Here's a bit of awesome information that Microsoft just confirmed to us - Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will include the popular four player co-op Firefight mode found in Halo 3: ODST and Halo Reach. As the anniversary edition is rumored to be built on the Reach engine, we imagine that Firefight will be fairly similar to it with all of the customization options.
A surprise interview for me at E3 was with Razer founder Robert Krakoff at the company's booth. After touring some new products on display we sat down for a relaxing chat about the company, PC gaming, and our gaming habits.
This image does not appear to be full of fun to me
At E3 I got my hands on yet another dungeon crawler that I've been looking forward to playing. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North features one of our favorite co-op modes: split-screen with online play. The demo I played didn't have any split screen, but I was able to confirm with the rep that two couch co-op players could join a cross town (or cross country) buddy for some LOTR goodness. And if there's only two of you? Then the AI will take the controls of one of the three classes.
I had just finished my behind-closed-doors session of Binary Domain. I was on my way out of Sega's massive E3 meeting room, when I suddenly felt as though I was forgetting something. I looked around at the different cubicles, each adorned with different Sega icons and upcoming titles. Then it dawned on me: I didn't see one of my most anticipated titles of E3 anywhere in the room. I asked the gentleman at the front desk if I could see Anarchy Reigns.
Nintendo's new Wii U console was on everyone's tongue for most of the E3 2011 and a lot of it came from the confusion in how it was represented. Following the press event I talked to multiple people convinced the console itself was this new controller, no doubt, due to Nintendo only showing the actual console in one slide during their presentation.
As many other gamers, when I hear the word “dead” in the title of an upcoming game I become a bit apprehensive. “Oh, another zombie game, whoop?” is how my brain often auto-reacts, and it was no different for NeverDead, an upcoming title from Konami. Interestingly enough, there isn’t really a single zombie in this game, and it’s the main character, Bryce, who is the subject of being "NeverDead." After a brief introduction to the game from a developer, I took my time with the 20 minute demo to get my hands all over Bryce and his very removable body parts.
In the world of co-op it’s fairly rare to see a franchise with a recognizable hero, like Metal Gear Solid in our co-op realm. A year ago we saw this on the PSP with Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker and it’s about to get a high definition upgrade to the PS3 and Xbox 360, co-op intact. At E3 2011 I spent a bit of time with the PS3 version of the HD version of Peacewalker and brought back some impressions.
I've never heard of Gamma World: Alpha Mutation before my short demo with the game at the Atari booth at E3 2011. The game is based on the TSR table top game of the same name - both are set in a unique sci-fi / post-apocalyptic setting with zany characters. The story goes that an accident at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva resulted in an apocalyptic event called The Big Mistake - obviously the series doesn't take itself too seriously. The game is being developed by Bedlam Games, who most recently came off the development of Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale.
Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 is the sequel to the popular multi-platform virtual Magic the Gathering card game. Is there enough new content to warrant buying this new iteration? We sling some spells and send our creatures into battle in our co-op review of the game.
I went hands on with The Gunstringer at E3 2011, or rather, hands off since you aren't actually touching anything while playing the Kinect enabled game. The Twisted Pixel developed game oozed their style right from the get go as you take control of the Gunstringer in a four act play, complete with audience, applause and a narrator that reminds you of every western voice over ever heard.
When the first Torchlight was released, the game received nearly universal praise except for one minor problem - it was missing cooperative play. Torchlight 2 is changing that, adding in full co-op support and a rebuilt campaign that should make players feel like they are part of a more epic story. We went hands on with the game in co-op with Runic Games President Travis Baldree at E3 2011 and lived to tell the tale.
