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E3 2008: Call of Duty: World at War Screenshots

Shiva Stella — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:15:25 -0500

Check out these new images of Call of Duty: World at War on the Wii and Nintendo DS.

Launch Gallery: Call of Duty World at War

(11 images)

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.

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.

Spore and COD4 Mac-bound. Is Mac Gaming Going To Improve?

Aaron Dunlap — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:45:52 -0600

We in the gaming world typically don't need to pay attention to the Macworld Expo for news, since it's been pretty well-known that gaming on the Mac sucks. One of the "hottest" games on the Mac right now is Age of Empires III, which came out something like 400 years ago.

Macs use Intel chips now, and the market share is expanding day by day. There's no reason for the gaming market to be so bleak on the Mac, and it looks like perhaps things are starting to make a turn.

Today, Activision announced that uber-hit Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will be coming to the Mac via game-porting specialists Aspyr. Yesterday it was revealed via EA that Spore is being developed for the Mac, and is even available on display at Macworld.

I do most of my work on a MacBook Pro but I have to hang onto a Windows box for the sake of the few PC games worth playing that come out every year or so. If the PC and Mac gaming markets were a little more symmetrical, I'd be ecstatic for one, but I think it would be good for gaming and great for Apple.

Go into an Apple store and the only games you'll see on those machines are such fare as Finding Nemo and some new age analog of Reader Rabbit. Aren't Macs supposed to be for the young, hipster, media-savvy crowd? Shoddy ports coming out months late doesn't strike me as very hip or savvy.

This could be a product of Microsoft's buddy-buddy status with the publishers. They've dumped millions on this "Games for Windows" concept, and pushed DirectX on the developers like smack on a pre-teen. It could also be a product of legacy. Games started out on computers, and although this tricked-out "gaming rig" trend is a recent phenom, PCs have always been seen as gaming vehicles.

They're also beginning to be seen as antiquated, and Apple is moving in as the younger alternative. If they'd like one hell of a boost in that direction, a decent library of video games would do that.

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.

Microsoft to Offer Free Live Arcade Game to Those Affected by Service Hiccups

Shiva Stella — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:18:19 -0600

Just in case you missed this posting over at Larry Hyrb's blog or at Xbox.com, Microsoft has confirmed that Live's poor holiday service was indeed due to a record-setting number of gamers online simultaneously and that the company will be offering compensation for all Live members (that be silver and gold) in the form of a free Live arcade game.

While it's not a couple hundred Marketplace points or a free week of service, at least it's proper acknowledgment of the issue that includes some kind of compensation. Here's the full message from Microsoft's Marc Whitten, General Manager of Live:

Dear Xbox Live Members:

During this past holiday season you helped us break a number of Xbox LIVE records. This included our largest sign-up of new members to Xbox LIVE in our 5 year history and just yesterday (January 2) you broke the record for the single biggest day of concurrent members ever on the service.

As a result of this massive increase in usage we know that some of you experienced intermittent Xbox LIVE issues over the holiday break. While the service was not completely offline at any given time, we are disappointed in our performance. I would like to take this moment to thank you each and every one of you for your patience and understanding as our team has worked around the clock to return the service to a stable state.

At the same time we would like to offer a token of our appreciation to all of you in celebration of record success for the service. And as a thank you for your loyalty during this holiday period, we will be offering all of our Xbox LIVE members around the world access to a full Xbox LIVE Arcade game that will be available to download free of charge. In the coming weeks we will be sharing the specific details of this offer with you.

Thank you again for helping make Xbox LIVE everything that it is today!

Microsoft to Compensate Gold Members for Live Downtime?

Shiva Stella — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:13:09 -0600

Regarding those nasty Xbox Live issues that gold members have been experiencing since Christmas,Torrent Davis over at The Bitbag recently confirmed that he'd been in contact with a source at Microsoft who stated that "we [Microsoft] will definitely be doing something for our Gold memebers that weren't able to get online over the last week."

This is interesting in that it would mark the first time Microsoft has compensated members for Live "issues".

Sounds spiffy considering that 360 owners have been complaining that they have basically been paying Microsoft in order to beta test their Xbox Live service. Of course, gamers who were frustrated in their attempts to play Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3 online could have just played other games, but why pay for a service if you don't even get to use it for the games you want?

The good news is that Live seems to have stabilized some.

Experiencing Call of Duty 4, Halo 3 Connection Issues Since Christmas?

Shiva Stella — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:33:00 -0600

Just on the off-chance that any of you are Xbox 360 gamers eager to relax over the holiday break with a nice match on Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4, better be prepared for some "intermittent issues." According to Microsoft's support page as of 7:30p.m. CST:

Status:
Up and running

Users may experience issues performing transactions dependent on Windows Live ID availability including but not limited to Xbox 360 and Zune account creation, renewal, recovery, all DMP transactions, and logging into or creating Windows Live ID accounts. Users will experience intermittent issues including but not limited to: Tournaments, Storage Downloads, Gamer Tile, Statistics through Arbitration, Match Making, and Messaging. Additionally, Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 users may experience issues joining matches or posting statistics. Customer Support may also experience issues referencing customer data. We are aware of the issue and are currently working to resolve it. We apologize for any inconvenience.

In other words, players are reporting issues with forming parties, hosting/finding matches, gamertag recovery, and just about any feature that a person paying $50 a year for would want - though the chat function is still operating superbly.

You can check on the status of the "issue" at Microsoft's support page or check on some forum posts (1; 2) if you're in the mood for some quality entertainment provided by Xbox fanboys who seem to share the opinion that we should all get down on our knees and thank Microsoft for allowing us to give them money.

We'll keep you updated on Live's status as Microsoft addresses the issue; current word has it that the problems should be resolved by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

As an aside, I imagine that Xbox 360's Live issues combined with Nintendo's Wii shortage have made Sony very happy recently...

Update: As of 9:30p.m. CST the Live status now reads:

Users may experience issues logging into Xbox Live. We are aware of the issue and are currently working to resolve it. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Read: everything is still screwy and players are still having problems with Live, finding/joining games, staying connected, and so on. However some gamers are able to play other online titles, like Gears of War, while they wait on Microsoft to fix the issue, so if you're bored out of your mind during your break it's a possible option.

Update Update: It seems that things have stabilized at least a smidgen on Live since yesterday, but don't be shocked when you encounter various Live problems. As of 2:40p.m. CST , 12/30, the status now reads:

Users may experience intermittent issues logging onto Xbox Live. Our engineers are continuing to investigate and are working to resolve this issue. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Apparently Microsoft is still searching for whatever is causing the problem so they can fix the issue. Normally this is when I'd head over to Larry Hyrb's blog for an insider view on the chaos, but unfortunately Major Nelson's site is down...

COD4 Christmas Gift for PC

Akshay Masand — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:05:20 -0600

PC owners of this popular game now can experience some Christmas spirit. Along with the CoD4 1.4 patch for the PC, a new release of the map Crash was released with some festive spirit. If you haven't already tried it, download it and check it out. Hopefully something of the sort will be released for the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 versions as well.

Editorial: So, Like, The COD4 Chernobyl Level Is Based On a Real Place and Junk?

