So you’ve bought Ghost Recon Wildlands, an amazing co-op experience. The only problem? You don’t have anyone with whom to co-operate. You’ve talked to your friends, but they’re all doing something else. With the scores of games coming out all around the same time, people may be a little more choosey with how they’re spending their money, especially since every major game on the market right now is worth playing.
So how to convince those friends to join you? That depends on what kind of friends they are …
The Nintendo Nerds
Of course, everyone who has owned a Nintendo console is looking to get a Nintendo Switch, and that’s mainly (if not only) because of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. What you need to do is explain to your friend that you will assuredly get a Nintendo Switch and play alongside them once they get back in stock.
In the meantime, the least they can do is get a measly $60 game while you wait for GameStop to get their fabled second shipment. You, of course, know that the Nintendo Switch will never come back in stock, so you'll never have to follow through with your end of the bargain.
The Aloy Fan Club
Horizon: Zero Dawn is, of course, a big competitor for open world games. After taking the world by storm (for the few short days before Breath of the Wild overshadowed everything). Still, though, it has a strong following, especially among your friends who have a PS4.
With these guys, though, the counter argument is easy: Horizon is a single-player game. If you want to have some true open-world fun that your friends can actually enjoy at the same time, you gotta go with Wildlands.
The “Nier-ly There”s
With Nier: Automata, you’ll probably make some headway with the “single-player” argument as seen above, but that’s a tough ledge from which to talk someone down. God forbid they’re trapped in the first level of the game trying desperately to reach a save on hard mode. You know, the friend who will repeatedly wave you away saying "I'm nearly there, I'm nearly there"?
The better argument would be that Wildlands could be their salvation from an eternity of living like Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow, living, dying and repeating.
The "Honor"able Mentions
Sure, Wildlands might be preferable to single-player games, but what about For Honor? Surely Wildlands doesn’t innovate as much as Ubisoft’s last big game, with a built-from-the-ground-up combat system featuring (incongruously) Knights, Vikings and Samurai.
That may be true, but Wildlands is a co-operative game, rather than a competitive experience. You can get the true feeling of working together with Tom Clancy’s latest title, rather than competing against an entire team of players with 108 Gear Level they earned after paying $10 extra.
Explore the galaxy in the franchise's first open-world game.
