Co-op in Project Reality contains a bunch of maps and alternate layouts containing infantry based combat or a match up of two different factions. Off the top of my head, I know a few that are quite popular and quite old. Do note readers, some maps I haven’t had much experience but I’ve seen and played through at least once. Also some maps are bugged in co-op like Mumble gets glitched or the server would crash often in these maps; those maps are omitted since players prefer using Mumble. Also omitted are some maps I don’t have enough experience on; if you come across one you have knowledge of achieving a full capture, let me know in the comments or find me in game (I’m not that hard to find). Though it sounds easy; depending on the bot difficulty it takes some patience to complete the level.
Map overviews provide by AncientDev who owns and hosts the amazing map and image gallery on his website that I used throughout this post.
Al Basrah (British Armed Forces v. Insurgency)
Infantry Co-op Standard Co-op
Standard layout consists of an airfield on then of the north west area of the map with a long approach to a vehicle checkpoint on the south east. South of that is where most of the objectives are excluding the checkpoint itself and a neutral village west south west. The map consists of medium armoured vehicles like APC’s and air assets like gunships for the British while the Insurgency has gun trucks.
Off the start, holding the checkpoint should be a priority. Though not necessary to fortify the area, it can be defended with only 4-6 players while the rest of the team captures Village. Upon holding the first two objectives, two more flags will open up. If possible have armour engage before the infantry to capture either one to prevent capture of checkpoint or village. This should be done with the village squads’ initiative first since they are the farthest and thus longest time to arrive. The checkpoint defenders should move up and capture the other checkpoint while the rest defends and skirmish against the opfor. After this is captured, 3 will open and this is where armour and air will come in handy. With 5 captures remaining, it’s a matter of speed and teamwork. all ground units should focus on capturing a flag each. Once captured, move on and help another squad attack. Armour should be making patrols through these 3 objects as well. Air assets come very handy for this part especially to deny the enemy entrance from their base and the apartments located in the south east corner (the last two objectives). After all 3 is taken, armour must transport a squad to apartments to quickly occupy the area while the other infantry squads waits transports for apartments. After that, just strolling in as a large force into their base for a win.
Under the Infantry layout, you play within the city with only 5 objectives. Best played in three squads, two on attack and one to defend. Take your time and move one squad at a time so there would be a safe fallback position on the closest objective.
Assault on Mestia (US Army v. Militia)
Standard Co-op
This one is a complete pain to do due to the heavy advantage for the bots because of their ability to see through the bush. Because of this, focus on moving on foot since the humvees would be easy targets for rocket attacks. Even though the map is designed for long sightlines, focus on playing it in CQC (Close Quarters Combat); so no marksmen or sniper kits.
The most quickest target the bots will capture will be the neutral flag north of the US base, best tactic is to infiltrate from the south with spotters and rifleman specialists for their grappler. However it is best to not wait too long in defending this position and hit warehouse simultaneously. So at the start, two infantry squads; best two full squads (16 players). After these areas are secure the warehouse team should take the initiative and push north east to the closest position to them while the eastern squads move far north and capture the far northern point. At this point with two capture points, it’s safe to use the vehicles to rearm and incorporate as defense emplacements. I would recommend the humvees should follow with the eastern team moving north which would open up a good opportunity for a straight push towards the next position. This also sets up a flanking position in the event the western team fails to capture which allows the eastern team to flank and allow the other team some time to capture. Last two points are easy to capture since they’re consecutive capture points. Just point to one and push to the next. From my experience, the game usually ends after capturing the second last point.
It is possible to set up mortars but it would require the teams to coordinate mortar targets. However it would be dangerous to use close to friendly targets since mortars are somewhat inaccurate.
Beirut (Russia v. Israel)
Standard Co-op
This map follows around the river close by, however due to how the bots operate, controlling the first points can take awhile. Also some players show some disagreement over the large optics on the Russian weapons which hinders your view from the right side. Best advice for the infantry on the ground is to check your right often if it is exposed to the enemy.
