Ah, the rumor mill is turning early today!

E4G quoted the Official PlayStation Magazine yesterday - specifically the "Secret Games" section - wherein it was deduced from several sources that three major sequels are being developed for a 2010 release.

First to bat was Killzone 3, supposedly "deep in development", according to an industry insider. Maybe this explains why co-op was twice considered as an add-on for Killzone 2, then dropped for good...we can only hope that the considerations have carried over to any new projects that may be in the works.

The other two titles rumored to be under way are Resistance 3 and a Call of Duty: World at War sequel, both with high possibilities for co-op. The former claim is supported by a prop billboard caught on the set of the movie Battle: Los Angeles, currently filming. The latter has significantly less credibility, thanks to an earlier report that the next Call of Duty title by Treyarch would feature the Vietnam conflict.

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Who needs Romeo when you can have Fitty?

Here's an interesting bit of news for co-op fans.  Killzone 2 is the premiere FPS for the PS3.  It's gorgeous visually, but has one glaring weakness: no co-op whatsoever.  As we've covered before, the game really suffers as a result.  Even without our favorite feature, Killzone 2 has sold well by almost any measure, with 1.9 million copies moved since the game's release in late February. 

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There are many different types of games on the market for many different types of people. So, what designates which games can be played together, and which can not? We at Co-optimus.com tend to preach friendly co-op gaming, and notice many of the single player games out there feel somewhat cheated out of a quality co-op experience.

Some games had co-op left on the concept floor, cut out in the final stages, or some that seem to have missed the co-op boat completely. This is the co-optimus list of games that we feel could really use co-op for an improved gaming experience.

Original caption by Nicholas "bapenguin" Puleo

Our friends at Loot Ninja have worked up an editorial not too dissimilar from our 2008 retrospective "Co-Op Successes and Failures" (by Jason Love) and more recent "Innovations in Co-Op Gaming" (by Katrina Pawlowski feat. the staff)...the Loot Ninja staff seek the definitive answer to a question that has been hounding our forum-goers for several months now: Do All Games Need Multiplayer or Co-Op?

Hot on the heels of Naughty Dog's confirmation of both multiplayer and three-player co-op in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves comes the news that Bioshock 2 will also feature multiplayer (although, sadly, no co-op). Today's gaming news in particular has been ripe with teases of Modern Warfare 2, a game that we steadfastly hope will also include four-player co-op. Tomorrow, Fable II DLC See the Future hits the Xbox Live Marketplace, leaving us still wondering why the co-op in that game was gimped. Not to be outdone, Killzone 2 falls in the same category as Fable II -- although without co-op in any form -- and also makes its way to Loot Ninja, where they use the Sony headliner as an example of a high-profile game that may well have benefited further from a co-op campaign.

What's very gratifying to see is the general attitude of the comments as of this writing:  apparently Loot Ninja's readers are as attached to co-op as we are. We've gone over this before, but please take a look at the editorial piece and put in your two cents...then come back over here and continue our ongoing discussion.

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Game, set, and match.  That's the killing blow of Guerilla games thrashing any hope to ever see co-op come to Killzone 2.  According to Co-founder and Managing Director of Guerrilla Games Hermen Hulst, Killzone 2 will never receive co-op as downloadable content.

"We looked at all the different flavors of co-op early on, but decided our first priority would have to be the single-player experience and the multiplayer," Hulst told Game Informer. "Rather than just tack on co-op, it would have to be integrated and done to a similar standard as the single and multiplayer.  Having looked at it again now. I do not think we would want to add it as DLC"

Well that's odd, because when I played through Killzone 2 it seemed that there was always an AI Buddy by your side, something perfectly suitable for co-op, and definitely not something tacked on.  Looks like it's back to 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, I hear it's better anyway.

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As spring nears, a lot of great video game titles are released. And sometimes, yes sometimes, they don't include co-op. Every month we cover some of the titles you may have missed in the video game industry with our Beyond Co-Op Reviews.

