Here we go again, folks! It's a new edition of Beyond Co-Op, the weekly column that rounds up some of the interesting industry news that doesn't strictly pertain to co-op. This week we have a selection that pertains to new games and upcoming shows/conventions! Here's what we have on tap:
Can you believe it's May already? E3 is a short month away, which means soon we'll be hearing about what we'll be playing come this Fall. Until then though, there seems to be no shortage of quality titles to help us avoid the out doors and all that damn pollen. Seriously plants - can't you have your sex behind closed doors?
Aw yeah! One of the biggest Xbox Live Arcade blockbusters ever is finally making its way to PC via Steam! I know you've all been waiting for this moment. The Adventures of Shuggy shot to the top of the charts on Xbox Live when it launched last June, and the Steam debut is expected to be the gaming event of the year!
The sharp-eyed dinosaurs of Siliconera have spotted a hot new re-release for one of our favorite titles from 2011. The Dead Island: GOTY edition has been outed by the UK ratings board. I went to the ESRB and British Board of Film Classification and found no such listing, but the dinos got a fancy screenshot, and really, who would lie about such a thing?
Welcome to Episode 3 of Good Coop. Bad Coop. - a tale of two three friends who love playing games together. After taking a break from from killing insects in Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon in the last season, our co-op friends are ready to try their hands in another game - Call of Juarez: The Cartel.
Still think Japanese developers don’t have what it takes to make fun games? Well, Square Enix had signed on to make a new game called Catacombs and was well into development of the RPG Shooter co-op before deciding to put it on hold.
If you've never played a Sins of a Solar Empire game, it's probably a bit daunting to hear that a single level can take days to complete. That's part of the charm that is this 4x strategy game. Decisions you make echo throughout your entire gameplay session. While the first Sins game focused entirely on combat, and the expansion added diplomacy to the mix - the upcoming Rebellion takes things a step further adding research victories as well as some alternates like last flagship standing, last capital and others.
The latest Arcade Next event on XBLA has had some good co-op action in the form of Fable Heroes, but arguably the best has been saved until last. With co-op spanning 4 player local and 8 player online, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition looks like the most fun you can have with 8 people when no whipped cream is involved. Out Wednesday 9th for the princely sum of 1600 Microsoft Points, Minecraft 360 may be on the expensive side, but looks packed with entertainment. Watch the new trailer if you don't believe me.
Saints Row: The Third is a DLC machine. THQ's open-world action funhouse seems to drop new content on a weekly basis, be it new outfits, vehicles, or story missions. The three different types of content form a nice Neapolitan mix for everyone. Today we have updates on all three flavors of DLC.
Soon to beginning their 2nd closed beta testing weekend, Muse Games is well on their way to finishing their multiplayer title, Guns of Icarus Online, and starting to hand out beta keys to their Kickstarter supporters.
According to CVG, it looks like the move of the co-op zombies mode from it's own engine to Call of Duty's multiplayer engine could spell big things for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - namely 8 player co-op. The reason for the expansion? Apparently the add-ons were some of the best selling for the original Black Ops and World at War, giving the team "free reign" to do what they want.
With Diablo 3 mere weeks away, dungeon crawler enthusiasts may be a little focused on keeping their eyes on that prize - but let's not forget that there will still be other dungeon crawlers coming out this year. One such is R.A.W (Realms of Ancient War), which will happily be coming to consoles as well as PC. This is likely great news for players who may be bemoaning their luck that Diablo 3 will only be launching this month on the PC. Developer Wizarbox's latest video focuses on the wizard class, showing off his prowess over the elements.
