Spartan Ops Brings the Episodic Co-Op Flavor to Halo 4

Halo 4

With 343 having officially taken the reins of the Halo universe from the old masters at Bungie, it seems that we’re finally starting to get little trickles of information about the upcoming sequel, Halo 4. On top of the recent news that Massive Attack producer Neil Davidge will be scoring the game, 343 has also given some juicy ammunition to Game Informer over the last week.

While there are new screenshots and other bits to take away from the reports of the Game Informer story, the most curious bit is what lies in store for Halo 4’s co-op. Yes, the campaign will still have 4 player co-op. However, it seems that Firefight is getting the axe – or the gravity hammer, perhaps. That’s right, Firefight is history, but in its place, 343 is providing Spartan Ops, an episodic 4 player co-op campaign with its own story. The most interesting part of all of this, though, is that 343 plans on releasing regular free updates to Spartan Ops, allowing players to devour its content in a weekly format almost like that of a TV show, with new gameplay to experience with each one.

I have to say, this is some interesting news. While I think that booting a (now) series staple like Firefight is probably the wrong move, Spartan Ops will provide a welcome new flavor into the franchise. I love the idea of regular episodic content, as it’s something that nobody has done just yet. Which is odd, considering that this generation is finally ready for something like that.

What do you guys think of the idea of Spartan Ops for the Halo 4? Would you like to see more games experiment with regular episodic content like this? Go!

Source – CVG

Review: LittleBigPlanet 2

In retrospect, it seems kind of strange to admit that I didn’t quite understand the attraction of LittleBigPlanet at first. I remember playing the demo shortly after I bought my PS3 Slim and coming away a bit underwhelmed. LBP definitely had a unique, quirky style, but at the time I think I just wrote it off as nothing more than Sony’s attempt at staking their own system-exclusive claim on the platformer landscape.

However, I am always on the lookout for a good deal, and a few months ago I was able to get my hands on a copy of the LittleBigPlanet Game of The Year edition for a whopping $2.50 thanks to a handy promo credit. With the full game in my hands, I was finally able to overcome my initial skepticism and give it a fair shake.

The story levels were certainly entertaining enough, but I was most impressed by the robust, sophisticated community levels on offer. Fully experiencing the community aspect of the game is what really made it click for me, and my anticipation for the sequel began growing exponentially soon thereafter. In a very short amount of time, LittleBigPlanet 2 turned into a day one purchase for me. I’ve played it almost non-stop since getting my hands on it, and I feel I can safely say that LittleBigPlanet 2 has secured its position in my mind as one of the best games of 2011.

Continue reading Review: LittleBigPlanet 2

Ranking the Best Co-Op Video Games

Left 4 Dead co-op

If there’s one thing that we’re crazy about here at GamerSushi, it’s the wonder of co-op gaming. I’m surprised you guys aren’t sick of hearing about me always talk about how much I love playing games with other people. I don’t know if co-op’s just that fun or if I’m just that sad and lonely, but either way, I want to marry it.

UGO recently added a new list to their site about the 25 Best Co-Op Games of all time, and it’s interesting as a study of the wide variety of co-op games we’ve seen over gaming history. Really, the NES, Sega Genesis and SNES days had a lot more co-op gaming than I gave them credit for, which makes a lot of sense considering how much my friends and I used to play together. Toe Jam and Earl is one the list reminded me of that I hadn’t considered in a long time.

It’s actually pretty difficult to quantify my favorite co-op experiences of all time. There’s so many to choose from. For this gen it would be Resident Evil 5 (no jokes, wise guys), Guardian of Light, Crackdown and Left 4 Dead.

What about you guys? What do you think of this list? I know we’ve asked this before, but what are your favorite co-op games you’ve ever played?

Source – UGO

Review: Halo: Reach

Reach Winter ContingencyWhether we like it or not, Halo is a game that changed the FPS landscape forever. It can be argued that this is for both good and ill, but the fact remains that the epic FPS sci-fi series from Bungie typically constitutes a natural disaster in whatever year it arrives. Halo: Reach has made landfall, gentlemen, and it’s time to sort out the damage.

