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Anomaly: Warzone Earth marches to PSN with local co-op support
No platform is safe, as 11 bit studios has announced the PS3 is the latest to get Anomaly: Warzone Earth. The new addition for the PS3 port is local co-op play, allowing one player to act as the strategist and one to act as the unit commander. See it in action in the video above.Anomaly: Warzone Earth is expected to launch on PSN sometime this summer; though no exact release date has been finalized yet, 11 bit studios will showcase the PS3 port at this year's Gamescom.%Gallery-160286%
Orcs Must Die 2 unlocks free co-op 'Classic mode' for owners of first game
We've known Robot Entertainment planned to offer goodies in Orcs Must Die 2 to those who purchased the original on Steam, and today the developer revealed specifics on those incentives. A special Classic mode will be available to those people, featuring ten levels from the original game available for single or co-op play in the sequel.Classic mode will be instantly unlocked in Orcs Must Die 2 for all owners of Orcs Must Die on Steam. The original games is available at a reduced price on Steam right now, though we'd be remiss if we didn't remind you of Orcs Must Die 2's July 30 launch date lurking around the corner.%Gallery-160315%
Epic's Fortnite is a 'fresh and bubbly' co-op survival sandbox game
Epic Games kicked off our experience at Comic-Con this year with a panel about Fortnite, the oft-mentioned but not yet seen game that serves as the studio's followup to Gears of War. Producer Tanya Jessen, Lead Artist Pete Ellis, and Design Director Cliff Bleszinski talked at length about the game, revealing it to be a mashup of Minecraft, The Walking Dead and Team Fortress 2. It's designed and built in Unreal Engine 4, and destined for a PC-only launch.Jessen described Fortnite as a "co-op sandbox survival game" with three different elements. Scavenging will allow players to go out into the ruined world and find items and materials wherever they can. Building will let players first erect and then customize various structures of all shapes and sizes. Combat, the last part of the game, pits players against creepy yet "Looney Tunes-inspired" monsters attempting to take those structures down."This is not just a game for people who like shooters or RPGS," said Jessen. "It's a game for everybody." And according to Bleszinski, Fortnite is a big change internally from what the studio has been working on more recently. "It's been really fresh for us," he said. "We've had like six years of Gears and we've perfected the art of killing. Fortnite is serving as a fresh change of pace for us."%Gallery-160290%
The Last of Us multi isn't campaign co-op
The multiplayer portion of The Last of Us will not be campaign co-op, Naughty Dog recently told Gaming Examiner. The possibility of cooperative play hasn't been ruled out entirely, as the developer noted, "We're not ready to talk about the details of how multiplayer will be implemented, however we can say that it is not co-op within the main campaign."It's still possible we'll see cooperative play offered in discreet episodes, as Naughty Dog did with the Uncharted series. Of course, there's the possibility for adversarial multiplayer as well, though that seems a bit ... inappropriate given the heavy subject matter in The Last of Us.
Warframe, a free-to-play shooter Digital Extremes wants you to try
Digital Extremes, the developer behind The Darkness 2 and the coming Star Trek title, is working on a free-to-play, co-op focused shooter called Warframe. The beta is "coming soon," Digital Extremes promises, and signing up now will get players an exclusive beta-only weapon.The above pre-alpha trailer pitches Warframe as a futuristic, time-bending, sword-slashing sci-fi shooter. If it looks like your cup of bloody tea, add your name to the beta list right here.
Ubisoft shows off four-player co-op in Far Cry 3
Ubisoft took the stage at the Sony press conference this afternoon to show off a new feature of Far Cry 3: Four-player co-op. Rather than take place in the game's singleplayer world, the co-op feature is an additional mode, offering a mission-based campaign, where players have to team up to accomplish certain objective-based tasks.Ubisoft also showed off a map editor for the game, and mentioned that Far Cry 3 would also have extra content exclusively on Sony's console. The game is due out later on this year.