Aaron Dunlap — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:47:04 -0600

Is our children learning? I think the answer is no.

Like most people with even a fraction of an education, I enjoyed the level in Call of Duty 4 taking place in post-meltdown Chernobyl because of the accurate and realistic portrayal of the barren, radioactive landscape.

Chernobyl is a city in Russia where a nuclear power plant exploded in 1986. It was one of the largest disasters of the modern era. Hundreds of square miles are still radioactive over 20 years later, thousands of people died from the radioactivity from the waste seeping from the nuclear reactor. It's estimated that over 500,000 people have been seriously affected. Mutations, radiation poisoning, deformed offspring.

I didn't know that anybody didn't know that. Even if you don't know about it because of its significance in human tragedy or engineering failure, you know about it because everybody else knows about it. Almost everybody.

Recently, someone posted some photos from Chernobyl to compare them to Call of Duty 4 screenshots. Then, as is the most proper thing to do, someone put the photos on YouTube with a Linkin Park song over it to post it in this nextgenboards thread. The reactions, and the replies, have destroyed a special part of the inside of my brain.

People have no idea what Chernobyl is.

Here's one early reply:

OMFG what scary yet brilliant story those pics as well the game or at least some off the levels must be set here

Alright, that doesn't count as a logical sentiment or thought, so maybe it's just "first post" syndrome. Lets keep reading...

wow walking thru there must be cool, after you played the game. Might make you think your really in the game lol, but thats cool they used real places

Awesome. The only connection to one of man's greatest disasters is that it would remind you of a video game level.

Yeah worst part its radioactive. So u can die. But i would go there to be like Dam.

Yes. I too would go there to be like Dam. Though, I don't think the worst part is that it's radioactive; I think that's the only part.

The next reply:

creppy, is it really radioactive? if so, why?

Don't let your heads explode just yet, he is quickly educated:

The reactor melted down. and spilled it in the air. so everyone had to leve.

*boom*

I love to think that video games are helping to educate our youngsters, (everything I know about guns I learned from gaming...) but this is taking it a little far. It's Chernobyl for crying out loud. What are our public schools doing? Do people know that the events surrounding previous Call of Duty games (World War II) actually happened, too? Perhaps The Daily Show would have to do a bit about Chernobyl before today's youth would become aware of it.

Granted, this might not represent an accurate sample of our population, but not a single person in that forum seemed to have any idea that Chernobyl is a real place with a real meltdown. I think perhaps a few hours every day browsing Wikipedia articles should be mandatory.

Call of Duty 4 Patch is Available

Akshay Masand — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:58:16 -0600

If you hop on to Call of Duty 4, you will be able to download a patch which has all the playlist changes in place now. Amongst the updates is the new Mercenary Team Deathmatch and the now available Hardcore Team Deathmatch, which was previously combined with Hardcore Search and Destroy.

The Playstation 3 has also received a connectivity patch alongside with the regular patch which allows better connection for the game to US server centers as opposed to connecting to European servers and also provides Matchmaking optimization. For a detailed list of updates head over to www.fourzerotwo.com

[GOTY] Best Shooter of 07: Call of Duty 4

Aaron Dunlap — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:49:18 -0600

Our Single Player Review (*****)
Our Multiplayer Review (*****)

Why It Won: Call of Duty was already an established series by the time Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare came around. After Treyarch's Call of Duty 3, many had thought the series had caught the "sequel syndrome" that plagues almost any big studio franchise that gets a new installment each year, each game becoming just another iteration of the previous with one or two features interesting enough to be mentioned on the back of the game's box. Boy were we ever wrong.

Call of Duty 4 isn't a greatly ambitious game. It didn't have the mega-millions advertising budget of Halo 3, it didn't have the Ayn Rand-ian objectivist overtones of BioShock, and it didn't really require that you go out and buy a new $4,000 computer to run it like Crysis. The scale of the game itself is somewhat large but it's no Earth-vs-Aliens. What the game lacks in scope, however, it makes up for in pure quality. Call of Duty 4 is a fun game, a well-made game, and a rewarding game. From the first mission you're sucked into the world of modern Special Forces and you're never let go.

The single player mode may be relatively brief but there are no dull moments. This game doesn't sag during the middle and the ending doesn't disappoint. You can't say that about many games these days. There's no backtracking or boring missions stuck into the middle to give the game length, and there's no abrupt, "Buy the sequel!" ending. How refreshing is that?

The multiplayer mode, something that could be easy to overlook, is so amazingly intelligent that it rivals and, in my opinion, tops Halo 3's online mode. I've waited my whole life for a game that rewards experimentation with multiple weapons and playtypes instead of letting people get stick to one tactic and dominate anybody else. It's here, and it's fantastic.

Call of Duty 4 is what I want from future games. It shirks trendy gameplay gimicks and instead focuses on being the best at what it does.

Why You May Disagree: I've heard some complaints about the lack of tactical elements, such as the ability to issue commands to squad members or a cover system where you can press against walls and fire around corners. You know, like every other game made in the last three years. Some Halo kids take offense to our claims that Call of Duty 4's online play is better than Halo 3's.

But We Say: Just because the only way to get a military shooter not set in 1940s Europe used to be in the form of the a Tom Clancy tactical squad-based game, it doesn't mean things have to stay like that. Call of Duty has never been a tactical game, so why should they start now just because that's what everybody else is doing? Some people don't like those kind of games. Some people just want a straightforward shooter where the only weapons aren't an M1 Garand and American pride. Too often games have these features and ride them to death. The Brothers in Arms games that featured squad commands, how many times did they shove it in your face? Rather than becoming a one-trick pony and a slave to one or two gimmicks, Call of Dut 4 focuses on overall quality and not marketing bullet points. To the multiplayer naysayers, I suggest they give the game a fair try. If anything, they probably find it too difficult because they can't jump around and obliterate an entire enemy team with a shotgun and an oversheild.

Runners Up:

Halo 3 - One of the most advertised, best selling titles of this year-slash-lifetime, Halo 3 has a lot of quality features. Unfortunately, none of them are in the campaign mode. It's reasonable that Bungie figured everybody would be buying the game for the multiplayer, but all twelve of us who were more interested to see what a bloated, runaway development budget could do for single player games were rather disappointed. This category is about the overall shooter experience, and a good multiplayer mode with a mediocre campaign mode does not a Best Shooter make.

The Orange Box - Valve's amalgomated parcel of gaming value known as The Orange Box is an extremely good gaming experience, but unfortunately the definitions for the Best Shooter category nearly exclude it. Portal is more of an adventure/puzzle game than a shooter, and Half-Life 2, and Half-Life 2: Episode One all released before this year. For new content, that only leaves Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Team Fortress 2. Those two are great, but compared to Call of Duty 4 they don't quite make it.

BioShock - This steam-punk underwater adventure is a critical and financial success, but not many of the staff here at GameBump were quite as impressed as everybody else. Personally, the ridiculously short supply of ammunition early in the game when enemies are attacking you from all sides is what broke the experience for me. Sure it had storytelling, and impressive visuals, but I didn't have much fun finding them. Managing Editor Shiva Stella says the game isn't even a shooter and that I'm wasting my time writing this paragraph.

