The latest trailer for Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale highlights the story elements of the game.  Apparently there's an evil tower inside a cave!? Crazy.  Mr. Off-the-Shoulder-Tunic up there is Rezlus, "an agent of evil."  You have to stop him.  Create a character, level up, collect loot.  You'll have four classes to choose from.  Daggerdale is actually the first part of a three part series.  This portion will encompass the first ten levels of character progression, with more to come in the sequels.

That can't be good.  Last night, the PlayStation Network fell down, and it can't get back up.  Patrick Seybold, Sr. Director of Corporate Communication and Social Media, posted these words of encouragement on PlayStation.Blog:

Do you love survival modes in an RTS setting? Or do you really love heroes in RTS games and would rather focus on playing a hero instead of micro-managing units? Or do you love the idea of DoW2: Retribution, but gosh-darnit, you have two other people you want to play with, not just one? If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then great news! DoW2: Retribution's the Last Stand Mode, the mode that focuses exclusively on co-op, is now available as a stand-alone game for just $9.99 on Steam. This is the mode where you and two other friends try to outlast waves and waves of enemies, each of you only controlling one hero. As you progress in levels, you receive new equipment for your heroes. A recent update also added new achievements to this mode which also unlock new gear. We're big fans of the Last Stand around here, and Mike and Jason even recently did a This Week in Co-op on the DoW2: Retribution flavor of it.

Serious Sam 3: BFE is a prequel to the series' previous games.  We just got four new screenshots that showcase some of the new enemies, environments and over the top action the game will provide.  From the looks of things, the 16 player co-op game is going to offer plenty of eye candy when its released on the PC later this year.

Kalypso Media have announced that their two player co-op action game The First Templar has gone gold and will be released on May 10th for the Xbox 360 and PC.  The game supports two player local and two player online co-op through the entire game.  We went hands on with the game a few months back and you can find our preview right here.

Retro remakes are all the rage these days, and that is good news for classic arcade fans like me.  One of the most beloved arcade games of the Golden Age is Centipede, the manic bug zapping shooter with crazy colors and intense sound effects.  Co-op, sadly, was lacking, though it did turn up in Centipede II (which was little more than a prototype, unfortunately).  This fall, a new game in the series, Centipede Infestation, is coming your way, and this time, you can bring a friend along for the experience.

We reviewed God Eater Burst earlier this week on the PlayStation Portable and now we're giving away two prizes for the game. What can you win? We've got some awesome sets of ceramic figures from the game to give away to two lucky winners.

Resistance 3 may be a few months away, but that's not going to stop us from bringing you these new screens and video.  The rather lengthy video depicts a river level.  The Chimera are represented in full force, from swarming hybrids to the impressive Golaith.  The video also showcases some of the weapons gamers can look forward to wielding.  

I am not sure if I’m noticing my own habits of buying games that are similar all at once, or if the world is conspiring to release an onslaught of similar games one after another. This is where you decide. Do you see handfuls of games that appear to be coincidentally similar?

We have a few additional screens for Saint's Row: The Third.  Spoiler alert! There's pixilated nudity.  Some of you may have missed our cornucopia of screens from last month, so we included them here.  This title looks like a wacky good time.  Saint's Row: The Third should be out later this year on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.  It supports 2 player local and online co-op.  Everything else you need to know can be found in the following video.

The Nintendo Wii gets even more competitive in the United States, as major retailers all over have reduced its price to $169.99. Which means you can get the most local co-op friendly game console for $30 less. The price cut comes just several weeks before E3, where Nintendo is expected to have big surprises in store, and shortly after the 3DS release (which we covered here).

For This Week in Co-op, Kat and Tally got together online for some much needed recuperation time via Monday Night Combat (on a Monday for once! Crazy!).