Gamer Euphoria » COD

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 “Duel” Trailer

Alex — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:31:58 +0000

The sequel to Sniper: Ghost Warrior has a new trailer; the trailer is cinematic and shows two snipers hunting for each other silently.

One sniper fires, the other fires however only one hits the mark. You can check out the trailer below.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is being developed by City Interactive and is set for a 2012 release some time in the first quarter.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Modern Warfare 3 Hardened Edition Details Leaked

Alex — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 03:36:31 +0000

Originally supposed to be announced at Call of Duty XP this weekend, an advert for Modern Warfare 3: Hardened Edition has been leaked online detailing what will be in the pack. Currently there is no way of telling how legitimate the details are, but considering how close we are to COD XP it’s a pretty safe bet.

According to the poster, which you can view below, the package will include:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game with limited edition disc art.

12 month membership for Call of Duty Elite.

“Founder status” on Elite with exclusive in-game emblem, player card, camouflage, clan XP boost and other exclusive benefits.

A SteelBook case.

PlayStation Network exclusive: “Animated Timeline Theme.”

Xbox 360 exclusive: “Special Ops Juggernaut Xbox Live Outfit.”

Limited-edition “field journal” with more than 100 pages of “authentic military sketches, diagrams and written entries.”

Modern Warfare 3: Defiance Announced For DS

Alex — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:48:22 +0000

A Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 DS game has been announced to be in the works by developers n-Space; the developers behind the prior COD DS titles including Modern Warfare 2: Mobilized.

Let me reiterate, Defiance is for DS and, as far as n-Space have announced, it won’t be appearing on the 3DS. The developers answered queries on the Facebook announcement comments saying:

“You guys all need to understand that we make the games we are hired to make. It is not our call to decide which platforms to support. Obviously we are big 3DS fans and supporters as we have 3 titles in development. If it were as simple as us choosing what products and platforms to develop for I would get a lot more sleep.”

Currently there is no word of a release date, but I’m sure as November draws closer more information will be released.

Call of Duty – What Have You Become?

Sean — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:23:06 +0000

I was a big Call of Duty fan; the first game in the franchise blew me away with its intense action and focus on set pieces. It had more soul and power to it compared to its then rival Medal of Honour – it also had a more enjoyable single player and multiplayer experience to offer. The expansion pack Untied Offensive is one of my most favored first person shooters, it built upon the foundations laid by Call of Duty and increased the action to a new level. The opening sequence placed players right in the middle of the Battle of the Bulge and was the perfect example of top notch action, fantastic presentation and audio and an odd sense of drama and panic. The multiplayer was improved upon with the addition of vehicles, deployable machine guns and large maps plus a rank system. It was an expansion pack that was full to the brim with improvements and additions and in my eyes is a true classic. Call of Duty 2 took the action from the previous titles and polished it up which resulted in a more intense and gritty experience with a bigger focus on set pieces. While the multiplayer was still solid and played slightly better the overall experience (at least in my opinion) was not as good as United Offensive nor did it feel as deep. Call of Duty 2 was the last great action first person shooter set in World War 2, sure Call of Duty 3 came after it but it tended to feel rather alien from the rest of the franchise, and thus the next logical step was modern day combat.

Often regarded as the last great Call of Duty title the 4^th entry into the franchise was the pinnacle of the famed set pieces and action movie feel all wrapped up into a modern setting with a cheesy but entertaining plot. Call of Duty 4 was a true triumph in first person shooter action, the fire fights were extremely intense and felt both enjoyable to experience while holding onto a sense of threat. The visual finesse allowed for location to look both stunning and realistic while being host to some wonderful looking explosions. The single player was a joy to play through with various changes in the gameplay and some genuinely stunning moments; this pushed Call of Duty to the top of the first person shooter pile however it was the multiplayer that took it to the mean stream. Taking slight inspiration from Call of Duty: United Offensive the multiplayer in CoD 4 offered depth and countless hours of replay ability via its levelling and custom classes system.