Check out the Game of the Year 2007 Homepage.

Merry... Holiday, Call Of Duty 4 Only $40 at Amazon

Aaron Dunlap — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:51:27 -0600

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of the year's best games (earning a total of 10 stars on our 5-star scale). Amazon has the game on sale for $40 versus the usual $60 price tag. This applies to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. I don't know why I should need to say anything else.

If you haven't picked the game up yet, perhaps this sale should be motivation. Hey, there's still time for shipping before Christma...Holiday!

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.

Spike VGA 2007 Award Winners

Tim Grube — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:47:04 -0600

The 5th annual Spike Video Game Awards show doesn't air till tonight at 9pm EST, but the winners have "somehow" made its way into my inbox this morning. The show is being held in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Resort and Casino. I honestly thought Halo 3 would hit the Game of the Year, but I never expected Skate to be in the best Sports game category.

But anywho, check out the full list below!

GAME OF THE YEAR
BioShock

STUDIO OF THE YEAR
Harmonix

BEST SHOOTER
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision/ Infinity Ward)

BEST RPG
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios/ BioWare)

BEST MILITARY GAME
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision/ Infinity Ward)

BEST INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GAME
Skate (Electronic Arts/ EA Black Box)

BEST HANDHELD GAME
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo/ Nintendo)

BEST GRAPHICS
Crysis (Electronic Arts/ Crytek)

BEST GAME BASED ON A MOVIE OR TV SHOW
The Simpsons Game (Electronic Arts/ EA Redwood Shores)

BEST RHYTHM GAME
Rock Band (MTV Games/ Harmonix)

BEST DRIVING GAME
DiRT (Codemasters/ Codemasters)

BEST ACTION GAME
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo/ Nintendo)

BEST TEAM SPORTS GAME
Madden NFL 08 (Electronic Arts/ EA Tiburon)

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Rock Band (MTV Games/ Harmonix)

BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY
The Orange Box/ Portal (Valve/ Valve)

BEST XBOX 360 GAME
BioShock

BEST WII GAME
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo/ Nintendo)

BEST PS3 GAME
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (Sony Computer Entertainment/
Insomniac Games)

BEST PC GAME
The Orange Box (Valve/ Valve)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
BioShock

BEST MULTI-PLAYER GAME
Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Bungie Studios)

MOST ADDICTIVE VIDEO GAME FUELED BY DEW
Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Bungie Studios)

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.

GB Review: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Multiplayer (360)

John Godfrey — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:14:30 -0600

COD4: The best online gameplay the 360 has to offer?

By now you already know that Call of Duty 4 is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Or the greatest thing since Halo 3, at least. It ushered in the first modern warfare title of the series, and the online component is just as great as the single player campaign. With a bevy of reasons to keep playing, namely leveling up to unlock new abilities, weapons, and weapon attachments (and getting cool-sounding military rank names), and game mechanics that work just right, COD4 is a game you're going to want to pick up right now and not put down for a long time. Excuse me while I rank up.

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

Right now, not everyone is completely enthralled by the
"jump while shooting a sniper rifle then throw a grenade while melee attacking someone on the way down and land" gameplay that is Halo 3 multiplayer. And While Team Fortress, one aspect of the trifecta of awesome which is the Orange Box, is definitely a fresh fun addition to the 360's online FPS roster, it's a very specific gameplay type that may not appeal to all. Enter Call of Duty 4, the first modern warfare installment of the series - and mayhaps the best first-person shooter on the 360 to date.

COD4's gameplay is based much more on reality than the fantasy and stretches of the imagination other online titles are offering - you don't need to unload an entire clip into an enemy to kill them, as a few choice shots will do. You also don't have leaping abilities that defy the laws of gravity - all combat takes place on the ground here. In fact, you can probably recognize the gamers who had a little more than their alloted dose of Halo 3 when they run at you jumping while firing a sniper rifle - they learn to adapt quickly.

Some people may not like the sound of the "couple shots and your dead" gameplay, but let me assure you that it's implemented in a way that works. Like COD4's offline component, you have a rebounding health bar, which means if you ran around a corner and took a few bullets from an unknown source, you can always run back for cover and assess the situation as your health bar replenishes. This means that every kill you make that you encounter damage on, you can recover from and move on to the next guy. This keeps the gameplay fast and fluid, meaning that if you're really good, your main problem is going to be finding more ammo, not hoping no one sees you hobbling around looking for a med kit with 1% health left.

Now that we know how the general gameplay mechanics work with COD4, what more does it offer? The answer to that would be a lot - a lot of reasons to keep coming back time after time to unlock more and more extras in a ranking process that can become more addictive than crack. You start off with some basic weaponry, an assault rifle that fires only in burst mode, simple iron sights and a side arm - as you continue to play, get kills, win matches, be on the winning team of matches, and complete objectives (more on that later) you will gain XP. The more XP you gain, the higher the ranking ladder you go. Once you hit a certain number of XP points you get granted a new military rank that you keep until you hit the next designated number of points - what ranks do is unlock all-new weapons, perks, challenges, and attachments for your weapons.

New weapons are pretty self explanatory - you start from a semi-auto assault rifle and move onto a fully automatic one, and then from there unlock more powerful ones, etc. This applies to all weapon classes - assault rifles, sub machine guns, light machine guns, sniper rifles, shotguns and pistols. Attachments range from underslung grenade launchers to front grips for shotguns, and a variety of scopes to kit your gun out with, one for every occasion, and all much better than simple iron sights. Perks are a fun addition that allows you to attain certain attributes for your player of weapon, allowing you to do things like sprint for longer periods of time, steady your aim whilst looking though the scope of a sniper rifle, or even do things like pull out a pistol while dying on the ground to take out as many enemies as you can before you expire. Perks also allow you physical items to take into battle, like claymore mines and C4, and special abilities like being able to eavesdrop on the other team's voice communications.

Challenges are much like achievements you would find for a typical 360 title, except you don't earn Xbox Live achievements for them (achievements are only gained in the SP mode of COD4), instead you earn a huge XP boost for them, arguably a much more desired reward. Challenges range from getting a certain amount of head shots with a certain weapon to winning a certain amount of a specific match type to shooting down a helicopter.

What's that? Helicopter? That's right, but this isn't another rehash of Battlefield. Like I said, all gameplay remains on the ground - but to reward players' killing streaks, the ability to call in a helicopter for air support, among other things, are granted. At 3 kills, the player can call in UAV support, basically seeing enemy positioning as dots on a map; at 5 kills, the player has the ability to call in an air strike, which they can target anywhere on the map; and at 7 kills, the player can call in a helicopter, which will fly around the map, gunning down as many enemies as it can before it gets shot down or bored and decides to go home again. This is an excellent addition to the game as it encourages gamers to be more careful and promote the use of cover and strategy over running and gunning, where your chances are pretty much 50/50 of getting killed. Running around aimlessly in the open is not a tactic to be employed in COD4.

