Unveiled officially at the Microsoft Press Conference, Resident Evil 5's gameplay will be built entirely around co-op.  The co-op is a first for the series, one that traditionally is about lone wolf style survival, but it's a welcome addition.  The developers aren't cutting any corners either, making sure to design levels with co-op in mind.

One example showed Chris and his partner Sheva on the run from a horde of zombies.  As they ran up a broken down building they came across a chasm they couldn't jump across.  So Chris gave her a boost and launched her across.  Both players then continued to cover each other from afar as the zombie onslaught continued.  Other such enviornmental puzzles were shown, areas where the two would split up and the other character would need to unlock a door, or break down an area to allow the other person through. 

The game looked incredibly gorgeous set in a run down African town.  Even though there was lots of browns, the lighting just made everything pop.  There's no word on exactly what the co-op specific features are yet, only that it will be playable online.   Hopefully the game will support drop in and drop out play as well as split screen.  I don't want to limit my zombie killing options after all.

We've posted 10 new screenshots of Resident Evil 5 Co-Op for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 after the break.

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Last Monday night I was lucky enough to be invited to a pretty exclusive Gears of War 2 preview event.  Donned with celebrities like Lester Spreight (voice of Cole Train above), Zachary Levi (of NBC's Chuck fame) and numerous others; we all got our hands on with Gears 2's new co-op mode called Horde. 

The way Horde mode works is similar to the Terrorist Hunt mode in the Ghost Recon games.  Basically it's you and your buddies versus endless waves of the Locust Horde...oh I get it now.  After clearing each successive wave there's a slight cool down period where you can gather weapons and ammo and then the next successive more difficult and larger wave comes. 

Read on for more impressions.

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As is we weren't already going to pick the game up on release day, November 4, now there's all the more reason for this title to stand out from its competitors.  Left 4 Dead's box art has been finalized, and yeah, it's pretty fantastic.  Blood? Check.  Missing appendages?  Check.  If they had fit in a giant robot somewhere, it'd be perfect.  Only 2,544 hours to wait...

Well, as we said not too long ago, the release of 1942: Joint Strike is fast approaching. And as the Gamerscore Blog says, 1942: Joint Strike is coming out this week. It is one of the XBLA releases of the week, but it will also find its way to the PlayStation Network. The WWII-themed co-op shooter is all nice and updated in hi-def 3D glory, which we've detailed in the past. The game will set you back 800 Microsoft Points (on XBLA), which translates to $9.99 for the PlayStation Network version. So, if you want a nice spiffy shooter (that still stays true to the 2D roots) this could be the game for you.

If there was one good thing to come out of E3 2008 this year (despite the bad), it's the fact that co-op has been moved up from an afterthought to a bullet point. Right from the get go at the Microsoft Press Conference we were hit with a plethora of AAA titles all that featured co-op as a major bullet point. Fable 2 and its integrated co-op mode to 3rd party titles like Resident Evil 5 and the official unveiling of its coop focused gameplay, the Microsoft press briefing had one overwhelming message - it's good to play together. Sony followed suit with titles like Resistance 2 and its 8-player co-op mode on display; and even though Nintendo didn't show much their big game Animal Crossing for the Wii was built around cooperative play, even introducing a new microphone peripheral for online play.

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In a truly shocking turn of events, Wired is reporting that Rock Band instruments will be compatible with Guitar Hero: World Tour.  You might be wondering how this is possible, since the RB drums have one less input than the upcoming GH:WT drums.  Director Brian Bright says that the tracks will be "compressed" if a RB drum set is detected.  All in all, this is great news for fans who are running out of space for more instruments.  If rival games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero can play nice with each other, surely world peace is not too far behind.  Perhaps soon, we'll even see dogs and cats living together!

Well, we are back from E3 and we had some hands on time with a ton of the co-op games on display.  Read on for previews and impressions of LEGO Batman, HAWX, Saint's Row 2, Dawn of War 2, Resistance 2, Halo Wars, and Fable 2.

Before we go to far in our discussion of this week's Co-Op Classic, I feel I must come clean with our readers.  I am a huge fan of the Terminator movies.  I first saw the original when I was about 15 or so, and I totally loved it.  The time travel angle, the intense chase scenes, the unstoppable nature of the Terminator, all of these worked together to make a truly memorable movie.  (It helped that Linda Hamilton was a total fox.)  So great was my devotion to the movie (my wife loves them too!) that my boys are named after characters from the movies: Kyle and Connor, respectively.  I remember that when T2: Judgment Day was released in theaters, it was seriously hyped.  You couldn't go anywhere without seeing a poster, can of soda, or magazine with Arnold's face on it.  It was no surprise then, that a video game based on the movie would hit the arcades.  Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the arcade game,  was a co-op experience that was memorable in it's own right.

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Well, I'm back from vacation, and man did I miss a lot. Apparently co-op was a big deal at E3, what with the torrent of information that has been appearing on the site. However, even though E3 has passed, that torrent of info has not completely stopped. Apparently, Gearbox's new sci-fi shooter/RPG, Borderlands, will have co-op. TeamXbox has the details, based off their eyes-on demo of the game. Co-op details on the game are scarce (though TeamXbox lists the game as having 2-4 player co-op), but apparently there will be some form of weapon/gear exchanging between teammates. Count me in, though I was in on day one, what with the whole "500,000 different weapons" claim. So, anyone else really pleased?

I was watching the daily G4 television program last night and they had a playable demo of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.  I thought I would share the video of that section here and also tell you that they confirmed there would be 2-player co-op with drop-in/drop-out abilities...pretty cool!

Check it out after the break...

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