Sheesh!.. 2017 was an awesome year for gaming wanst it? especially for co-op games! Seems like this genre is making a glorious comeback, and it doesnt seem to be stopping at 2018.
So after we’ve digested all the tasty games we’ve devoured in 2017 its time to list our most anticipated up coming co-op games for 2018.
Spelunky 2
Release date: TBA
If you read our Best games for couples article you already know we are completely in love with the original game, so you can imagine the amount of hype that was generated from us after the announcement of Spelunky 2 at Paris Games Week 2017.
Apart from the new trailer, there isn’t much information to chew on, what we know right now is that the game is developed, like the original Spelunky, by Derek Yu’s studio Mossmouth so we can expect the same quality of gameplay and design.
The trailer didn’t show any gameplay moments, just a collection of photographs that gave us some context that on the next game we will play the original Spelunky hero’s child. Unfortunately, we don’t have a release date yet, but we sure hope it will hit 2018!
A way out
Release date: March 23, 2018
From the director of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons comes a new action-adventure co-op game.
Played from a 3rd person perspective you and your partner play as the story’s two main protagonists Leo and Vincent on a quest to find a way to break out of prison and continue on beyond its walls together. From what we’ve seen so far we can expect a narrative based game full of dialog and character moments. The graphics and voice work seems top notch and easily comparable to leading games in the genre today.
What got us very excited about A Way Out is that the game is only playable in either local or online co-op so we know the game is built from the ground up with split screen co-op play in mind and the trailer shows exactly this approach.
The various scenarios that we saw suggest that both players can act freely and are not tied to their partner’s position and actions.
For instance, one player can participate in a classic courtyard prison brawl while the other player is still taking his midday shower, not knowing whats going on outside. Other examples show the two players working together as a team, one player tries to steal an important object while the other keeps watch, and stalling the guards if needed.
Even when a cutscene plays that is relative to only one player, the other player can still act while the cutscene is played on the other side of the screen.
We can also see some more classic cooperative activities likes rowing a boat down a stream, Chase scenes, back to back wall climbing and more.
These are only a few examples we got from the trailers, but it’s enough for us to say we anxiously waiting to get our hands on this one, all four of them!
The Swords of Ditto
Release date: Q1 2018
The moment we saw the reveal trailer for this game we fell in love, and the details that came afterward made it even sweeter!
The Swords of Ditto is a top-down action RPG game that can be played together on the same screen or alone, co-op is only possible locally.
In this game you play as a young hero (or heroes) in the island Ditto, a beautiful lush land oppressed by an evil the sorcerer “Mormo”, On a quest to relieve the curse from the island.
Each time you begin this game you are set off with a new hero, continuing the legacy of the previous hero who tried to defeat Mormo and either failed or succeeded.
Depending on how good, or bad, the previous hero did on the run through Ditto, which takes about 2 hours for each run, the land will change accordingly.
For example, if the hero before you failed, the land will have more enemies, the main town and its residents will be gloomy and bleak and the general aesthetics of the map will be dark and ominous.
If the previous hero did succeed you will find Ditto a more welcoming place, the townsfolk will be happy and hopeful and in the center of town you will find an erected statue of the hero who courageously defeated the ultimate evil.
Looking at this game we see some similarities to Spelunky although it has some welcoming changes to the formula since here we have a clear progression through each run.
The map is procedurally generated and you will find various types of enemies, different styles of puzzles, sprawling dungeons and a vast array of whimsical weapons to go through. There are a lot of details about this upcoming game we surely missed but from what we saw The Swords of Ditto can easily be one of the best games we’ll play together in 2018.
Detroit: Become Human
Release Date: Q2 2018
Detroit: Become Human is an upcoming interactive narrative driven adventure game from Quantic Dream, developers of the well-known games such as Beyond: Two Souls, Heavy Rain and Fahrenheit.
Throughout the years Quantic Dreams developed a unique style of games that has been both praised and criticised by gamers and gaming outlets but we seem to be the positive side of the spectrum.
Like their previous games, Detroit: Become Human is more of an interactive drama/thriller movie that focuses on exploration, intertwining storylines, decision making and quick time events. (Similar to games like Until Dawn, Life is Strange and the various Telltale Games).
The story revolves around 3 androids in a near future Detroit.
In this future, super advanced androids have replaced humans in most common jobs and are almost identical to human beings except they are not programmed to have feelings and a sense of purpose, at least that’s what we are led to believe, until some of them start to act strangely like attacking humans, running away from their owners and even committing suicide.
The 3 main protagonists, which all are androids themselves, give us different perspectives of this conflict as we find each of them in a different situation in the story.
Making choices in this game will have consequences that will transcend between these different story paths and can shape up the overall story in many ways, and like previous games, a death of a character does mean “Game Over”, the story will continue and move on accordingly.
We love playing together these narrative driven games and this upcoming one seems to be very ambitious in giving us a complex story we will wrap our minds around over and over again.
Knights and Bikes
Release Date: TBA
A charming co-op adventure game developed by Foam Swords (ex-Media Molecule devs) set in a fictional 1980’s British island on the verge of financial crisis.
In this game, you play the roles of Nessa and Demelza, two mischievous girls that explore the island looking for treasure, seek new friends, uncover mysteries and coming up with shenanigans along the way.
It feels like the developers really try to capture that sense of wonder being a child has, either by the beautifully hand-drawn colorful world or the actual implementation of that youthful playfulness into the game mechanics.
As the name suggests, you traverse this island by riding your upgradable bikes around, fighting imaginary creatures with improvised weapons (can’t wait to start hurling water balloons at them creeps!), exploring abandoned corners of the island in search for loot and ultimately helping the residents of the island out of that gloomy situation.
Although you can play this game solo, co-op seems like a strong element of this game from everything we saw so far.
Whether its the story’s context of two kids adventuring together to gameplay elements, like mini-games Nessa and Demelza makes up during their journey or fighting enemies together, combining their individual power together.
Knight and Bikes just bursting out of creativity and joyous imagination and that’s why this game is so hot on our radar for 2018.
And here are some more co-op games you should look out for in 2018:
- Children of Mora
- Guacamelee 2
- Secret of Mana
- Farcry 5
So that’s our most anticipated co-op games for 2018!
Do you feel we missed anything? What are your most anticipated co-op games you just can’t wait to get your hands on?
Let us know in the comments below.