Playing a team match like Deathmatch of Search & Destroy allows you to employ some teamwork when employing these streak bonuses. For instance, a player that has an air strike bonus ready can combine efforts with some with a UAV support bonus ready, in order to pin down an accurate location on the map that will dole out the most damage to the opposite team. And in a game like Sabotage, if you're in the process of defending a bomb site before it detonates while repelling enemy forces, it would be the perfect time for a teammate to whip out the helicopter support and make life much easier. Of course, these sorts of strategies work best when you're playing with a clan or a party of friends, as you're more concerned with helping your team than a rag-tag bag of hooligans.

Graphically and in terms of audio, the online component of COD4 is all aces, only some special graphical effects of the single player campaign are lost in the multiplayer jump, but you'll barely notice that. Audio plays a key role, with different distinct sounds for every weapon type and subtle sounds like a grenade clinking on the floor or the "click" before a claymore goes off, that can improve your game if you listen for them. Soft footsteps of approaching enemies gives you enough of a cue to swing around and melee with the knife to save yourself from being ventilated.

In all, COD4 is such a well-rounded online game that any pitfalls it may have usually arise from the players and not the game itself. You get your typical trash-talkers and campers, and there may be people who use the perks in a way you don't like, such as the Juggernaut perk which allows the enemy to take more bullets before dying; or the claymores planted in sneaky areas that get you every time. But you're probably using perks that other people don't like too, and things like sneaky claymores are just the realities of war - just like the Juggernaut perk will be in the human vs machine war which will undoubtedly be covered in COD10. So go get this game, but be prepared to experience what all those Everquest kids do, spending every spare hour you can leveling up, and unlocking new weapons and perks.

Also available on: PS3| PC
Review: Single Player
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Infinity Ward
Release: Nov 5, 2007
MSRP: $59.99
Live | Mature
Winner of GameBump's Best Shooter of 2007

Call of Duty 4: Now with Hassle Free Multiplayer

Solomon Lee — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:20:00 -0600

Infinity Ward has addressed and fixed the multiplayer issues that plagued Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 users earlier this month who experienced server issues and numerous error messages online while playing Call of Duty 4.

According to Eurogamer, the community relations manager has issued this comment:

"You should no longer be receiving this error message or any other issues related to the firmware update in this game. Thank you to everyone for giving us the heads up on this so we could start tracking down answers, and getting it resolved and please let us know if you have any additional issues."

Additionally, the company has announced plans on the official forums to release a Playstation 3 patch and an Xbox 360 update for the game in the near future. Those who wish to visit the Infinity Ward forums can do so here.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad Rates Call of Duty 4

Shiva Stella — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:49:19 -0600

Simply because I couldn't resist, here's another advertising spot for Call of Duty 4, this time featuring a game review by Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

He recommends the title for "any warlord looking for some new ideas on upgrading their armed forces' destructiveness" and scores it ten scimitars.

Call of Duty 4 Play and Win Sweepstakes Starts Tomorrow

Shiva Stella — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:07:20 -0600

Shoot to win.

Call of Duty 4 fans interested in earning freebies via logging in online play time on the 360 version may do so beginning Friday, Nov 16 at 12:01 est for a 72-hour "play and win sweepstakes."

A winner will be selected every hour and gamers are automatically entered for each hour of play. Here's a look at prizes and instructions:

Friday, Nov. 16 Sunday, November 18 Play and Win.

Register and Play COD4: Modern Warfare on Xbox LIVE during the weekend and win an Xbox 360 Elite, Infinity Ward team autographed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare swag, limited edition Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare faceplates, Xbox 360 accessories, Microsoft Points and other great Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare prizes. There will be one winner for every hour this weekend (72 hours) as well as the grand prize which includes the Elite, autograph swag, faceplate and accessories. (The hourly winners get Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare poster, t-shirt, and MS Points.)

Here's an "event" schedule:

Friday, Nov. 16 6pm -9pm EST Play with over a dozen gamers from developer, Infinity Ward.

Saturday, Nov. 17 The PMS Clan joins the online action for Saturday night gaming.

Hopefully Infinity Ward has addressed those multiplayer issues to the point that people are actually able to play online and thus enter the sweepstakes. Cross your fingers.

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.

GB Review: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Single Player (360)

Aaron Dunlap — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:20:00 -0600

Terrorists are bad. Shoot bullets at them.

The best first-person-shooter of the year. Better than Halo 3. If you need me to say more: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is nearly perfect on all accounts. Instead of picking a few gimmicks and rubbing our noses in them, weakening the rest of the game, this game just gets everything right. Unless you were expecting a tactical shooter like Rainbow Six and will cry if that's not what you get, this game should thoroughly entertain and enthrall any curious FPS fan.

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

The WW2 market was already well-established when we came in, and we stomped all over those guys. We're going to do the same with this."

That's what an Infinity Ward developer told me at this year's mini-E3 as I watched him play Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. He's right, on both accounts. Before Call of Duty was released on the PC, games like Medal of Honor and countless strategy games had already swept up the World War II gaming field. With much trepidation I loaded up the demo for that game, but 30 minutes later I was blown away.

What made the original Call of Duty and its sequel, Call of Duty 2, so great was that it didn't rely on gameplay gimmicks or trends to stand out. These games stand out because they are good -- in every possible way. There's a visceral sense of immersion in Infinity Ward's Call of Duty games, Modern Warfare included.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is an excellent game, even though it lacks many of the elements we've grown used to in our shooters. Lately, for a game to stand out it has to have its own special element. Some games tout their super-duper-advanced enemy AI, Call of Duty 4's enemy AI isn't remarkable but it's good enough. Other games smack you in the face with their tactical elements like using smoke grenades and flash-bangs to clear rooms; these are present here but only as options, not as the only way to play. When a game has one of these features it becomes a one-trick-pony, cramming the developers' bright idea down your throat as if there would be no way to get along without it. Cover systems, blind firing, squad commands, crazy goggle effects, and spy gear like snake cams and motion detectors are all things we've come to expect from any game not taking place in 1944 Normandy. None of those are present in COD4, and none of them are missed. What is in many ways a straightforward shooter somehow manages to get it right.

Ghillie suit? More like Silly suit!

The story is not important, or altogether very interesting. What needs to be known is that you play as both a British SAS operative and an US Force Recon Marine, two organizations that collectively represent some of the most bad-ass humans on earth. Your enemies are terrorists with no affiliation to any actual capital-t Terrorist outfits. The game is polite about not shoving the story down your throat, but players interested in participating in it can find plenty of depth by paying attention to dialog.

Unlike previous Call of Duty games, which have all had players taking over a variety of different soldiers from different countries, the stories and paths of the two main characters you play as influence and intersect each other as the game progresses.

Be you SAS or Force Recon, gameplay is entirely the same. Follow your squad mates, shoot the bad guys, don't get shot yourself. The variety comes in how the missions unfold in front of you. Sure, you're not allowed to roam around freely (a common and confusing complaint against Call of Duty games; what were they expecting, Grand Theft Auto: European Theater?) but it rarely ever feels forced. There are safeguards in place to keep you from wandering off-path, but this is War; if you strayed away from your squad-mates you'd just die anyway. The loadout of weapons is pretty realistic, with the Special Ops protagonists being equipped with the types of guns they would be and the terrorists all carrying inexpensive and ubiquitous AK-47s. There were a few times where I picked up expensive, Special Forces-style weapons like the G36 and P90 from dead enemies, leaving me pretty confused.