The multiplayer had plenty to offer in terms of game modes, maps and play styles supported by the weapon choices and of course the kill streaks added a new element to the gameplay. While CoD4 wasn’t the most balanced multiplayer game it did a pretty good job of keeping players on a level playing field and the kill streaks were not overpowered to the point of running the game, however this trend would soon end. Call of Duty: World at War brought back a familiar setting with some new twists. The single player campaign wasn’t really worth talking about in detail but it did offer some nice sections and imagery but overall felt more like a modded version of Call of Duty 4 with a bit more swearing and gore thrown in. There wasn’t much added to the single player portion of the game but this was passable as the multiplayer added the now fan favourite zombie mode which was simple yet highly addictive and fun. World at War also played host to co-op through the campaign but this felt rather underdeveloped and almost an afterthought and would unfortunately not truly be built upon. The multiplayer was a mixed bag of good and bad. The kill streaks had become quite over powering with the likes of the dogs being almost unavoidable and extremely hard to kill. The dogs also had a tendency to sit around spawn points which would result in countless deaths seconds after spawning which is both primitive and highly frustrating. Other issues included most weapons being able to spray hundreds of bullets due to the drum clip which lead to countless cases of players holding fire and hoping to earn a kill. World at War wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great but it did add a nice feature to the franchise in the shape of zombies.

I was a big Call of Duty fan; the first game in the franchise blew me away with its intense action and focus on set pieces.

Modern Warfare 2 is where things really went wrong. The single player was a mix of solid gunplay with decent action but way too many set pieces which didn’t carry the sense of cinematic scale as previous entries. There was of course some nice sections, anyone who says Modern Warfare 2 doesn’t have at least one or two impressive scenes is a liar, but unfortunately these sections were often trapped between the over use of slow motion and ‘shell shock’ like moments. The story of course was even cheesier than CoD 4’s but it was still bearable. Co-op made a slight return in the shape of spec ops which provided a sense of fun but felt rather limited and tacked on and didn’t take much effort to complete. But the main issue with Modern Warfare 2 was the multiplayer. The motto of most sequels is to make things bigger and more bad ass (thanks for that phrase Cliffy B) and it seems that Modern Warfare 2 had took this a little too far. Gun play was a hefty mix of spraying and quick scoping with the spamming of grenade launchers. Add to the mix awful early bugs involving the dual shotguns that had more range than a rifle and what was left was a frustrating mess of a game.

The worst thing by a mile was the kill streaks which had gone from balanced in CoD 4 to slightly over powered in World at War to full blown bat s**t crazy in Modern Warfare 2. Games could effectively be ruined within the first few minutes if a player managed to earn the kills to throw up one of the over powered such as the AC-130 and Chopper Gunner. While the kill streaks were fun to use there was no denying that they were over powered and detracted from the competitive nature of the multiplayer. With the better quality kill streaks requiring more kills players began to use the most hated of video game play styles ‘camping’. Modern Warfare 2 was the key turning point of its community becoming one of (if not the worse) online communities in video game history with players camping, modding, team fixing and of course relentless flaming. The game became such a mess of over powered kill streaks, buggy weapons and an awful player base that playing the game felt more like a chore than anything else. Of course the player progression was there and there was plenty of perks and weapons on offer and the stupid introduction of death streaks (such a stupid idea it’s not worth talking about) but this was all rendered useless when the maps tended to be quite average and the each game contained at least one or two players running everyone’s experience. Oh and Nukes were a stupid idea, there was a reason it had never been put in a multiplayer game before and it wasn’t because it was a cool idea.

While Modern Warfare 2 was the soulless and messy result of too much focus on making things bigger rather than better people were happy enough (for the most part) to play it. Modern Warfare 2 was in the main stream, it was bringing people that didn’t normally play games into the fold (arguably a reason why the games community was so bad) and thus the game began to get perfect scores thrown at it and claims of ‘One of the best games ever’ thrown at it. A follow up was assumed and we got that follow up (not in the same story line/ universe however) in the shape of Call of Duty: Black Ops. To be fair Black Op’s wasn’t that bad and the game embraced the franchises cheesy story lines and pulled off a strange almost science fiction like storyline which was quite entertaining. Zombies were indeed back and making people happy but the multiplayer was a different story. The multiplayer at first didn’t support quick scopers too well nor did it really support random spraying and people enjoyed this, well some people did. As people bitched and moaned about the lack of quick scoping a patch came and added it all back in much to the face palm and sadness of a certain group of players. Kill streaks were still overpowered and all of the issues from Modern warfare 2 remained and things began to feel way too familiar.