Though there are a lot of medium armoured vehicles at the Russia’s disposable, the best assets would be the IFV’s’; also known as the “one man” vehicles since the driver doubles up as a gunner. These drivers can easily harass and patrol as well as quick transport a small squad to any position on the map. For infantry, loadout for medium range and carry anti-tank rockets. As well as ground assets, this map also has air assets in a form of a gunship and a transport helicopter. Because of the nature of this map. the gunship and transport should be used offensively to clear out the next objective and move troops expediently to the next objective.
As for the map’s critical positions, the northern edge of the coast is important to prevent capture from the enemy. Once the apartment buildings have been captured, TV Station is a hot spot if the other point cannot be captured simultaneously and even with that, there can be rogue units recapturing apartments if TV Station cannot be captured. Best is to capture the coast and prevent back captures as much as possible using the IFV’s. Once that is dealt with, it’s a bunch of consecutive captures which would make pushing up as a large force easy.
Dragon Fly (British Armed Forces v. Militia)
Infantry Co-op
This is one of the few maps where organization can really advance or hinder your progress. The most times I’ve been in a server with this map on, most do go farther than one flag before people start opting in to vote for a new map. With persistence, this map can be a really fun challenge. The difficulty comes from the amount of speed since there are no vehicles to take you into combat. Having two teams is really essential in defending one point while the other team advances. But due to the advantage of a grid like urban environment, it provides the perfect opportunity to have a sniper team only when two infantry squads are filled. Addition to this if the server is large enough, infantry can be really useful into pushing deep into enemy territory and setting up firing positions. This would allow a smaller advancing force against your teammates and would allow each small team a chance to capture quickly if they’re position is in radius.
At first, focus on sprinting into capture radius of the objective to the east. Once captured, it provides an overwatch position to the west. As the west team defends, the eastern team should set up on the 4 beige buildings and advance down the road north. That should put the squads there in a direct line against the enemy, having overwatch in the beige buildings could benefit the team’s advance. Once secured and captured, the team now north east should focus overwatch north and north west to watch for enemy advance and provide overwatch on the next objective. Once the north west objective is captured, the western team should pinwheel to the east and push to secure the next objective. Once neutralized, the rest of the team should push straight in to the enemy base.
Fallujah West (USMC v. Insurgency)
Standard Co-op
One of my top favorite maps due to the sheer size and coordination to complete. An oldie to the co-op layer, it has multiple capture points and focuses more on speed and teamwork. The USMC vehicular arsenal does over power the gun trucks but are not necessarily invulnerable with multiple attack vectors for the Insurgency to shoot rockets. However, the size of the arsenal makes it feel like a walk in the park.
Main plan is to as usual set up two infantry squads and have them be transported by hunvees located just outside base. One will head to the relief centre while the other squad moves towards Hospital. It is recommend if there are any other squads to focus more on the Hospital because of it’s proximity to the enemy. There is a tunnel network underneath the Hospital which a small team should patrol while one team above ground attempts to fortify their position against attacks from the north and north east. There is a building proximate to the Hospital to the west which may have insurgents emerge from the basement level, be careful.
After the first two positions have been captured, move quickly to the next two. The next area can be captured from the road so setting up forward outposts can make this job much easier. The middle objective is the hardest since it straddled 3 buildings and located at a exposed position. So maintain vigilance a 360 degree watch is recommended if you cannot have more units to reinforce the area.
The last 3 before the base objective might look difficult but in fact, it’s really simple. Quickly send a team to to the outskirts to capture the farthest flag while capturing Mosque in the centre. Once that’s done, provide overwatch or a small group on the outskirts while one team moves to the eastern position. Once done, it should be a quick drive or dash into the enemy base.
Fools Road (British Armed Forces v. Militia)
Standard Co-op Infantry Co-op
Another map that exploit the the bot advantage of seeing through bushes and tree canopies. However at certain points, the bots do have to traverse open terrain and would provide the best opportunities to attack. Regardless of which variant is played, the vehicles don’t necessarily help but does provide a opportunity to deploy hastily if the need arises.
In Standard, using the vehicles does make the game really easy if used correctly after the middle two areas are captured because it can act as a cork to the valley’s bottleneck. In Infantry, rely on leapfrogging along the road to your next target while building forward outposts equidistance to the next and last position. Officers should deploy foxholes while destroying unused foxholes behind them.
