Insomniac's first multiplatform game was announced at E3 in 2011, but it was surprisingly absent at 2012's show. Overstrike was announced as a four player co-op action game being published by EA, which is reason enough to be excited, but with the Insomniac name behind it we're chomping at the bit.
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel was a co-op darling around the Co-Optimus community. The Action/RPG provided a rich campaign with plenty of character classes, loot, and a variety of massive environments to experience it in. The game did well critically and most likely financially, so there's no surprise that a sequel is in the works. We sat in for a live co-op demo of Sacred 3 at PAX this past weekend and came away quite surprised as to where the series appears to be heading.
Running Co-Optimus is definitely a unique task within this industry. It's not like other gaming news sites in that it's pretty obvious when you can cover a game. An Xbox devoted site, for instance, always knows when a game is on the platform. A racing game fan site knows when a game is about driving cars. Co-Op though, isn't always cut and dry - and in the world of video game PR - revealing your game has co-op isn't always in the cards until much later after a game is announced.
2010's War for Cybertron is among my favorite games of this console generation. A solid three-player co-op campaign would have been good on its own, but throw in a robust set of multiplayer options, including Escalation mode, a survival mode for up to four, and you had something truly special. Thus, my expectations were high for Fall of Cybertron. While it is a good game, the wholesale removal of multiplayer options in the campaign causes it to fall short from a co-op perspective.
Those of you lucky enough to have gone to Gamescom this year may have had the chance to play the new demo for upcoming 2 player co-op title Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel. VG24/7 happened across the demo and posted over eleven(ty) minutes of footage for the game and it looks good.
It's been a while since we mentioned Orc Attack, a 4-player brawler that's loaded with flatulence and other humor based around the grossness of orcs. Developer Casual Brothers continues to plug away at all four versions of the game, but the PC version in particular needs gamers' help. Steam has recently launched the Steam Greenlight program in which users can vote for games (indie or otherwise) to join the Steam portfolio. So if Orc Attack is ever to see a Steam release, it needs your vote!
The Playstation 3 is pretty much the place to go for downloadable NEOGEO games thanks to SNK's NEOGEO Station label. Not only does the Station offer a broader selection of NEOGEO classics than the 360 or Wii, but it's even got a massive sale going on right now. Through September 25, 16 classic NEOGEO games are available for half off their regular prices, making them just $4.49 each. This includes at least four co-op classics: Alpha Mission II, Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, and Shock Troopers.
Frozenbyte recently announced that an expansion to their gorgeous puzzler, Trine 2, will be released September 6th for Mac and PC. Entitled Goblin Menace, the expansion will feature a new six level campaign as well as new skills that are also available for use in the base game. Trine 2: Collector's Edition owners should already have access to the beta of the game so they can leave feedback via the game's forums.
For September's Co-Optimus Community Voice, we want to see your in-game creations. Fire up your blog, start your blog post's title with "CCV", and tell us all about your creations. It doesn't necessarily have to be from Minecraft, or even a co-op game, but a co-op tie-in is always a plus. Snap screenshots, record a video, and throw down a few paragraphs describing your creations. Tell us about all the effort you put into it, and who helped you.
Well folks, we've made it. We're through the summer slowness and now officially into the "Fall" release season for video games. While this doesn't look like a year that'll be too crazy, there's still lots of great titles coming. Lets take a look back at August and see what news, features and games you may have missed while you were asleep.
We have a good chunk of information about two upcoming titles we can’t wait to sink our teeth into: Sacred 3 and Dead Island Riptide. Our friends over at Deep Silver have given us a lot to talk about in this relatively slow news week we’ve been having.
Torchlight 2 has been an illusive tease for quite some time now. We've been positively aching for this game while Runic has been polishing it until it shines. It seems as if our prayers have finally been answered, however: the official word is that Torchlight 2 will release September 20th, a paltry three weeks from now!
