Out today on Xbox Live Arcade is Hard Corps: Uprising - a game set in the Contra series which features two player local or online co-op. Developed by Arc System Works, famous for their Blaz Blue series, the game is beautifully hand drawn and animated giving it a unique look that separates it from other games in the series.
One other thing that separates it from most other Contra games, is a mode that has an actual life bar - that means no one shot deaths for the player. Don't worry though, for the truly hardcore, a more tradtional gameplay mode is still available. We played the game at last year's E3 Expo and came away incredibly impressed.
Hard Corps: Uprising will set you back 1200 . You can add it to your download queue right here.