When it comes to video games, people tend to think of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a beat ‘em up franchise, but the heroes in a half shell have appeared in many other genres as well. A few years ago, a mobile game developer called Super Evil Megacorp had the brilliant idea of making a TMNT roguelike. After first releasing it on Apple Arcad...
Dungeons show up a lot in games. As players, we've all explored them, fought in them, and maybe even designed them. One thing that games don't commonly ask us to do, however, is clean up dungeons. That's what makes Goblin Cleanup from Crisalu Games and Team17 unique. It will allow online teams of four surprisingly attractive goblins to clean and tend dungeons together on PC on August 28.
Massively multiplayer online games are enjoyable enough, but they tend towards the dark and gritty side of things. Why can't they feature more love and justice? That's what New York-based Pahdo Labs is cramming into Starlight Re:Volver, a cooperative MMO that's due out on Steam Early Access later this year. We played an early demo in co-op and were impressed with the game's charming aesthetics.
The original Neon Abyss is a roguelike run-and-gun shooter whose most memorable feature was the ability to wield a cat as a gun. I found the game to be whelming, but not overwhelming. Co-op support would surely have improved its staying power. Thankfully, Neon Abyss 2 from Veewo Games and Kepler Ghost will kick things up a few notches thanks to the inclusion of 4-player online co-op. The new Steam demo shows off that co-op support and lots more.
We've been excited about Worship, from Chasing Rats Games, ever since we learned of its blend of Pikmin-style gameplay with eldritch creepiness. Teaming up to lead a world-ending cult sounds like good, mean fun. As it turns out, gamers will finally be able to have just that kind of fun in July. That's when Worship will arrive on Steam Early Access. If you can't wait that long, there's a demo to try as well.
The Behemoth, the makers of Castle Crashers and several other gorgeous games, likes to release their games on Xbox before PlayStation. Bless their colorful hearts for going against the grain like that. In late 2023, the studio released Alien Hominid Invasion (a multiplayer-focused sequel to Alien Hominid HD) on Xbox, Switch, and Steam. Good th...
Cthulhu's Reach from The Fine Arc and First Break Labs is a Steam Early Access roguelike shooter based on H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. It features a unique retro art style and isometric graphics, plus the all-important 4-player online co-op. While the game had some good foundations when it debuted, it was somewhat lacking in content. The latest update goes a long way to rectifying that by adding a map editor, not to mention some balance and bug fixes.
First-person roguelikes like Gunfire Reborn and Roboquest can be quite fun when done well. Another such game is MythForce, which comes from Beamdog, the developer that brought Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 to modern platforms (while mostly ditching the co-op). MythForce features cartoon-like visuals and a fantasy theme, making it quite different from most of its peers. It will soon reach its "final form" via the upcoming Version 1.2 update.
Railway Empire 2 from Gaming Minds Studio and Kalypso Media is a game about trains. More importantly, it's a train game that supports 4-player online co-op. Now we're talking! And one thing about train games is that you can never have enough trains in them. Well, there will soon be more trains and more empires to build. The "Industrial Wonders" expansion is due out on June 24, and it will bring the Industrial Revolution with it.
Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase was light on big franchise updates this year, but Activision can always be relied upon to announce a new yearly Call of Duty. This year's entry is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and it looks to be a landmark installment. What's the big deal? Campaign co-op! Oh, Black Ops 7 will still have a cooperative Zombies mode, but the chance to experience the game's big-budget campaign with a friend(maybe even friends?) should be a rare treat. The last Black Ops with campaign co-op was 2015's Black Ops 3.
Tribute Games might be working on this year's most anticipated beat 'em up (MARVEL Cosmic Invasion), but apparently that's not enough. The Montreal-based developer craves an even bigger piece of the pie, so they've just announced another brawler for next year: Scott Pilgrim EX. That's cool enough news on its own, but much of the talent behind the original Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game will be involved. We can't complain about that!
Tribute Games struck gold with TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, a nostalgic beat 'em up that is loved by fans and critics alike. The next big project from Tribute and Dotemu is sure to find the same success: MARVEL Cosmic Invasion, another cooperative brawler that's coming out later this year. Adding to the excitement, two new characters have just been announced for Cosmic Invasion: the irascible Rocket Racoon and the sensational She-Hulk.
