Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is one of the best co-op experiences of this generation, in my humble opinion. The combination of action RPG gameplay and spandex-clad superhumans makes for a whole lot of over the top fun. A sequel was announced recently, and it is set to arrive later this year. A few details about the sequel have been revealed, and though there isn't too much information, it still is worth looking at.
Resistance 2 is a much anticipated game, particularly because of some of the neat additions, such as the promised eight-player co-op. Well, we've covered Resistance 2 for that same reason. So, if you are thirsty for more details on Resistance 2, just check out TalkPlaystation. The site has a nice smorgasbord of information on Resistance 2, including good info about the co-op mode, including more details about the class system and the crossover between the single player and co-op modes.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start. This sequence of button presses is still ingrained into the hearts and minds of many gamers today. It is the famous Konami Code, a cheat that allowed power ups, extra lives, and all sorts of other ways to extend your playtime. The first use of the Konami Code was in Gradius, a sweet little shoot em up from the glory days of the NES. But probably the most famous use of the code was in the subject of today's Classic Co-Op: Contra for the NES. You, the readers of Co-Optimus, voted for Contra as this week's Classic Co-Op game. Considering the other choices are fantastic games in their own right (especially Bubble Bobble, which will probably make it into this column some day), Contra clearly was an important and popular game. Co-op gameplay was pretty rare at the time of the game's release back in 1988. That may seem hard to believe today, in a time when many titles include co-op in some form. In Contra, players take on the role of two superbuff commandos, Mad Dog and Scorpion, as they take on an enemy army, infiltrate some seriously dangerous bases, and then eventually kill the big boss, a wicked looking alien called Red Falcon, which was certainly crimson in hue, but not very birdlike at all.
Over at Denis Dyack's IGN Blog there's some good news for fans that have been awaiting Too Human. According to Denis the game is just about complete with only two crash bugs remaing - even though he hasn't seen the game crash in four to five weeks.
As we've detailed, there is a new 50 Cent game, called 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, which features drop-in, drop-out co-op. Now, before you groan about another celebrity game churned out to get some cash, this game might be different. By listening to some quotes from TeamXbox's news post, you can get an idea of how this game might not be that bad.
Ahh, Nintendo. You and your special edition, funky colored game systems. They seem like such a waste, and yet, I still bought a translucent green Nintendo 64 back in the day. It's even worse with the DS Lite. In my family alone, we have black, black/blue, and black/red DS Lites. In fact, I just sold my white DS to get the black one a month ago. And now, you go and announce a Silver and Black DS, with the Guitar Hero logo on it! What's a fanboy supposed to do? Ebay the new black DS, and use the funds to get the super cool silver one, with FLAMES on it? After all, I'm buying the Guitar Hero: On Tour game anyway. If I'm going to be rocking out in public, shredding on lead guitar while my wingman plays bass, I gotta do it in style, right? It's hard to resist, given the combination of my obsession with rhythm game peripherals and the allure of a special edition DS Lite. I may need to go visit my psychiatrist again...
Super Smash Brothers Brawl might be my favorite game of all time. So, it is not a coincidence that SSB: Brawl has a heavy co-op element. If you have seen our review, we think highly of the game and its co-op aspects. Brawl is one of the games that I am constantly playing and is always on my "to play" list. So it's not really surprising that I have many good stories to regale. This week was no different, as Brawl continues to impress me. With the popularity of last week's Crackdown love-fest, I will now tell of fun stories that have come from a week worth playing SSB: Brawl.
Nintendo has a long history of releasing games on several different systems. Whether this is a bad thing or not largely depends on whether you are a fan or critic of Nintendo franchises in general. Put me firmly in the "fan" camp. I have no problem with this recycling, as long as the games are good, which in Nintendo's case, they usually are. Who could argue that buying Smash Brothers three times was a waste of money? And Tetris for the DS was absolutely worth purchasing, though I'd played it on the original Game Boy for years. Let's consider Dr. Mario Online for a moment, then. It's been available for the NES, Nintendo 64, and for the GBA TWICE, and recently it hit the WiiWare service. Is it worth checking out, given the addition of a co-op mode?
LEGO Indiana Jones hit the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, DS, PS2, and PC last week. Overall the reviews have been positive, and even though the game supports local 2-player co-op, there is still some dissapointment as to the lack of 4-player co-op, and more specifically the lack of online co-op all together.
Are you ready to try your hand at Aces of the Galaxy from Sierra? The game plays a bit like the classic Nintendo game Starfox, though things are a bit more frantic. It's an Xbox Live Arcade title with gorgeous visuals, twenty-five levels and best of all... co-op play for 2 players!
In a mere 24 hours, give or take, Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 will be released on Xbox Live Arcade (the Playstation Network version came out last week). We previewed the game last week here at Co-Optimus. Team up with up to three other friends, either locally or online, to blow stuff up and save the world from the bad guys. It looks to be a fun little game, if you are into that sort of thing (which we know you are, being a reader of this site, after all).
One of the surprise titles of Xbox Live Arcade was Assault Heroes from Wanako games. It was a witty, beautiful, and most importantly fun top down shooter with cooperative play. Over a year later Wanako is back with the sequel and it promises to have more style, more bad guys, and more levels. Most importantly the game has a renewed focus on co-op play with not only co-op specific attacks, but different ways to play cooperatively including replaying specific sections of the game or playing through the game in it's entirety.
