I think it’s safe to add the Call of Duty series into the many franchises that has been serialized on a yearly basis. This week, we’re about to get yet another Call of Duty game despite the fact that I don’t think people has had their fill of the last Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 2. Like last year, its very existence has created a kind of a gaming wasteland. If you’re hoping to get something other than Call of Duty this week, you may want to read on.
Remember. Release dates are quite literally made at the whims of the publisher. The following are subject to change without any warning.
Releases To Watch For This Week
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS)
Tuesday November 9, 2010
‘Tis that time of year folks, and I don’t mean the jolly fat guy in a red suit time of year either. It’s time to upgrade your Call of Duty game with Treyarch’s spin on the series this year. Or not. It’s up to you. I would talk about the riveting single player campaign and how it’ll probably take you on a wild ride through the many black ops style missions spanning the Vietnam War to the Cold War era, and possibly through other eras as well. But who am I kidding? What’s new in multiplayer? Well, you still have the customizable loadouts and perks and whatnot, but how you unlock them is a different story. Instead of leveling and using weapons in a specific way to unlock stuff, you get money as bonuses at the end of the match and by leveling. You then buy your weapons, perks, accessories, and other player customizations.
Speaking of customizations, Treyarch has given players the tools to customize their avatar in online matches. You can customize the face paint on your avatar, the color of your guns, the red dot reticule symbol, the cammo skin, and the emblem that shows up next to your name (which can be stamped onto your weapon by the way). The emblem customization is quite a step up over what you get in Halo wherein you get a bunch of different silhouettes. In here, you can take some of those silhouettes and move them around the emblem. It’s safe to say that no one’s emblems will be the same.
Where there’s money, gambling seems to follow. Wager Matches allow players to put their money where their mouth is and attempt to come in the top 3 of that match. It’s separate from your rank progression, so the only real reward is the money, that is if you win in the top 3 spots. There’s only 4 match types that supports wagering: One in the Chamber, Sticks and Stone, The Gun Game, and Sharpshooter. One in the Chamber is a lot like the Golden Gun mode in Goldeneye. Everyone only has a handgun with just one bullet, but it will kill anyone it hits. If you do, you get another bullet. Miss, and you’ve only got your knife. Sticks and Stones forces you to use only the crossbow, with explosive tips, the Ballistic Knife, and a Tomahawk. The Gun Game has a kind of RPG feel to it. You start off with a handgun, but as you kill other players, you get upgraded to a better weapon. If you get knifed, you drop one level down. Finally, Sharpshooter is a little bit like Fiesta mode in Halo. In this case, everyone starts off with the same random weapon, but every 40 seconds, everyone’s weapons is cycled to another random weapon.
It’s hard to say if any of this will lure Modern Warfare 2 fans away, but it’s certainly reassuring to know that if they do decide to jump ship, there’s a wealth of new features waiting for them.
Honorable Mention
The Sly Collection (PS3)
Tuesday November 9, 2010
Let me guess. You’ve never heard of Sly Cooper. I can’t really blame you. His last game came out in 2005 for the PS2, so here’s a quick refresher. Sly Cooper is a raccoon who comes from a long lineage of thieves. He and his gang – including Bentley, a turtle, and Murray, a hippopotamus – goes on various heist for various reasons, and yes, it’s all very cartoony and anthropomorphic. Sly being a thief and all that, doesn’t take the front door approach to his little operations. He sneaks around and does a lot of climbing and crawling to reach his target, although he does occasionally fight. This collection comes with all 3 Sly Cooper games with updated HD graphics and some Playstation Move compatible mini-games. The biggest addition is probably the fact that the Sly 3 can be played in 3-D. In case you’re still wondering why any of this warrants a hi-def remake, consider the following. All three games were lauded by critics when they first came out, and if you want a little hint of its goodness, you should check out InFamous, which was created by the same guys. The days of mascot platformers are long gone, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any room for a good one. And Sly Cooper was pretty gosh darn good back then.
Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time (Wii)
Tuesday November 9, 2010
You just can’t keep a good Rabbid down. These mischievous, demented, rabbit-like… things are back! And this time they’re out to screw up history, whether on purpose or not is highly debatable. For some God forsaken reason, the Rabbids came across a time traveling laundry machine, and with it, they go back to various points in time to play mini-games. Going back to what made these guys famous, Travel in Time is essentially a mini-game collection, but each one is set in a different era. One mini-game is basically a racing game with DaVinci style wings. Another one is set in the stock market crash of 1929, and you have to go around the level collecting boxes and taking them back to a specific spot. The catch is that you and your partner are tethered together, so you’ll have to coordinate your moves. The return to the mini-game collection might be a bit disappointing for most, but that didn’t really stop the original Rayman’s Raving Rabbids from becoming popular. Let’s see if those wacky Rabbids will be enough to charm gamers into buying this mini-game collection.
