Well, the holiday season is upon us. It’s cold outside and families are gathering together for fun and food and gifts. So, opportunities for co-op should be rampant. This was true for me, since I got some quality time with one of my favorite co-op games. This game is great for family togetherness and unity. I’m speaking of course about Left 4 Dead. There’s nothing like a zombie apocalypse to bring family together.

I’ve previously had Left 4 Dead as my game of the week, but that was just the demo. This week, I got a fuller appreciation for the game. Over time, my buddies and I have developed a love of the game. But what did we love the most?

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This week was essentially Left 4 Dead week for me, since I finally got my hands on the game. After playing it and beating all the campaigns, I walked away very impressed. The game never really gets dull, and I just keep coming back for more. Also, the game is a “great co-op moment” machine, and I could list at least a dozen common moments in the game that are great moments in co-op. However, one of the best co-op moments of the game is one of the first ones you will encounter in the game: the Horde.

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 In many ways, co-op gaming is going through a sort of renaissance. The past few years have been a rebirth for co-op and 2007/2008 could be considered “Co-Op Year.” With most systems having several AAA titles featuring co-op (including Halo 3, Resistance 2, etc.). However, many would say that this renaissance of co-op gaming could not have happened without online co-op. This is because the rebirth of co-op seems to have coincided with the rise of online co-op.

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As you might be noticing, you are reading an article…by me…on a Monday. Well, today marks the debut of “Great Moments in Co-Op,” a sort of bite-sized article that will be featured every Monday. This article will not be as long as other articles, partially because like most of you, I don’t function well on Mondays. So, we have a nice little article that will make your case of the Mondays hopefully go away. Also, take note, there will be spoilers in most of these articles, but normally they are from the first half of games. So read on at your own risk.

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For me, the best co-op games are the ones that make me feel like a total geek while playing them. Left 4 Dead did this for me, since I was constantly remarking how it was like 28 Days Later, in addition to other obscure zombie movie references. The only way the co-op game can be any more fun is if I am surrounded by other people basking in geekery. Fortunately I got the chance this week, as I played a game that is essentially a perfect storm for geeks: Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

I have played Marvel Ultimate Alliance by myself, and found it to be immensely fun. However, I simply could not find three more uber geeks in order to get the full experience. This week, I looked around, realized that I was at a liberal arts college, and found the geeks necessary (myself included) to have some good wholesome superhero fun. We had a great deal of fun, and developed a great deal of insight into the gaming and comic book worlds.

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As you can see, this is not "This Week in Co-Op." Today marks the debut of a new column, "Great Features in Co-Op Gaming," that will alternate with This Week in Co-Op. So, this week you get our new column, next week it's back to This Week in Co-op. Well, with that clarified, let's get on with the column. This column is dedicated to discussing fun features that make co-op games worth playing. Everyone has played a co-op game and (to themselves or aloud) said "Oh man, 'feature x' is so cool" So, what feature is the focus for this week? Open world/sandbox gameplay.

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I don't quite know how to start this article. However, that's really a good thing. Frankly there are too many cool features, "OMG" moments, and cinematic moments for me to be able to quickly and smoothly start this article. Heck, any one the aforementioned topics could easily take up an entire article. I guess all I can really say is that this week, I played the Left 4 Dead demo on the Xbox 360.

A demo has never been my game of the week, mainly because demos just do not have the replayability that makes it capable of being a "game of the week." However, Left 4 Dead has proven me wrong. In fact, I spent more time on the demo (which just released yesterday) than any other game this week (and I am no slouch as to how much time I spent gaming). In my short time playing the game (well "short," meaning several hours), I've discovered a lot that I like and a few things that I've never really seen before.

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Well, after a two week hiatus, This Week in Co-Op is back. Since Gears of War 2 has been quite the popular game recently, I decided to play the original Gears of War. Gears 2 has received pretty good reviews, much like it's predecessor. Also, (unsurprisingly) Gears of War 2 is much like it's predecessor as far as gameplay goes, though there are some fun additions (Horde Mode, enough said). So, with all this in mind, I decided to play the original Gears of War in order to see why Gears 2 has captured my attention so much.

Gears 1 was a solid co-op game. It had basic co-op modes, both online and local. However, it did some things rather well. First off, the game had your teammate playing as an actual character in the game (i.e. there was no "two Master Chiefs" syndrome). Also, there were no major (or even minor) changes to the campaign, so that you got the full effect of the campaign whether you played it in co-op or single player. However, the best part of Gears 1  was it's solid-yet-simple features. This made Gears a fun co-op experience that had some depth without being too complex.

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Penny Arcade is normally a good source of critical coverage of gaming news, even though they are first and foremost a webcomic. However, they normally are able to combine critical analysis and fun webcomic goodness. An example of this is their recent comic about Little Big Planetand its delay. In the comic, they remark that the inclusion of a song with lyrics from the Qur'an is not nearly as bad as the kind of stuff that the online commuity will come up with.

The news post in relation to the comic goes into further detail. It discusses the idea that games with user-generated content might not be as wide-open as possible, considering the large outrage created by a simple song in the game. The article and comic provide an interesting look at user-generated content and what this means for gamers and co-op gamers alike. Might user generated content (on consoles) be more limiting than we first thought?

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Co-Optimus has been on a bit of a Phantasy Star mood recently. What with more info about the new DS game, Phantasy Star Zero, we were itching for more Phantasy Star info. Fortunately, we discovered more info about another portable version of Phantasy Star. 1UP has word that Phantasy Star Portable will be headed stateside this coming March. The game is coming out for the PSP, and takes place after Phantasy Star Universe. It will have a single-player storyline, as well as a multiplayer component.

The gameplay should be similar to PSU, and it appears to have a similar graphical style, but what is most important to the Co-Optimus faithful is the four player co-op. 1UP also has an interview about the game, so you might want to hit that up as well. So, any PSP fans out there want some Phantasy Star action?

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