After a couple weeks of reading other Halo: Reach reviews, there seems to be a general consensus. One, that writers like to use the phrase “swan song”. Two, that Bungie’s final installment into the Halo series culminates in what might be its greatest and most critically acclaimed title yet. Reviewing a Halo game carries with it a tricky balance of managing hype, expectations and fanboy glee, but in Reach, it’s hard to ignore all of the wonderful things that Bungie accomplished, and how they’ve changed the game yet again moving forward.

So, just how good is the game? Read on to find out. Continue reading Review: Halo: Reach

Insomniac Announces Resistance 3 and Previews New Ratchet With 4-Player Co-op

GamesCom is the new E3 as Insomniac announced a brand new entry in the acclaimed and popular Ratchet & Clank series, subtitled “All 4 One”. The game will have 4 player co-op and have drop in/drop out enabled, which I really like. Players can play as Ratchet, Clank, Captain Qwark (YESSS) or Dr. Nefarious. See the trailer below:

Also, no details as of yet, but Insomniac did reveal that they are currently working on Resistance 3, which is happy news for fans of the series. As of now there is only a live-action trailer, which isn’t really worth watching. Hopefully we can get something more concrete for you soon.

In the meantime, would you be interested in a co-op Ratchet game? Does this excite you at all? What about Resistance 3? Anything you would like to see in the next installment?

GamerSushi Asks: Classes?

BorderlandsOver the last few days, I’ve been deadlocked in an attempt to clear out my gaming backlog before the big days of Fall land in our laps, and we’re once again swarmed with games to enjoy. Currently, I’m working on Alpha Protocol, 3D Dot Game Heroes and last but not least, Borderlands.

Borderlands is the really curious one, considering it’s a game I stopped playing months ago only to pick back up out of the blue. I forgot just how much fun it is, and the crazed shoot-outs with waves of enemies is satisfying and intense. I’m a level 27 soldier, and my favorite thing is deploying my turret, now sporting caustic damage and rockets that really mess everything up in their path.

While partaking in one of these shootouts, I started thinking about gaming classes. If I had to pick a particular style that suits me for most games, it would have to be some sort of tank or a hybrid of a tank and something a little more specialized, with a few support capabilities. I know that’s fairly vague, but I tend to go all out on offense, preferring chaos over actually racking up kills, and doing what I can to help my teammates in the process. I tend to pick one of the simpler classes in my first playthrough of a game, and then expand from there later.

So, now I’m wondering what your preferences are. What kind of classes do you normally pick in video games? What is your play style for shooters or RPGs? Go!

Head to Head: Co-Op or Versus

I think one of the most interesting discussions in gaming right now is the idea of what’s more essential in terms of a multiplayer experience.

For years, co-op was the name of the game, with game studios offering chances for us to play through things with two players on our old school consoles. However, that eventually gave way to the rise of the versus mode through PC gaming, which then bled almost a decade later to the consoles. Now, we’re seeing a renaissance of sorts, with co-operative play coming back to the forefront of many AAA games. In fact, if there’s a multiplayer component, co-operative play is almost expected these days, where it wasn’t before.

For me, I think co-op is the more essential experience, but I know that others feel differently. Over this weekend, in fact, I’ve played several bouts of co-op in both Uncharted 2 and Bad Company 2, and had much more fun than I have in deathmatch modes for most games.

So I’ve put together a poll for you guys. Let the answers do battle!

What is the better multiplayer experience?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Earthworm Jim HD Has Co-Op

Um… want?

On June 9, the Earthworm Jim HD remake is coming to XBox Live Arcade, and will follow on the PSN one month later. Gameloft released a brand new trailer for the game today, which included this little tidbit: the game will now include a 4 player co-op mode. For the old school retro lover in me, this is quite the bombshell. I can’t wait to play this.

Anybody else jumping in?

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 to Add Co-Op

So far, Bad Company 2 is one of my favorite games of the year, and one of my favorite multiplayer experiences in this generation. I haven’t had much of a chance to play the regular campaign all the way through, but one thing is clear: the game needs co-op. I’ve never really understood why it was left out of the game, when it is clearly set up as a squad of four badasses. It seemed to be totally begging for it.

