The Dead Island Game of the Year edition has been confirmed for a summer release. This should come as a surprise to few, as the re-release was outed but the UK ratings board earlier this month. The four player action RPG was one of our favorite co-op games from last year, earning  5 out of 5 in our Co-Op Review, as well as our Editor's Choice Award. Yeah, we liked it.

Happy Victoria Day, Canadian readers! According to reputable sources, this holiday traditionally represents the beginning of the summer season. Well, we do things a little differently down here, south of the (Canadian) border.

Happy first lunch break of the week, CST people! I hope you brought enough to share with everyone. Let's get our Co-Op Release Alert on! 

Good morning! Or afternoon, or evening, I guess. I have no idea when you'll be reading this. Welcome to another edition of Beyond Co-Op, where we look "beyond co-op" and bring you some of the gaming news that doesn't necessarily revolve around cooperative play. Here are some stories that caught my eye this week:

  Heroes of Ruin is an upcoming hack-and-slash, action RPG for the Nintendo 3DS. It features a fantasy setting, four player drop in/drop out co-op, voice chat, and a half-lion, half-man character class. Neat! The latest trailer covers all of the co-op features nicely. It's almost as if the game was made with four player co-op i...

Here's a quick bit of information, folks. Shoot Many Robots is half off on Steam until 1pm EST tomorrow. That means you can pick it up for the low, low price of five dollars. The loot-and-shoot sidescroller also has a four pack available for $14.99. Give the gift of screeching metal death to your friends! 

Man, there's been a lot of Serious Sam news lately. First there was story about Serious Sam 3: BFE and Serious Sam: Double D XXL coming to the XBLA this fall. Then Amazon announced a big sale on Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter and its new accompanying DLC. Not to be outdone, Steam is having their own Serious Sam sale.

The Borderlands 2 final box art was recently revealed. With all the commotion surrounding the $100 and $150 special editions it was easy to overlook the version that all the normal people will be buying. The cover image should be familiar to anyone who remembers the iconic artwork from the first game. I'll admit I thought the original Borderlands cover was badass. Here's a reminder, just in case you missed out on one the best co-op games of this console generation:

Everyone knew that Serious Sam 3: BFE was eventually going to make an appearance on the Xbox 360, but we didn't known it was bringing a friend. That's right, Serious Sam: Double D XXL is coming to Xbox Live this fall, and it will include a two player local co-op mode.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is getting what I assume will be its final piece of story-based DLC today. "The Echo Six Expansion Pack 2" features the last three missions for the "good guy" Special Ops team. This should put a bow on the Raccoon City adventure as players assist Claire Redfield, battle gruesome B.O.W.s, and attempt to escape the deadly T-Virus outbreak. It's priced at 800 MSP or $10.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier is a week away, and we've got the launch trailer to prove it. Check out Mr. Tight T-Shirt as he informs the men about a "Rogue Spear" over London. That's all the Ghost Recon crew needs to hear to spring into action! We've got soldiers sneaking, sniping, shooting, and 'sploding bad guys. Plenty of fancy gadgets make an appearance, as well. The military/tactical/action squad shooter fans should be drooling over this one.  

When you tire of slaughtering the denizens of hell, take a break with the smooth grooves of PixelJunk 4am. The motion contolled music mixer launches today on the PSN. Use your PS Move to grab tracks right out of the air. Make custom music with the touch of a button. Check out this site to get a feel for the music.

Warhawk is a much-loved PlayStation franchise that features huge multiplayer battles and chaotic vehicle-based action. Starhawk continues the tradition, with the addition of a single player campaign and a new cooperative Prospector mode. Find out if the new modes are worthy of the franchise in our co-op review.

Happy Monday, people! We have a nice selection of co-op games coming out this week. An iconic PC franchise returns to the spotlight, the XBLA unleashes bullet hell, and the PSN is holding a rave in your living room. Enjoy!

Earlier this week we brought you some crazy videos featuring the three Rin assassin sisters from Anarchy Reigns. Today, we have two dozen more screens from the multiplayer fighting game. Most of the game's impressive roster is well represented. Jack Cayman and Co. are dishing out pain by the bucketload. I don't know what's happening in the header image, but Durga's mechanical foot looks like it means business.