The problem with Call of Duty as a franchise is it started off fantastically well, improved and added with each installment until the later titles. Things began to drop in quality and the additions to the franchise seem very small and often lacking. While it may of become something so mainstream its now almost the poster boy for video games (taken over from Halo) that doesn’t mean the games quality has improved. If anything it feels like the developers of each modern Call of Duty title knows what sells so they keep pumping them out which leads to the lack of charisma and soul. My point of view won’t stop the games from selling millions and the franchise will most likely still rolling on adding little to no additions to the franchise. There is no doubt in my mind the series will continue to sell well for the foreseeable future, but at some point, whether it’s years from now, fans of the series will become bored of the same formula and seek a change. A change the developers are currently too afraid to chance. That’s why Call of Duty can be fun for bursts of multiplayer, but when stripped of that it seems a somewhat hollow shell that doesn’t have the power to draw emotion from you – whether it be a laugh or cry.

Call of Duty was the result of Medal of Honour becoming stale and repetitive and it’s quite sad yet ironic to see Call of Duty become what it set out to defeat. Then again Battlefield 3 is on its way with a cure to issues…that cure is a fresh brand of fun.

Activision Files Legal Complaint over ModernWarfare3.com

AndyW — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:27:01 +0000

If you haven’t been paying attention to the whole Activision scene as of late – the owners of the most sought after ModernWarfare3.com domain recently gave the website a face-lift in what can only be described as a controversial move. Much to the shagrin of Activision, who are the legal publishers of Modern Warfare 3; which is slated to release this November.

We wont go in to too much detail about what the domain currently holds – we’ll leave that as a surprise for when you check it out.

According to a report on domain-tracking blog Fusible, Activision is currently looking to seize ownership of ModernWarfare3.com through a complaint filed with the National Arbitration Forum.

Originally registered in March 2009, ModernWarfare3.com bills itself both as “a 100 percent unofficial fan site dedicated to the Modern Warfare series,” as well as “a parody of Modern Warfare 3.” While the site has for some time openly criticized the Activision shooter as a retread of the series, it drew particular attention recently when it temporarily forwarded all ModernWarfare3.com traffic to the official website of Electronic Arts’ competing military shooter Battlefield 3. In its complaint, Activision described the forwarding as retaliation for a take-down notice it sent related to copyrighted content that had previously appeared on the site.

For Activision to win ownership of the site, it would have to show that ModernWarfare3.com is “identical or confusingly similar to” its own trademarks related to the series, that the operator of the site has no legitimate interests for use of the domain name, and it was registered and used in bad faith. The complaint indicates the ModernWarfare3.com owner would be able to retain the name if “making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or tarnish the trademark.”

However, Activision is arguing that ModernWarfare3.com ran ads for GameStop and Best Buy, making it a commercial venture, and that the forwarding to a direct competitor’s website is sufficient to show the site was run in bad faith. At the moment, the site no longer directs to Battlefield 3′s site, and appears to be free of advertising.

In establishing its own claim to the brand, Activision’s complaint noted that the publisher has spent more than $24 million in the US alone on marketing the Modern Warfare installments of the Call of Duty series. As of press time, neither Activision nor the admin of ModernWarfare3.com had returned GameSpot’s request for comment.

via GameSpot

Without a doubt it is a edgy move by the domain owners to use such a sought after domain to advertise a competing game. We’ll keep you informed on how the legal battle is going to pan-out.

First Official Modern Warfare 3 Trailer Released

AndyW — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:34:15 +0000

Infinity Ward have just released the first Infinity Ward have just released the first Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Trailer. Hopefully as E3 is only around the corner we’ll be subject to a bit more information. Though it is safe to say we’ll possibly be seeing a battle between Modern Warfare 3 and Gears of War 3 later this year – or perhaps Activision will go down the opposite route and release it early 2012, only time will tell. But stay close as we’ll hopefully have some more information next month is Los Angeles.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Staff Picks: Josh’s Top 10 Games of 2010

Josh — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 18:58:34 +0000

Before I start, I should say that all these views are my own. They do not represent all the other guys here at Gamer Euphoria. Though don’t fear, i’ve been told we’ve got a couple lists coming in the coming week – both individual and overall game of the year picks.

It was very hard to pick a top 10 this year. There have been some great games throughout 2010. I have managed to narrow down the list into those that I have most enjoyed.

10 – Final Fantasy XIII

Great story. Great graphics. Everything you want from a turn-based RPG. There are a few flaws here and there (lack of free roam!), but overall a solid game.

