Super-hero mania is here!  Last weekend, The Dark Knight hit theaters, and broke all sorts of records.  The annual celebration of all things comic book, the San Diego Comic Con, started yesterday, and geeks everywhere rejoiced.  Just last night, Co-Optimus hosted a co-op night on Xbox Live, choosing the much-loved action RPG Marvel: Ultimate Alliance as the game for the week.  It is only fitting then, that we look at a cape-based game from the previous generation for this week's Co-Op Classics:  Justice League Heroes.

Read More]]> http://www.co-optimus.com/article/353/Co-Op_Classics__Justice_League_Heroes.html http://www.co-optimus.com/article/353/Co-Op_Classics__Justice_League_Heroes.html Co-Optimus
]]> http://www.co-optimus.com/game/887/Playstation_Network/PixelJunk_Eden.html http://www.co-optimus.com/game/887/Playstation_Network/PixelJunk_Eden.html Blake "broodax" Corner

Ah, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, I loved thee well. Mixing hack-and-slash with superheroes and 4 player co-op was a brilliant idea. Yes, there was a good deal of grinding for powerups and costumes, but where else can you have a team of Iron Man, Blade, Deadpool, and Wolverine? So, it comes as no surprise that the Co-Optimus crew was pleased to find out there will be a Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. We've covered the game in the past, and it sounds like more of the same, in a good way. However, recent details have come to light via 1up. The game is now called Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion. You might have heard that the "fusion" part of the game concerns combining superpowers for a cool combo attack. Hit the preview from 1up to discover more info about the game, including more on the "fusion" part of the game. And to make things better, 1up's sister site Gamevideos has a preview video. Oh, and don't worry about any platform feeling left out: the game will come out for most all platforms (Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, PS2, PSP, DS).

Maximum PC recently had an interview with the designer of Left 4 Dead, Michael Booth, about the upcoming zombie killing game.  There's a lot of information in the interview, detailing how the scaling AI works, the new look of the graphics, and much more.  A few details about the "boss" zombies are given as well, and they are all awesome.  Zombies with tongue weapons or who puke on you in particular sound like winners.  A couple tidbits about weapons in the game are dropped, as well, including this interesting quote.

The pipe bomb before was very realistic, so it exploded like a real pipe bomb would. But in terms of gameplay mechanics, especially with this game, it wasn’t actually very functional. There are so many zombies that are coming at you from all directions that having one even fairly big explosion didn’t help in a lot of cases. So what we did is we McGuyvered it a bit. Now, there’s like a labeled battery strap on the bomb with a beeper and the beeper sound just drives the zombies nuts. They have to chase the sound. So you can pull out the pipe bomb and set it off and it starts beeping faster and faster and all the zombies in the area chase down the pipe bomb like a dog chasing a bone. They kick it around and after about six seconds the beeper keeps getting faster until it explodes. But of course it’s completely surrounded by zombies at that point.

The game was notable enough already, but now we add to its list of accomplishments "First Use of McGuyvered As A Verb"!

A rumored list that claims to be the full set list for Guitar Hero: World Tour has been floating around the internet.  There is no official word from Activision as of yet, so you may want to drag out that jumbo sized salt shaker before reading.  If the list is indeed true, there will be some good times to be had, for sure.  (Beat It, Toxicity, Every Breath You Take, and CRAZY TRAIN!!)  However, something about the list seems off to me, personally.   There are several songs that make you go "Huh?" (Why put a ballad like "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" in this game, not Guitar Hero: Aerosmith?)  Either way, we feel you'll find the list interesting, to say the least.  Check it out after the break.  Do you prefer this list, or Rock Band 2's?  Let us know!

Read More]]> http://www.co-optimus.com/article/349/This_May_or_May_Not_Be_the_GH_Word_Tour_Set_List.html http://www.co-optimus.com/article/349/This_May_or_May_Not_Be_the_GH_Word_Tour_Set_List.html Nicholas "bapenguin" Puleo

I've got some good news and I've got some bad news.  The good news first.  Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 has been moved up a week and should hit Xbox Live Arcade next Wednesday, July 30th for 800 Microsoft Points (up from 400 for the previous).   Thankfully there are tons of new features and game modes that help justify the cost.

