3 Best Co-Op Multiplayer Games of May 2019

Dauntless

You can’t really talk all that much about the best co-op multiplayer experiences to release in May 2019 without having Dauntless on the list, so we thought we’d start our list off with it.

Courtesy of the folks over at Epic Games and Phoenix Labs, Dauntless takes the hack-and-slash monster battling gameplay of Monster Hunter and distills it into a simpler, more accessible experience.

Dauntless sees players take on giant beasts known as Behemoths that are set to destroy the stunning Shattered Isles if they’re not defeated once and for all.

By defeating these creatures, players will obtain new crafting materials, allowing them to level up their gear and take on more powerful creatures as a result. They’ll also level up their Slayer Rank as they go, too.

Not only is Dauntless’ gameplay loop pretty great, but it’s also even better when you’re playing with others. Teaming up with friends, each playing as a different class allows you to all take on a distinct role within your party, and makes the spongey Behemoths that little bit more enjoyable to take on than if you’re playing solo.

Add in the fact that Dauntless is free-to-play and cross-play across PC, Xbox One, and PS4, and there’s no real reason why you wouldn’t download Dauntless to give it a go. Plus, it’s been insanely popular since its console release, so you might even make some friends to go hunting with along the way.

Team Sonic Racing

Sonic wasn’t content with just letting Mario take the kart racing crown with little competition. Sure, Crash is coming hot on the heels of Sonic with his remastered kart racer, Nitro-Fueled in June, but first, it was Sonic’s go, and you know what, it wasn’t horrible.

Sure, rubber-banding still remains an issue, but it’s less prevalent when playing with friends, so it really is the best way to play.

As you might have guessed from its title, Team Sonic Racing has a co-op element in it. Alas, it is limited to local co-op, but it’ll see you and up to three friends all racing as part of a team against other teams in a bid to be the first racers past the finish line.

You’ll be able to send items and weapons to a teammate when they’re in need of a boost or to knock an enemy in front of them back.

Every time someone on your team Slingshots another racer, Skims an allay, spins out a rival, or exchanges items with another member of the team, they’ll also build the Team Ultimate meter that, once full, can be activated to enable a super state.

This drastically increases your team’s speed and making all three of you invincible for a short period of time.

Team Sonic Racing is a great co-op multiplayer title for those who have got an itch for kart racing fun. It might still not be able to keep up with Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom friends, but its team-based take on the genre allows it to stand out enough from the crowd.

PixARK

PixARK is what you get if you throw Minecraft and ARK: Survival Evolved into a blender and keep that button held down until you can’t distinguish the blocky visuals of the former from the realistic dinosaurs and survival experience of the latter.

The game drops you in a procedurally-generated world, teeming with dinosaurs, things to build, tools to make, and magical creatures to tame as you play.

Essentially, PixARK is a sandbox title where you’re free to do whatever you want… with dinosaurs thrown in for added measure. You can even get a rocket launcher too!

While it’s still in a fairly rough state with bugs and glitches still fairly prevalent only a few days after its 1.0 version launch, there’s some fun to be had if you’ve grown tired of messing around in Minecraft or just fancy some other sandbox fun.

Unfortunately, you are limited to just online co-op multiplayer here, with no plans for local couch co-op to be introduced, but grab a headset and you’ll be more than ready to adventure with your friends in this blocky world.