Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Horror games typically follow a storyline that is better suited to a solo experience. While there are certainly a ton of great single-player video game titles out there for the horror genre, sometimes you want to enjoy being terrified with a friend. In this list, we’re highlighting some of the best cooperative horror games available right now for PlayStation 4.
#13 Evil Dead: The Game
PC | Xbox | PlayStation
If you’re a fan of the Evil Dead franchise than no doubt you’ve already played this game, or will be getting it soon enough. This title was built from the ground up to be a love letter to the franchise and its many forms over the years. This is a 4v1 multiplayer title where four people will play as characters from Evil Dead history and try to complete certain tasks before they’re all killed.
The other player though is a demon who gains power over time and will be able to unleash wave after wave of problems at the players.
So prove yourself and see exactly who is the “Groovy”-est of them all in Evil Dead: The Game
#12 Friday the 13th The Game
PC | Xbox | PlayStation | Nintendo
Friday the 13th The Game was a breakout hit and a game that many couldn’t escape from. With so many players enjoying the game, it quickly flooded streaming services like Twitch and a slew of YouTube videos were being uploaded daily. Those that played the game were in love with it as it took the iconic movie horror franchise and transformed it into a compelling multiplayer game. Players would either become camp councilors or the antagonist undead monster that lives within the campgrounds, Jason.
The selected players that are put into the game round as survivors are split up on a large map with no means of direct communication. Instead, all the players can do is rely on getting close enough in proximity to communicate or locate a radio device that connects to other players that have found a radio. From there, it’s a game of trying to find all the necessary items to make a successful escape.
However, on the map is also Jason who is tasked with tracking down and killing the remaining survivors. With a few powers such as quickly moving around different points on the map, Jason can attempt to cut players off or foil their plans of escape. Meanwhile, survivors are a bit more nimble as they can quickly dive into buildings, barricade themselves, and attempt to hide from Jason in hopes that he moves on to another player. While this game had a massive following at one point, there was a major issue for the development studio. Due to some licensing issues, the studio was forced to shut the game servers down. Despite this, the game is still available for players to enjoy with friends thanks to peer-to-peer matchmaking and the developers have continued to support the title.
#11 Dead by Daylight
PC | Xbox | PlayStation | Nintendo
While Friday The 13th The Game failed to continue because of the licensing issues, Dead by Daylight offered an alternative that is still very much supported and active today. The game was released around the same time as Friday the 13th The Game, but rather than being solely dedicated to one particular IP, it was aimed to deliver content inspired by a variety of IPs, giving players a bit more bang for their buck.
Overall, the gameplay is similar–a group of survivor players is tasked with escaping from a deadly enemy while the enemy player is set out to take the survivors out. At the start, players are actively working to complete certain objectives on the map before they rush toward safety. For instance, to power the gates for the exits, players are forced to repair and get several different generators scattered around the map running.
Players can bring the generators up again but they’ll also need to keep an eye out for the hostile enemy player. Fortunately, survivors can be downed a few times before getting ultimately killed off, but to ensure that they are freed, healed, or escape confinements from within the map, it’s best to rely on teamwork. Enemy types have a few different attacks at their disposal, but survivors are also able to use different methods to keep the monster at bay such as knocking down pallets or taking advantage of environmental debris.
As mentioned, unlike Friday the 13th The Game which only had a variety of Jason models to pick from, Dead by Daylight has several hostile enemy characters and maps. In the past, we’ve seen content from Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Stranger Things, and Silent Hill, along with many other beloved IPs.
#10 Aliens: Fireteam Elite
PC | Xbox | PlayStation
If you enjoy cooperative games like Back 4 Blood, you may want to check in on Aliens: Fireteam Elite. This third-person shooter puts players into the role of an elite task force. Aiding those in need, the group is forced into fighting off some horrifying enemies like Xenomorphs. Players will find different classes to pick from while the game throws different waves of enemies their way. Meanwhile, the title puts players into a long-believed destroyed refinery that has been infested with Xenomorphs. To figure out what happened, you’ll have to deal with the infestation and explore every nook and cranny of the refinery.
#9 Resident Evil 5
PC | Xbox | PlayStation | Nintendo
While the Resident Evil franchise has always been known for its survival horror and creepy atmosphere, Capcom changed things up for Resident Evil 4. With a new assortment of mechanics that proved to be popular with fans, the development studio upped the action element with Resident Evil 5. While Resident Evil 5 is one of the black sheep installments of the franchise, some players were receptive to the many changes it introduced. Fans still look back at Resident Evil 5 as a rather solid action-horror cooperative game.