Ubisoft addresses lack of split-screen co-op in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Living-room soldiers looking to team up with a real-life buddy for some Ghost Recon: Future Soldier couch co-op may be sorely disappointed once they discover that split-screen multiplayer doesn't exist for the game's campaign mode, despite various online retailers (including Ubisoft's own UbiShop) purporting the game's support of that very feature."We've been made aware of the presence of outdated information on UbiShop and several retailer sites stating split screen, cooperative play is available in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier's campaign," Ubisoft forum manager EvilPixieGrr said in an update on the publisher's forums. "We have ensured the information has been updated on the sites affected by this."Luckily for Ubisoft, Future Soldier's actual retail box art does not sing the praises of local campaign co-op. [Thanks, Keith!]
Payday dev collaborating with Valve on Left 4 Dead 'co-operative initiative'
Payday: The Heist studio Overkill Software and Valve Software are working on ... something together. What that something is remains to be seen, as Overkill game director Ulf Andersson only described the collaboration as a "co-operative initiative" between the two companies. We do know that it'll involve both Overkill's Payday: The Heist and Valve's Left 4 Dead – two team-focused four-player co-operative romps (enough hyphens for you?)."We are working on a very cool blend of Payday and Left 4 Dead," Andersson wrote on his company's official site. "I am sure it is so exciting that it will have some players check into the hospital before we are done." Oh, hospital, you say? We see what you're doing there, you crazy Swedes you!Andersson apparently couldn't help himself, and added one more zombie-themed quip. "Keep an eye out for more on this infectious and developing story." We know at least one guy we won't be letting into the safe house.
Co-opinion: Slaughtering Skags in Borderlands 2
.portal-left { padding: 10px; background: #CCC; margin: 20px 0; min-height: 85px; } .portal-right { padding: 10px; margin: 20px 0; min-height: 85px; } .portal-right img { padding-left: 5px; } .portal-left img { padding-right: 5px; } David Hinkle: So, Borderlands 2. How fitting I would play as the slender female and you the hulking giant mohawk guy, eh? Jessica Conditt: To be fair, Salvador is supposed to be a tiny, muscled man, not the hulking behemoth that I felt like while playing him. Double shotguns will do that to a man. Agreed. And even though you were carrying every single gun in the universe, we ran into a few bottlenecks. I certainly tried to play Maya as a tank, but I don't think that was a very good idea. Skags, man. Skags. And that new, juicy element. Slag, right? We took more damage when they flung it on us, which was an annoying experience. But the phaselock health dump was a saving grace there. You kept me alive on quite a few occasions with that. Slag, man. Slag.%Gallery-152249%
Assassin's Creed 3 multiplayer comes from old studio, new lead designer
Assassin's Creed 3 is getting the multiplayer treatment from Ubisoft Annecy, the studio responsible for multiplayer modes in Revelations and Brotherhood, an update on veteran designer Tim Browne's Twitter page reads. Browne's profile says "Lead Game Designer on Assassin's Creed III Multiplayer @Ubisoft - Annecy," which leaves little to the imagination (scandalous).The multiplayer aspect of AC3 remains relatively vague, apart from the "Online co-op 2-4" feature removed from the title's XBLM listing, and the "Online multiplayer 2-8" one that is still there. A few of Browne's shipments included local and online co-op modes, including Operation Flashpoint: Red River and Dragon Rising, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. He has no previous involvement with Assassin's Creed franchise.An old studio with a fresh face -- Ubisoft is sending us mixed signals about its multiplayer mode, and dang it if we're not falling for the tease all over again.
Street Fighter X Tekken can't take local teams online on Xbox 360
There's a major difference between the Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter X Tekken and its PS3 twin, it turns out. According to the manual included with both versions, the game's tag team modes allow you and a local friend to sign on to the same console and fight against two other people online; your buddy presses start at the character select screen and off you go. In actuality, this functionality only exists in the PS3 version of the game.The issue has been acknowledged by Christian Svensson at Capcom, who stated that Capcom has no plans to patch the feature in, and that its inclusion in the manual was a mistake. "The reason for this difference is because of the architecture differences between [Xbox Live] gamertags and PSN IDs. I'm not sure of the technical details, but basically it amounts to: Sony made it so you can mix and match online and offline, and Microsoft made it so you can't."That sounded like a reasonable explanation, until we remembered that the 360 version of Mortal Kombat does that exact thing, allowing two local players to take part in tag-team battles online. If it's possible for NetherRealm Studios to include the feature in Mortal Kombat -- the MK studio's first release under the NetherRealm banner -- its exclusion from Capcom's brand-new flagship fighter seems strange at the very least.