With the introduction of the dark night, this can get very frustrating since the camouflage of the militia can go easily undetectable.
Iron Ridge (Russian Army v. Militia)
Standard Co-op
The one map in my opinion makes the AK optical sights’ hindrance to a necessity. With a large open area between the first and second zone, it can turn into a long range engagement. However with foliage up ahead, the best strategy is to learn to transition between the back up sights and the optics; unless you want to try and find a supply crate.
Probably the one time I think the sniper kit serves its purpose in co-op opposed to using the marksmen. Though having a squad with optics and machine guns does supply the necessary force to hold down the open area between the first and second objective. Most difficult objective would be the forest to the west where the bots have an advantage; to counter, use the road nearby for vehicle support and build a forward outpost on the southern side while using the highest point on the capture radius for foxholes. Even with all that, it’s susceptible to bots recapturing so be ready to move back to the forest a couple times before you make it to their base. At their base, hold the brown building and the second floor of it. While it’s under enemy influence, watch the exits going north since the bots like to move into and around the building while it’s occupied.
Kashan Desert (Canadian Forces/US Army v. Middle East Coalition)
Standard Co-op Standard Alternative Infantry Co-op
Probably the couple American/Canadian joint maps, both provide a subtle variation on gameplay. As of this post, the CF variant has a resupply bug where players cannot switch kits at the crates in the bunkers. However since they are US crates, you can still receive ammo. Aside from faction differences, the vehicle loadout for the CF is focused more on light armour with a trade off of no attack chopper while the US is vice versa.
This map is very dominantly vehicle excluding the Infantry map variant. So likely see a tank squad immediately pop up at the start. Though they might dominate in score and the entire landscape, the Infantry still hold the key in capturing the bunker complex in the middle of the map.
Straight forward, infantry is taking a back seat somewhere. Only reason people play this map is to just make things go boom.
Under Infantry, it’s a small lesson in overwatch and leapfrogging from one side of the bunker to the other. Focus on using optics and utilize machine guns and marksman kits. Also take it slow when entering the bunkers since you can get attacked and get cornered easily. I would recommend infiltrating from top to bottom, it’s safer and more reliable than walking straight in the middle of two capture points.
Khamisiyah (US Army v. MEC)
Standard Co-op Alternative Co-op Infantry Co-op
In a desert environment with rolling dunes puts focus on the city and it’s military facility in the central-west area. Like Kashan, the map pushes towards on vehicular warfare. So tanks and attack helicopters though infantry might take a backseat like Kashan, they do prove critical in securing the Chemical Facility and most of the city later on due to the flexibility of being small and armed with a rifle.
Both Alternative and Standard contains the Refinery as a primary objective. This can be done either with a tank column or an infantry squad. However it is best to have armour support regardless since the map will later be treacherous without a tank column. I’ve been on this map many times where armour plays in a critical role in playing offensively or holding until it’s a victory by attrition.
Now in both Alternative and Standard versions, bunker plays a good role as a rendezvous point in case the team gets wiped. The city is moderately difficult, but focus on covering tanks and armour while relying information about enemy tanks and armour to your team. The river might be tough since there are tree groves AI tend to shoot through. Above all, once you capture your side of the river the usually ends; if that’s not the case, build a forward outpost and swim across if you’re not in an armoured vehicle. Not much new strategy, just infantry supporting armour and armour taking care of the big bad things that go boom in the desert.
On Infantry, it focuses on the city and the bridge. So be ready to fight building to building. You get a humvee and that’s all the armour you’ll receive.
Kokan (US Army/Canadian Forces v. Taliban)
Standard Co-op Alternative Co-op Infantry Co-op
The other half of the couple US/Canada maps is Kokan. Characterized by the fields of crops straddled by the villages that dot the landscape in an arid rural terrain. Fighting against the AI in this environment provides even ground for both forces to succeed and fail. The primary strategy is to “hold the line” by maintaining vigilance on your objective and well as previously captured and overwatch protection onto the next objective. Use the buildings and watch towers as much as possible. Mount your sharpshooters and automatic riflemen in them to hold off the enemy. The small villages provide both cover and opportunities to construct a forward outpost.
