In our latest co-op preview we've gone hands on with the PC version of Section 8: Prejudice. While the core of the game is a versus multiplayer affair, new is a single player campaign and 4 player co-op survival mode. After our impressions we chat with designer Mark Yetter about all things co-op.
Very shortly before shutting its doors and getting bought by Crytek, studio Free Radical Design had announced TimeSplitters 4, the next title in its flagship series. The shuttering put TimeSplitters 4 on permanent hiatus until further notice. Not only was this a blow to co-op fans (as TimeSplitters games have traditionally been very co-op friendly), but also to me personally - the comp-stomping vaperware Star Wars Battlefront III had been rumored to follow shortly behind, a game that to this day is my very own holy grail.
While the focus of Co-Optimus has always been on cooperative gaming, we also like to look at cooperative efforts surrounding gaming as well. One of these unique stories is the independent and slightly community developed Interstellar Marines by Zero Point Software. What makes Interstellar Marines so unique is that not it's four player co-op first person shooter, but one that is being almost completely community funded and driven. Also it has space sharks.
A recent dev diary for Hunted: the Demon's Forge detailed some in-depth specifics of the Wargar enemy type for the upcoming two player co-op action game. Most actions games have a type of enemy that is common and pervasive throughout most of the game. The Wargar take that role in Hunted. Far from being uniform, however, the Wargar come in three flavors: melee, ranged, and caster; furthermore, there are different classes within these standard roles. Melee Wargar are composed of Soldiers, Warriors, Guardians, and Zealots, Ranged Wargar can either be Archers, Scorchers, or Blastcasters, while the Infected are the only Caster Wargar.
Codemasters has been pumping up the troops ahead of the Operation Flashpoint: Red River release; the latest morale boost is this trailer, titled "Entry Into Tajikistan". Once again proving their knack for creating a seriously foreboding tone, Codemasters is promising difficult terrain and harsh guerrilla warfare.
If tomorrow's release of the new Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike map pack wasn't enough to get the disk back in your Xbox 360, how about a double dose of experience points? This weekend marks the first double experience points event for Call of Duty: Black Ops, so if you are close to your first Prestige, now's your chance to power through the level 40 doldrums. If you are already hit the level 15 Prestige, then you may want to take a break. (Or you hacked your PS3, cheater.) The new pack has four maps for multiplayer versus modes or co-operative Combat Training, plus another co-op Zombie map.
Attention PlayStation 3 owners! PopCap Games' Plants Vs. Zombies will be coming to the PlayStation Store. Originating on the PC, Plants Vs. Zombies is an incredibly popular tower defense game that made the transition to the Xbox 360. Along with this transition came co-op support, allowing two players to team up locally in order to battle the undead horde. Players are tasked with using a variety of specialized plants to stop wave after wave of zombies. We gave the game a 4 out of 5 in our co-op review.
Community-centric LittleBigPlanet 2 has offered a number of community features for sharing user created levels throughout the world of LittleBigPlanet. The community has taken this concept one step further and added a LBPWiki page where users can share content, share ideas, inform each other of changes, and generally just Wiki it up as a community from both the original LittleBigPlanet and the newly released sequel.
In the latest batch of game delays, The Conduit 2 has experienced not one, but two delays in the past week. First we heard the game was to be released sometime in February. Then it was March. Finally the release has been pushed back to April 19th. That's okay though, the reason for the delay is good enough to help co-op.
The team from Arrowhead Games have just released a huge patch for Magicka on Steam, its the first to come for the game in 3 days due to Steam not updating games on the weekend. Because of that the patch is extra large in fixes and enhancements with numerous improvements for co-op play and hopefully less crashes.
If you didn't happen to purchase the collector's edition of Dead Space 2 (or any copy as a forum member points out) last week on the PS3, which included a free copy of Dead Space Extraction, you'll be happy to know that you too can now enjoy the two player co-op light gun shooter without the $80 price tag now that's its out on the PlayStation Network for $15.
Quite a few stories topped the charts as well, and as always, Call of Duty seemed to dominate in popularity. Suprise indie hit Magicka has been extremely popular since its release, mostly due to some nagging bugs the game had. Despite those problems, its a ton of fun to play in co-op as Tally and I can attest! Finally, if there's one feature you missed so far, make sure you check out our 2011 Co-Op Game preview. For the rest of the month, here's what you may have missed.
