Powerwash Simulator (Available on Game Pass)
Pick up your hoses, get your nozzles at the ready, and soap up that wall because Powerwash Simulator is bloody relaxing, and playable in up to 6 player co-op!
What we said in our review: PowerWash Simulator is a very simple, and very good game. Alone or with friends it’s both fun and stupidly satisfying to clean dirt with water. A healthy variety of locations, tools, a solid upgrade path, and even new looks are on hand to make this one well worth checking out.
Sea of Thieves (Available on Game Pass)
Rare’s piratical sandbox Sea of Thieves launched a little light in terms of cargo in the hold back in 2018, but in it’s time at sea, it has gone from strength to strength, with the developers at Rare remaining committed to bringing fans of the game more of what they wanted.
In our latest re-review of the game following it’s release on PlayStation 5, we said: Sea of Thieves remains an incredible experience for those of us who like to venture out into the unknown. The framework provided by the quests and the world is merely a routine, a backdrop of activities that allows the wonderfully unexpected and often hilarious to happen. It’s a beautiful and incredibly realised shared-world adventure, and for many players, the question of what might be over that horizon remains as alluring as ever.ecially in co-op, it’s an easy recommendation for me. All four heroes play fantastically and are quite different from one another. It also looks great on a Series X. I hope that Gotham Knights becomes a series because this is one hell of a first entry.
The Halo Franchise (All available on Game Pass)
What list about co-op gaming would be complete without containing at least one Halo title? Thankfully, because this is an Xbox-focused list – mostly – we’ve got more than just one!
First up, there’s the Master Chief Collection, which contains all of Bungie’s original Halo games – Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach – all available to play through in their entirety in co-op play. It also includes Halo 4, which was 343’s first foray into the series.
What we said in our review: Any future compilation of titles should look to this as the benchmark for what a collection of beloved titles should be. If you like first-person shooters, love Halo, have never played Halo, or anything in-between then you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t give this collection a try.
Then we have Halo 5, also available on Game Pass, and of course the latest in the mainline franchise, Halo Infinite.
In our review, we said: An epic campaign that is everything true fans of the series have wanted since our nostalgia-driven brains started to really appreciate just how cool levels like the Silent Cartographer or Two Betrayals could be with modern tech. In a year packed with sub-par launches for some of the biggest first-person shooter franchises, it really feels good to simply say this: Halo is back. I for one, welcome the return of the king.
Halo Wars 2 (Available on Game Pass)
But wait, there’s more! What about Halo Wars 2? That’s right, this RTS is available on Game Pass and is playable in co-op play throughout the whole campaign.
What we said in our review: It’s not the deepest RTS, and it really is best for fans of the Halo universe. As it is available for Game Pass there is no harm in trying things solo or even better, with a friend in coop. Add in the excellent expansion ‘Awakening the Nightmare’ and you have yourself a genuinely awesome game.
