Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming.
The stories for this week:
- Free DLC for Mass Effect 2 Coming in March
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M Get Release Dates
- God of War III Demo Out Now, Just Cause 2 Next Week
- Alpha Protocol Coming June 1st (We Hope!)
- BF: Bad Company 2, Supreme Commander 2, Baseball Start Crazy March
Free DLC for Mass Effect 2 Coming in March
A hover vehicle, the Hammerhead, makes its debut in the upcoming DLC named “Firewalker” for Mass Effect 2. Many people were sad that there was no Mako-like vehicle in the game, but it looks like they’re going to get their wish. Along with the vehicle there are also five (5) new missions that will feature the Hammerhead. Best news? The DLC will be free when it releases sometime in March to anyone connected to the Cerberus Network (the card that came with new copies of the game).
Source: Colony of Gamers
Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M Get Release Dates
Quite a surprise this week with Nintendo announcing mid-year releases for Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M on the Wii. The former will release prior to E3 on May 23rd. The latter will release after E3 on June 27th. Quite aggressive release times for two of the three largest Nintendo properties. One wonders what they plan on releasing during the holidays. My bet would be the new Zelda game which will probably be front and center with Metroid: Other M.
Source: Colony of Gamers
God of War III Demo Out Now, Just Cause 2 Next Week
Yesterday the God of War III demo released along with the announcement that the game had gone gold as well as an in-depth look at the game by Gametrailers TV on Spike. I haven’t played it yet, although I did play the E3 demo though and was rather impressed. God of War III comes out on March 16th and will have no game install tied to it like other PS3 games.
Also announced is that a Just Cause 2 demo will also be released next week on 360, PS3 and PC. I’m interested in this game, but it has certainly been below the radar since we first saw it at E3 and it is releasing later this month.
Source: me
Alpha Protocol Coming June 1st (We Hope!)
Sega announced another release date for Alpha Protocol, the espionage RPG from Obsidian. This game has been in development hell and has had several date moves, the latest of which happened pretty close to the last release date. Hopefully it will be coming on June 1st. I’m interested in this game, but when something gets delayed so much that usually isn’t a good indication.
Source: Colony of Gamers
BF: Bad Company 2, Supreme Commander 2 (PC), Baseball Start Crazy March
March looks to be coming in like a lion and going out the same way from a gaming perspective. EA’s long awaited Battlefield: Bad Company 2 comes out this week and really doesn’t have much competition. It will be interesting to see if the multiplayer can come close to or overtake Modern Warfare 2’s offering. I loved the first game in this series and can’t wait for this one. Chris Taylor’s Supreme Commander 2 comes out this week on PC (360 for March 16th) as well and the demo is currently available on Steam.
Lastly the baseball games make their yearly appearance. Both Sony’s MLB 10: The Show (PS3/PSP/PS2) and 2K’s MLB 2K10 (360/PS3/PC/PS2/Wii/PSP) come out this week. My general recommendation is that if you have a PS3 you should pick up Sony’s game because they have blown the doors off 2K’s offering for years now. If you have any other system I would be hesitant on picking up 2K’s offering because last year was a train wreck and many of us reviewers have lost faith in them being able to bring it back to previous levels. I liked the demo I played, but I’m still not big on the right stick pitching or the missing check swing ability. We’ll see how it goes.
Source: me