I wasn't entirely impressed with the "feel" of the weapons as I have been with other games like Black. Unlike the MP40s and Thompsons from Calls of Duty past, these are beefy, extremely powerful weapons that only very well trained people can use effectively, but I just wasn't getting that feeling from the game. The assault shotguns especially felt weak and ineffective. Models, sounds, and animations for the weapons are all superb, however.

One thing I've seen a lot of games try and fail to pull off is material penetration. In this game, a person hiding behind a plaster wall or a wooden box is not safe from your bullets. There's an unnatural satisfaction that comes from seeing an enemy duck behind a corner, shooting a few rounds into that wall, and seeing his legs slump out from behind the corner. This system is effective but, again, doesn't shove itself down your throat. You aren't constantly put in situations where you have to shoot someone through a wall so the game can say, "See? See what we did?" and removing all the fun of it. Instead, it just feels natural.

Instead of trying to assault us with its genius gameplay features, this game assaults us with cinematic beauty. If Call of Duty had any trademarks, it would be those cinematic moments that put you into an incredible moment instead of just showing you. Some things like storming the field of Stalingrad with hundreds of comrades and no weapons or shooting down bombers with a flack cannon just can't be forgotten. There are elements of Call of Duty 4 too where the visual beauty and scope of my actions just overpowered me. Running through a war-torn city at night, in the dark, with night vision goggles on and IR sights and beacons dancing from my squad-mates while smoke trails from enemy RPGs cascade overhead like party streamers with explosions and gunfire in the distance while I try to keep sight of the red flares being shot by a stranded tank I'm supposed to find and protect, it is a defining element of the game not because of any story relevance but for how well this game can suck you into its gunpowder-laced atmosphere. It may sound silly, but instead of feeling like I've done these things in a game it feels like I've done them for real.

I feel like I've really carried a javelin missile launcher on my shoulder and fired damn near half a million dollars worth of anti-armor warheads at enemy tanks that I couldn't see but were not out of targeting range for the launcher. I feel like I've really stared down the scope of a .50 caliber sniper rifle and watched the wind sweep a flag so I could compensate my aim as I waited for a green light to take out a high profile target from an impossible distance. I feel like I've manned the cannons of a AC-130 gunship and, well, I don't want to spoil it.

The incredible graphics, controls, music, and 6.1-optimized digital surround sound all come together to make this game more of an experience than an activity.

Get to the choppah!

Looking back at the game, I start to notice a few things that other games have tried to do cinematicaly and failed. I've seen other games slip into slow-motion to emphasize an important action you're supposed to perform, but never have I seen it done (before this game) without being annoying. Other games have tried having attack dogs, but none have seen so vicious as in this game; for some reason I have this moral qualm about killing dogs, to the point where if I were escaping prison and they sent dogs after me I probably wouldn't be able to kill them to protect my position, but I was unusually eager to blast the little buggers in this game. Other games have had small moments where you can make a small decision about whether or not to kill someone with some immediate effect, but never so subtly as here.

There's even an element that reminds me of a rather ham-fisted late moment in Splinter Cell: Double Agent but works much better here in the climax of Call of Duty 4.

It's important to remember, though, that this is not a tactical shooter. As I've said, there's no squad commands and you don't have to flash-bang every damn closed door you reach as in Rainbow 6: Vegas (my favorite Xbox 360 shooter up until now). Some people may be disappointed by that, but I came to enjoy it. Your characters aren't leaders, anyway, they're taking the commands, not giving them. This makes everything feel much more participatory and less invulnerable. Towards the end, however, things did seem to stray into Tom Clancy territory as far as one elite squad needing to save the world, but I guess when you're writing your own stories instead of cribbing them from history books it doesn't hurt to crank up the stakes.

Another problem I'd been having is the uneven difficulty at times. A little bit of a challenge is a good thing, but the ends of some levels just seemed ridiculously hard to me until I figured out that the game really wanted me to play it one certain way. My biggest problem with difficulty was that the enemies all seem to have near-mythical accuracy with their grenade throws. They never miss, they never over-throw or under-throw. Even if you can't see an enemy, his magic grenades will find you. I sometimes wondered if this was done intentionally just so you'd discover the ability to pick up and return thrown grenades, but it seems a little over-the-top to me.

The single player campaign mode is short but dense. I was able to power through the game on Normal difficulty in around five hours, but I had a deadline to meet. Beating the game unlocks three things: a final bonus level that is a recreation of a common special ops exercise, a terrorist siege on an airplane with a VIP hostage (I think this may only be available if you don't skip the closing credits), Arcade mode, and cheats mode. Arcade mode is the campaign mode with the addition of points, a nice fun way to replay the game without feeling like you're just replaying a game. Cheats mode is kind of what it sounds like: the ability to enable cheats while playing. Cheats are unlocked by collecting enemy intel items scattered throughout the game.

I could go on (and on and on) about the good things in this game point by point, but I'd just be wasting both of our time. All that needs to be said is that this is the best single player shooter of the year. Is it better than Halo 3? I think a drunken stumble through a knife store would be better than Halo 3's single player campaign (relative to its hype, anyway). Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare beats it and anything else this year by a longshot, Half-Life 2: Episode Two included. You cannot be let down by this game.

Another thing that Infinity Ward developer told me at E3 was, "We're going after Halo 3 with our multiplayer mode." The multiplayer in Call of Duty 4 is arguably bigger than the single player, and the multiplayer beta really caused a stir a month ago. Does it have what it takes to compete with Halo 3's massive online experience? Find out in our review of Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat's multiplayer mode coming shortly.

Be sure to check out our multiplayer review of this title, located here.

Won GameBump's Best Shooter of 2007

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.

Call of Duty 4 Giveaway On Xbox Live

Tim Grube — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:52:28 -0500

More giveaways are good thing, right? What if I said all you have to do is play a game and you could win Call of Duty 4 swag? The generous folks at Activision are giving away an Xbox 360 Elite, Infinity Ward team autographed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare merchandise, limited edition Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare faceplates, Xbox 360 accessories, Microsoft Points and other various items.

There will be one winner for every hour (72 hours) as well as the grand prize which includes the Elite, autograph swag, faceplate and accessories. (The hourly winners get Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare poster, t-shirt, and MS Points.)

The event begins Friday, November 16 and ends on Sunday, November 18.

GH Preview: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)

Aaron Dunlap — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 15:20:00 -0500

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Im sick of WWII shooters. Arent you?

People have been saying that for years now, and I could never really agree with them because I always had a place in my heart for the Call of Duty series. Sure, World War II shooters are tired, but Call of Duty could always surprise and enthrall me.

That is, of course, until Call of Duty 3. Thats another issue, though, and Ill get back to that later.

The WW2 market was already well-established when we came in, and we stomped all over those guys, an Infinity Ward representative told me. Were going to do the same thing with this.

The this hes talking about is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the first CoD title to pull away from war-torn Europe and bring players into the modern age.

That comment made me think, though, about the genre of modern-age military shooters that feature real military units using real weapons against real enemies who also use real weapons: there isnt one.

The idea seems terribly obvious, so much so that the sheer lack of modern military shooters seems almost insane. Think about it, though; can you name any other popular military shooter that takes place right now?

