We here at Co-Optimus generally prefer Rock Band to its older brother, the Guitar Hero series. That doens't mean we aren't stoked about the upcoming Guitar Hero Metallica. Due the first half of 2009, and available for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and the venerable PS2, GH Metallica features a mix of Metallica songs (dur) as well as a few other bands. The latter include the Foo Fighters, Queen, Samhain, and Alice in Chains.
Joystiq recently got some hands-on time with the Ghostbuster Xbox 360 and Wii builds...
A couple items of a "bad news" nature have come to light today.
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.
Ok, so a red carpet interview with the likes of video game bloggers might not be the most accurate form of information, but it does appear like rapstar 50 Cent knows what he's talking about in realtion to his game. After being grilled about the upcoming sequel, he's asked about the release date. Originally expected in early January, it now appears to have a late February 2009 release date.
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2 is the latest RTS game from veteran developer Relic. Set to hit PCs in the spring it combines big Gears of War style Space Marines with World of Warcraft style characters like Orks and a mysterious race called the Tyranid. The latest trailer highlights the marines and shows off some of their classes including the likes of the Tacticle Marine Squad, Devastator, Scout, Assault Team, and Force Commander. Like Relic's other popular RTS, Company of Heroes, Dawn of War 2 focuses on the action rather than resource gathering and base building.
We looked at experiences like Team Fortress 2, in which there are dependencies on classes, and games like World of Warcraft, in which there are large amounts of people working in tandem, creating this kind of epic synergy to overcome these encounters that wouldn't be overcomeable as an individual. We really wanted to focus on teamwork and the buzz that comes from people working together online, because even though there's some downtime when you're not playing together, the buzz is that much higher when the group locks together and everything falls into place.
Nick and Mike both talked about Red Alert 3 on the latest podcast, and we have some news for co-opers who own the PC version of that game. A patch is now available, taking the game to version 1.05. Besides your standard bug fixes adn balance tweaks, one item of interest to Co-Optimus readers has been added: a lobby is now available for the online co-op mode.
Xbox 360 and PS3 owners have been enjoying the new songs, improved instruments, and added features of Rock Band 2 for over two months now. To this point, Wii and PS2 rockers have been left out. We have a bit of good news for half that group, namely the Wii owners. The Wii version of Rock Band 2 will be shipping on December 18th, which means if you're lucky, you can be playing it on Christmas Day. The Rock Band Forums have the official news, coming from Harmonix themselves.
We still don't know too much about Demigod, but we did have some hands on time with it back during PAX. We came away impressed with the Diablo-ish RPG action combined with an RTS style game.
As we previously reported, Fable II's DLC Knothole Island is coming this month, and as per Lionhead Studios' official announcement, both the host and henchman in a co-op session would need to have the content installed come December 12th.
It's a holiday extravaganza on the Co-Opticast as we chat it up about our holiday gift guides. Not only that we find out what we've been playing lately from the dreaded fall season that's full of co-op gaming goodness. Finally we dive a bit into the uncharted world of user created content. Be sure to give this show a listen, as next episode we want to hear from you! That's right we're taking user questions for the final podcast of 2008.
