For me, The Cave was one of the standout games I saw at E3, in no small part due to the fact it's an adventure game by Ron Gilbert and Double Fine. Sure, there's some pesky platforming involved, but don't be fooled: this is an adventure game in the old style, complete with logical-yet-nonsensical puzzles and the trademark Double Fine humor. We weren't able to put hands on the game at E3, but when we heard a more recent build would be playable at PAX, I told Nick we needed to make an appointment post-haste.

Ubisoft recently revealed some new details their new upcoming MMORPG game, Might and Magic Heroes Online. Some of the main points to take away from them are that co-op battling and multiple customization properties will dominate much of this free-to-play title, and we couldn’t be happier to hear it.

The long-running Ben 10 franchose is back with an all new series this fall. Cartoon Network's shape-shifting, super-cool teen is headed to your TV in Ben 10: Omniverse. It's pretty much a requirement for these shows to have a video game tie in these days, and Ben 10: Omniverse is no exception to this rule. Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, and the upcoming WiiU will all get versions of the new game.

In a move that should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, at PAX 2012 Gearbox announced there will be playable female characters for the cooperative campaign and multiplayer modes in Aliens: Colonial Marines. This stems from an E3 interview with Gearbox's Brian Burleson in which he was asked the question: "Will there be a choice to play as a female Marine?" His response: "No, sorry, no..."

It sure seems like we've been talking about Monaco around these parts for a long time, and we have! The first time we put hands-on with the game was shortly after PAX '10, which might as well be an eternity ago. The good news is that Monaco is almost done, and creator Andy Schatz couldn't be happier.

The Deep Silver booth was tucked away on an upper level of PAX 2012. Sacred 3 and Dead Island Riptide were the highlights of the display, but convention goers waiting for those video demonstrations could get some valuable hands-on time with Sacred Citadel, a game that caught my eye a few weeks ago. 

We've already seen videos highlighting the wizard and warrior of upcoming action RPG, Realms of Ancient War, but what about the third member of the party? The rogue makes her appearance in the latest trailer for the game, complete with spinning blades, dashing attacks, and salvos of arrows. 

Nothing says good ole fashioned family fun then a farming simulator!  Apparently the success of Farmville has bred new life into the genre, which hasn't seen a big hit since 1994's Space Marines vs Martian Ears of Corn or last year's hit game, Farm Machine Championships.  Focus Home Interactive is looking to bring the genre away from Facebook and back to the core gamer with Farming Simulator 2013, which will be available on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Ubisoft has announced a brand new flight action game for downloadable platforms like XBLA, PSN and PC.  The game is called Thunder Wolves and it puts players in the pilot seat of numerous attack helicopters that promise over 30 combinations of weaponary.  

Is cooperative gaming a counter towards the development of potentially violent behavior? Studies have shown that it’s true! Video Game psychologists have looked into the opposite spectrum of video game violence to discover if playing violent video games under certain circumstances will ultimately lead to more cooperation and trust in real-life behavior.

Dead Island Riptide wasn't playable on the showroom floor at PAX 2012, not that it needed to be. At a glance the sequel to one of 2011's best cooperative titles appears largely unchanged. The same characters are present, it's still set on a tropical island, and the zombies are still extremely kill-able. Despite the familiarity, after viewing the presentation I could see that DI Riptide was not going to simply be more of the same. 

Several of the Co-Optimus staff were stoked for Spiral game Studios' Orion: Dino Beatdown prior to its release. Cooperative combat against carnivorous dinosaurs - how could you go wrong? Yet as Jeff Goldblum would've predicted, things did go awry at launch (presumably thanks to the fat guy from Seinfeld). The game released incredibly buggy and undercooked, prompting a necessarily harsh co-op review.