Without a doubt, two of my absolute favorite franchises of last gen were the Crackdown series and the Saints Row series. In fact, when the Crackdown series went dark after Crackdown 2 in 2010, the Saints Row kind of became its spiritual successor for me.READ MORE
June became a lot less of an interesting month with the announcement last week that No Man’s Sky was getting pushed back into August. but there are still a few games we’re excited to see this month. Without further ado:
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst (Xbox One, PS4, PC)–June 7
The long-awaited next installment in the Mirror’s Edge series arrives in June, and it’s a prequel that shows us how Faith became the freedom fighter we saw in the 2008 game.
Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)–June 10
Is it just us, or does Kirby get no respect among the most well-known platformer characters of the past several generations? Platforming, puzzles and the ability to copy enemies abilities have always made the Kirby games a blast, and this one looks to be no exception. Plus–it has a mech suit.
Resident Evil: Umbrella Corps (PS4, PC)–June 24
A third-person multiplayer shooter set in classic maps of the long-running horror series? Sounds good to us. We caught a few glimpses on RE: Umbrella Corps at New York Comic Con last year, but the lines to actually play it were insane. let’s hope that bodes well for the game’s release, because multiplayer-only games have to rely entirely on the community of layers that build up around the,m, and we just saw the launch of both Battleborn and Overwatch.
Of course, this list is just our personal picks, so please sound off in the comments and let us know what games you’re excited to see next month!
Blizzard’s upcoming team-based shooter Overwatch had an open beta this past weekend, and both Nick and I spent some time with it. In the video above, you’ll see Nick playing quite a bit with Hanzo, and having a good about of success. Hanzo is one of the Defense class characters, a bowman who is rated as one of the more difficult characters to play. He also spend a little time with Tracer, and Offense character who wields dual pistols.READ MORE
May has arrived, and with it comes not flowers, but some of the biggest game releases of the year so far. Here’s our list of games we’re excited about for May:
Battleborn (Xbox One, PS4, PC)–May 3
We’re big Borderlands fans here at Co-Op Critics, and Gearbox’s new first-person shooter with MOBA elements is interesting, for sure. An opening roster of 25 characters, a five-player co-op campaign and MOBA-focused competitive multiplayer certainly give Battleborn the ingredients to stand out against other shooters–at least until May 24th.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)–May 10
The final chapter in Nathan Drake’s sage arrives this month and is sure to be one of the crown jewels of the Playstation 4’s library. We’re excited for this one as much for the story as we are for the gameplay. We just hope that Nate and Elena get their happily ever after…or we riot.
Doom (Xbox One, PS4, PC)–May 13
Maybe the most exciting game for us here at Co-Op Critics this month. We loved DOOM 3, but this is a rebooot of the franchise, not a sequel, and it appears to be going back to its roots. Fast-paced, brutal gameplay, and you can ratchet up the difficulty to soul-crushing levels. The only major disappointment is there’s no campaign co-op.
Homefront: The Revolution (Xbox One, PS4, PC)–May 17
We’re interested in this one if for no other reason than just to see what came out the other end of this long, weird development process. An open world shooter, the game takes place in 2029 and players take on the role of a rebellion leader after the US has been taken over by North Korea.
Overwatch (Xbox One, PS4, PC)–May 24
Blizzard’s entry in the “first-person shooter with MOBA elements” genre releases on May 24th, and it will be very interesting to see who comes out of this scrum. Overwatch will launch with a roster of 21 playable heroes, and one big difference is that it won’t have a single-player or co-op campaign.
On the flipside, you will have access to all of a hero’s abilities from the get go, as opposed to unlocking them throughout the course of a match like with Battleborn. With Overwatch, you’ll be unlocking skins, emotes, etc.
So, whether or not a campaign is important to you, and how you like your character progression should tell you which one of these games is a better fit for you.
Dead Island: Definitive Edition (Xbox One, PS4)–May 31
Yes, this is a re-release, but we loved the original Dead Island so much, we’re excited for this. After playing the excellent Dying Light, it will be fun to go back to Dead Island and examine the early DNA of what Techland has built.
Not to mention, this game is ridiculously fun to play with friends. We never finished Dead Island 2, so that’s another good reason to jump in, especially since this collection carries a $40 price tag.
So, those are the games we’re looking forward to this month, but the complete list of releases is exponentially larger. What are you exited about?
I’ve spent about five or six hours with Ubisoft’s The Division now, enough time to know two things–I like it, and I’m gonna play a whole lot more if it. You can see Nick and I play through a couple missions and give some thoughts in the video below, and then read on for more from me.READ MORE
Today on Twitter Xbox’s Major Nelson announced that the greatest cooperative multiplayer game of all time had been added to Xbox One’s backward compatibility list. Shortly afterward, the President of All Games announced there would be no more cooperative multiplayer games developed for this or any future generations. All of those resources will now be poured into amassing an army to force Valve into making Half-Life 3. Which is ironic, because they gave us the Left 4 Dead franchise. We guess no good deed goes unpunished.READ MORE
April is almost upon us, and for the Co-Op Critics crew, the first “must have” game of the year is arriving this month–as well as a handful of others that have our interest piqued. Here’s our list of games we’re excited about for April:READ MORE
On Monday Microsoft announced that the long in development Fable Legends was being canceled, and they were looking to close Lionhead Studios. In the press release, General Manager of Microsoft Studios Europe Hanno Lemke said:
“These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play.”
That’s kind of kicking a developer while they’re down, don’t you think? Let’s unpack that a little.READ MORE
It’s great to be back.
If you’ve been following Co-Op Critics for a while, then you know both Nick and I loved Dying Light–it was #1 and #2 on our “Games of 2015” lists, respectively. Dying Light’s first major expansion The Following is our spotlight game for March 2016, and this past weekend Nick, Josh and I dove into it. I’m happy to report that Dying Light remains one of the most fun games I’ve played in years, and the addition of vehicles only makes the gameplay more insane.READ MORE
This week, the folks over at Just1337 Studio were kind enough to send us over copy of their latest game, Asteroid Bounty Hunter. We took it out for a test flight, and you can check out my gameplay video and impressions above.READ MORE