The bad news is, we previously reported the game would have online 4 player co-op.  Unfortunately while the game DOES have 4 player co-op it is only offline due to the game's "hectic nature."

I do have more good news, we have a ton of details on the GWRE2's new game modes like Deadline, Pacifism, and Waves all posted after the read more link.   What's even better?  We have wallpaper sized downloads of the above graphic for both widescreen and standard monitors!  Score.

One of the games that sort of went under the radar at E3 was a little title from Capcom called Flock.  The games developers have a resume that include such titles as Lemmings and Crackdown, and in a sort of twisted way share some characteristics of both games.  The basic gameplay is much like a Lemmings game, use your UFO to guide sheep, pigs, and cows through a maze like obstacial course to the Mother Flocker (that's your big herding ship).  Flock promises to have plenty of physics based puzzles as well as a 2-player co-op mode.

No word on a release date, but we should be Flock-ing in no time on the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and PC.

Be sure to read Joystiq's hands on impressions of the game as well, and stick around after the jump for some brand new screenshots.

I've always had a sweet spot for classic and/or older co-op games. Maybe it's because it takes me back to my childhood, or maybe I just like games to be simple sometimes. I've mainly covered newer games in this column, and recently covered an older one. So I decided to meet somewhere in the middle with my current co-op game of the week: Halo.

To tell the truth, my sentimental attitude towards older games was not the only factor in choosing to play Halo this week. My 360 Red-Ringed on me, and I just wasn't in a Wii mood this week (I know, something must be wrong with me). However, I was fortunate to discover that my trip back to 2001 would not have all the downsides that some "back-to-the-past" game journeys have. The first Halo holds up quite well, and does the co-op as good as, if not better than many new games.

Many of you probably don't know about Watchmen, the sublime (limited) comic book series. However, to summarize, it's very good and was the only comic book to ever win the Hugo award (for excellence in sci-fi writing). Oh and it takes place in an alternate reality where Nixon is president forever and we won Vietnam. I hadn't even heard of Watchmen until I saw the epic trailer for the upcoming movie version of it when I went to see The Dark Knight. However, after seeing the trailer I was excited about the movie. I was made even more excited when I discovered (via MTV) that there will be a downloadable, episodic Watchmen game debuting alongside the movie. The game will have split-screen co-op, featuring the heroes Nite Owl and Rorschach. The game  is also a prequel to the series, taking place in the 1970s. Little more is known about the game, but it will feature up to 20 enemies on screen and is apparently a rather pretty game. The game will come out with the movie in 2009. Any Watchmen fans out there?

What do Aliens, Co-Op, and Battle Star Galactica all have in common?  Well in some way or another they are all involved with the upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines title from Gearbox Software.   According to a Shacknews interview with Gearbox head honcho Randy Pitchford, the game's story has been written by two veteran BSG writers.   Both Bradley Thompson and David Weddle helped write the story, so much story in fact, that they could make an "entire TV season" out of it...ironic I know.  So how did Gearbox manage to snag these fine folks away from the awesomeness that is Battlestar Galactica?  Two words: writers strike. 

This game is shaping up to be a surefire winner with both 4 player co-op, drop-in/drop-out support, a killer setting, and now some Hollywood talent behind the story.  Can this get any better?  You be the judge, just look at the new screenshots.

Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow night is our next official Xbox Live Co-Op Night.  We'll be playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance which supports 4 player co-op.   So dust off your copies of the game and join us online as we beat up some evil villains.

A lot of people ask us what exactly Co-Op Night is, and how they can join.  There are a few ways to participate.  The first is simply get online and use Xbox Live's match making tools to find other co-op gamers.  The goal of co-op night is to get as many people as possible online at the same time looking to play co-op.  The second way to get involved is to send a friend invite to co optimus on Xbox Live and utilize the friends of friends feature to find other people playing.   So yeah...that's about it.  

I'll see you online...oh...and I call Colossus.

Also, be sure to Digg this to get the word out.

Buy Rock Band 2 @ Amazon to support Co-Optimus.

Buy Rock Band 2 @ Amazon to support Co-Optimus.

Buy Halo Wars @ Amazon to support Co-Optimus.

Buy Dawn of War 2 @ Amazon to support Co-Optimus.