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GB Review: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (360)

Aaron Dunlap — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:42:24 -0600

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is Treyarch's first Spider-Man game not based on a movie. The gameplay, especially in combat, is a step up from previous Spidey titles but the story is short and unsatisfying. Too much emphasis is placed on a half-baked "choose your fate" branching storyline that quickly devolves into a non-stop series of boss fights. The ability to switch between red and blue Spider-Man and black-suited symbiote Spider-Man is novel, but wasted. People like me who pine for a game with Spider-Man 2's quality of web slinging with a decent game attached might be satisfied, but not impressed. This game is worth a rental for Spidey fans or any curious gamer, but at the end you wont be itching for more.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

Spider-Man is probably the perfect character for video games. He can jump higher than anyone; he can walk, run, and sit on walls; he can beat up multiple attackers with blinding speed and feline agility; and he can swing around town on webs he shoots from his wrists. If ever there was an entity better suited for virtual representation, I'd like to hear it.

He's had a spotted past in games. I have no qualms saying that Spider-Man 2 on the Xbox is one of my favorite games to play. Altogether, the game is a wreck, but it's the web swinging I love. I could sit in front of that game for hours doing nothing but swing around its digital Manhattan. It just felt right in that game. You could feel the weight of Spidey as he grabs a fresh webline, feel the G-forces as he reaches the apex of a swing, feel the wind sheer off his body as he pulls his legs in and kicks out at just the right moment to maximize airtime and distance. That game is the perfect Spider-Man webslinging simulator. Every game since then has tried to be a better game, cramming in more story or more combo attacks and celebrity voices, abandoning the web mechanics altogether. Spider-Man 3 was a complete waste. How couldn't it be? It was rushed to come out with the movie, which itself was a waste.

Launch Gallery: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

(15 images)

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is different. It's not based on a movie or a particular series of comics (like Ultimate Spider-Man). If I had to describe Web of Shadows as intrinsically as possible, I'd say that it is Treyarch and Shaba Games' attempt to create a Spider-Man game that perfectly captures not only the feeling of swinging like Spidey, but the feeling of being Spidey. Not being bound or hurried by the release date of some summer movie, this game actually stands a chance of accomplishing that.

The web swinging is simplified and made more efficient, for sure, but the the focus this time around seems to be on the combat. Previous Spider-Man games have always been heavy on combo-attacks, but never very much fun. You never got the feeling during combat that you could do everything Spider-Man could, only that you were playing a watered-down beat-em-up tacked onto a web-swinging game. This time around, it feels much better. Combat makes heavy use of Spider-Man's abilities, and allows (at last) to make use of Spidey's best advantages in combat: his speed and ability to stay airborn.

How silly is it for Spider-Man, a man who can walk on walls and lift himself or anything else into the air with ease, to be seen standing with two feet on the ground, throwing punches against enemies? In Web of Shadows, there's no need to stay on the ground for the sake of grounded baddies. Better to knock them up into the air, where you're free to mangle their helpless bodies. The most welcome addition is the ability to "web strike," or zip yourself up to an enemy from far away, get in a quick attack, and then bounce out before he knows what hit him. You can string together web strikes and clobber dozens of enemies, one at a time, bouncing from head to head, staying in constant motion the entire time.

Treyarch's previous Spider-Man games have all been so-called "sandbox games" like Grand Theft Auto where an entire city is under your control, and you can attempt story-based missions at your leisure. This time around, the game is much more linear, but built around a sandbox architecture. You can still go anywhere in the city, and you still start missions by approaching specific characters and starting them, but there are no real alternatives. There are no real side-missions, and the random crimes you'll encounter just by wandering around aren't very engaging.

No, the game sees itself as linear and story-based, and shouldn't be ashamed for it.

The story itself involves the return of Venom and the black symbiote, and its eventual attempt to spread its inky tentacles across the whole city. Early in the game, Spider-Man gets re-introduced to the symbiote and through much of the game is free to switch between normal (red and blue suit) Spider-Man and symbiote (black suit) Spider-Man. Herein lies the biggest bullet point in the game's sell-sheet.