9 – Blur

Fantastic action-packed racing game. I would describe it as Mario Kart with real cars. Loads of power ups. Loads of challenges. Loads of cars. Loads of tracks. Loads of fun.

8 – Battlefield: Bad Company 2

One of the more realistic FPS’s of the year. It has a solid campaign and brilliant multiplayer which should be played by all lovers of shooters.

7 – Call of Duty: Black Ops

Good online play, though I don’t believe as good as Modern Warfare 2. It was let down by its maps and over speculation. The campaign is great and an improvement in the franchise. Still hours of fun to be had.

6 – FIFA 11 / 2010 FIFA World Cup

The two FIFA games this year were yet again an improvement, and an easy triumph over it’s rival, Pro Evo. 2010 FIFA World Cup provided a brilliant selection in teams, and gave us a sneak preview of what we were to see when FIFA 11 released later in the year with improved game play from 2010.

5 – Dance Central

Whole-hearted fun for all the family. Provided us with so many laughs over the Christmas period, and really showed the true capabilities of Kinect. Definitely the best release title for the device, and best music game of the year.

4 – Fable III

Humor packed RPG, an improvement from the 2nd in the series. Fable III doesn’t let you down on action or adventure as you explore new places with new spells, weapons and characters. Most of the old features I loved remain, and more have been added.

3 – Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Brilliant sequel to my Game of the Year 2009. Just as action-packed, intense and vast. If you love action adventure games, you can’t miss this one.

2 – Red Dead Redemption

Wow what to say about this game? I can’t justify in words how much I enjoyed it. I actually expected nothing from this game until release when I started seeing some reviews and tweets showing just how good the game was. The setting is brilliant. The characters are entertaining. But best of all is the world around you. The animals and vegetation look great and the variety is truly terrific. The action is fun and exciting. There are a lot of hours to be had in the game as well. Rockstar really showed that they can do something other than Grand Theft Auto.

1 – Mass Effect 2

My game of the year for many reasons. The story is fantastic. The gameplay is an improvement from the first, and battles can actually get pretty intense at stages. The cycle of weapons, armor and upgrades is great. The paragon system works perfect and the exploration of the worlds is completely original. The game also has some entertaining downloadable content. 30+ hours of enjoyment. BioWare really have upped their game in the franchise, and have earned my game of the year award with this title.

First Black Ops DLC Revealed

Josh — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:14:54 +0000

Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb has announced on his podcast that the first Map Pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops is to arrive on February 1st 2011 on Xbox 360. The pack, names “First Strike” will cost 1200 Microsoft Points, and will include:

Discovery – Antarctic German research station, abandoned from World War II.
Kowloon – Inspired from the single-player campaign based off of Kowloon city in China. It’s a rooftop map.
Stadium – Hockey rink in northeastern United States.
Berlin Wall – Takes place at Checkpoint Charlie. Is a battle between East and West Berlin.
Ascension – A Zombie map.

There is no news on release dates for PS3 or PC.

Source: IGN

Call of Duty: Black-Ops Review (360/PS3)

Sean — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:35:08 +0000

Treyarch’s entries into the Call of Duty franchise have always been looked upon as the ugly brother to Infinity Ward’s efforts. Both Call of Duty 3 and World at War are generally seen as lesser titles when compared to the other offerings in the franchise. Does Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops manage to get out of Infinity Ward’s shadow?

Unlike past Call of Duty titles, Black Ops puts a spin on the single player side of things. Instead of playing as a number of soldiers from various nations (normally American, British and Russian) this time around the singe player’s story is conveyed via flashbacks. The story follows Black Ops operative Manson as he under goes interrogation from an unnamed faction. During the interrogation Manson recalls past missions spanning from a wide range of locations and time periods. Each mission acts as a piece to a puzzle which is gradually revealed towards the end of the campaign, the flashback idea may not be fresh but it does offer some interesting touches to the story such as the blurry effects which represent a fading memory as too does the distorted audio. Playing through the single player campaign it becomes quite apparent that Treyarch have put a lot of faith into their cinematic set pieces as each mission is packed full them. For the most part, the set pieces look and sound the part and manage to feel natural as opposed to being shoe horned in, however at times fatigue does set in and some set pieces come off as a little lack lustre and perhaps a little bit too cinematic for their own good. Between set pieces players will find nothing much has changed on the gameplay front as most missions run in the same first person shooter vein which has become so dominate for quite some time now. It almost feels that Treyarch were aware of some mission objectives being a little tame and mediocre and thus is the reason for such a lavish amount of set pieces being thrown into the mix. Gameplay is just as fluid as ever with each movement feeling fluid and the controls never become an obstacle worthy of frustration or indeed the fabled ‘Nerd Rage’. The only real issue found within the single player campaign stems from some ropey mission/level design and some truly awful friendly AI. Unlike past Call of Duty titles which thrived upon placing players on the front line of combat in large opened out spaces, Black Ops tends to concern itself with the grimy and small side of combat hence the amount of small scale battlefields which feel more linear than in games gone by. The other issues tend to center around the almost appearing by random in certain spots which can become something of a headache – this is a small scale issue compared to that of the constant respawning waves of enemies that make levels stretch out to the point of repetition, granted this is more of a issue that plagues higher difficulty settings but does however come into play in some shape or form regardless of difficultly setting.