Theres Tom Clancy games, sure, but those have all gone futuristic. Rainbow Six has gone future-happy with R6: Vegas, Ghost Recon has turned into GRAW which is anything but present-set. Everything else either takes place on Mars or a space station.

How can this be? Perhaps, I surmise, because its too hard. Making a game set in the future is easy, you can just invent whatever technologies and conflicts you want. To make a good modern warfare game you would have to get every detail right while still making the game fun to play.
If anybody had to do it, it should be Infinity Ward -- who started working on Call of Duty 4 right after they finished Call of Duty 2, a fantastic game and probably the best Xbox 360 launch title. In the meantime, Activision shoveled Call of Duty 3 onto Treyarch, who many feel was not up to par with previous titles. Thats a weasel-wordy way of saying I hated it, but a proper journalist isnt supposed to say such things.

Call of Duty 4, which I took a look at this week at E3, puts players in control of a U.S. Marine and a British SAS trooper, much in the way previous CoD titles alternated between US, British, and Russian sides of the same faction. The game features a storyline wherein a fictional group of Chechnyan rebels stage a coup, and players will be fighting in areas near and around Chernobyl.

There is an overarching plot to the game, but the actual character you play as has no story, just as in other CoD titles.

There are over 70 weapons in the game, all of them completely realistic and appropriately represented. Other military hardware shows up in the game, too, such as the high-tech Javelin surface-to-surface missile launcher that auto-targets enemy vehicles and fires a missile (a $75,000 missile, the Infinity Ward developer reminded me) straight up, then straight back down onto the top of the target (where shielding is almost always the weakest). Theres also Cobra helicopters and other gunships to provide air support.

The level I looked at took place in a battle-torn village and featured some of the most frantic combat Ive ever seen. The enemies all run around with multiple RPG launchers strapped to their backs, darting back and forth from cover to cover. There are hundreds of animations for characters, all of them motion-captured and activated dynamically. AI characters duck for cover naturally, shoot around corners when they need to, and stumble convincingly as theyre shot down.

I also came across a few of the holy sh-t moments that made me fall in love with Call of Duty. Certain weapons feature IR-sights, which are like laser sights but only visible with night-vision goggles and appear as airy, ethereal green lines emanating from your gun. Put a few soldiers in the same space and those lines dancing across rooms and through the darkness can be quite breathtaking.

There are also some awesome smoke effects, as when enemy-fired RPGs leave behind dynamic smoke trails that linger like banners in the sky. The game features a new dynamic lighting and shadow system as well, just one of the many additions to the constantly-revised Call of Duty engine.
Also new is a material-penetration system, where every surface and object is given a unique density. Soft materials like plaster walls and wooden fences can simply be shot-through. Fresh bullet holes glow green through night-vision until the heat dissipates.

As for the annoying elements of Call of Duty 3 that wont be carried over: those stupid little mini-games they threw at you in the console versions, like twisting the analog sticks around to charge demolition explosives, or the little scripted grapple-fights where an enemy would grab your gun and force you to mash buttons or wave your Wii-mote like mad until the game would decide you won -- theyre gone (there won't even be a Wii version), bomb setting and all combat will be straightforward; the pointless scripted cut scenes that did nothing for the actual story, like early in CoD 3 where a teammate threatened to mutiny against his superior -- none of that, anything a character says will be story-oriented and nothing will ever take you out of the game.

And the cool stuff that will be coming back? Frantic, balls-out action sequences that may give you P.T.S.D.? You bet. Slower, stealthy-style sections to even out the pacing? Yeah, theres a few sniper levels complete with ghille suits. Picking up and throwing back grenades thrown at you? Yes. Cooking off grenades so theyll blow sooner after throwing? Yes. Tank driving? I couldnt get an answer out of the guy; that probably means yes.
Infinity Ward seems pretty excited about the multiplayer mode. It should beat Halo, not in terms of sales, but in terms of fun, the developer told me. Deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, domination, all that stuff. What should make it stand out isnt crazy mode, but rather the ease of control and gameplay. Apparently, multiplayer control should be exactly like single-player.

Like pretty much every other game at E3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will be out this holiday season, meaning the game is pretty-much finished and now being polished. Its unusual, then, that there was no free-play demo at E3; it was entirely watch somebody who made the game play it, which often means that the demo will explode if you go anywhere off the beaten path.

Fans of the Call of Duty series who liked it for more than its Nazi-blasting WWII setting should rest assured that this isnt just a modern shooter with Call of Duty in the name, this is a Call of Duty game from top to bottom. People who lost hope in the series after Call of Duty 3 should rest assured that CoD3 was just an offshoot, and that the very people responsible for the greatness of the original Call of Duty games are behind Modern Warfare.

Bearing in mind that I still havent actually touched the game, Im obligated not to give an actual gameplay verdict. As a gamer, though, and not a journalist, Im buying this game.

New Call of Juarez Imagery

Shiva Stella — Tue, 15 May 2007 13:12:00 -0500

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Ubisoft has published new screenshots of its Call of Juarez, currently being developed by Techland, running on the PC. Several of the images compare and contrast the quality of DirectX 9 to DirectX 10, if you're curious. Enjoy. The game is also due out on the Xbox 360.

Call of Duty 4 Unveiled - First Trailer

Shiva Stella — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 17:38:00 -0500

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Activision has published its first trailer unveiling Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare currently being developed by Infinity Ward (Call of Duty 2). Few details of the title are known, except that it abandons the World War II theme and skips up to modern war zones for a fresh new look at the franchise.The trailer was broadcast worldwide earlier today on ESPN and even includes a 90-second extended version on a promotional site that also launched today, which you can register for here (mature audiences only, kids). We've got no information as far as platforms go, but as you can tell from the footage, next-generation looks highly likely with probably Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 options included.Enjoy and let us know what you think.

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Activision's E3, Next-gen Launch Lineups

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:01:00 -0600

In a more unique lineup announcement, Activision has announced both its E3 lineup and its next-generation launch lineup for the PlayStation 3 and Wii.

The company is currently developing several specific launch games for the new consoles, including Call of Duty 3 (PS3, Wii - working title), Marvel: The Ultimate Alliance (PS3, Wii), Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (Wii), and Tony Hawk's Project 8 (PS3) - all of which, with the exception of Downhill Jam, will also be available for the Xbox 360.

