Summary
At any point involved in gaming,Valveis a name that will inevitably come up. Known as a company that has produced games beloved by fans and critics alike, few other gaming contemporaries can hold a candle toValve. For the better part of twenty-five years, Valve has been known to create once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
A large part of their games, especially the more recent ones, have to do with the cooperative experience. Some of their titles, such asHalf-Life, focus on a single-player playthrough. However, Valve is a company where co-op has become almost synonymous thanks to their inventive multiplayer design choices. With a plethora of game choices, and most being a co-op, it simply depends on which of their options are worth playing.
Most of Valve’s games have always been some of the most well-known in the industry.Alien Swarmis not the case, being a relatively unpopular game by Valve compared to the likes of their other titles.
Originally starting as a mod forUnreal Tournament 2004,Valve’sAlien Swarmcenters around four players killing enemy aliens across various levels. Different classes are available to play as, four each that players can choose, all with unique abilities. Of course, since players will be shooting aliens, they can select from a number of guns, weapons, and utilities to progress through the levels.
Arguably Valve’s most well-known game,Counter-Strike 2’sprimary focus is the co-op PvP experience, but that isn’t to say PvE doesn’t, or will not, exist in the future. It is possible to play PvE against bots in private matches, and hopefully, whenever the next operation comes around and Valve implements new missions, much like how they did inCS: GO.
However, for now, players will have to play in a team of five against other people.CS2is more of a regular FPS than other Valve titles, in which players simply load into a match and shoot the other team until they win. The gameplay goes a bit deeper than sayCall of Duty,via spray control or grenade lineups, but doesn’t have additional elements such as abilities that other games likeOverwatchdo.
Seemingly a game that Valve has forgotten exists, but is still very popular.Team Fortress 2allows players to fight as a team against other people in regular modes, or against robots in theMann vs Machine mode.
Regardless of the mode, players can choose between one of the nine different characters, each with their own unique abilities and specialties that will impact gameplay. PvP has more modes than the PvE Mann vs Machine mode, most of which are usual for a shooter, such as King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, and others. Mann vs Machine tasks players with defending their base against robots trying to destroy it.
Valve has always had a habit of picking up mods of games (mainly theirs) and officially making the new series their own. A case in point is withDota 2, a sequel to theDefense of the Ancientsmod ofWarcraft 3.A fruitful decision, asDota 2has been incredibly successful as a PvP title.
Dota 2follows the conventions of a typical MOBA; players pick from a plethora of different characters and they will then attempt to battle their way to their opponent’s base and destroy it to win. Players are separated into teams of five and fight against each other, or the various less-threatening A.I. bots known as creeps.
Left 4 Deadproved that Valve could make various games with completely different themes and still have them prove extremely well-received.Left 4 Deadis one ofValve’s more mature games, with players fighting through waves of zombies.
A benchmark for cooperative shooters,Left 4 Deadplaced an emphasis on teamwork that borders on necessity, or else players will more than likely meet a grisly end. The gameplay is very simple: players need to shoot zombies on their way to escape the level. However, getting caught by a powerful Special Infected will require other players' help, making sticking together crucial.
Portal 2’smain focus is on its single-player campaign, much like the first game. However, unlike the firstPortal, Portal 2features ahighly loved co-op mode for two players.
As usual forPortal, players must navigate through various puzzles using their Portal Guns. Puzzles can be as simple as needing to figure out specific paths to teleport to or solving complex riddles. Both players will need to work together to progress the game, as certain puzzles can only be completed via teamwork, be it opening doors for one another, or placing portals for the other player to walk through.
Despite some players' skepticism ofLeft 4 Dead 2releasing in such a short time frame after the firstLeft 4 Dead, it has now becomeone of the best FPS horror games. It sadly also shares the same fate with most of Valve’s games, seemingly never getting a sequel or third game.
Keeping many of the same gameplay elements from the firstLeft 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2added new characters, weapons, Special Infected, and campaigns. The game also has an extremely active modding community, withvarious custom campaignsbeing a notable example, adding to the already increased amount of content. In fact, there’s not much reason to actually playLeft 4 Deadanymore, as Valve updatedLeft 4 Dead 2to include the campaigns featured in the original.