Within the narrative, players once again stepped back into the role of Chris Redfield, a staple protagonist character from the franchise. A new sign of BOW was found in Africa leading Chris along with a new partner from the BSAA region, Sheva Alomar, to track down the source and stop another bio-terrorism attack. As mentioned, the game is very action-packed based but with horror elements throughout. Players work together in this third-person shooter as they battle against infected hostiles, take on boss fights, and complete puzzles to progress through the campaign. You’d be surprised by just how fun this game can be despite its lack of traditional survival horror elements.
#8 The Dark Pictures Anthology
PC | Xbox | PlayStation
Supermassive Games gained a big following after the release of Until Dawn, finding some stable footing within the horror genre. While Until Dawn was a single-player experience for the PlayStation 4, the games that followed started to introduce multiplayer elements. In particular, The Dark Pictures Anthology is a collection of titles you’ll want to look into if you’re looking for terror with friends. This is not a single game, but rather an anthology, with additional titles still slated to release in the future. Players can expect a narrative-driven adventure with lots of QTE and choice-based decisions.
Co-op gameplay is a bit different with these games as players will be controlling an assortment of characters and making decisions for them. Decisions made will alter how the storyline will adapt for the entire group, so making one decision could drastically affect another player’s character. It’s worth noting that this game can be played with multiple players locally or with a secondary player online. At any rate, there are currently three games available–Man of Medan, a title that follows a group of friends searching for buried treasure, Little Hope, a game that’s based around a group of students trapped in a haunted town, and House of Ashes, which follows soldiers who stumble upon a haunted temple during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. A fourth game, The Devil in Me, is expected to release in 2022.
#7 Dying Light
PC | Xbox | PlayStation | Nintendo
Techland has been around for over three decades, opening its doors in 1991. The studio gained worldwide attention when they delivered the action RPG survival-horror game Dead Island in 2011, seeing players battling against hordes of undead on a tropical paradise island. Since then, the studio has opted to work on another unique zombie-based IP called Dying Light. It was a game that dropped the tropical landscape for a more dark and ruined world atmosphere. Players were stepped into the shoes of an undercover agent by the name of Kyle Crane that was seeking information from a quarantined city in the middle-east. One of the big components of this game was parkour, allowing players to quickly move around the city and escape when hostile hordes prove to be too much of a problem.
This game featured some cooperative multiplayer as well. With the ability to have up to four players total, the group could go through the game campaign and complete missions as a team. Meanwhile, there were additional challenges that allowed players to compete both in the cooperative game mode or through a separate PvP mode. Fortunately, Dying Light has been around for a good while and is often discounted. It’s worth a buy, as it’s still a title that holds up well. Dying Light 2 also offers plenty of multiplayer fun, so why not play both?
#6 Resident Evil Revelations 2
PC | Xbox | PlayStation | Nintendo
Resident Evil makes the list again, this time for Resident Evil Revelations 2. Players don’t necessarily need to play Resident Evil Revelations to understand this game, but there will be some references to the earlier installment and to other mainline Resident Evil games. If you’re interested in this title, you probably already know enough about the horror series. These spin-off games also added a pretty unique twist to the series IP.
With the episodic game series being out for a few years at this point, every episode is now available so players can zoom through the narrative from start to finish with no gaps. At any rate, Resident Evil Revelations 2 throws players into the world of four unique characters–essentially two-character squads that are split up within the narrative. To avoid spoiling anything, we’re just going to stick with the main front runners, Claire Redfield and Moira Burton.
Resident Evil Revelations 2 follows Claire Redfield who joins in on a new anti-bio-terrorism organization called TerraSave. However, things go crazy during their welcoming party when a group crashes in and ultimately kidnaps Claire and Moira. The two wake up in an abandoned facility overrun by undead hostile enemies.
This is a cooperative gameplay experience so, in this situation, one player will be taking the reigns of Claire while the secondary player is controlling Moira. The tank leading protagonist here is Claire who can shoot enemies while Moira will have a flashlight to stun characters or can use a crowbar to deal some damage to fallen enemies. This is also a game that diverts back to a more survival horror aspect just a bit compared to the likes of Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6.
#5 The Forest
The Forest was an indie hit at launch and it’s still highly recommended. Players can choose to embark on either a solo cooperative experience. Players follow a father who is traveling with his son, but their trip comes to a sudden stop. During their flight, the plane goes down and crashes on an island. Surrounded by nothing but debris and woods, our protagonist discovers his son is missing. He also discovers that they are not the only ones on this seemingly abandoned remote island. Instead, mutated cannibals are everywhere, and are programmed with some pretty unique AI.