The game insinuates that your actions as either red/blue Spidey or black Spidey affect how the story branches. This is partially true. There are several points during the story where you're given the option to follow either a "good" path (marked by a red/blue Spidey icon on screen) or a "bad" path (marked by black Spidey). Whether you chose to be red/blue or black Spider-Man within the game itself makes no difference, and is altogether pretty arbitrary. Each suit has its strengths and weaknesses as far as combat and agility go, but it really just comes down to your choice of outfit. The branching storyline is controlled by your selection of the good/bad path, and when you're playing a super hero does it make that much sense to ask the player if he wants to do something good, like save somebody, or something bad, like let them die? Sure, after playing through the game once as a goodie two-shoes you might go through again to see what lies on the dark side, but the so-called conflict between good ol' Spider-Man and his evil suit doesn't come across very well when you're basically given the options of "be good" or "be bad."

It would be better if the branching paths in the story were based on your actions and not simply your selection of them. If the black suit had a more noticeable advantage in-game, maybe I'd be more tempted to use it. Maybe the game could keep track of how often you use the black suit or how much damage you cause with it, and from that make it harder and harder to go without it. Then, based on which suit you've spent the most time with, the story can branch however it likes. This is what I thought was going to happen. This is how the marketing material makes it sound.

Altogether, the story mode is somewhat satisfying but brief. The intention is probably to let people try the various branches, but I can't imagine it being too enticing.

Once you've beaten the game, you can't re-load your saved game and freely roam the town with all of your upgraded and unlocked abilities, nor can you start a new game with your earned abilities. This is a huge, huge problem for me. You spend the whole game unlocking and upgrading attacks and combos, and then after a boss fight wherein you can't even use them, they're completely wasted. I feel like I wasted all that time.

As I said, I can spend hours inside Spider-Man 2 ignoring the missions and just swinging around, looking for collectible items, earning points, unlocking new combos. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows doesn't really allow for this. It's a shame, really, because the swinging sure is fun.

I'm left at an impasse. I can't recommend this game for fans of Spider-Man video games. For people who don't really care, the more refined package and far fewer bugs compared to previous Treyarch Spidey games, as well as it being the first one truly designed for next-gen (although from the graphics you might not know it), it might be worth a rental.

They've finally made a game that feels like being Spider-Man, now they just need to make one with a satisfying game on top of it.

Jimi Hendrix DLC not coming to Wii

Zach Lott — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:55:15 -0600

Turns out that the Wii won't be getting this week's Guitar Hero World Tour Jimi Hendrix pack after all, as a representative from Activision Blizzard has confirmed to MTV's Multiplayer Blog that the console won't be getting the download pack.

Due to technical or licensing restrictions, the DLC offerings will not be the same for every console platform, the representative told Multiplayer's Patrick Klepek. For example, certain artists prefer to keep the integrity of the track pack rather than releasing singles and the Wiis infrastructure only allows us the ability to release single songs as DLC.

This kind of occurance isn't doing Nintendo any favors when it comes to competing in the online space, but when your console is printing money, what does it matter?

New Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Screenshots

Tim Grube — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:44:45 -0500

Activision and Treyarch are hard at work on the next Spider-Man game entitled, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and today we were treated to three new screenshots. Peep them below. The title is expected to be released late October on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, PSP, DS, and PlayStation 2.

Launch Gallery: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

(3 images)

Monster Jam: Urban Assault Debut Trailer

Tim Grube — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:35:39 -0500

Activision is almost set to release Monster Jam: Urban Assault and today they released the debut trailer showing off some of the visuals and gameplay. The game is due out in stores October 28 for the Wii, PSP, DS, and PS2.

Smashing Pumpkins To Release Single Via Guitar Hero

Zach Lott — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:53:12 -0500

Following the ever-popular trend of releasing new music via Rock Band/Guitar Hero, the Smashing Pumpkins have announced that "G.L.O.W.," their new single, will be part of the set list for Guitar Hero: World Tour, according to 1up.

The single will packed in with two additional Pumpkins songs, "1979" and "The Everlasting Gaze," and will give you your first chance to hear the new song, as World Tour's October 15 release date is before the Pumpkins plan to have their new album finished. Also, group frontman Billy Corgan will be a playable character in the career mode.

It'll be fascinating to see how much of an effect the single inclusion in World Tour will have on album sales. After all, Dragonforce's sales didn't really take off until they allowed Activision to include Through Fire and Flames on Guitar Hero III.

Guitar Hero III Virtuoso DLC Pack Set For Thursday Release

Zach Lott — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:40:00 -0500

Activision has done fairly well at keeping fresh DLC in the channels for Guitar Hero III, and they are looking to keep the trend going, as it was announced today that a fresh track pack will be hitting the PS3 and 360 this Thursday.

