Shacknews Best Co-Op Game of 2017: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands

To say that this was a good year for the multiplayer gamer would be an understatement. There was a plethora of great stuff both in the PvP and PvE arenas. When it comes to the co-op experience though, one game had the right mix of open-world action, tactical gameplay and just the right amount of roughness around the edges to creates the perfect 4-player co-op storm in 2017, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. It may not have been the most polished apple in the basket, but that only seemed to endear it more to me and my fellow digital narco agents, and there was still plenty to love. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands snuck past all of the competition to win the award of Shacknews Best Co-Op Game of 2017.

Wildlands allowed you to execute your group stealth and attack strategies any way you saw fit. Features like player controlled drones, the ability to sync your headshot with other players and a palatable skill tree helped increase that depth of strategy. Or you could do what my squad did and jump out of helicopters while flying directly over enemy encampments and get into insane firefights. 

Obviously, there were plenty of times where our bravado got the best of us, and there were plenty of times when we would call an escape copter only to have it spawn in the middle of a palm tree leaving us doomed. Amusing blunders and figuring out ways around them actually made the overall experience more enjoyable though. 

Wildlands was just so vast and had so many various territories to explore that it felt like we were always discovering something new or sharing spots where we'd found some decent weapons or augments. We pretty much did anything and everything we could to the point where by the time we'd finished playing it we'd gone through every piece of DLC available and only had one or two trophies left to unlock. 

Now that they've gone and made new Predator Challenge DLC that just recently launched, it looks like we've got an excuse to be heading back the jungles and deserts of Bolivia for one last ride. Hopefully, my avatar will be Schwarzenegger enough to survive one last mission with the crew. It is with great pleasure that we award Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands the title of Shacknews Best Co-Op Game of 2017.

Honorable Mentions:

Snipperclips

Communication is key in any relationship. Especially in co-op puzzle-solving situations. No game seemed to understand this more than the Switch's sleeper hit, Snipperclips. Fitting the ever-changing body shapes of Snip and Clip together perfectly could be considered a metaphor for team building, but I just thought it was a fun way to think creatively with friends.

Divinity Original Sin II

Most RPG's can trace their roots back to pen and paper origins. So, it makes sense that Divinity Original Sin 2 was just as much fun to play with friends as a tabletop game of DnD would've been. Factor in the couch co-op and there's even more reason to call up old questing cohorts for one last digital quest. 

Be sure to keep up with the rest of The Shacknews Awards as we celebrate the Year of the Games: 2017.

Blake Morse

Events Coordinator

Blake has been writing and making videos about pop-culture and games for over 10 years now. Although he'd probably prefer you thought of him as a musician and listened to his band, www.cartoonviolencemusic.com. If you see him on the street, buy him a taco or something. Follow him on twitter @ProfRobot