Top 5 Halloween Multiplayer Games

October 31, 1:08 AMNY Multiplayer Gaming ExaminerAustin Walker

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Come to think of it... there isn't really a house in this game

Tom Hall had it easy with his great Halloween Gaming Favorites list, he didn't have to write about multiplayer games. 

To say it was difficult to come up with this list would be a huge understatement. Thinking about gaming and Halloween together is easy, but it's much less simple when you add a second player to the mix (and harder still when you realize that "watching your friend play Silent Hill 2" doesn't count as multiplayer.) While it would've been easy to to make a list of the worst multiplayer survival horror games (Resident Evil: Outbreak, Obscure, Obscure 2, there, done) that wouldn't really be getting anyone in the mood for the holiday, would it?

So, I realized I'd have to broaden my view from just survival horror games to include games that can be both creepy and kitschy, in that very special Halloween way. I also knew that I could use my position as general "Multiplayer Games Examiner" to sneak out of the video game bracket.  That said, what follows is a list of the top 5 multiplayer games perfect for Halloween.

5. House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

"What the hell's going on in this city!?"

Including this zombies-and-more Sega light gun game for the Wii was a no-brainerr (get it!? Sorry...) This House of the Dead collection on the Nintendo Wii includes the best two entries into the series, and they really make the perfect substitution for the B movie flicks you've watched at the last dozen Halloween parties.  Filled with pulpy horror film dialog ("I shall destroy... and hate... mankind!" says the HotD2's final boss.) 

Both games are also challenging shooters, worthy of playing outside of the Halloween context. Yes, part of that difficulty is artificial. Some bosses will cost all but the very best players at least a life or two. But the levels leading up to these encounters are perfect old school "play until you know it" stages. HotD3 in particular has a number of great boss encounters that are filled with dynamic movement throughout the fights. Plus, with branching paths, there's even a little replayability. And if you're like me and want some feeling of progress outside of my own skill increasing, Sega has included a meta game which lays on top of the collection, awarding you with extra lives, better weapons, and score multipliers after every game played, win or lose.

Mostly, SEGA has outdone the survival horror kings at Capcom. Between Resident Evil: Gun Survivor's weak-at-best gameplay and the awful turn the narrative took in RE: The Umbrella Chronicles, it's nice to play a horror shooter that doesn't take itself too seriously.

4. Zombies Ate My Neighbors!

Mwu-hah-hah-hah

Genesis and SNES game Zombies Ate My Neigbors was kitschy before people thought that was some weird polish word for cool. Built on decades of horror tropes and the top-down gameplay of games like Smash TV and Soldiers of Fortune (and carrying in their difficulty), ZAMB was exceptional multiplayer fun. Exploring any one of over 50 levels with a friend, taking down hordes of zombies by using squirt guns and weed wackers is about the most fun you can have with any of the nouns in that sentence. ZAMB was certainly the first time that I fought a giant baby in a shopping mall overrun with giant ants, but taking down baddies isn't the entirety of the game. Spread throughout each of the levels are your titular neighbors, and you're the only one who has the hardware and the guts to save them. 

Both the Hunter: the Reckoning and 2006's platinum hit Dead Rising owe more than a little to ZAMB's style and design. If only that once rumored multiplayer patch for the latter had come out, it would definitely have been in this spot. Also worth a mention as runner up for this spot is Sega's Zombie Revenge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_Revenge) a pseudo side story to the House of the Dead series. As a Dreamcast game, most of you probably never heard of it, and it likely will never find its way onto the Wii Virtual Console like I suspect (hope) ZAMB does one day.

3. Zombies!!!

"Not that way!" Bruno stood up in the jeep and pumped his shotgun at the hoard of cadavers heading their way.

