Way back in the early history of Co-Optimus, my first news article was a story on Aliens Colonial Marines. I have had today’s game in mind for a Co-Op Classic ever since the beginning, but wanted to tie it in to Colonial Marines’ release. So I waited, waited, and then waited some more. Colonial Marines has arrived, and the bad news is, it’s pretty bad. The good news is, almost five years later, I can finally talk about one of my favorite co-op games ever: Alien Vs. Predator.

The newest Mass Effect 3 co-op DLC, entitled Reckoning, drops today on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. Are you ready for it? Like all ME3 co-op DLC, it's completely free and offers a large amount of goodies. Like we told you guys last week, Reckoning will introduce new character classes, weapons, and equipment.

Guardians of Middle-Earth may have already sported a cooperative mode for its more traditional MOBA style of play, but it looks like a new piece of DLC to the game will change things up even further.  Dubbed Survival, players will team up to take on waves of enemies with increasing difficulty.

To celebrate nabbing the Innovative Newcomer Award at a ceremony organized by the European Innovative Games Award in Frankfurt, Germany, Pid developer Might and Delight has announced the release of 72 new levels for the Windows and Mac versions of the gravity beam platform game. These "Challenge Rooms" get right down to business and create some absolutely harrowing situations, most of which involve split-second timing and really sharp objects.

BattleBlock Theater, the upcoming release from Castle Crashers developer The Behemoth, is beginning its open beta phase in just a few days. Prior to that glorious event, a list of Xbox 360 achievements has appeared, sporting well over two dozen items to aim for while using your co-op friends' corpses as stepping stones (really!). Most of the achievements are standard fare, though there are four secret ones that have really caught our attention.

  Microsoft recently announced their XBOX Live Ultimate Sale event that will have 60 games going on sale over the next week.  Each day has a different set of games and today's starting offer is sure to interest co-op and Halo fans as it is a Master Chief bonanza.  Halo 3, Halo Wars and Halo Reach are all down to $9.99, whi...

Try time-traveling 30 years into the future and see how well you can wrap your head around it. Gaijin Games has finally released the official trailer of their latest installment, Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien, showing off Commander Video’s strange warp into the realm of 3D.

Thus far, we’ve been pretty damn excited to have the explosive Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel co-op action in the palms of our hands. Unfortunately, behind the scenes of the game’s development, things aren’t going that well in terms of employment. Recently, EA confirmed that they let go its entire Visceral Montreal staff after completion of the game.

Dust off your Poltergust and get ready for lots of ghost-sucking action with Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. Everyone's favorite green plumber will return to the 3DS at the end of March to do what he does best - run a clinic on ghost housekeeping. Part of the Nintendo offering known as the "Year of Luigi," Dark Moon will feature extensive use of the 3-D effects offered by the 3DS system. It will also feature some interesting cooperative options for you and other would be Ghostbusters.

Move over Dust, there’s a new anthropomorphic rabbit in town. And his name is…Dusty (no relation). In case you couldn’t get enough of killer attack rabbits and other furry companions, they will be battling across your television in Dusty Raging Fist. The newest game in development from Singapore-based PD Design Studios, Dusty Raging Fist is headed to the Wii U eShop later this year. This offering is a part of the same universe as the fighter Dusty Revenge , which is currently in development stages and available on Steam Greenlight.

Hey there! How was your weekend? Mine was awesomer than normal. Hope you're ready for a week of some pretty niche releases. There's something for everyone, assuming everyone digs ancient Chinese history, high-pitched anime brawling, or sniping Nazi zombies. Is there really anything more to gaming? Well, yeah, a lot, but this is what's happening this week. Enjoy!

There's a new survival map available for Left 4 Dead 2 on PC called Helm's Deep Reborn.  It's based off the fortress featured in the second Lord of the Rings movie, The Two Towers.  The map is available via the Steam Workshop and you can play it via official Valve servers.