Themed around virtuoso guitarists, the new pack will consist of songs by Joe Satriani ("Surfing with the Alien"), Steve Vai ("For the Love of God") and Buckethead ("Soothsayer"), who contributed the finger-blistering "Jordan" to Guitar Hero II.

A price wasn't disclosed, but past packs have cost $6.25, or 500 Microsoft Points.

Call of Duty: World at War Trailer Appears

Zach Lott — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:27:52 -0500

The first trailer for Call of Duty 5, now known as Call of Duty: World at War, has arrived, and with it comes these dire questions: Will the series' return to the played-out setting of World War II hurt this game when Call of Duty 4's modern setting worked so well? Can developer Treyarch make up for Call of Duty 3 by capturing the spirit of Infinity Ward's titles? Maybe Activision's same-time-as-E3 conference can provide answers, but for now just keep an open mind and watch.

E3 Leak: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 Information

Zach Lott — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:09:44 -0500

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 has long been expected, but it looks like the game may soon be officially on the way, as the leak has revealed details about the game.

The information promises over 20 playable characters, including "the Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Venom and the Human Torch." A new gameplay mechanic will allow players to fuse the abilities of two characters together for more powerful attacks. Another interesting tidbit is the fact that the game will be set during the "Civil War" story arc of the comics. Players will be able to pick which side they want to support. Finally, the game will be available for the 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP, and DS.

E3 Leak: Guitar Hero World Tour's New Controller and Price

Zach Lott — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:43:04 -0500

Next up in the mess that is the E3 Leak, new information for Guitar Hero World Tour emerged from NeoGAF, revealing details about the new controller, the price, and a preview of what to expect from the setlist.

The guitar will have a new "touch-sensitive guitar neck slide" that "opens up the entire guitar neck for unbound solos." This comes after Activision had said the guitar would be upgraded without spilling any specific details.

As for the setlist, the information promises that players will be able to rock out to Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Korn, System of a Down, Ozzy Osbourne, Interpol, Muse, and others, but it's unknown what specific songs will be available.

Finally, the package of game, guitar, drums, and mike is expected to cost $179.99.

Guitar Hero: Metallica To Be Released By March

Zach Lott — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:29:46 -0500

If you thought Activision's milking of the Guitar Hero franchise was ridiculous when they announced the Aerosmith version of the game, wait until you hear this: Joystiq is reporting that Guitar Hero: Metallica is in the works and will hit store shelves before the first quarter of 2009.

Details such as whether or not the game will use the new peripherals coming with Guitar Hero World Tour haven't been announced, but you can be sure that this certainly isn't the last of the band-specific Guitar Hero titles, provided that this and the Aerosmith game don't flop at retail.

Pitfall: The Big Adventure Coming For The Wii

Zach Lott — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:49:16 -0500

Reviving classic franchises may be the hip thing to do these days, as publishers have brought back everything from Super Dodge Ball to Bionic Commando, but Activision has spent years trying to create a successful sequel to one of old-school gaming's most revered titles: Pitfall. The results haven't been pretty, but don't fret - it seems that they're ready to give it another shot, as today they announced that Pitfall: The Big Adventure is coming to the Wii.

Edge of Reality, who has had previous experience working on the franchise, will handle development for the game, which boasts over 60 levels set in the caves, mountains, and rainforests found in the Peruvian jungle.

Activision and Edge of Reality are both excited at the prospect of utilizing the Wii remote to recreate Pitfall's classic vine-swinging gameplay, saying that the Wii "is a natural and perfect fit" for the franchise.

With the results of previous Pitfall sequels being somewhat lackluster, the question arises of whether or not Edge of Reality can finally bring this franchise a game worthy of being called Pitfall. We'll find out when the game hits this fall.

Activision, Vivendi, Others Pull Out of E3

Zach Lott — Sat, 03 May 2008 11:12:22 -0500

E3 has been much smaller and focused since it became invite-only last year, but things are about to shrink even more, as Kotaku, Joystiq, and Gamespot have all made varying reports that several publishers have decided not to attend this year's show.

Kotaku kicked things off by reporting that Vivendi, Activision, Her Interactive, NCSoft, and id Software are pulling out of E3 this year. Soon after, Gamespot reported that id is attending and that Foundation 9 is joining the list of absent publishers. However, they have since declared id's status to be "unclear." Also, Joystiq reported that RPG behemoth Atlus has dropped out as well.

