Posts with tag co-op
by Jason Dobson May 7th 2008 11:00AM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, First Person Shooters
It's been a long time coming, but Ubisoft's Free Radical-developed shooter,
Haze, has finally been given the demo treatment, with the publisher sending word that a single and multiplayer-flavored
demo is now available over PSN in Europe and that the same hors d'oeuvre will make the rounds in the U.S. starting May 8.
As if offering apology for
Haze's numerous delays, the demo will include both a sampling of the game's single player campaign called "Salva Region," as well as "drop-in drop-out" co-op multiplayer for up to four players online or over a LAN, or with two players via split-screen. We're sure that there is some "coming out of the haze" joke to be made here, but honestly, after months of waiting we're simply all joked out.
by Kyle Orland Apr 15th 2008 7:00PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, First Person Shooters
Haze's hazy path to becoming an actual, released game became a little more concrete today, with Ubisoft's
announcement of a May PSN demo and yet another new release date for the
somewhat issue-prone first-person shooter. Surprisingly enough, the new May 20 date is actually three days
earlier than the
previously "definite" May 23 release (though that may have applied to Europe only). It might not seem like much, but after
more delays than we can count (not literally), any move in the other direction is a welcome announcement. Will this release date be the final one? As the Magic 8-Ball might say: "Outlook hazy, try again later."
by Griffin McElroy Mar 29th 2008 3:00PM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360
Those who harbored desires to go on
Crackdown-esque romps through New York City with a genetically mutated pal will undoubtedly be crushed to learn that developer Radical Entertainment and publisher Sierra have decided to scrap
Prototype's multiplayer mode in order to encourage players to truly delve into the single-player storyline, and, more truthfully, so they could meet their original Fall 2008 launch window.
Radical's Tim Bennison
defended the decision in an interview with TeamXbox, hinting at a possibility of co-op functionality in post-release DLC, and confirming that "multiplayer will definitely be on the table from the start" when, should the game be well-received, it comes time for a sequel -- which we can only guess will be titled
Reference Design, followed by the critically acclaimed
Initial Model, and then the action-packed conclusion,
Finished Product.
by Ludwig Kietzmann Mar 6th 2008 11:00PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Metareviews
Despite a suspicious silence accompanying its (
delayed) arrival, EA's
smack-talkin' shooter seems to have mostly delivered on its promise of consistently cooperative violence. Unsurprisingly, most reviewers seem to agree that a one-macho-man army is at a disadvantage in
Army of Two, with the lone experience highlighting some of the game's flaws and unremarkable design. It might be worth a look if you and your BFF have already blasted everything in
Halo 3,
Crackdown and
Gears of War.
- IGN (79/100): "As a single player experience, Army of Two is a fine game -– one that manages to provide a fun, engaging time despite its length, AI issues and elements that don't seem fully implemented. However, it's really co-op play and multiplayer where the game stands out, and these two modes will most likely keep you playing for a long time."
- Game Informer (75/100): "Like dysfunctional characters in a buddy flick, Army of Two has some annoying problems, but if you just want a fun cooperative experience, it gets the job done and delivers sizeable thrills you won't find anywhere else."
- Eurogamer (70/100): "Any level of the current co-op king, Halo 3, has more spectacle and incident packed into it than the entirety of Army of Two; more that you'll want to relive in company over and over again. Bearing the strong Vs. mode in mind, it would be wrong not to warmly recommend this as a smart twist on a stupid shooter, but perhaps it should have taken itself a little more seriously after all."
by Kyle Orland Jan 28th 2008 7:30PM
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Competitive Gaming
Sometimes you just get tired of killing your friends. Many game-makers might find this shocking, but it's true -- sometimes you want to band together with your buds to take on the world (or the computer-controlled AI, at least). Unfortunately, unless you're willing to scour the web for news of co-op modes, you might find you can't get no cooperation if you tried.
Enter Co-optimus, a new site founded by Evil Avatar Editor-in-chief Nicholas Puleo to gather together information on all forms of co-operative gaming. The site currently lists over 120 co-op games for current systems, including over 100 released in 2007. It's a great resource, but we're a little bummed that the site doesn't list older systems yet. You haven't lived until you've seen a "co-operative" game of Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers turn into a battle to throw your partner into as many enemies as possible. Good times.
by Jason Dobson Dec 20th 2007 12:28PM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, First Person Shooters
No doubt in a rush to get a new game – any new game – on store shelves so it can wash its hands of the whole
Kane and Lynch debacle, Eidos has announced that it will release
Conflict: Denied Ops for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on February 12, 2008.
