Call of Duty: Vietnam

Destructoid has posted an unsourced rumor that the next Treyarch-produced Call of Duty game, most definitely coming out near the end of this year, will be set in Vietnam.

The first thing that came to my mind is the fact that I was mildly offended by the nearly-categorically-racist portrayal of Japanese soldiers in Treyarch’s last game, Call of Duty: World at War. So now we’re going to see a racist portrayal of Vietnamese, eh?

Actually, if they get the foliage right it might be a pretty good game. It’s an inevitability that another Call of Duty game will be arriving this year, so the least they could do is change it up a bit with a new era. Although Call of Duty: The American Revolution sounds waaaay better.

GameDaily’s Top 25 Hardest Games Of All Time

We’ve got a real head-scratcher here, friends. Sure, the Ninja Gaiden series probably deserves to take the top spot on GameDaily’s Top 25 Hardest Games Of All Time list, but some of these seem a little off. Mega Man 9 gets some props, but none of the other games? And I’m not sure if games with specific difficulty settings should be included at all (DOOM, God of War). And is it just me, but weren’t Call of Duties 3 & 5 way harder than Call of Duty 4? Hell, even I almost beat that game on Veteran! And Portal? Difficult?

Full list:

25. Ice Climber (NES)
24. Viewtiful Joe (GameCube, PS2)
23. MDK 2
22. Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link (NES)
21. Metal Slug series
20. Tetris
19. Gauntlet 1
18. Portal
17. Bionic Commando series
16. Guitar Hero series (On Expert)
15. Shinobi (PS2)
14. F-Zero GX (GameCube)
13. Mushihimesama Futari
12. Doom (On Nightmare Difficulty)
11. Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
10. Contra series
9. Defender
8. Devil May Cry 3 (PS2)
7. God of War series (PS2)
6. R-Type series
5. Ikaruga (GameCube, Xbox Live Arcade)
4. Mega Man 9 (Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare, PlayStation Network)
3. Battletoads
2. Ghouls N’ Ghosts series
1. Ninja Gaiden series

Threevue Review: Call of Duty: World at War

Mark:
I’ll admit it: I’m a Treyarch apologist. I loved Call of Duty 3, and thought that it got nothing but a bad rap from the majority of the gaming public. Call of Duty 3 multiplayer provided me with some of the best gaming time I’ve had in years thanks to the large maps, weapons, vehicles, and SPLIT-SCREEN MULTIPLAYER. Treyarch was always looked at as Infinity Ward’s not-quite-as-skilled little brother, and I never thought that was fair.

Call of Duty: World at War, though, is a different story. I was very excited about this game. Unlike most people, I couldn’t wait to go back to WWII, especially with the new war in the Pacific parts. When I got the game I loved it at first, but after a little time with it I started to realize that it wasn’t the game I was hoping for. The multiplayer was a little underwhelming, and although the campaign is good, it just lacks some of the magic that I remembered from the past. Overall, it’s a good time and everyone should definitely play through it at least once, but carrying the Call of Duty name comes with a much heavier responsibility now, and I don’t feel they quite lived up to it.

81/100

Russ:
Anyone who follows our tales of misadventure knows that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this game. I wasn’t a big fan of Treyarch’s last outing (Call of Duty 3), and Call of Duty 4 has yet to grow old for me. To me, CoD: WaW was simply coming along too soon. I didn’t particularly feel like returning to a WWII setting after getting my hands on a red-dot sight, yaknowwhatimean?

CoD: WaW has a lot going for it, though; it took many of the best elements of Call of Duty 4 and simply put a WWII skin over them. True, I had to revert back to old-timey guns, but the game still feels pretty damn solid. There are plenty of things to complain about – ridiculously bad AI, an unfair portrayal of the Japanese, and gameplay that is at times derivative (did we really need another “sniper level”?) – but it still stands several inches above most FPS games out today. I wish many elements of CoD: WaW had been in CoD4 (well, really just the online co-op). The included “zombie mode” is my most pleasant surprise of the year, although it starts out too slow and is generally too nerve-racking to play without friends. If Treyarch had taken another six months to really work on the game I wouldn’t have held it against them, and in doing so they may have been able to get the best of CoD4; but as it stands today, CoD: WaW is simply that younger brother tugging on your Dad’s pant leg after you just won state for the 400m relay that says, “Look at me! I’m here too!” – not that I ran track or anything. You get my point.

87/100

Tyler:
I think we’re all starting to notice a trend here, right? Treyarch: okay, Infinity Ward: better. I’m a firm supporter of FPSs not messing with the mixture if the punch is already tasty enough, but what we have here in WaW is a game where I find it hard to see if what they did that was inventive. Let’s be honest, the setting isn’t really new (half the game is in good ol’ war-torn Europe and the other half I remember playing in Medal of Honor: Rising Sun). The graphics are no better than COD4 (another reason to hold off on shoving a new title out every 12 months). The story is absolutely standard (Is it bad that I can’t remember anyone other than my own character’s name, and I only remember that because it’s the same as mine!?) And the zombie mode feels a little tacked on (and completely eclipsed by another survival based zombie FPS title).