Assassin's Creed 3 four-player co-op listed by XBL Marketplace
The Xbox Live Marketplace's listing for Assassin's Creed 3 briefly counted "Online co-op 2 - 4" among the game's various features, as well as "Online multiplayer 2 - 8." While the online multiplayer classification remains, the co-op listing has since been removed from both the European and North American Xbox Live Marketplace.Situations like this are tricky, because the Xbox Live Marketplace has been known to list some patently false information. At times, however, it can be right on the money, so we're bringing it your attention. While multiplayer is nothing new at this point for Assassin's Creed, campaign co-op would be a major addition to the franchise.
Killing Floor celebrates one million murderers served with midweek sale
How does one celebrate a milestone nowadays? It's been a while since we've had time to celebrate anything, constantly minding our posts in the trenches of hard-nosed games journalism and all. Do you eat a nice meal? Partake in a round of putt-putt?For Tripwire Interactive, the only way to celebrate is by slashing prices. The studio's co-op survival horror game, Killing Floor, is on sale for $2.99 as a result of recently selling its one millionth copy. Over the last few years, Killing Floor players have racked up 45 million hours of playtime and killed over 500 million enemies. Man, that floor must be getting stickier than a neglected cinema aisle.You have until Thursday to take advantage of the sale.
League of Legends update bringing sharper AI, new bots
League of Legends is well known for its challenging team-based gameplay and its rather steep learning curve, leading many users to play co-operatively against AI in order to hone their skills. In addition, co-op vs. AI is "the primary game mode for a surprisingly large percentage of users" according to senior producer Mark Norris. In light of this, Riot Games is bringing a huge new update to League of Legends' AI matches. For starters, Riot will be introducing AI bots for a whopping 40 of the game's champions, allowing players to test their mettle against a wider variety of opponents. In addition, the AI itself is in for an update that will allow bots to behave more like their human counterparts by utilizing predictive targeting for skillshots (such as Ashe's ultimate) and employing a great deal more strategy than the current bots. Of course, there are still some things that bots can't do (such as intelligent jungling), but Norris suggests "that's actually a huge advanced area that we do want to look at and get into, that we're in the the real rudimentary stages of trying to figure out right now." For the full details on what awaits players in the upcoming AI update, just click on through the link below and read the full story.
Xbox Marketplace: RE6 features 6-player online co-op, 8-player online multi [update]
The Xbox Marketplace listing for Resident Evil 6 appears to contain some exceedingly juicy and entirely unannounced secrets about Capcom's upcoming thriller. If the listing is to be believed, Leon and Chris' latest adventure will include 2-player couch co-op, 6-player online co-op and 8-player "online multiplayer," which we're assuming will be some sort of group Mercenaries exercise.What's even more astounding is all of this information is just out there, floating around the Internet. We didn't have to collect masks or unlock a blood-filled casket or find key cards or anything. For now, we're cautiously taking everything we read with a grain of salt, even if it is the Xbox Marketplace. We've also reached out to Capcom for confirmation of these features.Update: We have received a missive from Capcom: "We'll have further clarification in the coming weeks." Tantalizing!
Syndicate co-op demo lands Jan. 31, Feb. 1 on XBL and PSN
The co-op demo for Syndicate launches on Xbox Live in North America and Europe on January 31, while the PlayStation Network version drops the same day in North America, and on February 1 for Europe. The demo covers the "Western Europe" co-op mission, in which you steal blueprints from Cayman Global and assassinate Colonel Enrico Gabron, one of nine co-op challenges in the full game.Liking the Syndicate page on Facebook begets access to remixed tracks of the original Syndicate soundtrack by Digitalism, Flux Pavillion and Skrillex, which is newsworthy because until just now we thought Skrillex was the singer in some trendy rap-metal band. And possibly a girl. Huh.