Regardless of whether you’re playing on Alternate or Standard, the Stryker/Coyote APC serves an important role in maintaining fire support while the infantry regroup or attack. Due to the foliage, the APC’s should maintain radio contact with the infantry to avoid multiple friendly fire incidences. So infantry squads should let the APC know where you are and APC’s should be covering the infantry and reporting the enemy to the infantry squads. The transport choppers should be used for munition supplies but also due to the distance the infantry have to cover, should coordinate transportation as often as possible. If your chopper isn’t flying infantry, it should be sending supplies as close as possible to them and vice versa. The subtle differences between the faction changes is the Canadian forces still (in the game) does not have attack helicopters but are compensated with an additional transport Chinook. Aside from assets, the US layer takes an aggressive approach which puts the team into harsh terrain which is advantageous to the AI while the Canadian Forces layer pushes up right in the middle of the map towards the enemy base camp. The difference in the Canadian kits makes the map much more fluid because there isn’t a need to switch kits for close quarters, optics for long range targets and the back up sights for clearing the village.
Infantry conditions make this more apparent with two humvees and a transport logistics truck. At the start, focus on having two sections of the map covered. One group should dead to the neutral flag while the other group of infantry should use the humvees and trucks to establish a forward outpost as close as possible to the next objective.
Lashkar Valley (Bundeswehr v. Taliban)
Standard Co-op Alternative Co-op Infantry Co-op
Pick your poison because Lashkar is primarily open terrain with trees and hills. Though the large village by the river provides a good midway point on the map the land east is mountainous and can get dangerous when fighting through the brush and towards objectives like the caves. Because of the Taliban’s attire, they can be hard to spot so use your medium range optics when fighting across open terrain. Here is where forward outposts can come extremely handy for rapid deployment, but be sure to build them away from the fight and away from the approaching enemy. Mortars come extremely handy once you cross the river, building a mortar close to the east village would allow you the necessary range and distance to engage all hostiles on that side of the river. If you are in Alternative, be weary of the two linked capture points on the east side of the river. The cover that the field provides can make advancing tough, so focus on flanking from the east or try to infiltrate the farm before you capture the east village.
Infantry Co-op, same as the others. Focus on your side of the river, slow push to the east and watch out around the farm and cave objectives.
Muttrah City (US v. Middle Eastern Coalition)
Standard Co-op Alternative Co-op
The city of Muttrah is a classic. Utilizing the US arsenal, your human teammates must attack by air and water to the docks before progressively attack around the coast in Standard Co-op. Not much sight seeing as you fight in the streets against armour, at your disposal once landed is a few humvees, a logistics truck and a IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle). Utilizes your armour vehicles carefully, the Mk 19 grenade launcher on the amphibious APC can be really deadly but takes a long time to travel by water while the lonely IFV can be really vulnerable by itself if not supported by infantry. As for air defense, the MEC have a lot of anti-air defenses around their fortress base and around the southern portion of the coast. Suggest having infantry demolish them before making attack runs or providing transport through the middle section of the city.
In Alternative Co-op, focus on leapfrogging the objectives. With 3 humvees and 3 APC’s, focus on starting with a two infantry squads and 1-3 APC’s. At the start, have the Infantry provide their own transport while APC’s are on escort and defense. As the humvees get destroyed, transition to transport and infantry defense duties. When the APC’s go down, either help them with bringing the humvees up or pick up a rifle and join in on the urban firefight.
Operation Archer (Canadian Forces v. Taliban)
Standard Co-op Infantry Co-op
Another Taliban map with no attack choppers due to the limitations of the dev team. As a Canadian I feel kind of disappoint but as a gamer, challenge accepted.
Infantry Co-op, two teams of infantry move on both village objectives. One attacks the closest while the other heads for the other while intercepting the enemy, best to flank since head-to-head can get messy and slow. Then use the G-Wagons to push onto the farm, the river is difficult to cross due to the bushes (advantage to the bots). Fortify the farm for future attacks and use it as a staging area for the last flag.
