Who doesn’t feel all of their neuroreceptors firing up when someone talks about good times with split-screen games, whether they were co-op or competitive experiences? Whether it’s because we’re older and no longer have as much time to play as before, or because the industry just went another — sadder — way, I believe we all miss the golden age of peeking at your opponent’s screen to get that sweetly dishonorable and unfair advantage.
A Way Out
What’s better than breaking out of prison? Well, never getting caught, sure, but, if you’re not that lucky or good at crime, I’d pick breaking out of prison with a buddy. That’s the premise of A Way Out by Hazelight, a company that excels at co-op games, and that hit its current peak at narrative-driven gameplay with A Way Out. If you want a game that does co-op well, but is also filled with Hollywood-worthy set pieces, this is the one for you.
Timesplitters 2
When gamers talk about great split screen experiences, their minds immediately wander to images of Goldeneye 007 while the game’s sweet theme plays in the background. I’m extremely guilty of that, as that’s the game that gave me the idea for this list. Still, I’d argue that Goldeneye was not the game to perfect its own formula, nor was Perfect Dark. I believe it was Timesplitters 2, the game that gave us one of the earliest — and still one of the better — PS2 shooters at a glorious 60 frames per second. I only ever got to face off three more people at the same time, but if you have the equipment — and an actual gang — you can play it with up to 16 people at once.
Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock
The only game series to rival Guitar Hero in the split-screen rhythm arena is Dance Dance Revolution, but I’d argue Guitar Hero 3 edges it out due to the better song selection, and also because a guitar is way cooler and more practical to have and transport than a DDR mat. Guitar Hero 3 doesn’t just mark the peak of its series, it likely also marks the last great moment in the history of competitive split-screen gaming — for the time being, I hope.
Burnout 3: Takedown
Many racing games fought for this position in my heart, but Burnout 3 was just too aggressive to lose to the likes of Need For Speed, Gran Turismo, or Forza. Burnout 3 is a fantastic game even if you only play by yourself, but it becomes a completely different beast when you turn it into a duel against your best friend — or your most hated enemy. This thing is as thrilling as a Quake 3 deathmatch, and still as fun and harmless as a game of Super Smash Bros.
Super Mario Kart
And if I’m singing praise to Burnout 3, I cannot do so without honoring the OG. Yeah, you could say that the original Mario Kart for the SNES walked so that Burnout could drift, but there’s way more value to it than just that. Even though it was a two-player-max affair, the truth is that the good ol’ Super Mario Kart remains highly enjoyable even for people who never got to experience it when it first came out.
Gears Of War
When I finished watching the first gameplay footage for Gears Of War, I mostly sat in disbelief at what I’d just witnessed. There just was no way that I was looking at actual gameplay footage. There just was no way they could make cover shooting, something the series would make ubiquitous, fun. And that was before I learned that this fever dream of a third-person shooter had serious split screen co-op and competitive aspirations. Everything felt absurd, but the planetary alignment did occur, and Gears Of War ended up providing players with one of the greatest packages in the history of shooters. I know that Gears Of War is likely older than anyone reading this who hasn’t played it yet, but I wholeheartedly say it’s not too late to enjoy the original campaign in co-op.
Beating General RAAM with your buddy on the highest difficulty will ensure your friendship lasts at least another 20 years.
Portal 2
To be completely honest, Portal 2 didn’t need a co-op mode. The first game didn’t have one, and it’s still one of the greatest games in history. Portal 2, however, couldn’t be content with being just one of the greatest single-player games of all time. It needed to be one of the greatest co-op experiences of all time, and it sure achieved its goal. Instead of just having players go through the base campaign with two players, Valve forged a masterful new campaign that had players working together on something that’s not just mindlessly shooting stuff. I love mindlessly shooting stuff in games, but I’d argue Portal 2‘s co-op campaign, though bereft of a big plotline comparable to the single-player one, remains the most interesting of the two due to the added challenge.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
Though hard to believe nowadays, at some point the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series was beloved by skaters and uncool people alike. You could play for points, go on an unhinged search for all the secrets hidden in the many awesome maps, or simply leave the game running to listen to its magnificent soundtrack. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 was always worth it, but it gained a whole new dimension when going head-to-head against your friends.
This game, which I always played against either actual skaters or randos who somehow were always much better at it than me, provided me with some of the most memorable split screen moments of all time. Imagine what it can do for you — especially if you’re any good at it.
Goldeneye 007
How great is Goldeneye‘s split screen deathmatch mode? Well, it’s just a part of one of the best video game adaptations of one of the best 007 movies of all time, and it’s still the most famous thing related to the Goldeneye name. This was, for many years, the gold standard of couch multiplayer, and the first definite proof that first-person shooters could work, and rock, on consoles — so long as nobody is playing Oddjob.
Halo 3
This is a list and not the ranking of my favorite split-screen games, but, had this been that, there would be no competition for Halo 3. This game’s co-op campaign isn’t simply the best in the series, it’s also the first one to use the Master Chief and the Arbiter as players one and two, showing that the devs at Bungie were well aware that the co-op factor in a Halo campaign was as important as the solo mode for fans.
People lived for the idea of finishing the fight with their best friend riding shotgun. The final level where you work together to finally escape the collapsing Halo is one of the most memorable moments in video games, for the co-op partners who cleared it.
Oh yeah, there was also the local split screen PvP, which I’m just going to say was even better than Goldeneye’s and Timesplitter 2’s.
