Multiplayer PC Games?

[kkortekaas]

My gaming group plays a lot of Left 4 Dead 2 online and to be honest, I'm getting a little tired of it. Can anyone suggest any decent games that either have a strong multiplayer element or better yet, co-op?

While we don't mind playing FPS games, bonus points go for RTS or 4x Strategy games..

Much appreciated.
kkortekaas

[Cespenar]

The Modern Warfare titles play really good in multiplayer if you know the people you're playing with, for one.

[Deth Muncher]

Magicka. :D

No really, I *THINK* it won't glitch out on multiplayer anymore...


Also, they're adding a PVP mode pretty soon.

[Whoracle]

Starcraft (The original one, if you can stand the graphics. I find it way superior)
MineCraft
Neverwinter Nights
System Shock 2 (mod it for coop)
Unreal Tournament Classic (Graphics are dated, but it's more fun than a stick!)

Yes, I prefer older games, so what?
They're cheap nowadays and apart from the graphics they play mostly superior to the current ones IMO.

[kkortekaas]

Whoracle, I too share your love for classic games...I'm actually looking for something similiar to X-Com or Jagged Alliance that has co-op

[Erloas]

Well most RTSs have multiplayer that can easily be set up as vs or co-op. Although personally I've never been a big fan of RTS versus because the games are either painfully long or completely one-sided. As for which games... well probably whichever ones you like to play single player.


My brothers and I had a lot of fun with Borderlands and I would recommend that for mindless co-op killing. There isn't much for versus though.

[Miscast_Mage]

Warcraft III and it's expansion will always hold a special place in my heart as the RTS to muck about with friends. It also has some really fun and kooky custom made maps that can pretty good if you get bored with vanilla WC and have enough friends.

The Heroes of Might and Magic series can be fun, if you've got the time for it(games can last for weeks of real-time, depending on how long you take on turns/how often you play/how many players/etc).

The Half-Life series has a metric ton of multiplayer focused mods for each game in the series, particularly a lot of zombie ones which look fun.

Seconding Whoracle. Not even getting into my love affair with older games, you don't have to worry about one person having an inadequately powerful pc, plus they're usually pretty cheap.

Oh, and all this is assuming you mean for pc, just incase I didn't notice you saying otherwise somewhere.

[Smight]

Sins of a solar empire
Sword of the stars
Space empires 3,4,5
Master of Orion 2

[kkortekaas]

I've heard some not so positive things about the Space Empires series, anyone know much about them? cost wise, I think Space Empire IV will be the one we'd play (being that it's 10 bucks on steam)

[Whoracle]

I'm actually looking for something similiar to X-Com or Jagged Alliance that has co-op

The much-maligned Fallout: Tactics would fall into this category, and, IIRC, Commandos.
Or go on a Diablo II spree :D Me and some gangs do that every 6 months or so. Always a blast :D
HoMM has already been mentioned, so consider that seconded.

[Miscast_Mage]

The much-maligned Fallout: Tactics would fall into this category, and, IIRC, Commandos.
Or go on a Diablo II spree :D Me and some gangs do that every 6 months or so. Always a blast :D
HoMM has already been mentioned, so consider that seconded.

Note that Fallout Tactics is going to require a lot of hair-ripping frustration to find a mod that lets you play through the campaign to some degree or another co-op style(I've seen one so I know that at the very least it exists. Probably.), otherwise it's just random deathmatch-and-such single maps. I love Tactics, I really do, but it has it's problems.

[toasty]

League of Legends. Its a good game. :smallbiggrin:

[GeekGirl]

Arma II, Killing floors (zombie-ish survival) much harder than Left 4 Dead, Dino D-Day (http://www.dinodday.com/) (its nto out and may not be good, but it has what WWII games have been missing.. Dinosaurs)

I really like Sins of the Solar Empire I know already said) warning: this is a long game, you will be playing for a while. Supreme Commander; 1 only 2 was horrible, everything that made 1 good was removed in 2 :/

Neverwinter Nights was an awesome game, but 2 was better for multi-player.

[warty goblin]

Arma II, Killing floors (zombie-ish survival) much harder than Left 4 Dead,

I quite agree on both of these, although ArmA II is really only good if you don't mind something a good deal more hardcore than your average shooter. Think hardcore flight sim, but with soldiers instead of airplanes. Killing Floor is a real blast, although the engine hasn't aged particularly gracefully the basic action is very satisfying.

Red Orchestra, by the same folks who did Killing Floor, is also a good multiplayer bet if you like your shooters on the gritty side. Plus it'll be good practice for when the sequel emerges and takes over all right thinking people.


I really like Sins of the Solar Empire I know already said) warning: this is a long game, you will be playing for a while. Supreme Commander; 1 only 2 was horrible, everything that made 1 good was removed in 2 :/
I quite like SupCom 2, but it committed the cardinal sin of being a sequel not identical to the first game. If you try it as it's own thing, it is a very well put together thing.

[Shas aia Toriia]

I'm going to reccomend the Dawn of War 2 games: $30 for Retribution gets you everything, including co-op campaign and MP, both vs. and co-op wave style.
If you prefer the campaign, get the first two DoW2 titles, the recent one if you prefer online segments.

Its an RTS by the way.