Vivendi and Activision's decision comes with news that they have dropped out of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which runs E3, leading analysts to speculate that they are unhappy with the orginization's president, Mike Gallagher. He has been criticized for being "less knowledgeable and sophisticated about this industry than Doug [Lowenstein, former ESA president]" by Michael Pachter, an analyst for Wedbush Morgan. Kotaku's other sources agree that Gallagher's actions are involved with the publishers' decision.

However, the other publishers haven't left the organization, with NCSoft telling Kotaku that the decision not attend E3 came from their development cycle and had nothing to do with the ESA.

Foundation 9's decision, according to Gamespot, also has nothing to do with the ESA. "... exhibiting at E3 is just not something that fits with our marketing strategy this year," said a representative for the publisher. The rep also stated that some of their employees may still attend, but that the company is "not investing in the exhibit space."

Also, it was noted by Joystiq that an Activision representative told them that the company will not partake in "official E3 activities," meaning that the company might maintain a "presence" at this year's show. They will also have a non-E3 event on the first day of the show, according to Kotaku.

Juicy Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Preorder Details

Tim Grube — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:23:15 -0500

So Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is almost ready to hit stores, but today Activision announced all the pre-ordering details. Pre-ordering will give you access to a special bundle which includes guitar, the exclusive Aerosmith faceplate, an Aerosmith tour book and of course, the game.

Pricing is as follows:

    $99 for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii

    $89 for PlayStation 2 wireless

    $109 for the two-guitar (wired) PlayStation 2 bundle which includes both a black and silver guitar.

The game hits stores in June.

Call of Duty 4 Best Game Ever

Shiva Stella — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:53:29 -0600

More good news from Activision this morning, as the company has confirmed that Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare "was the #1 title in units worldwide for calendar 2007, according to The NPD Group, Chart Track and The GFK Group." Larry Hyrb's blog also lists the game as the #1 360 title on Xbox Live (based on unique users).

Here's the rundown on the game's rewards so far:

More than 18 perfect score reviews
More than 40 combined Editors' choice, Game of the Year awards (US)
Nominated for 10 Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awards (including Game of the Year)
GameBump's own Best Shooter of 2007

"We're very excited about this achievement especially given so many competitive titles this year," said Will Kassoy, senior vice president, global brand management, Activision Publishing, Inc. "Consumer and critics agree that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of the best games ever created and further establishes Call of Duty as one of the premier brands in the industry. This ground-breaking game and franchise continue to establish new standards by which all other action games will be judged."

The game has also sold more than 7 million copies worldwide.

World of Warcraft Hits 10 Million Subscribers

Tim Grube — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:29:21 -0600

It was only a matter of time until Blizzard Entertainment, or should I say Activision Blizzard, reached the 10 million subscriber mark in the popular online role playing game, World of Wacraft. The breakdown comes in like this: 2+ million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5+ million in North America, and approximately 5.5+ million in Asia.

World of Warcraft's Subscriber Definition
World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access.

Any of you still playing it? According to the numbers, it looks like a bunch still are.

Retailers Using Call of Duty 4 Costs to Lure Gamers?

Shiva Stella — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:55:25 -0600

Some of you might be wondering why retailers have been offering Activision and Infinity Ward's stellar hit, Call of Duty 4, at such reduced rates (with some prices as low as a mere $38 for this "game of the year" title). It almost appears as though this incredible game isn't selling as well as it should be (which you know is an automatic farce if you've spent any time bouncing between matches on Infinity's servers).

Newsweek has tackled the question head-on, turning to analyst Michael Pachter for comment on what's going on with CoD4's low pricing. Pachter summarizes neatly:

COD4 is selling very well, so much so that I think it's been positioned as a loss leader to drive store traffic, particularly at Circuit City. I've seen the same ads, and it is a retailer price cut, not a publisher price cut. There are differences in terminology between how the two cuts are advertised (long story). So the answer is that holiday software sales were great (more from GameStop on Jan 10), and retailers know that they can offer discounts to drive customers to their stores. COD4 has been holding its own at $60...

So retailers are apparently luring customers in with great deals on CoD4 in the hopes of selling them $500+ Wiis and games they don't want. At least it means a great deal for you.

Guitar Hero DLC on the Way!

Akshay Masand — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 20:44:19 -0600

Those of you who have been sitting around waiting for some Guitar Hero content are in luck! Activision has recently announced that they have a bunch of songs that will be available to download for the holidays. It's good news for Guitar Hero players tired of being left out as their Rock Band brethren secure Foo Fighters packs.