In Standard, use the choppers later in the game and forget using the castle ruins. Snipers are really useless in this map until farm is under attack or has been taken by your team. Focus armour support on intercepting infantry along the river and cut off gun trucks from reaching your team. As always keep two infantry squads up, in this map having 3 will make village easier and later on would make capturing the two Taliban camps expedient. Regardless, keep farm stocked with a supply crate (looking at you, pilots) and fortify the hill north east to engage targets west on the north road and the surrounding hills.
Operation Barracuda (US v. People’s Liberation Army of China/Vietnam?)
Standard Co-op Alternative Co-op
No difference in the play, the enemy is about the same though the Vietnamese sound more like the the Chinese PLA inthe Vietnam themed Alternative. Insert by boat or chopper and capture the first two points. This is all about timing so once the first two are captured, focus on taking the airfield and the trenches at the same time. The supply depot and cave is hard but can be done. Flank from the south if you are taking cave, make a mad dash to the cave when you are on the road. Best idea is to lock down supplies but not capture it as the south team flanks to cave. Capture at the same time, then to missile silo. the Silo has two methods, one is a direct approach from the front gate but expect heavy casualties. Second approach is with the use of a rifleman specialist to use this grappling hook on the south west corner of the base. Get a squad up and over and run for the bunker underground. Lock the door behind you and just go have a coffee as you capture.
Ramiel (US v. African Resistance Forces)
Infantry Co-op Standard Co-op Alternate Co-op
Ramiel formerly had Taliban roaming around, the ARF is not much different in terms of kits loadouts. Under the Infantry layer, controlling the main roads lining east and west of the objectives is key. It lowers the amount of soldiers everyone is up against and also provides the fast means of pushing northward to the final objective.
In Standard, focus on having infantry on the ground. Though they can outnumber you in the amount of gun trucks, having good air coverage and a large standing force can make a difference between progress and standstill. If you are operating in an armour squad, focus on hit and run tactics and stick towards helping the infantry than running off to rack up kills. even in a grid pattern, the some streets are barricaded and can result in the demise of you and your vehicle.
Alternative is where everything gets loud with at least one .50 cal machine gun always blasting in the distance. Once again, it’s a numbers game so focus on taking it slow but maintaining a good watch for enemies. For chopper pilots, stick to the edge of the map and focus on giving the infantry as much support as possible. If the server’s not populated, focus more on moving on ground combat and objective security.
Silent Eagle (Bundeswehr v. Russian Army)
Infantry Co-op
This has got to be the most intense map I’ve ever been in. This takes asymmetrical warfare simulation to the whole new meaning. Each street is hard fought, each point is vulnerable to be lost. At the start, it might look easy but after everything has been captured, this becomes a blood soaked battlefield. As squad leaders, focus on building forward outposts away from the city and build your foxholes and machinegun nests looking down the streets just north and south of the middle objective. This should buy you some time for the rest of the team to capture and push. The second concern to talk care of is to establish a another machinegun nest and firing positions on the main road going through the middle to intercept. That won’t be an easy task since the enemy is very close to the road. That middle road is no man’s land, get creative on how you want to push through it.
Vadso City (British Armed Forces v. Russian Army)
Standard Co-op
Vadso City from the map may look easy, but from the middle onwards can be very tough. Once the two sides meet, the firefights can get really intense. Ammo conservation should be considered since ammo resupply is scarce. Utilize the houses to set up firing positions and use the north and south roads as flanking positions since pushing head in can result in a long stalemate shooting gallery with heavy losses on both sides and even losing a capture point since it slows down your team’s progress. Push in a building and get as close to the capture point so you can take it. Use the APC and the light vehicles defensively due to the likelihood of rocket attacks through the trees.
Yamalia (Canadian Forces v. Russian Army)
Infantry Co-op
Quite literally a walk in the park, this map is a sparse terrain with very little cover with tall grasses and tree groves. A shooting gallery for the AI indeed, but a bloodbath as well as you near the Russian camp. Use the 3.4x optic as often as possible and build as many forward outposts to gain as much cover as you can as you approach the Russian camp. If you feel lucky, this map is handy in learning how to use the mortars, be sure to let the others know that so they don’t walk into the target area.
nawkcire 