fear and excitement of barely scraping through a mission back in your blood.

Left 4 Dead 2

Yes, there’s no getting around it. Even over a decade after release, we’re still always ready to jump into a game of Left 4 Dead 2. It is obviously the sequel to the original, but at this point it has absorbed that game whole and become the Left 4 Dead experience. Thanks to a more stylized art style, emphasis on color, and perfect mix of variety and balance, Left 4 Dead 2 doesn’t feel like it’s aged a day.

Many have tried to take its throne, even the game’s own original developers, but there’s something about the simplicity of this seminal zombie co-op shooter that keeps us, and thousands of others, coming back to it time and time again. The set up is simple: You and three other survivors pick a campaign where you need to fight your way between safe rooms, completing objectives along the way, while endless amounts of zombies whittle away at you.

The standard mobs are nothing to worry much about, even in huge numbers, which is where the special infected come in. These can incapacitate you in a variety of ways, requiring a teammate to free you before your health is drained.

Going solo is going to get you killed in seconds, so sticking together and communicating is a requirement. Between the base game’s campaigns, all the ones carried over from the first Left 4 Dead, and the insane amount of user created content, Left 4 Dead 2 is the gold standard for survival co-op games.

Destiny 2

The Destiny games have had their ups and downs. The first game was notoriously lacking in story and long term content, but was able to build itself into a pretty solid experience by the time the final expansion came out. Destiny 2 kind of reset things, unfortunately, but has had even more time to fill in it’s content gaps with not only more expansions, but more experimental and ambitious additions.

Sure, the game is in a constant flux of balance and available content that will keep some members of the community upset, but no one can deny that Destiny 2 is an insanely satisfying shooter to play with your pals. Billed as a shared world shooter, think a small scale MMO, Destiny 2 is all about co-operation. Events in the world will automatically join you up with anyone else in the area to take on a threat or do an objective, plus all the story content is built for you to bring a squad along.

Of course, it’s in the end game level stuff that the co-op really shines. Raids in particular require not only a high level of FPS skill and maxed out characters with top level gear, but critical thinking and coordination among your party in order to make it through these long gauntlets of combat and puzzle challenges. If that’s not your speed, there’s always the PvP modes where you can play more traditional team based multiplayer modes. If you need a solid FPS to fall back on with your pals, Destiny 2 will have something to offer you.

Warframe

For whatever reason, Warframe has not gotten as much public attention as it’s competitors like Destiny 2. That’s a real shame, because in a lot of ways Destiny 2 owes a lot of it’s success to what Warframe had done before it. This little game that could started out with a simple concept of making a game about ninjas in space, but has grown so much and in so many different ways that it is almost unbelievable.

What was first a game where you took on pretty linear missions in just a handful of environments, with very slick and satisfying movement, has become essentially a looter shooter MMO hybrid, plus some Monster Hunter in there, with a massive 11 major expansions already released, the latest coming at the very end of 2021. Like most ambitious games, Warframe had a middling start, but has essentially only gotten better and better in the years since, which is not an easy feat.

It’s a weird comparison to make since Warframe came first, but if you imagine all the things you can do in Destiny 2, only in third person, with way more movement options, more skills, classes, abilities, and … well … basically everything, you will have an idea of what Warframe is.

Zipping around levels, blasting through trash mobs, and grinding for that next rare drop is satisfying enough on its own, but with friends is even sweeter. Plus there’s a surprisingly deep story here, and tons of other new activities like flying your own ship or even fishing. Warframe has basically become its own MMO, but with some of the best third person combat on the market.

Portal 2

An oldie, sure, but who can deny Portal 2 as one of the best puzzle games of all time? The first game was a surprise hit when packaged inside the Orange Box all those years ago, but Valve took notice to the amazing reception it got. That little game, introducing the simple concept of solving puzzles in a 3D environment by placing and jumping through two connected portals, was not only a satisfying and novel mechanic at the time, but lends itself perfectly to a room based puzzle game.

When they added in the sarcastic and mechanical humor of the main AI antagonist, it all just clicked together into a near perfect little game. Portal 2, as a sequel, had a lot to live up to. Setting the single player aside, since we’re focusing on co-op games here, even the idea of co-op in a puzzle game like this was risky. Portal 2 already introduced a bunch of new concepts, like gels, lasers, and light bridges, so adding two more portals to the mix could’ve easily been overwhelming and made puzzles either too difficult, or easily broken.

Thankfully, the genius designers managed to make an entire co-op experience that feels just as satisfying to solve as the rest of the experience. Teamwork is once again key, and usually works so that both players will have opportunities to reach a solution to a problem rather than one person basically just directing the other around the entire time. It also doesn’t hurt that the two robots you play as are rather adorable and packed with personality despite never speaking.

It Takes Two

The underdog winner of The Game Awards game of the year category, It Takes Two is the only game on this list that has to be played in co-op. Just like Hazelight’s previous game, A Way Out, there’s no option to even start this game without a teammate by your side. Because of that, this is perhaps the most tuned and crafted game on the list for co-op play since the entire design, both in terms of story and game play, depend on two players.