The most popular songs from the DLC include a three-song pack for Guitar Hero 3 which includes "No More Sorrow" by Linkin park, "Sleeping Giant" by Mastadon, and "Pretty Handsome Awkward" by The Used. Unfortunately these songs do not come individually so if you don't like one, you're stuck with it. There will be individual songs available as well, such as"So Payaso" by Extremoduro, "Antisocial" by Trust, and "Erten Was Wir S?en" by Die Fantastischen Vier. The individual songs are hit European tracks. We'll have to see how those turn out to be in terms of success.

Prices have not yet been revealed but they will most likely resemble the prices for packs that were available for Guitar Hero 2. For those of you who can't spend the money for these extra songs or don't want to, a free rendition of "We Three Kings" done by Steve Ouimette will be available. So pickup those guitars, pop in the Guitar Hero CD,and head over to the Playstation Network or the Xbox Live Marketplace this holiday season for some new songs. Sorry Wii owners, news for DLC content for Nintendo's console is still yet to come.

Tipster Says COD5 to Feature Pacific Theater... Yes, of WWII

Aaron Dunlap — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:12:24 -0600

Did you know that World War II took place in more locations than Europe? Modern video gaming and filmmaking sure don't.

We reported earlier about a rumor that Activision had handed Call of Duty 5 to Treyarch, makers of the certainly sub-stellar Call of Duty 3, and that it'll be set in WWII again.

According to a tipster at Kotaku, the above is all true with the addition that the focus will be of the Pacific theater (we were at war with Japan, too).

That softens the blow a little bit. If COD 5 would have been another muddy Normandy game I might've just scratched my eyes out. The entire Pacific campaign of the war has been tragically ignored in gaming, perhaps because of gaming's strong ties with modern Japan. If it's done well, it could be pretty interesting.

That means carpet-bombing paradisal islands and launching artillery attacks from giant Navy battleships, nothing less.

Activision Not Neglecting Wii Guitar Hero III

Akshay Masand — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 19:20:01 -0600

For all the Guitar Hero 3 fans who unfortunately own their copy on the Wii, it is a time to rejoice. Activision is not neglecting their product for the Wii whose copies had shipped out with mono sound. Stereo-enabled discs will be given free of charge from Activision when they are released sometime early next year. The method of shipment is still unknown as of right now as is the date of release.

RedOctane has also announced working with Nintendo to help get DLC out for the system and fix some of the multiplayer bugs along with it. Guitar Hero fanboys for the Wii now have something to look forward to as they too will be able to play with all the functions the PS3 and the Xbox360 version have.

Back to WWII For Call of Duty 5? Probably Not

Aaron Dunlap — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 19:20:04 -0600

This is just rumormongering, but Gamer.tm got word from a tipster that the job postings at Treyarch (makers of Call of Duty 3) include a level designer position. The description for the posting includes, if youre a fan of World War 2 shooters, then even better!

Let's see. Treyarch has made more than zero Call of Duty games, and they say they want a level designer who likes World War II games... it all adds up!

It's a pretty flimsy premise, in the same way as the notion that there's a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Infinity ward's Call of Duty 4 got lots of praise for shirking the tired WWII premise, and if Activision has indeed tapped Treyarch to make yet another WWII shooter, well, I don't know what's become of the world.

Call Of Duty 5, Guitar Hero IV Confirmed

Solomon Lee — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:42:25 -0600

Following the news of the Activision Blizzard merger, the company has confirmed that, in fact, Call of Duty 5 and Guitar Hero IV are both in development. There are no other details for these upcoming titles at this time.

In addition, other titles in the works include a new James Bond, Tony Hawk, new Dreamworks and Marvel titles and a racing title from Bizarre Creations.

Those who wish to visit the official site can do so here.

Activision, Vivendi to 'Merge,' Blizzard is Activision's Now

Aaron Dunlap — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:46:32 -0600

Activision and Vivendi Game have both announced today that they will be merging to form a new company, Activision Blizzard.

Activision is one of the largest publishers of video games, owning the Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and Tony Hawk licenses. Vivendi Gamess games is one of the smaller, less awesome publishers but owned by Vivendi Universal, a gigantic media company. Vivendi Games owns Blizzard, developer and creator of such cash-factories as World of Warcraft, Warcraft, Starcraft, and has nothing to do with Witchcraft. Vivendi Games also currently owns the rights to not-as-good-as-they-used-to-be Crash Bandicoot and Spyro.