The game is the latest from the "conflict" obsessed folks at Pivotal Games, and will allow one or two players to simultaneously control a pair of gun-wielding supermen, not unlike the aforementioned
Kane and Lynch. Pivotal's
Conflict series of games are not exactly known for
overwhelmingly positive scores, and if our
earlier impressions hold true, the same fate awaits
Denied Ops, though hopefully once reviews begin rolling in no writers will find themselves on the business end of a pink slip. If so, perhaps Gerstmann needs a roommate?
by James Ransom-Wiley Aug 15th 2007 11:59AM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Online, RPGs
With a tag line like "
Diablo meets
Mad Max," how can you not take the bait? Gearbox Software's
Borderlands is the cover story in the September issue of
Game Informer. Described as an RPG-shooter, with 4-player online co-op support,
Borderlands appears to mimic the space gansta aesthetic that was so brilliantly captured in the dusty Gibson films of yesteryear -- not unlike id's new project
Rage. How
Diablo elements play into the dune buggy battlin' should be explained once the full cover story has been perused.
Developer Gearbox has earned critical props for its
Brothers in Arms games, which are often overlooked in the rotting heap of World War II shooters. The latest in that series,
Hell's Highway (due in November), showed great promise during an E3 demo, but once again, was lost in the swirl of game previews, and has an uphill battle at retail, facing a very competitive holiday lineup. But if Gearbox stays dedicated to top-tier technical and production qualities, as seen in
Brothers in Arms, than
Borderlands could be the commercial success this studio is capable of developing. This is one to watch.
by James Ransom-Wiley Jul 18th 2007 11:57AM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, First Person Shooters, Online
"We're not dumb. We know that people want it," Bungie's Frank O'Conner tells
EGM. But according to
CVG, leaked info from an upcoming
EGM article suggests that what we
want ain't what we'll
get. The development team is still struggling to bring
Halo co-op onto Xbox Live. "I think the biggest problem for us for online co-op is that we have a situation where you can be in a Warthog with five troops, almost a mile away from the other player. That's a significant challenge," says Frankie.
Currently, it appears that
Halo 3 will ship without online co-op, but supposedly Bungie hasn't ruled out bringing the feature to players through a future update (remember when folks wished for the same for
Halo 2?). This doesn't mean that
4-player co-op is any less likely; but, if it does exist, you'll be forced to suffer through it using antiquated split-screen methods (unless you've got a LAN setup). Disappointed? We are; many of us naively accepted
Gears' online co-op as surrogate confirmation that
Halo's campaign would finally become an Xbox Live experience.
We'll leave you with a few hopeful words from Frankie: "If we can make it happen in a way that works well, we will."
Update: 1UP editor Jeremy
Parish weighs in on the controversy;
Update 2: Bungie's Frankie
says, "like other elements of
Halo 3, online co-op is a feature we're wrestling with ... as we approach the tail end of development, we will have a clearer picture of whether or not that online feature will be included."
by James Ransom-Wiley Mar 27th 2007 1:42PM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Online
With a pint of Guinness in his (virtual) belly,
Crackdown producer Phil Wilson reluctantly braved a swarm of fanboys eager to squeeze his brain empty of downloadable content details. Wilson's tight-lipped policy didn't last long, and he was quickly
charmed by the Eurogamer forum rats, already dropping hints in his first response (a question about aircraft): "airborne antics [are] definitely not off the table going forward."
What we know is that Realtime Worlds has created several competitive multiplayer modes, with one being optionally cooperative. Apparently, one of the modes was inspired by a user-created video posted online (
GASP,
Game 3.0 on Xbox 360?!). Wilson suggested that the creators would "eventually" be credited for the idea, adding that many of the videos popping up on YouTube (particularly
this one) had impressed the development team. The new modes will likely be limited to two players, though Wilson teased that "the prospect of mass co-op is definitely an exciting one."
Wilson also confirmed that a free update will include a 'reset gangs' option, eliminating the frustrating need to delete the game data (or your Gamertag) from the hard drive in order to start over. Wilson apologized for the oversight and added, "while I'm spilling beans, there's also another great mode that I'm pretty sure is also kinda what you're asking for but a whole lot more -- so I hope that goes some way towards compensation."
Could you be anymore vague? by James Ransom-Wiley Feb 22nd 2007 10:55AM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Online
Why was it such a big secret? That's about the only question Pandemic senior producer Jonathan Zamkoff wasn't asked in a lengthy
Mercenaries 2 tell-all hosted by IGN.