Following is the company's E3 lineup with descriptions, as provided by Activision:

Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars - Set to redefine online action gaming, id Software's "Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars" is the ultimate team- and objective-based multiplayer experience. Developed by Splash Damage and executive produced by id Software, the first person strategic action game is set within the epic "QUAKE" universe in the year 2065 and pits the Allied troops of the Global Defense Force (GDF) against a new Axis of Evil - the barbaric and technologically advanced Strogg. Built on id Software's new MegaTexture rendering technology and featuring strategic team play, persistent character promotions and the universe's most powerful weapons and vehicles, "Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars" transports players to the frontlines of an epic new war for Earth. (Windows PC; not yet rated by the ESRB)

The Movies: Stunts & Effects Expansion Pack - Building on "The Movies'" critically acclaimed gameplay, "The Movies: Stunts & Effects Expansion Pack" ups the ante on movie production with the addition of stuntmen, death-defying stunts and new stunt double characters; a new particle effects engine that lets players enhance their scenes with incredible visual effects, including fireball explosions, shattering glass, smoke and steam; an all-new "Freecam Mode" that allows players to adjust the camera location, angle, field of view and path to create truly unique movies; and the addition of new miniature sets that let players create dramatic sweeping angles. (Windows PC; summer; Rated "T" (Teen - Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Tobacco Violence) by the ESRB)

Over the Hedge - Based on DreamWorks Animation's upcoming film, "Over the Hedge" takes players on an all-new adventure beyond the movie as they assume the roles of RJ the raccoon, Verne the turtle, Hammy the squirrel and Stella the skunk and turn a suburban neighborhood loaded with dangerous obstacles and traps into their personal playground. (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and the PC have been rated E10+; Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS have been rated E by the ESRB; available on North American retail shelves May 9)

X-Men: The Official Game - "X-Men: The Official Game" catapults players into an original storyline that serves as a prelude to Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel Studios' upcoming film, "X-Men: The Last Stand," and allows them to command the distinct powers of Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Iceman as they face off against formidable enemies, battle through massive environments and embark on an epic quest to save mutant-kind. (Rated "T" (Teen - violence) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and PC by the ESRB; Rated "E-10+" (Everyone 10 and older - fantasy violence) for the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance) by the ESRB; available on North American retail shelves May 16)

World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions - Building on last year's #1 poker title and the #1 brand in poker, "World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions" takes a story-based approach, putting players on the Pro Circuit as a new pro and protege of Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Players test their skills at the premier Circuit Events in hopes of qualifying for the winner-take-all, invitation-only Tournament of Champions at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. Along the way, they face-off against more top pros than ever before, including Joseph Hachem, the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion, and Jennifer Tilly, the Academy Award-nominated actress and World Series of Poker bracelet holder, among others in hopes of bringing home the Tournament of Champions trophy. (Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PC, PSP system; fall; not yet rated by the ESRB)

Activision has also announced that it will release four new Call of Duty 2 maps for the Xbox 360 rendition, which players can download via Xbox Live.

The Bonus Pack features two maps set in Germany and will be released for free, while the Skirmish Pack contains two additional maps set in Russia and France and will be sold for 400 Microsoft Points through Xbox Live Marketplace.

Originally written by Shiva Stella

New Call of Duty: Roads to Victory Screens

Shiva Stella — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:14:00 -0600

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Activision has published nine new screenshots of Amaze Entertainment's Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, an original CoD game being developed for the PlayStation Portable (marking the franchise's first foray into the PSP line-up) and set to release this spring. The game features three playable characters (allied soldiers), 13 battles, four control schemes to choose from, multiplayer gameplay (up to 4-6 players, including the standard deathmatch, capture the flag, and king of the hill minigames), and a plethora of unlockables for extensive replay value. Enjoy.

Call of Duty 2 Announced

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:01:00 -0500

Activision officially announced today that they are in development with Call of Duty 2 for the PC.

Our team at Infinity Ward is committed to thrusting gamers into the heat of battle like no other, taking players on a thrill-ride of adrenaline that leaves everyone gasping for air, states Grant Collier, president, Infinity Ward. In Call of Duty 2, we are creating the most intense and realistic action game imaginable with a stunning visual atmosphere and an advanced technology that delivers an unprecedented level of authenticity.

Not much information has been released, but expect a full hands-on preview at this year E3 Expo next month.

Originally written by Tim Grube

GH Review: Call of Duty 2 (PC)

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 14:01:00 -0600

This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Matthew Call.

The Call of Duty series began in 2003 when members of the team that designed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault began their own game company, Infinity Ward. Now, only two years later, Infinity Ward has churned out a full blown sequel to the original Call of Duty with Call of Duty 2. The Call of Duty games put gamers in the shoes of Russian, British, and American soldiers in World War II. Details on the identity of the protagonist are intentionally scarce since the games intent is for the player to be an Everyman of sorts, a small soldier in the middle of an enormous conflict. Enormous conflicts are what the Call of Duty games excel at and Call of Duty 2 somehow manages to create even larger-scale battles than the original. Every so often in video games, developers create a sequel that somehow manages to keep everything that made the original game great while also improving upon it. Call of Duty 2 manages to do just that, and is certainly one of the best games of 2005.

The first thing most gamers will notice upon seeing Call of Duty 2 in action is how impressive the graphics are. Call of Duty 2 features what are likely the most detailed game environments ever seen in a game. Stones on houses jut out and feel distinct from each other, cloth contains visible threading and texture, and weapon models have metallic imperfections and legible writing on them. Fellow soldiers look highly realistic, down to the creases on the Russian commanders aged face and the rank insignia on their uniforms. Soldiers animations in combat are particularly well done and are highly convincing, especially when reacting to being shot. What steals the show visually, however, is the smoke from smoke grenades; it billows about realistically and effectively obscures the area, which comes in handy when trying to flank a German machine gun nest.

The sound is equally impressive. Each weapon in the game has its own distinct sound, and players can tell what type of weapon the enemy is shooting at them simply from the sound of the shots. Artillery rounds buzz overhead and grenades explode with a satisfying punch. The orchestral score is brilliant and is usually fairly subtle except for key moments in the game where it swells dramatically to reinforce the action happening on the screen. The voice acting is believable, both from main characters in the game as well as from fellow soldiers shouting in the trenches. EAX and 3D directional audio function properly and immerse the player in a realistic World War II soundscape.

The levels in the original Call of Duty felt large but were also very linear. Call of Duty 2 ups the ante by having large levels that allow the player more room to approach situations the way they want. Often objectives can be completed in the order the player wants to complete them, instead of along a predetermined path. A mission in the American campaign requires the player to clear the Germans out of eight buildings, which can be attacked in any order. This level of freedom is a refreshing change in a first person shooter; even when the levels are linear, they are usually so large that the player doesnt feel trapped into going a certain way.

The biggest addition to Call of Duty 2 is the new health system. Instead of searching for health packs or backtracking for health because the autosave kicked in when you had only a handful of health points left, the game abandons the health point system entirely. Instead when players take damage a red tint fills the screen indicating the need to get behind some cover, or face certain death. Once the player ducks out of combat for a moment the screen clears and the player is free to rejoin the fight. While this may seem to make the game slightly less realistic for some, the higher difficulty levels more than compensate for the games regenerating health system.

The game features five multiplayer modes: death match, team death match, capture-the-flag, search-and-destroy, and headquarters. All of these are identical to their counterparts in the original game except for headquarters, which is a new addition in Call of Duty 2. Headquarters games assign each team a random location on the map to set up and defend a headquarters. Once the headquarters is created the defending team will no longer respawn when killed but will also begin accruing points. This will continue until the headquarters is destroyed or until the defending team is dead, at which time the map will rotate the locations of the headquarters and the teams begin again until the point limit is reached. Online players quickly adapt and react to new situations and tactics, ensuring that no multiplayer match ever plays out exactly the same, adding to the replay value of the game. All of the multiplayer games are fast and furious and allow the players to continue to enjoy the frantic action of the game long after the single player game is done.

