Single-player video games can be great, especially with the massive advances in the last decade or so with regards to cinematic visuals and great narrative storytelling. But even in the early days of Pong and Maze War, it's been clear that gaming is a great past-time to share with others. From split-screen couch gaming to LAN parties with larger groups of friends, multiplayer can come in all shapes and sizes. Today, thanks to steadier internet connections and availability, battling with players from across the globe is now the most popular way to experience multiplayer gaming. Multiplayer video games can even be considered a professional 'sport', with eSports steadily rising in popularity to the point that the United States has offered athlete visas to these talented competitors. Earlier this year, Valve's The International tournament offered a prize pool of over $10,000,000 to the world's best Dota 2 players. It's serious business. While eSports is rising in popularity, casual multiplayer with friends has never been a more popular way to enjoy gaming. This list takes a look at 20 of the greatest multiplayer games ever to grace our screens. Please note that massively-multiplayer titles won't be featured, and only games in which multiplayer is the main focus have been considered.
20. TimeSplitters 2
Developer: Free Radical Design Platform: Playstation 2, GameCube, Xbox Release: 2002 There aren't many FPS franchises more sorely missed than the TimeSplitters series. By far the best split-screen shooter from the PlayStation 2 era, TimeSplitters 2 was a tongue-in-cheek romp through a series of perfectly crafted levels with a broad roster of crazy characters. It's hard to pin one single thing on what made TimeSplitters 2 so incredibly great for couch multiplayer. The silky smooth frame rate certainly helped, while the arcadey feel and multitude of alternate game modes kept things fresh. More than anything, TimeSplitters 2 just emanated a feel of pure, unadulterated fun. Popping a headshot on your insane robot friend from a mile away, while wielding a vintage sniper rifle as a monkey, is an experience that has sadly never been replicated by any other shooter since.
