Couch Co-op – Girlfriend Mode

With Borderlands 2 just released the issue of  ‘girlfriend mode’ is surely far behind us as we ride off into the sunset of Pandora with a glorious haul of loot in tow. But it did raise the question, what games do we play with our partners? That is if you are one of the downright hopeless geeks that struck it lucky with someone who just so happens to love games too.

For me it’s tough trying to choose one of the many games I have to play with my girlfriend Janine . You see not only does she dabble in the odd modern console game but she also has a massive back catalogue of retro co-op games lying on the “pile of shame”. So in faced with a conundrum. What games can we play? Or more so what games will we have the most fun with?

To start we have a massive love for a series as opposed to just a singular game: Lego anything. It seems that not only do the cute little yellow men provide an excellent distraction for small children cooperatively but they also have the allure of Walter White’s blue crack to a toothless meth-head on my girlfriend. The Lego games have always been a great game for hoarders and collectors when it comes to gameplay and the slapstick silliness runs straight through such a charming set of games that it’s hard for anyone to deny the greatness of the series. So I need to give Traveller’s Tales 10 points on the girlfriend scoreboard for countless hours of fun, especially for Lego Batman.

Dynasty Warriors is another game I’ve found to be great to play with Janine. The simple control set and vast cast provide all different types of styles for you and your trusted partner to ride into battle with. There was a point where I felt guilty playing it without her next to me in case she missed out. There really isn’t much that can compare to conquering China with your girlfriend, unless you have some nice Dynasty Warriors dress up for her to wear while you play and she feeds you the world’s best Chinese food as you play. But that’s just wishful thinking.

With Janine’s love for retro consoles, I find myself dragged through some of the most difficult games I’ve ever played in co-op. One that stands head and shoulders above the rest is Captain America and The Avengers. Now you would assume that because Cap is pretty much the title character he would be the best. I know I did and that’s why I chose to play as him. Unfortunately “assume” makes an ass out of you and me. So this perilous co-op adventure was played solo, by Janine. The co-op experience slowly turned to an odd sort of affair, in which we shared one character’s lives.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game was another I convinced Janine to play through the medium of comics, retro and movies. With an attractively deadly mixture of the three key ingredients, Scott Pilgrim was a barrel of laughs, if you ignored the anguish caused by an uneven divide of loot. On my behalf, shamefully… it was bound to end badly. But Scott Pilgrim is one of the quirkiest and most attractive co-op games out there. There’s no reason why you can’t conquer all the deadly exes with your betrothed.

If you haven’t guessed by now my girlfriend is very much in love with comic books and just so happens to love playing games about them too. With console gaming becoming more and more popular and with an expansive set of games for all types of people,  there is bound to be something that tickles your significant other’s fancy (calm down, it says fancy). It might be the difference between an expensive dinner and a few drinks or a weekend in bed playing video games.