Since this months blog topic seems to have gone AWOL a little early in the month, we've been checking out some other great blogs we've got going. In the name of community, here are the promoted blogs for the final week in April. Keep an eye out tonight or sometime early tomorrow for the Co-Optimus Community Blog topic for May. It's a collaborative effort by myself and Nick, hope you dig the topic.
Firaxis continues to tweak and fix their popular strategy game Civilization V. Just a few days ago a pretty hefty patch was released for the PC version which touches on many areas of the game. Probably the most interesting changes are the AI improvements which will likely make you grit your teeth a little harder as you're dealing with that jerk Montezuma. Other changes address some unit and city management issues and fix some problems with game's UI. The full list of changes are as follows:
Amazon's Gold Box Deal of the Day today is for the recently released Portal 2. Your price? $34.99. The title features a two player co-op campaign as well as a highly entertaining single player story. You can read our review here.
Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming.
I was really quite shocked at the quality of FarmVille. I felt many of the same urges that kept me playing World of Warcraft and other similar games for so long. The social elements, the desire to keep up with the rest of your group, and the feeling of ownership were very powerful.
In a fascinating move by developer Vanillaware, they switch from their traditional action games (such as Wii title Muramasa: The Demon Blade) to a turn based RPG game titled Grand Knights History. The game looks to integrate players in seamless PSP multiplayer, which they're not giving specifics on just yet.
Platinum Games, the makers of such over-the-top titles as Mad World, Vanquish, and Bayonetta have a new action extravaganza coming our way this fall. Anarchy Reigns will feature of the return of Mad World's ultra-violent protagonist, Jack, in glorious living color. We originally announced Anarchy Reigns, then known as Max Anarchy, this past January. We haven't covered the game much, mainly because we didn't know how the co-operative elements would play out. Some developers consider team-bases-versus modes "co-operative," but it appears that Anarchy Reigns will have an actual co-op versus AI mode.
As Andrew pointed out there's a distinct theme in box art and game's primary colors these days - just look. Coincidentally all three of those titles will be on the staff's gaming queue this weekend in Outland, Mortal Kombat and Portal 2. And as diverse as that lineup is in terms of gaming genres, the staff is just as diverse - I mean one of us is doing something called "a royal wedding."
It should come as no surprise to, well, anyone that Valve Software would want to cash-in on their amazing Portal 2. The game came out a week and a half ago, and already DLC #1 has been announced. What is surprising is that apparently the good people at Valve don't know how to properly 'cash-in' on a product. They'll be giving away this DLC for free across all platforms. That's right, DLC #1 will be free of charge on the PC, PS3, and yes, even on the Xbox 360:
THQ have announced a release date for Red Faction: Armageddon on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Its currently slated to release the week of E3 2011 - with a June 7th release date in North America and a June 10th release date internationally.
Sega has been very good at keeping their classic properties available throughout the years. Whether it's a disc-based compilation, an Xbox Live or Playstation Network release, a Virtual Console download, or even a PC version, their best co-op classics are easy to obtain. It's no surprise, then, that Sega is preparing versions of these games for eager iPhone and iPad players as well.
This latest developer diary for Hunted: The Demon's Forge has a ton of information. The makers of the game discuss the story, settings, and inspirations for the upcoming co-op title. Lucy Lawless, who plays the voice of Seraphine, is featured prominently. Judging from this video, the devs have crafted a deeper story than we usually get from hack and slash games. The story will be more than just a mere suggestion as to why you're killing everything between points A and B.
