Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming.

It's looking like we've got a room full of slackers for the first week of this month, as only one of you brave community members was up to the task of creating an awesome Backlog blog. It's really easy - just head over to our Blogs and write one. We're not too picky on content as long as it stays somewhat on topic. Speaking of, I know a lot of us have this topic on our mind: Co-optimus Community Voice: My Backlog, Let Me Show You It.

I have to be honest.  I haven't played much Call of Duty: Black Ops since the Co-Optimus co-op night at the end of last year. After our co-op night I had a good handle on the Zombie mode.  By then I had thoroughly enjoyed playing the Combat Training with my wife, and I hit the mid-40 level on the competitive multiplayer mode.  I felt my time with the game had run its course. 

Sometimes it’s nice to see people take a different approach to a familiar medium. Paradox Interactive has done just that with the upcoming Tower Defense/RTS title Defenders of Ardania. Defenders of Ardania has a few tricks up its sleeve that are only accomplished thanks to the blending of strategy army building, tower defense tower building, and the ability to defend, or attack, or both if the situation calls for it.

You are standing on a battlefield surrounded on all sides by your closest buddies; a troop of unlikely Allies from various nations locked and loaded. Your mission should you choose to accept it, is to wipe an alien force off of our planet. You are: a Bunch of Heroes.

The winter continues to pound much of the United States with snow and ice this weekend along with some pretty frigid temperatures over almost all 48 states in the continental US.   This means that aside from watching the Super Bowl in a snowy and icey Texas (whaaaa?!!?) we'll also be staying in and playing more and more games.  Here's what's on tap.

Joystiq.com shed a little light on the worst kept secret in the gaming industry today.  Halo: Combat Evolved, the "killer app" for the original Xbox, is getting a remake.  Sources confirmed to Joystiq.com, "...the re-release is not Bungie's 2001 Xbox game simply running at a higher resolution -- it's being remade with new art assets."  It appears Halo is getting more than just a high-def polishing:

Fatshark Games, makers of Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West, have announced a brand new puzzle/platformer named Hamilton's Great Adventure.  As you can clearly see from the screenshot above, the game's main character Hamilton takes a lot of visual cues from Indiana Jones.  The gameplay should borrow from that sense of adventure and mix in a healthy dose of puzzle solving as well.

Lets face it, the whole zombie survival thing is starting to head the way of the World War 2 game.  It's being done...to death.  So when a new zombie survival game gets announced, there is usually a collective groan.  But the newest game from Undead Labs code named Class3, might be one to actually watch out for as it aims to do things a little different.

Just yesterday I set forth a condition that DICE's "best Battlefield game ever" would have to satisfy in order to make such a claim. Your crossed fingers have done the trick, my friends. EA has announced today that Battlefield 3 will be released this fall, and will see the return of a single-player campaign, award-winning multiplayer...and the addition of a cooperative campaign.

It's looking like a good year for co-op as another great co-op franchise is producing its final sequel set for release in the fourth quarter of this year. Saints Row 3 has officially been slated for an "Autumn 2011" release, but no specifics have been nailed down just yet. For those unfamiliar with the insane, over-the-top gangster action of the series, the first two games on Xbox 360 are available in a $30 double pack to catch up on the chronological story - no combo pack is listed for the PS3 or PC, sorry guys. Sure, Saints Row 1 isn't a co-op game - but developer Volition caught on by Saints Row 2 adding the ability to customize your character and play in a posse (of two).

Someone's gotta do the dirty work. On Tuesday it's taking out the garbage. On Wednesday it's picking up the kids. On Thursday it's playing that backlogged single-player campaign. Where does that leave your partner? Hopefully on the couch next to you with a glass of iced tea.