The Command and Conquer series is one of the oldest RTS franchises available to date. The series has had its ups and downs, spin-offs and experiments; but perhaps none has been as bold as we're going to see with a Free-To-Play title created by developer Victory. We went hands on with the game's co-op mode at E3 2013 and it felt anything but "free."
I got the chance to play some great games at E3 this year. I'm not going to lie - it's pretty awesome to get a early little hands-on time with some of my most anticipate cooperative titles. One of those games was the third-person sci-fi shooter, Earth Defense Force 2025. Players must defend mankind from armies of giant insects and massive robots. Part of the fun is destroying your own city while trying to eradicate the Ravager menace. It's just easier to shoot bugs when those pesky buildings are out of the way.
Our indie darling of E3 2013 was by far Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. We already wrote a detailed preview earlier in the show, but we loved the game so much, we felt we needed to go back and talk to Jamie Tucker and Adam Winkels of developer Asteroid Base.
Many folks were duped into thinking the opening of the EA E3 2013 Press conference was a new Battlefield game, instead what we saw was a interesting twist on the Plants vs Zombies franchise. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare is a 3rd person action title powered by Frostbite 3 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC - best of all - it features a four player online co-op mode.
Company of Heroes 2 is in open beta right now until June 18th. While you won't be able to play any of the game's Theater of War scenario mode, you will be able to play some comp stomp co-op with a friend. Locke and I sat down with a refined version of the beta exclusive to E3 and took it took it to the computer before chatting with the game's lead artist.
While the clips we saw of Ryse: Son of Rome showcased big open warfare on the ancient battlefield, a press release for the game has told us about another kind of battle that'll take place in the game - a cooperative battle.
The Rainbow Six line of games has been a long established franchise spanning many years and a multitude of platforms. Originally announced in 2011, Rainbow Six: Patriots was supposed to be a current-gen game that would be released on Xbox 360, PC, and Playstation 3. Ubisoft recently revealed that they would be pushing back the game to next-gen. Tony Key, a Ubisoft marketing director, stated that that "Rainbow 6 got caught in the transition of going to next-gen and essentially we're figuring out 'well, are we making the right game for the right hardware systems?'"
How to Survive is an interesting little downloadable game. A true survival horror title, players will not only battle the zombie scourge, they'll also have to contend with hunger, thirst, and sleep deprivation. Players will find themselves stranded on an island with little more than the restless dead and the remnants of a survival book for company. Luckily the game supports two player local or online co-op, so you can share in the apocalyptic misery with a friend.
Go ahead. Get it out of your system now. Do the chant. I'll wait. Done? Good.
With two new systems on the horizon we've got two new controller designs to check out. While the Xbox 360 controller is currently a favorite of many players, Sony's DualShock design has been around for ages and is still a staple in the industry. Let's see how things have changed.
Skylanders was a game that surprised a lot of folks when it was unveiled at E3 two years ago. I can remember seeing the little figures come to life in a back room at the Activision booth and immediately thinking to myself, ok, this thing is going to catch on. We're now a few games and 50 some characters later and Skylanders is getting what might be the biggest change to the series yet. Skylanders Swap Force is the first game that looks, feels, and plays next-gen.
We got some quality hands-on time with a variety of the latest and greatest titles at E3. Some of the bigger games we saw have embraced co-op in the past, but for whatever reason they weren't showing, or even mentioning, co-op. I did manage to get some information (albeit unofficial) for two triple-A titles.