Well, it looks like DICE is going to deliver that wish for myself and many others. At a time specified only as “soon”, they’re going to be adding a new co-operative mode for four players in Bad Company 2. It basically looks like Firefight or horde mode, but with objectives. I’m pumped about this. Who else is?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA8vuVwm-k4[/youtube]

Are Single Player Games Going the Way of the Dodo?

Splinter Cell Conviction Co-OpYou all know that I love me some co-op. In fact, more often than not, I’d rather play co-op over some kind of versus multiplayer. To me, there’s nothing quite like jumping into a game with your friends, and playing alongside them while you chat about how things are going or how much better you are at everything. Not that I do that… often.

Anyway, I’m one of the biggest proponents of co-op appearing in most games, but it doesn’t mean I want there to be a death to single player as we know it. In a recent interview, Patrick Redding, the multiplayer director of Splinter Cell: Conviction, had some interesting things to say about playing games solo.

I see this co-op as fitting within a trend or a tendency that I think is emerging – actually it emerged a long time ago, but I think it’s just moved into the mainstream – which is that before, co-op was a relatively hardcore gaming paradigm for people… They don’t want it to be a solitary experience, they want to be able either to sit on the couch with their girlfriend and play, or be on Xbox Live with their best friends and play, and feel that something is unfolding according to some design intention, and they’re getting a chance to experience that but it doesn’t have to be that alone.

While I’m not saying this spells doom for single player gaming, it’s a telling perspective from someone inside the industry. No doubt this is why we see single player games getting multiplayer add-ons, or why Splinter Cell: Conviction only has a 5 hour solo campaign. Don’t get me wrong, I am dying to play the co-op, but it did surprise me to hear that the solo was so light.

So what do you guys think? Do you agree that nobody wants a solitary experience any longer? Personally, I see a place for both, and I don’t see why they have to be mutually exclusive. Tell us your thoughts.

Source- Videogamesdaily

Splinter Cell: Conviction Co-Op Interview

Man, the more I see for Splinter Cell: Conviction, the more pumped I get about it. I’ve been trying to avoid getting media overload from the whole thing, but it’s hard to stay away from great new videos that tease me with what I’ve been wanting since the co-op mode of Chaos Theory.

Ubisoft isn’t letting up apparently, and have given us a brand new video featuring a co-op mode interview. It sheds some new light on the mode, and gives tons of glimpses into the gameplay and the strategy that’s going to have to go into it from two players. I seriously can’t wait to play this, and it’s hard to believe it comes out next month.

Anybody else pumped?

On the Etiquette of Gaming

The thing that unites us here at GamerSushi is our unhealthy love and adoration of all things related to gaming. I’d like to think it creates a unique bond between us. Something that forms a common knowledge through shared experiences, a collective set of ethics and codes that we follow. Sure we deviate on issues here and there (Splinter Cell Conviction and night vision, for instance), but for the most part, we seem to understand one another.

With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of a few things that I’ve been curious about in terms of gaming etiquette. Things that tend to cause awkwardness in gaming circles or in the online atmosphere. I want to hear what you guys think about these things. Feel free to give as much or as little response as you like. Let’s roll.
Continue reading On the Etiquette of Gaming

GamerSushi Asks: Would You Rather?

On the eve of E3, it’s time for gamers young and old to dream up a world of possibilities for our next year of gaming. With that in mind, I figured it was a great chance for a new Would You Rather.

In Would You Rather, I simply ask a series of questions, and you follow up with your answers. Give as much or as little explanation as you want for your choices, but we all know that we like to see the reasoning behind the madness.

Don’t let your answers suck, though. You’ll be tarred, feathered and quite possibly beaten like you stole something.

Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Would You Rather?

Is Co-Op the New Versus?

When I think back on the times that define my life as a gamer, the moments that stick out to me typically involve other people. Sure there are those fantastic single player experiences like Mario 64 or Final Fantasy VII that will always stand out in my mind, but something about playing a game together with others seems particularly memorable.

To be honest, I think this love affair for me with multiplayer began in the days of the Nintendo 64, the first system that brought that LAN party feel to the console realm. I remember after school, several of us would play through 4 player titles like Goldeneye, Conkers and Wrestlemania 2000 for hours on end. We’d make characters, perfect taunts, and listen to the Bond theme play endlessley while my brother mowed us down with the RPC 90.

Continue reading Is Co-Op the New Versus?