Rumblings,
reports, and
recordings were the evidence leading up to today's confession:
Mercs 2 is on Xbox 360 -- and oh, by the way, PC and PlayStation 2. "So here's the scoop. We are shooting for true feature parity on the PS3, 360, and PC. There will be small visual differences on those consoles due to platform specific texture compression algorithms and other platform-specific graphics implementation, but to the end-user the game experience will be nearly identical," explained Zamkoff. "For the PS2 we are taking a different tact. We're working extremely closely with Pi studios ... They are using the
Mercs 1 core engine and toolchain, coupled with modified
Mercs 2 assets to create the
Mercs 2 PS2 version."
The big addition to
Mercs 2 is online co-op, which will be nixed from the PS2 version, but intact on PS3. "We have no intention to provide one feature for one system that the other one doesn't have. So, yes, both [Xbox 360 & PS3] will have cooperative multiplayer -- online cooperative multiplayer," confirmed Zamkoff, adding, "We started from scratch to program for the multiprocessors on both machines. They were both in mind when we were writing the text, so we didn't want to create a PS3 engine, which was and has been, and is, our lead SKU, but we didn't want to ignore the Xbox 360. Even though we're just now announcing the 360 version, we have been working on it for quite some time ... In terms of timing, both games are within a week of each other in development." Pandemic is tentatively set on a fall 2007 release.
by James Ransom-Wiley Jan 26th 2007 8:56AM
Filed under: Arcade, Retro, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Online
According to the Netherlands'
Xboxworld (via NeoGAF),
Double Dragon is
headed to Xbox Live Arcade in March, for 400 MS points. Like other aging classics before them, the Lee brothers and foes look to be receiving a visual touch-up. But as is often the case with real-life makeovers (and we're talkin' the scalpels, staples, and tubes kinda makeovers), the "enhanced" look just seems to always miss the mark. Never mind how jarringly flat the characters appear, just look at that "English Tear" sign, it's pristine! This is no longer a rumble through the ghetto, it's a prance around some sterilized ghost town infested with botox mutants. Can we get an
"A-men!"?
We'd much prefer the time and resources be spent on tuning the online co-op, which continues to be a
frustrating ordeal with each XBLA release.
by James Ransom-Wiley Jan 9th 2007 4:55PM
Filed under: Arcade, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Online
Here's a thought: maybe there's a clever strategy behind
tomorrow's Xbox Live Arcade release. With most gamers preoccupied with the
new Gears of War maps, it's the perfect time to re-release
Ms. Pac-Man (remember, this was Xbox Arcade's launch title). With the overused classic out of the way, and the
Gears maps thoroughly romped, next week, we'll be ready for a major XBLA release. Enter: PopCap's
Heavy Weapon.
Xbox 360 Fanboy has confirmed rumors that
Heavy Weapon is scheduled for release on January 17 for 800 points. Sure, there's already a free stripped-down browser-based version out there (
right here), but the deluxe PC version retails for $20. If you're down for another tank shooter -- this one's side-scrolling -- the XBLA
Heavy Weapon is the version to own; plus it supports Live co-op.
Hoorah! by James Ransom-Wiley Jan 2nd 2007 4:25PM
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action, Adventure, Online
Hudson's
Dungeon Explorer missed its target launch date yesterday, leaving
Urban Champion (NES) and
Baseball (NES) to represent Wii Virtual Console's New Years releases. The muff doesn't sit well with TurboGrafx-16 fans who have already suffered through two Hudson VC blunders: a broken
Military Madness and a
pricey R-Type.
Speaking on Dungeon Explorer's tardiness, Hudson's John Master Lee cited "funky things" (bugs) appearing during last-minute tests. Lee wisely avoided suggesting a new release date, saying only that an update on the game's condition would be "coming soon."
by James Ransom-Wiley Dec 21st 2006 3:25PM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Online
Microsoft's crack at the
Grand Theft Auto crown, from
Grand Theft Auto creator David Jones and his Real Time Worlds studio, is set to hit streets February 20. Admittedly,
Crackdown shares more in common with
Mercenaries than it does with any of the
GTA titles, as it's less structured than Rockstar's series and not mission-based -- you're charged with taking down three criminal organizations however you see fit. Of course, the ability to become a 'super freak' (leap buildings, transform vehicles, throw semis, etc.) puts
Crackdown in a niche of its own -- if not the superpowers, then the cel-shaded visuals. It's totally like being inside a graphic novel!
Right?...For those of us still concerned that
Crackdown lacks some of the cohesive elements necessary for a mainstream hit, Microsoft is offering a demo, set to hit Xbox Live Marketplace on January 18. The demo will include -- for Xbox Live Gold members -- a preview of
Crackdown's full-scale online co-op, which gives the game a huge boost over its competition. Free-form gang-stomping with a buddy? Yes please.
[Via press release]
Continue reading Crackdown in stores Feb. 20, demo on Jan. 18
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Posts with tag co-op
