HeyDaniko // November 12th, 2020
So, I liked Clayton’s article so much that I thought I would blatantly steal his idea and format. He’s very rarely right when it comes to… anything, really. But I certainly agree that gaming with friends is a fantastic experience. For me, the fondest memories I have of shared gaming experiences go all the way back to the original Guild Wars on PC, Samurai Warriors 2 on the PlayStation 2, and Borderlands 1 & 2 on Xbox 360. The games themselves were thoroughly enjoyable in their own right, but what really makes the memories important to me were the people that I played them with.
I started playing Guild Wars back when I was 17 years old. For context I’m much older now. I was a member of several guilds as the years went by but the most important one to me was The Soul Sword Brethren – a group of mostly real life friends including people I had grown up with, some from secondary school and even some from university as the years went on. I played that game for 8 years solidly after all.
And speaking of university, during my first and second years, my friend David and I would play Samurai Warriors 2 whilst drinking utterly bleak amounts vodka before a night out. We must have poured as much into the game as we did into our glasses, as we cleared nearly everything and always went out completely smashed.
Borderlands came into my life at a much darker time. A period in which I felt utterly directionless. I had finished university and was now out in the big wide world; my relationship with my genuine first love had so recently ended and left me in ruin; and I had just failed at having a working holiday abroad in Australia thanks to the start of the 2010 global financial crisis. And so, I was back living with family and working part time in retail. I had begun to question all of the decisions I had made in my life as pretty much everything seemed to play a part in getting me to where I was. Nowhere. Just trapped in a depressive hole of financial insecurity and mental vulnerability. Gaming was all I had to distract me from my grim reality, and the friends that I held close during this time are the people whom I will cherish for the rest of my life. Borderlands was such a big deal because it made me so happy – so truly and honestly happy in a time that nothing else could. Something about that game, and the friends with whom I played, was the one thing that I looked forward to waking up to each day. There were times that we would play the entire day away – waking up around midday and playing a solid 12 to 15 hours before going to bed in the early hours. Other times, our group of like-minded folks in similar situations would even drink together whilst we played, and that was really about as social as we could afford to be. Looking back, despite the horrible time I was having, these memories still make me smile. And the private jokes between my friends and I that were born at this time still find themselves being used today. Just ask me about the “bandits’ day out” or going “digging for fish.” Maybe even about how Darth Vader pleasures himself with the force whilst eating a chicken curry. I know it sounds absurd to you, but to me it’s truly priceless.
So, moving on to happier sands, I’m sure you’re wondering what games I’d like to recommend today. Well, as Clayton took a motley selection, I think I’m going to do the same, although you can expect something of a similar theme running through.
I have purposefully chosen to omit MMORPGs from this selection as I just have too much to say about the likes of Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 and the Elder Scrolls Online. I can save that for another article focussing on the genre itself.
Killing Floor 2
With all my love for Killing Floor 2 you’d find it very hard to believe that once upon a time I really didn’t like first person shooters. And truthfully, I still kind of don’t. Or I at least wish that all the FPS games I play were in the third person. Maybe I just like looking at bums or something. I’m not sure but there has always been something about the first-person perspective that hasn’t quite meshed with me. But that being said, there are some truly incredible FPS games out there. Killing Floor 2 is just one of them. It’s a co-op class-based shooter at its absolute best. Its mindless, it’s gory, it’s addictive, its adrenal, it’s quite literally bloody fun.
Where KF2 really shines is in its class system. There really isn’t a redundant role to choose from as all of them bring something useful to the table. There are 10 “perks” as the game refers to them, and range from the much sought after Field Medic, to the melee specialist Berserker, the sniping Sharpshooter, the explosives expert Demolitionist, the pyromaniacal Firebug, the strong and versatile Commando, the shotgun specialist and ammunitions pack mule Support, the duel wielding Gunslinger, the defensive specialist SWAT and the jack of all trades Survivalist. While most standard games only allow up to 6 players to join a map, anyone running their own private server can choose to up that cap to absolutely ludicrous numbers – provided the server can handle it. And keep in mind that the levels scale, increasing the total number of enemies for every additional player that you add.
Game modes range from 4 rounds, to 7 rounds and 10 rounds. All coming with an additional 5th, 8th or 11th boss round. If you’re just looking to grind out experience and map achievements, then 4 round games are the way you really want to go. Or you can tackle the newer endless mode, which is essentially the 4 round game mode on infinite loop. The only issue here is that there are no map-based achievements to earn on this mode as there is no completing it – it’s all about beating your personal best and seeing how far you can push.
