We've all been so busy actually PLAYING the myriad of releases this Fall, including some awesome co-op ones, that we didn't have time to write about all the other games out there. We've combined our Beyond Co-Op reviews for October and November into a mega issue.

How about Brutal Legend, Forza 3, Torchlight, Half-Minute Hero and more?  

Holy moly!  When it rains it pours!  And it's raining co-op games!  We've got three solid co-op titles hitting this week, all bringing their own unique flair to the table, and representing just about every platform out there.

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Star Wars fans seem to be divided into two camps.  There are old timers like me, who are original trilogy purists, and look down a bit on the newer material, including the prequels.  Then, there are the newer fans, who realize Star Wars is cool no matter what; come on, lightsabers, the Force, robots, spaceships, aliens, what's not to like? (Except Jar-Jar.)  The latest Star Wars game, The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, may tend to please the latter group, but even for us oldies, it looks like fun, with the inclusion of co-op.

The Xbox 360 demo for the game has now been released for your downloading pleasure.  (Queue it up here.)  According to Bitmob's interview, Republic Heroes will include drop in/drop out co-op, and puzzles similar to those of the LEGO Star Wars games.  I know this grumpy old Star Wars fan will be trying it out with his two Clone Wars fans.  Anyone else going to check this one out?

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Your co-op Battle Droid blasting will have to wait... Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes has been pushed back to October 6th from its original date of September 15th.

While this isn't drastic news in most circles, the game looks like a decent co-op casual offering, and the Star Wars crowd is keeping their collective eye on it for the time being. We'll provide a co-op review as usual for those of you that perch on the fence. That's right: we take one for the team, like Han Solo in a carbonite slab.

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars is becoming one of the most recognized Star Wars brands, with it's beautiful stylization that allows us to look past the poor CGI of the prequel films. Knowing this, we at Co-optimus are happy to see a Clone Wars style video game, featuring 8 playable Jedi, and 10 playable Clones with 2 player drop-in, drop-out co-op! Star Wars Clone Wars: Republic Heroes will have an original storyline, as well as some slick looking gameplay. To match the stylization of the visuals, the game will feature some new playing "styles" of it's own, making it one of the more unique Star Wars action games around.

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At the start of 2009, our politics tag was fastened to a great many news posts here at Co-Optimus, and the reason was a horrible rash of layoffs and closings.

Factor 5 -- developers of Lair, a rumored Superman game, and the excellent Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series -- was reported to have cut its staff in half...now, the studio has officially announced its full closure, not one week after Screwattack's nostalgic tribute to the original Rogue Squadron for Nintendo 64.

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Our Bothan spies have returned with several new details for the recently announced Star Wars title.  The biggest news is that Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes will feature online cooperative play for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game.  This goes along with local co-op as well as drop-in and drop-out support for two players.  

Lucas Arts has also released a hi-definition version of the trailer, as well as a handful of tasty clone filled screenshots.  It looks as if players will be able to take the role of not only the clone troopers, but Jedi as well as they make their way through the game's cooperative campaign.  

After watching the trailer, September seems so far away.

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Officially unveiling a rumored title to Entertainment Weekly, Krome Studios and LucasArts are showing the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 some Clone Wars love with Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes this September 15th.

The game will feature two-player co-op throughout the campaign; we're surmising from the gameplay trailer that online co-op is included, but neither online nor splitscreen are confirmed yet.

The game looks like a run-of-the-mill platformer/beat-em-up/shoot-em-up...standard Star Wars fare. I'm already envisioning Marc establishing who is the Master and who is the Apprentice at the Allie Temple.

Click here or on the "Source" link to see the trailer.

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"Always in motion, the future is," Master Yoda reminds Luke Skywalker in a memorable scene from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. We won't speculate quantum physics and time theory, but the gist of it is: this post is about a rumor.

Destructoid offered the following info Wednesday:

Sources familiar with the project have indicated that Australian-based Krome Studios is hard at work on developing Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, a third-person action title for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360... Details on the game is scarce, but we're told Republic Heroes will feature a two-player cooperative mode, with both "Jedi" and "Clone" story missions.

'Details on the game are scarce', Mr. Chester...'are scarce'. That's okay, though -- we forgive bad grammar in light of good news. If this rumor turns out to be true  -- and lately, the industry buzz has been pretty accurate -- then color me interested.

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars hits the Nintendo DS this week, and with it comes a game with a 2 player co-op mode playable via local wi-fi.  Players can work together as Jedi combining powers to perform unique attacks.

Red Alert 3 shows up on the Xbox 360 this week after landing on PC shores a few weeks back.  The game supports 2 player co-op play through the entire single player campaign via Xbox Live.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts also releases for the Xbox 360 this week, and while the game is playable in co-op through the story mode - there are co-op specific mini games for 2 players available offline.  This could be a good one for the kids, especially at the friendly $39.99 price point.