It Takes Two really feels like the pinnacle of all the co-op ideas the team wanted to get into their last game, and despite a mixed reception to the actual narrative, is an amazing experience from start to finish. Playing as a couple about to enter a divorce, It Takes Two transforms the two characters into handmade doll versions of themselves. Each player takes the role of either the husband or wife, and start their journey to try and return to their normal bodies.

At heart, this is a 3D puzzle platformer, but it is also so much more than that. Nearly every hour you will get some new mechanic to play with that has a use on its own, as well as when used in conjunction with whatever different mechanic your partner has.

The amount of variety and creativity the team has with this is amazing, and will keep you fully engaged the entire time since you will never play with the same tool set for long enough to get bored of it before the game throws something entirely new at you. Regardless about how you feel about the story itself, this is just a blast to play with a friend all the way through.

Diablo IV

How could we have a list with so many loot-based games without at least mentioning the series that popularized the term? Thankfully, we can do more than just pay tribute to the Diablo games because Diablo 4 has become not only a fantastic loot game, but among the best co-op loot games the PC has to offer. This series has spawned countless imitators, and some like Path of Exile are even giving the series a run for its money, however, Diablo 4 still has that high-quality polish that few other games can offer.

The initial release was indeed a rough start, but the team stuck with the game and is now above and beyond what fans wanted from the series. Diablo 4 is the perfect place to experience a great co-op adventure, whether you’re an old vet or brand new to the series. After updates and expansions, there are plenty of classes to pick from, level up, gear up, and experiment within a very adjustable range of difficulties.

Even when you max out one character, which alone will take you dozens of hours, there’s always end-game content to run through or all the other classes to give a shot that plays completely differently. Sharing loot, taking down bosses, and going on quests with your friends feels like a real adventure that can range from nail-biting to a mindless stomp through swarms of mobs while you catch up, depending on what you’re looking for. Teaming up is easy and seamless, and progress is carried over for everyone involved, not just the host.

Final Fantasy XIV Online

The only true MMORPG on this list is the underdog that came back from near death to take the crown from the once invincible World of Warcraft. Of course we’re talking about Final Fantasy XIV, the current gold standard for an online game reinventing itself and almost becoming too popular over time. Not many people were around to experience the original version of the game, but the revival of this struggling MMO is very well documented and needs not be repeated here.

The point is, it is at the top of its game now and shows no signs of dropping in quality. What’s most impressive is you don’t need to be a Final Fantasy fan, or even a real MMO fan, to have a great experience. As an MMO, Final Fantasy XIV naturally encourages co-op play just like any other. You can run through the entire main story, which now spans almost a dozen expansions, plus all the raids and side activities. Basically, anything you can do in this game, you can do with your friends.

There’s guild mechanics to form larger groups, and tons of tools to make playing together easy. They even allow players to visit other servers so if you and a friend happen to be playing on different servers, you can still team up without having to start from scratch on their server. The quality of life features are second to none, much like the game’s narrative which is quickly becoming many people’s favorite Final Fantasy story of all time, MMO or not. This is one game that deserves a monthly subscription for how much regular content it offers you and your friends to take on.

Lethal Company

As an indie breakout, Lethal Company punches far above its weight class. Playing as an employee of a mysterious company tasked with collecting scrap on randomly generated moons, the intentionally dated graphics and restrictive inventory system all play into that sense of dread, knowing that unspeakable horrors stalk you and your team.

The real fear — and fun — comes in playing with friends. You need to work together, but the game doesn’t make it easy thanks to proximity chat, a time limit, and deadly traps constantly pushing you to rush and get careless. This is a great game to grab some pals around late at night to laugh (and scream) over.

Overcooked! 2

Cooking is a mechanic in many games, mostly RPGs, but usually not the main focus of a game. There are even fewer games that make cooking the main focus and are centered around co-op. If that intrigues you, and you somehow missed it, then Overcooked 2 is your answer. Naturally, this is the sequel to the original Overcooked, and follows the same structure, only expanding on all the mechanics and having even more levels to cook through. If you don’t think that a cooking game would make for one of the most hilarious, frustrating, and rewarding co-op games, often being all of those within the span of seconds, then you really need to give this one a shot.

Overcooked 2 is a cooking game with a very simple and easy-to-grasp game loop. You get orders for different foods that you need to prepare and serve before the time expires. The faster you can serve the meal, the more money you earn, and the more stars you will ultimately get when the level finishes. Dishes usually have just two or three ingredients that need to be prepared in some way, such as chopping, cooking, or boiling, before being combined on a plate and delivered to the right spot. Sounds simple, especially with three other friends to help out, right? Wrong. The level design in Overcooked 2 is what makes it ask for such a high level of teamwork.

Sometimes, ingredients will be moved away from the prep stations, or there could be shifting rows of tables that block access to different areas at certain times. You’ll never fall into a groove with Overcooked 2, and that’s what makes it such a fun game to go back to even after you’ve beaten all the levels.

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