Merely seeing the words Red Alert kicks off the Hell March theme in my head.  Red Alert 2 has always been one of my all time favorite RTS titles.  When I heard Electronic Arts was creating a sequel, I was a giddy as a little girl.  When I heard the sequel would be completely designed around cooperative play...my panties exploded.  

IGN has a rather nice hands on preview with the game focusing on the cooperative aspects.  Every single mission in the game is designed to have 2 commanders playing it, whether it's the AI or your best friend playing the other role is up to you.  

The strategy introduced with this is incredibly interesting, and really brings some real world military tactics into play.  Perhaps the goal of a mission is to take down a set of power generators and then assault the base that becomes vulnerable in doing so.   You can easily coordinate an attack with your partner using the game's voice chat, so the second the generator falls your assault can begin.  The teamwork doesn't end at just actual offense, even though you can't control your opponents troops, you can build structures in their base to help them out.  Your buddy have a tank rush coming?  Better build some defensive turrets for him quick!

Red Alert 2 is set to come out for the Xbox 360 and PC later this month, after reading this preview, we're going to need to buy a whole package of panties.

Ah, Halo Wars. The folks at Ensemble Studios have a lot to live up to in making this game. After all, they are making a Halo RTS. The jump from FPS to RTS is a big one, but there are several ways to make the transition easier. The main one is "have features from previous games." So far Ensemble appears to be doing great there, as the game has co-op, many of the familiar Halo characters and vehicles, and so forth. However, Ensemble isn't done placating the Halo masses. Through their monthly update, they have revealed another familiar Halo feature: Legendary difficulty. The game will feature the accurately-titled difficulty mode, which has claimed untold hours of peoples lives, as well as too many broken controllers to count. Apparently Halo Wars version of Legendary is no slouch.

"Legendary will be a challenge that will be worthy for the most experienced players."

So, anyone excited about the news? Or were you, like me, expecting it?

Well, its seems that the next chapter in the monolithic Halo series, Halo Wars, will have co-op. Sites like Joystiq are reporting that Gamepro magazine has a world exclusive on the new Halo-flavored real-time strategy game. In thier latest issue (July), Gamepro says that the game will have two-player online co-op and six player multiplayer. The July issue also reveals more about the vehicles in the game, including some not featured in previous Halo games. So, co-op Halo fans rejoice and pray this is 100% true.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 (also in the same "longest game name" competition as Sacred 2) was revealed not too long ago. So, naturally we are left wanting for more information. As always, IGN has come to the rescue, with a preview of the PC real-time strategy game. The team seems to be enthusiastic about co-op, and the following quote does seem promising.

Pitting you mano-a-mano against another player and it's a whole loss of face if you lose; it's a very high-pressure situation. What we found just watching multiplayer statistics online is that a vast majority of players would rather co-operate with each other against an opponent that doesn't have a human face that doesn't tell you what a noob you are if you lose. The co-operative campaign is based entirely around that concept. Players want to co-operate in a story-based setting not just in comp-stomp

I wholeheartedly agree that mano-a-mano can often be frustrating and unrewarding, so the dev team behind Dawn of War 2 is on the right page, in my opinion. Check out the preview and see what you think. They also hint at a more non-linear game, as well as a way to balance the game so that teaming up with someone doesn't make the game baby-easy.

Electronic Arts continues to develop games that are at the forefront of co-op gaming.  It's amazing that a company that has been constantly ridiculed for recycled content is breaking new grounds with games like Army of Two for co-op play.  Now, trying something totally radical, EA is creating an RTS sequel that has an entire co-op campaign.  And we aren't just talking about your run of the mill two guys against AI in skirmish mode.   Red Alert 3 will feature a full fledged story based campaign mode where players must work together in order to complete objectives. 

There's an integrated co-op experience where literally the two players have to work in tandem to pursue some goal. On a stealth mission, for example, you may have one guy who's moving a big, bulky shield generator unit and the other guy has to take his assault force and has to keep it underneath the cover of that shield generator unit. That's a very intimate co-op experience because they're talking into their voice-over-IP headsets and they have to coordinate their movements that way.

Red Alert 3 continues the setting of the previous Red Alert titles with an alternate history in place.  With an added 3rd coalition on the rise, and the threat of mechanized ninjas - there's no way anybody should be missing this game!  IGN has the full interview which is definitely worth a read.

That's right boys and girls, the sequel to the best real time strategy game ever (that's Red Alert 2) has just been unveiled.  And that's only the start of the good news.  The REALLY good news is the fact the game will have an entire cooperative campaign!

Red Alert 3 will mostly be a "What If?" kind of game which looks into the possibilities the first two games didn't cover. Classic technologies like Tesla coils, teleportation, and time traveling will be supplemented by new innovations like armored bears, floating island fortresses and... get this, intelligent dolphins!

Some of the interesting features that will be making its way into the game include a first ever heard of co-op campaign mode, a focus on the naval combat aspects, and all the Kalashnikov designer rifles a Command & Conquer game can hold.

More info as it becomes available!

Source: pc.qj.net