I have a regular group of friends and we try to play co-op games together fairly regularly. We've played the co-op content for most major xbox360 games and I really enjoy this aspect of gaming. I've found that we won't stick to every game the same, some we keep coming back to over and over while others are tried and then get put aside. Right now, we're playing through some really cheap copies of Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising ($10/ea) and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
The games which are the most successful for our group are definitely Gears of War 2 - Horde mode, Modern Warfare 2's specops and Battlefield Bad Company 2 online multiplayer.
More surprisingly I guess is the titles that don't work - Halo Campaign and Firefight, Borderlands, Left 4 Dead and the co-op modes of Call of Duty World at War, Black Ops, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.
When I really consider it, most co-op games are really just offering a mode for co-playing. All members are in the same game, and there's a small amount of interacting between them. There's some small elements, like helping downed allies which might be present but that's about it.
What makes co-op truly successful? I think it comes down to the co-op players being dependent on one another. Both in reducing negative situations, like giving a downed ally a new chance by reviving them, but also there's a positive boosting element; that the combination of each player's game allows everyone to perform to a higher level. This is essentially the definition of teamwork.
Over some subsequent posts I'd like to continue to discuss how teamwork is and isn't implemented in games and what makes it successful.
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