Call of Duty 2s biggest weakness and greatest strength is that it sticks to the tried and true formula of the original game. World War II shooters are a dime a dozen now, and Call of Duty 2 is little more than a bigger and prettier version of the original game. Some gamers are doubtlessly tiring of the genre, although Call of Dutys amazing production values certainly merit a closer look. Looking through my personal game collection I found six World War II shooters and only a handful from all other wars combined. It might be time for developers to leave the 1940s alone and move on to another conflict: Korea, Vietnam or the Gulf.

The Call of Duty 2 multiplayer community is also up in arms at the moment over the lack of anti-cheating software in the game. Unlike Quake 4, Call of Duty 2 does not support PunkBuster or any other anti-cheat program. This may be fixed in a future patch, but if it isnt, cheating could become serious problem in multiplayer games. If the games community complains loud enough these issues will probably be resolved soon.

My last complaint is that the games physics dont approach the level of realism seen in F.E.A.R. or Half-Life 2. Boxes and vases shatter when shot or blown up by grenades, but the pieces dont fly about realistically. Furniture and other objects dont budge even when grenades detonate right next to them. If players took cover behind a desk, only to have the desk gradually disintegrate or be destroyed or moved by a grenade, the combat would have felt more realistic and exciting. I realize Im being a bit nit-picky, but physics in recent games have dramatically changed the way players approach first person shooters, and it is unfortunate that physics werent implemented to a greater extent in Call of Duty 2.

Call of Duty 2 is a must have for anyone who enjoys first person shooters. World War II buffs will enjoy the documentary film footage scattered throughout the game as well as some of the most realistic depictions of World War II environments ever seen in a computer game. Even if gamers have grown tired of World War II, Call of Duty 2 features the largest battles and most detailed environments of any game to date, making it worth a look. The battles are entertaining and capture the same run-and-gun feel of the original Call of Duty and the multiplayer modes are a blast. Call of Duty 2 somehow manages to be an even bigger and better version of the original game, and that makes it one of the best titles of 2005.

Same hectic action of the original game, only on an even larger scale.

The most realistic textures and environments seen in a game to date.

Big explosions, realistic gunfire, and a superb soundtrack make this games audio shine.

Feels a bit been-there-done-that, but still highly entertaining.

No unlockable content, but multiplayer games are enjoyable.

GH Preview: Call of Duty 2 (360)

Aaron Dunlap — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 21:52:00 -0600

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

As much as the gaming public laments the endless bevy of World War II-themed videogames, there will always be a place for Call of Duty. Just when we thought we'd seen the bottom of the barrel as far as WWII shooters went, Infinity Ward brought us the exact same thing with a whole new spin. Call of Duty demonstrates a whole new era depth and feeling in a tired genre.

Well, here's a sequel!

Already out for the PC, Call of Duty 2 is set to launch along with the Xbox 360. Like the original, COD2 puts you in the grimy boots of three soldiers spanning all three sides of the Allied faction (American, British, Russian) and pushes you through all the famous battles your creepy history teacher trodded on endlessly about in highschool.

Unlike previous console versions of Call of Duty, this one mirrors the PC version quite well. The controls on the Xbox 360 previews that Activision has been sending around have behaved quite nicely for a game built around a keyboard and mouse. The graphics on the 360 are as nice as you'd expect, if not nicer. There's a sort of gritty, muddy, burned-up look to soldiers and environments that is (for once) done intentionally, as the new Xbox has the power to cast light and reflections off of anything, so mud and dirt roads can finally look like they ought to and not like some programmers took their frustration out in Microsoft Paint.

I have previously lamented over health bars and how pointlessly unrealistic they are (short version: how can someone be 1% or 90% dead?), and Call of Duty 2 is one of a handful of games coming down the pike that slough the silly health bars for a more realistic approach. As your character takes damage, your/his vision starts to fog up, the edges of the screen start turning red, and you can hear your character start to gasp and stagger. There are no health pickups either, since those have always been pretty silly if you think about it (Oh man, I'm 90% dead. I need to find a white box with a red cross on it, quick!). Now, if your character is a bit worse for wear you'll need to find someplace where you can sit and catch your breath. Cheap? Maybe, but then so are white boxes with red crosses.

Enemy AI is staggeringly impressive, to the point where enemy soldiers can work together to flank you, outnumber you, or outgun you. Almost always, enemies are programmed to do nothing more than stand in one place and stop you from getting there but in Call of Duty 2 the bad guys actually do things, like track you down and shoot with what could be considered better-than-average accuracy. Amazing.

Beyond the epic single player storyline, there is both Xbox Live play and system link (remember that?), as well as the standard 4-player split screen (which is a bit more space-economical on a widescreen tv; hurray HD era!). Multiplayer gameplay, whichever the medium, runs at a ridiculous framerate and handles just the same as single-player, and it features all the bells and whistles of online previous Calls of Duty, Call of Duties, or whatever combinations of words makes the most sense there.

Fans of history, shooting, and videogames should kick this sucker to the top of their Xbox 360 to-buy list. In the world of system-launch games, there are rarely any winners only mediocre games that seemed cool at the time because the bar had been raised, and with it the pole-of-mediocrity. Rest assured that in the case of Call of Duty 2, there's actually a really great game hiding under that price tag.

GH Preview: Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (PS2)

Brian Mohr — Sun, 22 May 2005 14:19:00 -0500

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

With the success of the first-person shooter Call of Duty it's not surprising Activision is planning another one for consoles this time entitled Call of Duty: Big Red One. The game focuses on the squad from the first infantry who was the first on the ground in World War II. The game puts you in locations like North Africa, Italy and Europe as you battle Germans, Italians and even the French who we surprisingly fought for a bit.

No official word has been given on how many missions are included in the final version, but Activision maintains that it'll be extensive. The game features online play for both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and is scheduled to release for the Gamecube too. Instead of doing various missions, this time the developers want you to emotionally connect with your team and understand the feeling of losing one of your men as you move up in rank. The game includes a somewhat free-form style in which you'll have new weaspons, sprinting and even the ability to cook off some of a grenade to better time them because if you throw it too soon the Germans will it them back. The developers are also planning to have sniper and stealth-styled missions for variety.

Graphically the game looks really impressive; there are dozens of troops going into battle and the action literally surrounds you. If you look forward you'll see at least 30 or 40 men running into battle and you can turn around and see the same amount or more following you too. All the scenes were done with motion capture to give it an even more realistic feeling. Beyond this, the action is very realistic as you'll see explosions and bullets flying everywhere. Planes even dive through and drop bombs and despite not seeing buildings take complete damage, Activision maintains it's being worked on. One thing I noticed in the demo was that if you turned after a tank was destroyed it disappeared instead of becoming a part of the landscape; hopefully they'll work to make this sort of stuff more realistic. The player movements at least at E3 seemed a little choppy, but the players moved and covered realistically.

Call of Duty: Big Red One is shaping up to be significantly better than the original console release by giving you the true First Infantry experience. The game looks to add varying mission types and a more open-ended experience, along with better graphics, more characters on screen and more of everything than the first. Truly Big Red One gives players the World War II experience they crave.