Coming This Week
Tuesday November 9, 2010
Monster Jam: Path of Destruction (ECKM*)
(Note: PS3 version comes out on Thursday November 11, 2010)
The world is full of sporting events that runs far enough under the radar that it doesn’t get mentioned all that often but not so far down that nobody has ever heard of it. Monster Jam falls squarely under that category. I honestly can’t remember if there’s ever been a Monster Jam game before this. Here’s to hoping you monster truck fans will be happy with this game. Anything that keeps these monster truckers away from my car is a good thing.
Beyblade: Metal Fusion – Battle Fortress (Wii, DS)
Because spinning tops needed to have its own narrative and lore, Beyblade is here to make you care about spinning tops. Straight from the TV series, play as the Bladers on their way to winning the World Beyblading Championships. You get to customize your tops and use special attacks to win your way to the top. I’m just waiting for someone to come along and tell me that the game of hopscotch is actually an ancient game made by the Egyptians to battle evil.
Family Feud Decades (Wii)
This game show’s been around for a good long while. Family Feud Decades will tap into that deep history by asking various questions from those different eras. Odd as this may sound, that actually sounds kind of interesting.
Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS)
Did you know that the Rune Factory games are basically Harvest Moon games with an infusion of dungeon crawling? Natsume was worried that most people didn’t know that so they’ve stuck in he Harvest Moon name into the title. Thanks Natsume!
Sunday November 14, 2010
uDraw Studio (Wii)
You’d think with the Wii Remote’s pointer capabilities that developers would settle with using it like a mouse. THQ apparently wasn’t satisfied. uDraw Studio is the pack-in game for the uDraw tablet peripheral complete with its own special stylus! It’s literally a drawing tablet with a slot to stick in the Wii Remote. As for the “game”, it’s basically a paint program. It’s obviously not nearly as powerful as an Photoshop or anything like that, but you can save your works of art to the SD card and open in on your computer. It’s just a JPG file, so you won’t need a special program or anything to open it. And here I thought Mario Paint was one of a kind.
Dood’s Big Adventure (Wii)
Coming alongside the uDraw tablet peripheral (see above entry), Dood’s Big Adventure is a 2D platformer where you have to draw in the objects and tools needed to help you get through it. Sometimes, you have to physically tilt the tablet to tilt the game world. Have fun!
Pictionary (Wii)
Here’s the “Well duh” game for the uDraw tablet peripheral. It’s literally the game of Pictionary complete with the game board. Obviously you’ll be using the uDraw tablet to draw the picture clues. I suppose if you don’t have a giant sheet of paper to draw your clues one, your TV will have to do.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong Mini-Land Mayhem (DS)
This is interesting. A Mario game with next to zero fanfare. What is it? Another Mario Party game or something? Nope. It’s the third Mario vs. Donkey Kong. Pauline’s been kidnapped. Again. It’s up to Mario and his army of mini-Marios to rescue her. You have to guide the mini-Marios to the exit of each level. It’s somewhat reminiscent to lemmings, but unfortunately for the series, it’s never been all that good. It might explain the relative lack of hype behind it.
LTTP
- John Daly’s ProStroke Golf (Xbox 360, PS3) 10/4/2010
- Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos (Xbox 360, PS3) 9/13/2010
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Wii, DS) 10/18/2010
- The Fight: Light Out (PS3) 10/25/2010
- Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2 (Wii) 9/6/2010
- Bakugan Battle Brawlers: Defenders of the Core (Wii, PSP) 11/1/2010
- Karaoke Revolution: Glee (Wii) 11/1/2010
- 101-in-1 Sports Megamix (Wii) 9/6/2010
- Samantha Swift and the Secret Scroll (Wii) 6/7/2010
- The Sims 3 (Wii) 10/25/2010
- Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles 2 (Wii) 8/16/2010
- Style Lab: Fashion Design (Wii, DS) 10/18/2010
- Dungeon Raiders (DS) 7/12/2010
- Knights in the Nightmare (PSP) 6/1/2009
I guess we know who’s not afraid of the 800 lbs gorilla that is Call of Duty. Anthropomorphic critters like raccoons and rabbits! And I still can’t believe they’re coming out with a tablet peripheral for the Wii. Anyways, as for what I’d actually pick up, I guess I’ll go for Black Ops. That whole gambling thing just sounds too awesome. I guessing the rest of you will be doing the same.
* = Every Console Known to Man
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