Back 4 Blood, sequel to the little-known "Back 3 Blood" (not really), is only a few months away from release. Turtle Rock Studios' spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead promises lots of co-op zombie-slaying thrills when it arrives in October. Before then, an open beta will take place in August. In the meantime, today's new PC trailer provides plenty of savory footage to salivate over while the days of the calendar slowly pass by.

Rainbow Six Extraction, the co-op title that started as a spin-off mode for the popular competitive FPS Rainbow Six Siege, has gotten pushed back a little bit. During E3 last month, Ubisoft announced that the game - which was previously known as Rainbow Six Quarantine, and Rainbow Six Parasite before that - would launch on September 16 this year. A few days ago, though, Ubisoft announced that they would need just a little more time to get it done.

The latest Zombies map to be added to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is called 'Mauer der Toten,' meaning "Wall of the Dead." The Black Ops Cold War Zombies maps are surprisingly story-heavy, and this one sees the members of peacekeeping force Requiem forced to build a warhead to close the Dark Aether portal that was opened in Berlin by traitorous scientist Aleksandra Valentina. We played several co-op games on 'Mauer der Toten,' and we even found out how to unlock the robot, Klaus.

The shoot ‘em up genre has been around for almost as long as video games have existed. Whereas many shmups are deadly serious, there are also a fair number of humorous ones like Parodius, Cho Aniki, and Freedom Finger. Another such game has just arrived on Xbox after first launching on Steam and Switch: Q-Yo Blaster from Team Robot Black Hat ...

In this post-Left 4 Dead 2 world, numerous clones and spiritual successors like the upcoming Back 4 Blood and Evil Dead: The Game are left to make up for the absence of an official L4D sequel. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 from Fatshark is the best of what's actually out right now, so we're naturally looking forward to the sequel/spin-off Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. Unfortunately, we'll need to wait a while longer because Darktide's release has been delayed to 2022.

Warframe, the free-to-play action/shooter RPG, has been trucking along since 2013. Gamers can download the MMO-like space ninja game on all the big platforms, including PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch. As multiplayer-focused games age, though, playerbase becomes an issue. It's hard to make war on the frames if you can't find anybody to play with. Thankfully, that will soon become less of an issue when Warframe gains cross-play and cross-save before the end of the year.

Look, pinball RPGs are pretty much a dime a dozen these days. You can't throw a rock without hitting some pinball game that features archetypal fantasy heroes knocking around fantasy environments, casting spells, and thwarting skeletons and goblins and such. Still, Rollers of the Realm: Reunion promises one extra ingredient that will make it stand out in the crowded pinball RPG genre: local co-op. Now we're talking!

Everybody knows that Xbox needs hot exclusive games. As it turns out, it also needs exclusive games based on commercially-minded Warner Bros. movies. That's surely why we have Space Jam: A New Legacy - The Game. First launched as an exclusive perk for Game Pass Ultimate members, the new Space Jam game is now free to download for all Xbox gamers. It's a short and pretty good 16-bit style co-op beat 'em up, so why not give it a try?

Valve, the company that owns Steam, might not really make games anymore, but it doesn't just operate the Steam storefront, either. In May, an Ars Technica report foretold that a portable Steam device would be happening, and now that forecast has come to pass. Today, Valve announced the Steam Deck, a portable PC that will come in three configurations starting at $399. We expect it to be an excellent way to take co-op Steam games on the go.

September is primed to be a busy month for gamers who dig feudal Japan, with games like the ninja stealth title Aragami 2 scheduled for release. That game isn't much about combat, though, which is where Hanako: Honor & Blade from indie developer +Mpact comes in. This one lets teams of samurai and ninja hack it out in both co-op and large-scale PvP battles. After years in Steam Early Access, it will finally launch in full on September 15.

Streets of Rage 4 is a fantastic revival of Sega's classic beat 'em up series, with gorgeous hand-drawn artwork, a memorable soundtrack, challenging gameplay, and both local and online co-op. The only less than stellar thing about the game has been the long wait for new post-release content. Today, Streets of Rage 4 fans can finally take on new challenges as both a free update and the premium 'Mr. X Nightmare' DLC have arrived on consoles and PC.

Pang Adventures, the last game in the Pang/Buster Bros. series, came out way back in 2016. It featured unique gameplay that combined elements of shoot 'em up and platformer. That style of game will finally make a return thanks to Baltoro Games, makers of Urban Flow. Their next game, Knights & Guns, is inspired by Pang and Metal Slug (a cool pedigree indeed), and it will feature local co-op.