[Martok]

I've heard some not so positive things about the Space Empires series, anyone know much about them? cost wise, I think Space Empire IV will be the one we'd play (being that it's 10 bucks on steam)
I'd recommend getting Sword of the Stars instead. The MP is supposed to be a lot of fun (and singleplayer is pretty enjoyable too!).

Even better, you can currently purchase Sword of the Stars Complete -- which includes all three expansions (Born of Blood, Murder of Crows, and Argos Naval Yard) -- from GamersGate for just $6.99. It's definitely worth getting at that price!




Otherwise, I'd second GeekGirl's recommendation of Sins of a Solar Empire. It's not as much my cup of tea personally (since I generally don't care for pure RTS games), but it's polished and well-balanced. You could do a lot worse than this one.

[Om]

Football Manager

[kkortekaas]

Thanks folks.

[psilontech]

Some of the most fun I've had with multiplayer RTS was in Homeworld -- Obviously, to keep your friends, you'll have to all agree to not use salvage corvettes. That, or play Homeworld 2.

[Leecros]

I would like to third Sword of the Stars.


My girlfriend convinced me to buy it when it was on sale on Impulse the other day and i have been playing it constantly since. It is definitely a Must Get even if not for multiplayer. It's a step above Sins IMO, because every object, every weapon, every projectile was simulated. In Sins all the ships go by DPS. In SotS it factors in several factors for a weapon, damage, mass, strength of the explosion, Weapons can miss if thrown off aim, etc... Also with the ability to customize your ships, they type of weapons they use, and what upgrades to put on them. You never know what your friends will come up with.


Although admittedly the random events are a bit traumatizing early-game....:smalleek:

[Shas aia Toriia]

Some of the most fun I've had with multiplayer RTS was in Homeworld -- Obviously, to keep your friends, you'll have to all agree to not use salvage corvettes. That, or play Homeworld 2.

To expand on this any my comment, any games developed by Relic tend to be extremely good.

[Thrawn183]

I'm going to have to recommend Battle for Wesnoth. It's FREE.

[GeekGirl]

I quite like SupCom 2, but it committed the cardinal sin of being a sequel not identical to the first game. If you try it as it's own thing, it is a very well put together thing.

I don't mind if a sequel is different than the original, bu tin this case they went to wrong way with it. They moved away from the originality the first had and made it into a generic RTS. At least that how i felt about it.

[Penguinizer]

If you manage to get into it, Bloodline Champions is fun. It's a bit like a mix of Dota and the Guild Wars arena.

[Smight]

cost wise, I think Space Empire IV will be the one we'd play (being that it's 10 bucks on steam)

SE bundle is on sale for 7.50€ on Gamers Gate (http://www.gamersgate.com/5years?aff=ggnews) at the moment, so is Sword of the stars for 7€

[Artanis]

I'm going to have to recommend Battle for Wesnoth. It's FREE.

Seconded. It's a damn good game, both in multiplayer and in the included singleplayer campaigns.

[Triaxx]

Yeah, Tactics is fun, but only has deathmatch style multiplayer. Though there's a lot more thinking than the usual multiplayer.

[Gamerlord]

I've heard some not so positive things about the Space Empires series, anyone know much about them? cost wise, I think Space Empire IV will be the one we'd play (being that it's 10 bucks on steam)

One of the best strategy games I have ever played, but matches can take forever.

[Triaxx]

Now that I think of it, here's two good ones.

Total Annihilation. Nothing says RTS awesome like 10 players on Epic Africa. NOTHING.

Star Wars Rebellion is an amazing game, and Multiplayer is equally as awesome. It's horribly expensive though.

The Baldur's Gate series, has co-operative multiplayer, for up to 6 people, and the Icewind Dale series is built around multiplayer.

Sacred 1 has multiplayer that's either co-operative or competitive. Or you can completely ignore the story and spend months just killing things.

Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds is basically Star Wars fitted to the AOE2 engine, with a few improvments, and some 'air' units. But it's tons of fun. Plus you know, Wookies. And everything is better with Wookies.

[Lord of the Helms]

I'm going to reccomend the Dawn of War 2 games: $30 for Retribution gets you everything, including co-op campaign and MP, both vs. and co-op wave style.
If you prefer the campaign, get the first two DoW2 titles, the recent one if you prefer online segments.

Its an RTS by the way.


My recommendation in general is:

Dawn of War: Winter Assault or Dark Crusade for Skirmish multiplayer between friends. I never warmed up to DoW 2's online matches nearly enough for them to compare to the enjoyment of the first series. Note that DoW1, Winter Assault and Dark Crusade each have their seperate multiplayer with notable differences in troops, upgrades and upkeep rules and thus can play quite differently.
DoW2: Retribution comes a bit closer to being as much fun for me, but still isn't quite there.

On the other hand, if you like Co-Op multiplayer for two friends, DoW 2 allows you to play the entire campaign together with a friend, for the original and both expansions. The original campaign is solid but not without its faults (lots of repetition in environments and gameplay, and really annoying boss fights), Chaos Rising is better in every way and has perhaps the finest campaign I've seen in an RTS since, I think, Spellforce 2 or Rise of Legends. I'm not far enough into the Retribution campaign to compare it, but it seems of fairly high quality as well.

Other than that, Starcraft is always fun. The first Supreme Commander is loads and loads of fun in multiplayer. Both are for skirmishes, but you can of course play in teams with friends.