Black Ops does offer an interesting single player experience jam-packed with epic set pieces but this does not mean that the criminally bad AI should be overlooked. The friendly AI is borderline zombie, like with characters walking to a certain point and refusing to go any further or even opening fire in some cases, the only way to force the AI forward is to push forward yourself and in doing so it causes a little bit of frustration at the sheer lack of support from the friendly AI. The poorness of the AI is showcased while playing Black Ops on Veteran, often the AI will simply stand still and look like they have lost interest completely in the battle at hand, the friendly AI has never been a sparkling jewel in Call of Duty’s crown but Black Ops seems to be a step back in the field. Enemy AI is acceptable but it’s never anything that requires any real strategy or thinking to defeat. This doesn’t mean that there’s no satisfaction in defeating them but it does beg the question to why the AI has seemingly been in the same state since Call of Duty 4 when other titles in the genre have seemingly improved the quality of both friendly and enemy AI.

The single player experience may be key, however it’s the multiplayer that is seen by many as the real meat behind Black Ops. Typically the multiplayer doesn’t break the mould that’s been in place since Call of Duty 4 but that’s not to say Black Ops doesn’t have its own spin on things. The cycle of earning points via various acts (killing enemies, completing objectives etc) that will earn you higher ranks (up to rank 50) and thus allow players to prestige and repeat the cycle again is nothing new, however instead of simply unlocking weapons, perks and equipment by progressing through ranks, Black Ops instead incorporates a new Cod points system. Cod points are gained in the same vein as experience points, Cod points are used to purchase weapons, perks and equipment. Weapons and equipment are made available via rank progression, the Cod points add a much needed twist onto the multiplayer side of things and also allows for more range of choice when it comes to equipping yourself out for multiplayer play. A new addition to the franchise is the ability to customize your weapons with a range of cameo’s and different designs of red dot sights (e.g. skulls and smiley faces among others) this may be a novel mechanic but never the less it’s a welcomed one. Players are now given a player card which acts as somewhat of a profile for a player’s performance and stats of their multiplayer games, as well as this is the ability for a player to create their own emblem using a range of icons offered by the game. The ability to create an emblem is a little bit tricky at first, but is easily mastered within a few attempts of creating your very own masterpiece; the only real issue with the creation of emblems is seeing other players odd fixation with bestiality.

The gameplay of the multiplayer will be instantly familiar to veterans of any Call of Duty game since CoD4. Black Ops tends to play with a slower pace than Modern Warfare 2, this can be a welcome change depending on your views on Modern Warfare 2 but for the most part the change seems to be for the best. The unbalanced weapons and kill streaks of Modern Warfare 2 have seemingly been cut short but a few balancing issues still remain which may cause the odd bit of frustration, but it never gets to the point of throwing your controller at the wall and cursing the game and its creators – instead it merely makes the player more alert to some of the issues found online. Map design is solid for the most part with some maps being a good balance of short, medium and long range combat however some maps such as Nuketown become an utter mess of explosions, grenades and bullets flying around the map, of course some people will lap this up but others will quickly become frustrated.