After looking over the press release (linked in PDF format), it appears that this isn't exactly a straight merger.

Activision isn't changing its name to Activision Blizzard.
Quoth the press release: "Under the terms of the agreement, Vivendi Games will be merged with a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision."

Activision Blizzard will be a new company, owned by Activision. They'll be spending $4 billion to buy up 145.6 million of their own shares, using $1.7 billion that Vivendi Games brings to the table from its own shares.

If I've decoded this correctly, I'd say that Activision is actually absorbing Vivendi, and mainly to obtain ownership of Blizzard. Now, instead of Blizzard games being published by Vivendi, they'll be published by "Activision Blizzard." Vivendi Games will probably disappear, though the name and property will be owned by Activision (not by Vivendi Universal, interestingly)

I suppose it's not technically a buyout, if anything I'd say the situation was that Vivendi running out of money but they had the valuable Blizzard crew, so they worked it out so Activision could acquire Blizzard by first taking over Vivendi Games. Business is confusing. Were this a Japanese business transaction, however, it would be infinitely more confusing.

Guitar Hero III Headed to PC/Mac On Dec. 10

Aaron Dunlap — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:23:22 -0600

Aspyr ("Asper" or "Aspire"?) Media, a company that deals with porting games to the Mac, has announced that they've finished a Mac version of the console hit, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

The Aspyr Mac version, along with Activision's own PC version, will be shipped on one hybrid disk (that installs on both PCs and Macs, negating the need for separate versions) along with a USB guitar controller.

So now you can play Guitar Hero III on every system ever made. Congratulations music-based rhythm game - you own our souls.

The Romantics Sue Guitar Hero Maker

Tim Grube — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:48:48 -0600

It seems like whenever something is popular or famous, there's always one person out there that decides to make some easy cash off of that fame one way or another. This time, The Romantics have filed a federal lawsuit against Activision saying the game infringes on the band's rights by featuring a soundalike recording of its 1980 hit "What I Like About You."

The song is one of about 30 songs featured on "Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s." The amount of what they are seeking was not disclosed, but you'd think all of this would never have happened if the label had decided to just let Activision use the original song.

The band's attorneys stated that Activision properly secured permission to use "What I Like About You," allowing it to record a cover version. So the problem is that it sounds almost exactly like the band--isn't that the point of a cover band?

GB Review: Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (PS3)

Brian Mohr — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:59:11 -0600

Don't look down.

Fans of the series should have no problem finding enjoyment in the game as Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is alright, but it doesn't exactly do much new or exciting. Instead, it changes the formula around a bit and is essentially the same tricks, combos and more you're used to. If you've played a Tony Hawk game in the past, you're not going to find much new here.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

Every year a new Tony Hawk title comes to consoles and this fall is no different with the release of Tony Hawk's Proving Ground on the PlayStation 3 amongst other next-generation systems. With so many Tony Hawk titles already out, does Proving Ground break any new ground?

So, what is new?

The big thing this time around is that Proving Ground allows you to follow three distinct paths in your career. One is the career path which allows you to earn contracts, shoot videos and more. Another is hardcore, which teaches you the skater lifestyle, knocking people over and such. Finally, the last is rigger, in which you can move items in the environment around to skate off of and create trick lines. The rigger mode features a world editor, and while it's not terrible, it's not exactly ideal either. It's sloppy and can be difficult figuring out where to stick cameras, etc.

The game goes even further than that though as you can actually learn stuff from specific skaters including Bob Burnquist, Bam Margera and Lance Mountain. Burnquist teaches you competition skating and an interesting nail the grab mode which allows you to pull off slow-motion manuals and grabs. It's utilized a bit more than in previous games as you can do more with your board.

As for Margera, he teaches you about climbing and Mountain on bowl carving and slash grinding. While these are nice additions to the game and add a little more depth, they require a fair amount of completion before you can even unlock them. This means you can't pull off a lot of these more interesting moves until much later in the game. If you accomplish all those goals, you'll form your own skate team and then be given an even larger set of tasks.

In summation, the big change is the branching story. It's a nice change and enables you to play through a variety of different goals without ever getting stuck at one spot.

And don't fall.

