It’s amazing how much a game can be brought to life by its co-op mode. Crackdown was one of the best games of last year – bouncing around the city taking out perps was a joyful thing, but it was never such fun as when doing it with a friend. In the case of Crackdown, co-op wasn’t so much about completing missions using strategy.  It was seeing how far you could throw a friend while they stood in a skip, or running around holding them above your head.

Halo 3 for me was entirely about the co-op. I thought the adversarial multiplayer was fun, but it didn’t have staying power for me. However, I’ll always remember Halo for one of the best most ‘real’ feeling experiences in a co-op campaign. It really felt like you were there.

Army of Two has proved a surprising pleasure to me in co-op. Completing objectives has never been more about communication and cooperation than in this game. As long as you and your partner plan out what you are doing and stick together, you’ll be okay.

Then of course there’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.  I loved the last game’s co-op mode, and so I was obviously really looking forward to its sequel - and it didn’t disappoint.  It totally rocks.  Being able to keep your own character through single, multi and co-op play while building up experience is brilliant fun. Having already gone up against the dastardly tight AI I know that I’m going to need my friends to help me out and bring those terrorists down. And there are few things more fun than doing it together.