This month we have a handful of titles for our Beyond Co-Op Reviews. On the plate is: FEAR 2, Retro Game Challenge, Killzone 2, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Street Fighter IV, and Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars.

Remember when we told you that Killzone 2 could see co-op as DLC?  And then it was quickly retracted that the game would not have co-op because of technical limitations?  Shortly afterwords 50 Cent delivered a knockout blow to the game when Blood on the Sand reviewed better in Maxim Magazine.  Remember all that?  It looks like when Guerrilla Games gets knocked down, they get back up again (tub thumpin) - because in a recent piece on the official PlayStation site, Guerrilla looks to be hoping to add co-op still.

In fact, they talked about how difficult it was getting the game running on the hardware, creating a rich looking world and stretching the PlayStation 3 to technical limits.  So it at least looks like their reasoning was true.  But that doesn't mean they are going to give up on co-op.

While this meant sacrificing split screen gameplay, there may be some co-operative modes on the horizon to keep the excitement going. "We're investigating [co-op] now for downloadable content," she smiles. "We're looking at what would be the nicest possible things for downloadable content. We've already started on maps... we're not allowed to talk about anything else unfortunately!"

Hopefully this is a true co-op mode, and not just some team based multiplayer.  We'll see, all the back and forth on this makes it very suspicious to begin with.  

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Killzone 2 is the latest and greatest game coming for the PS3 later this month.  The hype for this game has been intense.  Some hail it as the greatest console FPS ever.  Others call it the best game of 2009.  Too bad the campaign is only single player, and the online multiplayer is only competitive, eh?  Co-Optimus finds this disappointing, and we're not alone.

IGN :
While the story is a solo campaign, you get the sense that there is a distinct co-op feeling to it, because you are almost always partnered with one or more soldiers as you run through the various environments.

1Up :
Joining you in battle are the other members of Alpha squad. It would have been nice to play co-op with friends (they are strictly A.I. controlled)...

Eurogamer :
For much of the game, you'll be accompanied by at least one of these gruff stereotypes, but it's far from a squad game. They'll react fairly intelligently to the situation, but their presence ultimately only serves to remind you there's no co-operative mode, and Killzone 2 constantly feels like a game designed for co-op. There are often multiple ways to approach each level, different routes that take you up, over and through the crumbling Helghast architecture. Since you're unable to tell your AI partner to take the high road, you'll inevitably wish for a human friend who could really take advantage of these strategic opportunities. It's a baffling omission, and Killzone 2's most obvious weakness.

To me, at least you won't be the BESTEST CONSOLE FPS EVAR without co-op!  Sony: we want to love that shiny, awesome Blu-ray player Playstation 3 we bought, but sometimes, you make it really tough.

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Remember when we told you that Killzone 2 was dropping any hope of having a co-op mode?  Looks like that mistake has cost Guerilla Games dearly.  How so?  In the latest issue of mens magazine Maxim, they review both 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and the upcoming PS3 exclusive Killzone 2.   

Maxim gave Killzone 2 a three and a half blue dotty things out of five stating the game was "the hottest girl at the ball, but not the best dancer."

Our boy 50?  "A Wanksta-proof gem, Sand combines arcade-style collecting, 18 new music tracks, co-op play and a story that's Indiana Jones meets Scarface."

Final round Killzone 2 gray orange glowy eyed dude - you're TKO'd.  Better luck next year!  Proof positive that co-op triumphs all.

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It looks like yesterday's rumor was shot down already.  In an interview with PSU, Guerrilla Games game director Mathijs de Jonge has said that even though co-op was originally planned in some form, it simply wasn't possible due to technical limitations.

Mathijs states that things like streaming loading off the disc would cause issues with "teleporting players" making it "quite difficult to implement."  

Of course if we do see the rumored DLC shortly after launch, well then, Mr de Jonge has some splainin' to do!

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