In addition, all the environments you visit feature marked challenges in-world that can be accomplished on the fly including grinding, wall-rides, leaps and manuals. These goals can be beaten in one of three difficulties from amateur, pro and sick just like in previous Hawk titles.

Just like in previous Hawk games, there's no denying that Proving Ground continues the excellent franchise's control scheme. Controls are quick and reactive allowing you to pull off some amazing combos with just a few taps from your fingers.

One other feature added to this game is the skate lounge. Just like in many other collection titles, you can unlock new items, parts, and more to put in the warehouse. It's a nice feature, but does little to add to the game experience.

While some of this is interesting and even good, there are some problems. One big one is the fact that there is no way to jump from the various cities, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore. You have to skate between them and this can be a bit irritating.

Also, the graphics are good, but there are some definite technical issues in the game. The characters you meet are relatively poorly done and don't exactly exude a PlayStation 3 like quality you'd expect.

Also available on: PS2 | 360 | DS | Wii
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Neversoft
Release: Oct 15, 2007
MSRP: $59.99
Teen | Online

Infinity Ward Addressing Call of Duty 4 Multiplayer Issues

Shiva Stella — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:09:03 -0600

If you were playing Call of Duty 4 over the weekend for either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 you might have noticed some strange server issues or received a few "unable to join game" errors.

Apparently our Call of Duty friends over in the UK have been experiencing the same troubles (though according to MCV, only on the PS3 version?) due to the same reason: an unexpectedly high volume of players trying to take their shooting skills online. Imagine that.

Infinity Ward is now addressing the issue and has commented, again courtesy of MCV:

"The only real issue is that the servers were getting hit really hard, especially with the launch in Europe doubling that traffic. Its just something that requires optimising on the server side and we've been working with the PSN COD4 Server team from the moment it started having issues assisting any way we can to help them get them up to speed faster."

As of this writing the server issues stateside seem to have been resolved or are at least stabilized. You can check out our single player review of CoD4 here and if you too encounter some connectivity issues, feel free to visit the game's xbox.com forums for updates.

New Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Song Packs

Shiva Stella — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:46:17 -0600

Activision has launched two new song packs for its popular Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for the Xbox 360. The packs are available online through the XBL service and cost 500 Microsoft points a pop. Here's a song list for each pack:

Velvet Revolver Pack

"She Builds Quick Machines" Off of the "Libertad Allbum"
"Slither" Off of the "Contraband Allbum"
"Messages" Off of the "Libertad (deluxe version)", as performed by Velvet Revolver.

Content: Foo Fighters Pack

"The Pretender" Off of the "Echoes Silence Patience & Grace"
"All My life" Off of the "One by One"
"This Is A Call" Off of the "Foo Fighters (self titled)" as performed by Foo Fighters.

[Edit] The PlayStation Store has also been updated with the same content, so I guess everybody's covered.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Scores In

Shiva Stella — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:23:57 -0600

In line with yesterday's post regarding Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the game is now "officially" available at retailers. Scores are also now officially up and shown below. GameBump will soon have its own review of CoD4 posted, so keep an eye out if you're a fan.

Current average as of 11/06: 96%

100 - Offiicial Xbox Magazine: "Simply put, Call of Duty 4 does everything right and nearly nothing wrong."
100 - GamePro: "I seriously cannot think of a single flaw in CoD4."
100 - GameDaily: "This shooter is so addictive, gorgeous (both visually and aurally) and unrivaled..."
99 - Planet Xbox 360: "At the end of the day there is only one reason not to buy Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and that is if youre no longer breathing."
97 - Team Xbox
96 - Cheat Code Central
95 - GameZone
95 - 1UP
94 - GameTrailers (video review here)
94 - IGN
90 - Official Xbox Magazine UK
90 - GameTap
90 - GameSpot (video review here)

Mighty impressive, but is the game actually that flawless?

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Madness, 12 Hours and Counting

Shiva Stella — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:40:00 -0600

Call of Duty fans probably woke this morning a bit more ecstatic than usual, as today (or tomorrow - I guess it depends on whether you believe Activision or game sites and retailers) is the long-awaited launch day for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The collector's editions are also shipping today.

A few reviews are trickling in (the current average is 95%, but hey - there are only two of them at the moment) so we'll keep our eyes on scores as they go up. For fresh videos and screenshots you can head over to the GameSpot launch center. The title's official site has also been updated with new videos, all dated from November 2. For now, take a peek at the latest footage at the jump.
The following trailer is actually a making-of video for COD4.