Jun 09
E3 2011: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty has been the first-person shooter game of choice for millions of gamers for the past few years. Ever since the “Modern Warfare” series was introduced and became so successful for Call of Duty, the franchise has been known for producing a high quality and innovate gaming experience. The next game in line for the series, Modern Warfare 3, was officially announced only weeks ago, but there has been quite a bit more information revealed about the game this week during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).
Activision presented two demos for Modern Warfare 3. The first was a non-playable demonstration of the single player campaign, which introduced players to some of the explosive sequences set on the game’s global stage: New York and London. The second demo offered a close look into the game’s new cooperative Spec Ops Mode: Survival, which is more or less Call of Duty’s take on Horde mode from Gears of War.
In MW3′s Spec Ops Mode: Survival, you and one partner kill waves of enemies, and try to survive as enemies increase in number and difficulty. For example; in the first round, you face a small handful of shotgun-equipped enemies, but the later rounds introduce better-equipped soldiers, dogs, helicopters, and so on. This new survival mode could have the potential to be the most addictive Call of Duty mode yet.
The one thing to keep in mind is that the game shouldn’t stray far from the proven formula of the Modern Warfare series. Veteran Call of Duty gamers can expect a top-notch shooter that will feel fairly similar to the previous Modern Warfare games. Since there aren’t any major changes since the last game, I would expect to see a more polished and stable multiplayer experience. The only question mark about Modern Warfare 3 is that a new studio formed by Activision, Sledgehammer Games, has been co-developing the game with Infinity Ward. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 8th.
Jun 20
E3 2010: Best Upcoming Game Releases
The Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, recently took place on June 14th through the 17th. E3 is an event for the computer and video game industry in which developers present their upcoming games and game-related hardware. There were quite a few exciting game announcements this year along with new hardware from both Microsoft and Nintendo. Here are some of the best games that were featured at E3 2010.
Halo: Reach
The latest, and potentially the last, Halo release from Bungie is Halo: Reach. This game’s storyline is a prequel to all of the previous Halo games. The UNSC is waging war against the Covenant, and almost all of humanity’s colonies have fallen except Reach.
Players will control Noble 6, a member of a team of Spartans, during the battle for Reach.
We’ve already seen the multiplayer from the beta preview this spring, which was already very polished and exciting. New features include single use equipment being replaced by reusable and persistent armor abilities such as active camo, a jetpack, sprinting, and armor lock. From the E3 trailer it was shown that there will be at least some spaceship battles during the campaign, which is a surprising change from Bungie.
As seen in ODST, Reach will feature the latest Firefight version, which has been announced to have matchmaking support. There will be more customization of what types of enemies and waves can be seen, and a new weapon called the target locator, which allows airstrikes to be called in by the UNSC. Halo: Reach is set to debut on September 14th, 2010.
Rock Band 3
The latest Rock Band game may be the most advanced music game created thus far. Harmonix is trying to bridge the gap between video games and real music instruments by creating a new playable keyboard and also a stringed guitar to mimic real instruments and teach players real music skills.
Rock Band 3 will feature a new “Pro” mode, which players will use when playing with the realistic instruments. The Squier Stratocaster six string guitar will be the featured Rock Band 3 controller. Players can connect the new controller to PCs and create music on their own, and also it will come with audio outputs that allow users to connect the guitar up to an amplifier and play music.
As for the other details, there will be 83 songs released with Rock Band 3, and all previous content from the first two games and DLC will still be playable. Somewhat as expected, there are updated graphics and players have more customization over their characters and the game. As of now exact dates are not set, but look for this game to come out sometime this winter.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Since the release of Modern Warfare, any following Call of Duty game has and will be receiving a lot of press. The new installment is being developed by Treyarch, which is the less successful of the two CoD development teams (the other is Infinity Ward). Black Ops is a sequel to World at War which is set during the Cold War. Players will be involved with missions behind enemy lines in locations such as Vietnam.
Black Ops will feature some new equipment, such as a scoped cross bow weapon similar to the Gears of War torque bow. The soldiers will also be able to fight with choppers and other types of aircraft. Treyarch has announced that along with the usual game modes, there will be a four player online co-op mode available. Black Ops releases November 9th, 2010.
Gears of War 3
The third installment of Gears of War picks up eighteen months after the previous game. One of the main new features will be a 4 player story based co-op mode. There will also be new playable female gears. Anya Stroud, who was the team’s control officer in the first two games, is now joining the battle along with Jace Stratton. The picture on the right is concept art of Anya. It’s an awesome picture so you should click it to view full size. Combat will feature mutating enemies and new equipment such as a double-barreled shotgun, Lancer with a bayonet instead of a chainsaw, and incendiary grenades.
There will be a new mode called Beast, which is the opposite of Horde Mode from Gears 2. Players are now the fighting on the Locust side, combating the COG. Killing enemies earns you tokens, which can be used to upgrade your class. Gears 3 isn’t set to release until April 5th, 2011.
Honorable Mentions
The list of games featured at E3 is way too many than I can discuss in this post. Here are some other games that were featured and will probably be worth playing once they are released:
- Portal 2
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
- Goldeneye 007
- Fable III
- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
