Guys. GUYS! Did you know that there are games out there that AREN'T CO-OP? You did? Yeah, me too. Though we prefer co-op with our gaming, there's plenty of awesome single player or competitive multiplayer stuff out there, too. Each weekend, we take a look at a few of the biggest non co-op news stories that caught our eye.
When looking down the list of Xbox 360 exclusives for 2012 two things become apparent; it’s a short list, but it contains Halo 4, so who cares? Halo 4 has a planned release of November 6th and although Firefight is no more, the new Spartan Ops mode has been included in its stead. Keen to keep the hype machine fully rolling, Microsoft has released some concept art for the game and some screenshots. Check out Read More for the new gallery.
This month's Co-Op International column looks at Dodonpachi Resurrection, an ultra-hard bullet hell shoot-em-up. Does co-op make the game any easier? Not really. On the bright side, Rising Star's European Deluxe Edition is region-free and available in English!
As we come closer to the end of April, the staff has posted another batch of Beyond Co-Op Reviews in our user blogs section. This month we have a wide variety of titles to look at, from the small and downloadable Wizorb, to the franchise mash up of Street Fighter X Tekken. We also have a review of Army Corps of Hell listed here because we haven't been able to check out the game's co-op mode properly yet. Here's the full list of our reviews this month.
For a few brief hours yesterday, anyone who prepurchased Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II on Steam had the opportunity to download and play a near-complete beta version of the game. Shortly thereafter, somebody realized the screw up, pulled the beta, and deactivated it from users' Steam libraries. Before that happened, several players managed to rush through the game, capturing some lovely new screenshots and videos for all the world to see. They even tested the 2-player local co-op!
Dragon's Crown, Vanillaware's upcoming brawler/RPG for Playstation 3 and Vita, will no longer launch in 2012 as planned. The original publisher, UTV Ignition (who publishes mostly junk) quietly dropped the game from its release schedule. Thankfully, Atlus has stepped in to not only publish this beautiful game, they're also taking a hand in its development duties now as well.
If you were a gamer in the 90s, and spent time in arcades, Capcom was a name you knew very well. Street Fighter II was released in 1991, and was a smash hit, popularizing the one on one fighting game genre. But if you were looking for a less competitive experience in your video gaming, Capcom was still a big name, producing some of the greatest co-op arcade games of all time. Cadillacs & Dinosaurs is one of them.
Some iconic Borderlands characters are getting the action figure treatment. Announced some time ago, the ClapTrap and Psycho Bandit action figures are now set to launch in May and June, respectively. These poseable collectibles are being manufactured by NECA, who have also made figures for other co-op games, including Gears of War, Army of Two, and Bulletstorm.
There was an overwhelming theme at PAX East this year, and that was Free to Play games. It seems that's carried over to our staff as many are partaking in the numerous riches that F2P has to offer. None the less there's plenty of other games that we paid actual money for - plus - this weekend in our co-op night featuring Shoot Many Robots!
This Sunday, April 22nd, is Earth Day, so we're participating in the planet-saving efforts by playing Shoot Many Robots (XBLA). Well, ok, that doesn't exactly help save the planet, but bear with me. The robots in Shoot Many Robots are fueled by fossil fuels, and we all know burning fuel is harmful to the environment. The more robots we destroy, the better off our planet will be.
Finally, after a long time waiting, those of us who decided to forgoe the Call of Duty Elite bundle can now get their hands on this highly sought after DLC for Modern Warfare 3.
PixelJunk 4am, Sony's new motion controlled music game, is coming to the PSN next month. Players will use a Move controller to pull musical tracks into their song and use a range of motions to manipulate the music. The game supports two player local co-op, or more accurately, two Move motion controllers. A single selfish maestro can dual wield two Move controllers if they want to get all John Woo with their music.