Uncharted 3 DLC map pack available to Fortune Hunters today, more teased
A new DLC pack for Uncharted 3 is available today for members of the "Fortune Hunters' Club," the season pass solution for Nathan Drake's latest adventure. Today's pack includes the Cave, Fort, Lost City, and Sanctuary maps, all reworked from past versions with new lighting, textures, and terrain and weather effects. If you haven't yet bought in to the FHC, the pass is available on PSN now for $24.99. And if that's not enough, Sony is looking to sweeten the pot a bit further. Originally, the pass was going to allow access to seven different packs (four map releases and three new packs of character skins), but now that number has doubled to 14 packs of content over the next year, all included in that same $24.99 price. All we've got about the new DLC so far is that teaser image above, which shows series baddie Lazarević, along with Flynn and Eddy. Fans are guessing it's villians-based co-op content. Next up for DLC is three character skin packs, with two focusing on Uncharted's rogues gallery, and one featuring alternate skins for the heroes. A release date for those, as well as more DLC info, will be available from Sony soon.
The Darkness 2 gets 4-player co-op mode in 'Vendettas,' we count the wieldings [update: video, more screens!]
So, we're not mathemagicians but we're pretty sure we've got this worked out. The big marketing gotcha in The Darkness 2 is quad-wielding, meaning your character, mob boss Jackie Estacado, can not only dual wield pistols but also dual wield Darkness arms at the same time. With 2K's announcement of a co-op mode in the game, playable by up to four friends, we had to use all of our fingers and toes to figure out how much wielding is going on and ... we think we have it. Ladies and nerds, allow us to introduce: hexadeca-wielding. Google says that's the Greek prefix for "sixteen." The co-op mode, dubbed "Vendettas," is a "team-focused, mission based experience" with new environments and new story elements, "that takes place parallel to the single-player story." And instead of getting stuck with ol' Jackie Boy, perhaps you might try your hand(s) at another of the new co-op characters: Inugami, "a dark and mentally unstable character with revenge-driven motives" ... and a samurai sword; Shoshanna, an Israeli Intelligence agent with a gun that fires "multiple rounds of gunfire at one time" which, real talk, is impossible; Jimmy Wilson, an alcoholic Scotsman (really!) who hates the English and summons Darklings with his "Dark Axe"; and lastly, J.P. DuMond, a New Orleans-based practitioner of voodoo medicine or, as he would perhaps be more commonly called, a witch doctor! So that's Vendettas, the first game to feature four-player hexadeca-wielding co-op play, a back-of-the-box feature that's sure to bring all the boys to the killing yards. %Gallery-141146%
Saints Row: The Third online co-op campaign and 'Whored Mode' gated with online pass
If you're considering postponing your purchase of Saints Row: The Third until sometime after next Tuesday in hopes of snagging a less expensive used copy, but also yearn for online cooperative mayhem, beware: an online pass is required before taking to the Information Superhighway. Included in new copies of both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Saints Row: The Third are one-time use codes for redemption upon initial launch of any online multiplayer, prompting users to otherwise purchase a pass for an undisclosed amount (we've asked THQ for clarification). Unfortunately, despite having both 360 and PS3 copies available for review at Joystiq, the 360 pass won't activate until launch and very few reviewers have PS3 code. Rest assured, we'll have our own review of Saints Row: The Third -- co-op or not -- by early next week.
Portal 2's second DLC is an 'in-game editor,' arrives 'early next year'
Valve has just unveiled plans for the second downloadable content package coming to this year's big sequel, Portal 2: an "in-game editor!" According to a PR statement from the company, the next DLC is currently "in development and targeted for release early next year." Apparently some form of community functionality will be attached to player creations, allowing other users to "view, play, and vote" on various levels. Outside of some cursory details -- the editor will allow players to create and share both single-player and co-op levels -- little is known about how editing will work, or if the DLC will arrive on both PC/Mac and consoles. With Steam support on all but one console, the Xbox 360, we wouldn't be surprised if the second Portal 2 DLC doesn't arrive everywhere. But then Valve head Gabe Newell indicated differently in a recent interview, so we just can't be sure. We've reached out to Valve for some clarity.%Gallery-137276%