All the game modes from MW2 make a return in Black Op’s however there’s a new breed of game mode to be had this time around. Wager matches offer an alternative to the norm, players bet against each other using their Cod points in order to gain a larger pay off than more basic game modes. Wager matches range from Sticks and Stones – which sets players against each other in free-for-all mode where players are only given Crossbows, ballistic knife and a tomahawk to kill each other thus begins a frantic few minutes of fun and axes to the face. Other Wager types include one in a chamber which sees each player given a pistol with one bullet – enemies die with one shot and killing an enemy with a pistol earns you an extra bullet; this mode is an enjoyable novel romp, even more so with friends involved. The Gun Game has long been a favourite among the Counter-Strike community, Black Ops is bringing the mode to the console audience with a few changes. The basic outline for The Gun Game is players start with a pistol and must take out enemies using that weapon; doing so will reward the player with a new weapon. Players must progress through the list of weapons to win the match; the mode can be fun however it’s not as solid as the other wager modes. The final Wager match is Sharpshooter which sees players given a random weapon and a random perk, every 45 seconds the perk and weapon change thus the game is constantly being mixed up, and this keeps games from going stale and also offers an interesting challenge. The addition of Wager matches does push Black Ops in a direction that was needed in order for the game to step out from the shadow of Modern Warfare 2, each Wager match offers a unique console experience which is accessible for both ‘hardcore’ and ‘casual’ players.

Overall the multiplayer experience is still as addictive as ever, weapons feel more balanced than in past entries into the franchise as do the kill streaks (most of which feel familiar to players from Cod4, World at War and of course Modern Warfare 2) which now seemingly incorporate more player interactivity and feel more satisfying to use. Call of Duty’s multiplayer has never been anything short of accessible, which is a key reason to its success, and Black Ops is no different. There are some weapons which may taking getting used to such as the valkyrie rocket and the hatchet. The nature of each game type adapts well to each map for the most part, with each map being well designed it’s rare that players will ever come over a map they truly despise. Another new addition to the franchise is the ability to watch back multiplayer matches and record certain parts of the match to upload to your file share. This feature is pretty much a carbon copy of theatre mode seen in Halo but is never the less a nifty addition to the franchise as well as being a useful way to report any bugs/hacks found within the multiplayer experience.

For players feeling sceptical of their ability online the addition of boot camp is a much welcomed one. Boot Camp allows players to take on bots in all the multiplayer maps and games modes; bots can have their difficulty adjusted to allow players to gain a better understanding of the multiplayer side of Black Ops. Although not a ground breaking or essential addition to Black Ops, Boot Camp still manages to cater for the needs of new players.

Black Ops will certainly divide its audience between those who prefer Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer to Black Ops, this will seemingly be of personal taste for the most part but in comparison Black Ops is arguably the better defined multiplayer experience to be had.

A feature of Treyarch’s World at War which was met which critical acclaim was the fan favourite Zombie mode. Blacks Ops hails the return of the shambling undead. Zombies is just as fun as it was back in World at War and with new maps (one of which adding a bit of a comedy factor to proceedings) and new weapons the experience has only grown, blasting through levels with four friends offers hours of replay value and with DLC surely on the way Zombies is only set to grow.

Overall Black Ops does more than just step out of the shadow cast by Modern Warfare 2. Black Ops creates its own shadow filled with a familiar multiplayer blended with fresh additions and fresh game modes all of which create an enjoyable experience which offers plenty of game hours. Black Ops single player manages to mould itself out to be something different in the franchise and at the same time manage to maintain the cinematic quality of which Call of Duty is famed for. Sure, the concept of flashbacks is a little over-done but Black Ops manages to justify its use of flashbacks and takes advantage of the variety of settings offered by the memoirs seen within the single player campaign. Both multiplayer and single player are high quality and when taken into account the addition of Zombies among other secret mini games found within Black Ops, it’s hard to argue that the game isn’t worth a look if not a purchase. A familiar ride with added spice makes Black Ops worth deploying into your gaming collection as long as you can overlook some ropey AI and linear gameplay.

Thanks to Activision for providing us with a review copy.

First Modern Warfare 2 DLC Map Pack Coming March 30

AndyW — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:16:58 +0000

Infinity Ward developers’ community manager Robert Bowling revealed through Twitter, that Infinity Ward is set to release the first batch of downloadable content for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on March 30 for the Xbox 360.

Wait, did he just say that the downloadable content will only be available for the Xbox 360?

It seems PS3 and PC users will have to mourn, as it appears this news is true. Though, before you go doing anything drastic, there is a silver lining – In a subsequent Twitter update, Bowling said new maps for the PC and PlayStation 3 will arrive at a later date.

Also worth taking note of, this announcement was followed by news that the number of unique players checking out Modern Warfare 2 online has topped 25 million worldwide.