The gaming industry tends to work in trends. One type of game will be popular for a while before eventually tailing off and losing its place to something else. The shooter genre, however, has managed to maintain popularity for years. Of course, it's changed plenty of times through t🀅he decades. But the simple act of shooting people, monsters, or zombies in a video game setting is evergreen.

Yet, not enough of them allow you to do it with a buddy by your side. While cooperative shooter🔯s aren't extremely rare, it seems like there should be more of them. That being said, there are a few amazing ones out there, and these are the🧸 greatest.

Updated March 21, 2025 by Ben Jessey: There are plenty of great co-op shooters out there. We created this list of the best ones and have now updated it to add a few more.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands

Ghost Recon Wildlands is a cooperative third-person shooter set in a very large open world. The place includes mountains, deserts, forests, and other terrain to♔ traverse. Much of the game revolves around you driving around the map, visiting different places, and completing missions.

The combat is a bit slower and more tactical than your average shooter. You're encouraged to scout places out, use cover, and utilize your equipment to get the best of your enemies. What's also interesting is that while the game is primarily a third-p🦋erson title, you can aim in first-person, giving you the best of both worlds.

Evil West

The combat in Evil West isn't what you typically expect to see in a shooter. After all, you aren't just shooting people. You're also using melee attacks and special abilities to deal some damage. Yet, guns📖 are certainly a significant part of the experience. You have a revolver, rifle, and a flamethrower to use in battle.

The foes you're typically battling against are supernatural monsters that regular humans can't handle. Thankfully, you aren't a regular human. You're a vampire hunter named Jesse Rentier, and your co-op buddy will be the same, as this is a co-op experience where you both play as two versions of the same 🌺character.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

You get to both shoot guns and swing things in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, as it's a🐻 third-person shooter and a hack-and-slash title in one.

Whether you're hacking or shooting, though, the gameཧ is a lot of fun, especially when you're playing with friends. Together, you can play through an enthralling campaign that utilizes Warhammer's deep lore to deliver a story that is interesting even to people who aren't familiar with the 40K canon.

Contagion

Contagion is a multiplayer first-person survival horror game. It contains multiple modes, and two of them a𒀰re cooperative ones. In Escape, you and a team of up to eight players need to complete various objectives in an effort to escape your surroundings. If you fancy a more heroic experience, you can opt for extraction, where you need to save AI survivors.

Both of these modes have you battling and gunning down hordes of zombies as you attempt to complete your goals. There are several weapons in the game to help with that, and they genera🦩lly feel pleasant to𓆏 shoot.

Halo Infinite

The Halo series perfected its signature brand of first-person shooter g꧒ameplay long before Halo Infin൲ite was released. Therefore, Infinite doesn't dramatically change things, but it arguably provides the smoothest combat in the series. The inclusion of new weapons and a grapple hook mechanic helps keep things fresh, too.

Another thing t꧒hat makes this different from other Halo games is the campaign features an open world. So, not only can you embark on missions with your buddies, but you can also drive around and explore a Halo ring with them.

Time Warpers

When you think of a game that 🌺contains a blocky world and various dangerous creatures, you likely think of Minecraft. Yet, while the presentation of Time Warpers is similar to the sandbox title, it's a very different game. This is because, in Minecraft, you don't spend all your time gunning down the creatures you find.

Time Warpers is a fast-paced shooter where you're encouraged to be in perpetual motion to avoid being surrounded by the maಌssive groups of enemies you face as you attempt to take them all out. The game also offers gun customization, continuous progression, and, of course, co-op play.

Earth Defense Force 6

Like every Earth Defense Force game, EDF 6 is a wild and over-the-top third-person shooter. The developers don't seem to put much focus on storytelling or having eye-catching visuals. These games are all about wacky fun, which is something EDF ꦚ6 certainly provides.

The game is all about running around large areas while killing the invading monsters.𓃲 These beasts are typical♌ly gigantic, and there is usually an incredible number of them. Thankfully, you have various high-powered weapons to bring them down.

Army Of Two: The 40th Day

Army of Two: The 40th𓄧 Day is a title built explicitly for cooperative play. Therefore, you both play as significant characters. Their names are Salem and Rios, who are two operatives that are attempting to stop a terrorist attack in Shanghai, China.

It's a solid third-person cover shooter with deep weapon customization and nicely designed environments. Because it is a co-op through and through, there are various cooperative moves you can unleash on the many enemies you fight. For example, you can boost a ⭕teammate up to allow them to peek and shoot over an obstacle.

Quake 2

Quake 2 is one of those FPS games that really helped popularize the genre many years ago. In 2023, an enhanced version came out on newe😼r consoles. It is more of a port than a full remaster or remake, so it isn't visually spectacular. That said, the core first-person gunplay is still a lot of fun.

It brings back memories of another era of games, like the original Doom and Duke Nukem. As such, there is no deep story 𝓡or a bunch of cutscenes in this game. You just go from room to room, blasting monsters with various different weapons.

Shadow Warrior 2

Shadow Warrior 2 doesn't take itself as seriously as many other FPS games. It contains plenty of jokes, and not m🎀any of them are very sophisticated. So, if you're a fan of crass humor, then Shadow Warrior 2 might be right up your alley.

Its core combat is flashy and exciting. It's also really fast-paced, and you're encouraged to move around a lot as you fight a range of different enemies. Some of those beasts are really big and powerful. Thankfully, though, you and your friends have plenty of interesti🐟ng and dangerous weapons at your disposal. It is not all guns, either, as there are plenty of blades in the title, too.