In this game, players will find that the enemies will be more curious than hostile at the start. It makes sense–you’re different from them so they want to know what you are, how you’ll react, and where you’re going to be living on the island. Sometimes they’ll stay at a distance but they can also charge and attack you if they work up the courage. There are plenty of unsettling moments in the game as you never really know just what kind of AI enemy group you’ll be facing at any given moment. Fortunately, you won’t have to face the group and track down our protagonist’s son alone. This game features a cooperative mode with up to eight online players. That should make the gameplay a bit easier to manage.
#4 Hunt: Showdown
PC | Xbox | PlayStation
Hunt: Showdown is often forgotten. It’s a title that was in early access for a while but has since seen a full release, getting some staple footing. Those that have tried the game seem to enjoy it, and recommendations continue to pour in. Featuring crossplay support, more players can connect in this game without having to own a PlayStation 4 specifically.
The game is an FPS and sees players taking on the role of bounty hunters. In this world, there are all sorts of monsters that need to be dealt with, so it’s up to you to take them out, collect the bounty, and get out of the area. It sounds easy, but there’s more to this game that will offer quite a hefty challenge.
Players can go through the game in either teams of two or three if you’re wanting to play with friends. From there, you’re dropped into the map with players gathering gear and taking out other monsters that are roaming around the area as well. It’s all about hunting around to find the main monster, battling that beast in hopes of taking it down for the bounty. However, there are other players in this game after the same bounty. It’s best to deal with other players when possible but again, everyone is after the bounty.
As a result, when a monster is taken down and the bounty is collected, the map will ping the monster’s position on the map. This leads to everyone charging the area to take you out, collect that bounty, and reach the exit point. This can be quite tense, as players never know how close other players might be when slaughtering the monster. Having a team that is mindful of the area and who can help you reach the exit is key.
#3 Bloodborne
We couldn’t have left this game off the list. Love it or hate it, the Souls and Souls-like games have some massive fan bases. There’s a real challenge to them and with each game, more brutal battles and challenges await power-hungry players. Bloodborne is one of the video game exclusives that came out for the PlayStation 4 back in 2015 and since then, players have been waiting for a sequel to come out. Without diving too deep into the lore, the game follows a Hunter that discovers the city of Yharnam has been taken over by a blood-borne disease. This has left players to venture in and find the source of the plague which is anything but a walk in the park.
The battles are challenging and you’ll need to rely on avoiding attacks from enemies and landing some critical blows. This means strafing and dodging enemies when possible but also delivering some fast offensive attacks. Fortunately, you don’t have to do this alone as there is a cooperative game mode available. There are some restrictions in place to make the game not too easy or difficult for players that join together and there’s even a process to add a secondary player into the game. FromSoftware made this title a challenge, but if you go through the process of summoning a player, there is the ability to make a password so that only your friend will be able to join the game and not someone looking to potentially troll.
#2 Back 4 Blood
PC | Xbox | PlayStation
Left 4 Dead fans have been enjoying the two available installments for years. There’s been a long wait to see if Valve will bring out a Left 4 Dead 3. So far, there doesn’t appear to be any movement on that front, but we do have a spiritual successor. The original developers behind Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock Studios, has delivered Back 4 Blood. This is a multiplayer game much like Left 4 Dead, where you’re working with a group of survivors dealing with a zombie-like pandemic.
Infected have taken over the world, and what few remaining survivors are left will be forced into fighting back these vile creatures. There’s a wide array of weapons to pick from, different characters that have unique attributes, and even a card mechanic system. With the card system, players can add buffs to their character, although the enemy AI system has its own card system to buff the infected. Like Left 4 Dead, players can work together as they fight off the different zombie-like creatures from popping up. If you’ve enjoyed Left 4 Dead, then this is a game well worth picking up.
#1 Dying Light 2 Stay Human
PC | Xbox | PlayStation
One of the more anticipated game releases for 2022 was Techland’s sequel to Dying Light. With Dying Light 2, we’re getting a narrative set a few years after the first game’s events. Here, players are taking the role of Aiden, seeking information about where his missing sister might be. This is set in another haven city as humanity strives to avoid the undead horde. A big part of the game is still very much parkour, as Aiden is skilled at quickly moving around the town and using melee combat. This is pretty crucial in quickly getting around the city and escaping from both thugs and the undead. Best of all, if you want to play with friends, Dying Light 2 Stay Human offers up to four-player cooperative support.
There is a slight catch here since you can’t actually start the game right off the bat with co-op. Instead, you’ll need to go through the first hour or so of the game. It’s essentially a section to catch you up on the narrative you’re embarking on and some of the mechanics. Afterward, you’ll be able to enable co-op support where you can join or invite friends to a game. Essentially, you’re able to go through the rest of the game with friends. Fortunately, the gear and XP progression you make during the game will carry over as well, so you’re still able to gain some progress for your character back into the single-player component. Likewise, because this game offers a focus on choices throughout the campaign, only the host will be able to make those choices.