Killing Floor 2 is a solid recommendation from me and one that I would give to anyone into wave-based, horde-like co-op shooters.
The Gears of War Series
Speaking of horde, Gears of War really is the series to thank for the popularity of its genre defining game mode. Despite enjoying the campaigns of most of the Gears games, 4 and 5 certainly standing out as weaker links, Horde Mode has always been where my heart lay.
Gears 2 was the first game to introduce Horde Mode, with very few mechanics. Just you and your friends in a sizeable map against waves and waves of enemies. There really wasn’t much to it, but it was still incredibly enjoyable all the same.
Gears of War 3 in particular was where the mode really peaked for me, and most of the audience it seems. My friends and I spent countless hours on Overpass, fortifying the stairs and murdering anything that dared come up the centre of the map. And it was wonderful. The real charm of Gears 3’s Horde Mode was the freedom to play in any way you saw fit. If you wanted to build a base at any pre-selected location and phalanx it to high heaven, that’s exactly what you could do! If you wanted to fill the map with decoys and turrets whilst running around with a sawed-off shotgun to remove some faces – that was plausible too! Bloody hard, but doable. Overpass was most notably the best map for bunkering down as it was possible to build an extremely defensible base with only one-way in. And that route was usually fortified and guarded by turrets, laser wires and four testosterone and energy drink-fuelled players. The amount of time my friends and I put into Horde Mode on Gears 3 must be up there with some of the most played games in my Steam library.
Gears 4 further built on the game mode by allowing you to fortify any position you wanted and build anything absolutely anywhere, which was really the only way Gears 3’s Horde mode could be improved upon. It also saw the introduction of classes – each specialising in different fields such as engineers for building, scouts for collecting resources, and heavies for massive damage. It really was a huge improvement across the board, only really let down by your classes levelling exceptionally slowly and the maps losing some of the charm that Gears 3 had.
But, the big selling point of the entire Gears of War series has always been the co-op campaign. And this is something I strongly advocate for any game that can feasibly do it. I have great memories of my first ever play-through of both Gears 1 and 2 with my friend Chris – just the two of us binging the story and revelling in all its gory beauty. I have equally fond memories of the time I introduced my friend Callum to the series, and we completed the first two games in just two sittings over two days the weekend before Gears 3 released. I then went and bought my copy of Gears 3 as soon as I was able, and we ravaged our way through that too. The third instalment even upped the comradery by introducing 4-player co-op to the campaign which was a strong shout in my opinion. Even Judgement, the lesser loved spin-off of the Gears series, was thoroughly enjoyable in its own right as long as you played with friends. And despite the fact that the 4th and 5th instalments have fallen short of people’s expectations, they’re honestly still excellent cooperative games best enjoyed with a mate or three.
Minecraft
Okay, I know it stands out as a strange one, but hear me out. Or don’t. If you’ve gotten this far then cheers for at least being on the site analytics. You can go now.
But seriously, Minecraft is a f*cking good game! Sure, it’s got a reputation as a children’s game but that’s because it’s basically digital Lego. Have you seen what adults can do with Lego? Have you seen Legoland? Far too many people don’t even know about the redstone mechanics of Minecraft that make it possible to build functioning electrical circuits and, if you’re really nerdy, working computers in-game. But what makes both Lego and Minecraft more fun? Friends! Journeying off into the unknown with nothing but a sword and 10 uncooked pork chops, just you and your friends against the wilds of Minecraft is a genuinely exhilarating experience, and I’m becoming more and more aware of how much this sounds like a joke to anyone who hasn’t actually played the game.
Minecraft is not only a creative sandbox, it’s an action adventure game in a randomly generated world bigger than Neptune. The world that I have been hosting for my friends is nearly 5 years old at this point and still being regularly explored and built upon.
The reason I put Minecraft on this list is because its such an easily overlooked game by anyone over the age of 8. It’s a highly relaxing experience when you want it to be; its an epic adventure when that’s how you’re feeling; and a great bonding experience for gamers of all ages. I truly believe that if you discount Minecraft purely for its visuals then you are doing yourself a huge disservice.
So, tell me, what multiplayer games do you have the fondest memories of playing? And what are some games you think people overlook for the wrong reasons?
And on that note, I thank you kindly, good readers. I have been Daniko, and its been a pleasure delivering this article to you.
Thunder's Remnant 