Recently announced to be coming to XBLA sometime next year, I promise that this Twilight Creations Inc. table top game had a place in this list before that info hit the net: that's just how fun it is.  Zombies is a fairly uncomplicated game played with cardboard tiles and plastic miniatures. Up to four players race through a city of the dead dodging (or taking out) up to 100 of the recently un-deceased.

Everyone starts in the same 3 by 3 tile, and at the beginning of each new turn a new tile is drawn from a shuffled deck and layed down, adding to the ever growing map. One tile is always placed on the bottom of the deck; the helipad.  The first person to reach the rescue chopper wins, but just to make it interesting if someone can take down 25 zombies before that happens, they win! 

 Oh, and the zombies? Each map tile played comes stocked with Zombies to be placed wherever the dealing player wants on its spaces. Along with these,they also come with items, weapons, and action cards that affect the game and other players scattered throughout the map, making exploration a worthwhile tactic even if it leads you into the swarms of the undead. If you want to play a game with some friends, and none of you will get upset at a little Risk style backstabbing, this is definitely the way to go. When you go to your local game shop, be sure to check out the numerous sequels to the original to see if any of their settings (including a mall and a military base) strike your fancy. And if you're looking for something more complicated, but equally as fun for multiplayer horror sessions, check out Fantasy Flight Games' Arkham Horror.

2. Diablo II (and Lords of Destruction) 

Not even death can save you from me. 

Surprise surprise. A game centering around battling the minions of Hell comes in at number two on this list? Unbelievable. For those few of you unfamiliar with this hack and slash RPG for the PC and Mac, you pick any one of six classes (four in the original game, and two in the expansion) and travel through the games varied environments, leveling up and readying for a final confrontation. The game's primary antagonists are just about as good as you can do for a Halloween game: Diablo, the Lord of Terror, Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred, and Baal, the Lord of Destruction.

Diablo II, unlike many of the games on this list of greats, still has an incredibly strong user base. Plus, after 8 years of patches and rebalancing, you can be sure that no matter which class you pick you'll have a damn good time. Diablo II is the perfect blend of action-rpg combat and obsessive loot collection, addictive both in the active playing and in the passive. Play Diablo II tonight for an hour or two (if you can stop that soon) and you'll be thinking about it all day tomorrow. And don't forget that Diablo III is on its way, so what better way to get ready for that game's release than to play this classic.

You may have noticed I said that Diablo II only has villains "just about" as good as you can get... That's because my number one game happens to have one of gaming's all time bad guys at its fore front. I guess I should say "bad gals" because my number 1 multiplayer game for halloween is...

1. System Shock 2 

I smell the rot of humanity. Welcome to my world, insect.

Still considered by many critics as the height of the suspenseful FPS, many people don't even know that this precursor to Bioshock came with up to four player co-op. This wasn't the same co-op that you find in games like Halo 3, though. Playing through with friends means taking on the game on its hard difficulty, no ifs ands or buts, and more importantly it meant sharing the game's resources among players. Playing with four players specifically stretched resources thin, and in doing so added an incredibly compelling reliance on teamwork. In Halo, Co-Op is just another player equal to you in abilities. In System Shock 2, each player has to outfit himself in such a way that best supports his team mates.

So, what was that about a villain? SHODAN, the evil AI from the first game in the series, returns to torment the player(s) again in the sequel. SHODAN's machinations work to manipulate the player into doing what she wants, and coupled with her ever-present, mono-tone (but many voiced) monologuing, it becomes increasingly difficult to feel calm and in control. A general feeling of uneasiness sets in: not from monster closets and cheap scares, but because of excellent atmosphere and game design.

System Shock's community is in no way as strong as Diablo 2's, but it still exists. You can find fan made patches, great community forums, and wonderful players looking to help you get up and running. For those of you who like Bioshock, not playing System Shock 2 is something like a sin, and playing through it with three other people is a great way to experience for the first time.

So, what will you be doing this Halloween? I'll be wishing that the forthcoming Left4Dead was out... Just saying, Valve, you could've made writing this so much easier.