Of course, any Call of Duty game is going to get good marks for the controls, the level layout and the implementation of new perks and attacks. The 7 kill-streak dogs alone make it a must-play, and anyone who has gone prestige in COD4 is practically obligated by a virtual blood oath to go prestige in COD5. It is one of the best FPSs around, but sadly, it’s not one of the best games. I hope that COD: WaW had a nice week on my shelf next to its younger brother.

PS – Another Tank level? Really?

75/100

“Answer The Call…”

Man, I may be the only person in the world that feels this way but I am so sick of people putting the words “Answer the…” before the title Call of Duty. You know, like here, here, here, and here. Okay, people could have gotten away with it back when the first CoD game came out, but nowadays, it’s dumb.

Call of Duty: World at War Beta Open to the Public!

Maybe you haven’t heard, but the Call of Duty: World at War multiplayer beta become open to the public today. Well, on the 360 at least, I don’t know about the PS3 or anything. You can download it straight from your XBL dashboard right now. I played one round (free for all), it was pretty sweet. There was some water, and some dogs, and I was Japanese. And I finished in fourth place, which is a testament to how lousy the players online are right now.

COD: World At War To Feature Zombies

In our never-ending quest to cover all things zombie, I read online today on Kotaku that there will be a zombie mode in the upcoming Call of Duty: World at War. Um, and 4-player co-op, too. Awesome.

Say It Ain’t So

Dear Infinity Ward,

Remember when I sent out that extremely long and detailed letter containing my thoughts on COD4? I thought you did. So, remember when you asked what I would like to see in the future of the Call of Duty franchise and I said, “Please, whatever you do, do not make the next one take place in the future?” Remember that? Well, if these rumors are true, you’re doing the exact opposite of what I asked.

As your #1 fan (and by far most skilled player), I beg you to not go into the future with the next game. There are already so many of those games, and the vaaaaast majority of them totally suck. It’s so easy to make up sci-fi storylines like “aliens destroying the human race,” or “humans destroying an alien race,” and say things like, “these guns are just like the ones we have now, except these one shoot lasers!” So trite. So boring. So disappointing.

Why can’t you make a good Vietnam or Korean War game? Even better, make a game that has nothing to do with the U.S. How about the Irish Civil War? I don’t even care if you go back to WWII, there remains plenty of unexplored territory (Iwo Jima, anyone?).

In conclusion, please don’t make a crappy future-war game. We already have too may Halo clones.

Demotopia!/Cheapskate/My Faves: Top Six Xbox 360 Demos

Listen. I know that Microsoft charges $50/year for their Xbox Live Gold membership, allowing you access to their robust online system. But did you know that every new Xbox 360 comes with a free Silver membership, which allows you to interact with friends (just not in games) and access to the Xbox Live Marketplace (XBLM), where you can download media for free?

What I’m getting at are the free demos you can download in XBLM. Currently, there are 158 to choose from. Here are my six favorite, in alphabetical order. Keep in mind that these are my favorite demos available, and are not reflections on the final games themselves:

Call of Duty: World At War

Maybe I stand alone in this opinion, but I don’t want another Call of Duty game a) that isn’t made by COD2 and COD4-helmers Infinity Ward and b) that comes out any time soon. COD4 is (still) great, awesome, and spectacular, and another game this early is just going to both disappoint fans and confuse consumers.

“Hey nerd, which one is the good one again? The old one?”
“Well, consumer, it’s not really that old, COD4 came out last year.”
“Then why did they make another one so soon?”
Exactly.

Here is the trailer in HD. It’s not that much better than the one you see above.

Monday, May 12th = Christmas!!

So, tomorrow marks the day that I will be getting my Xbox 360 back from the grave/Microsoft, only 40 days after it started wigging out on me. I could make some sort of Jesus and his 40 days in the desert reference here, but I get enough comparisons already.

Now what am I going to do first? Probably play a bit of GTA4, since I haven’t even seen it in action yet. Maybe some COD4. I’ve also had a hankering for The Orange Box, too. Man, so much to choose from!

Why hellllooo there, lovely and trashy lady, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow…

Threevue Review: Call of Duty 2

Mark:
COD2 took a genre that had been done over and over again, and pumped new life into it. For a launch game to look and sound this great is amazing, and set the bar for future WWII shooters so high that it has yet to be hurdled. Of course it’s been three years since since it was released, and game technology has progresses exponentially in that short amount if time, but when it came out, nothing was even close.

There are a few moments in this game that I’ll never forget. For example, in the Africa campaign, when your unluckily motivated British brother decides to take charge and kick in a door leading to a room chock, which leads to some bloody consequences. The only thing I didn’t like about this one was the desert tank-fight level. It seemed really tacked on, slowed the pace of the game to a steely, clunky roll, and was just wholly unnecessary. Still, the worst level from this game is better than the best level of most other WWII shooters.

94/100

Russ:
The fact that COD2 was a launch game still baffles me. How could a company get it right on its first go? I think about the Wii’s FPS launch title, Red Steel, and cringe at all the things that went wrong. COD2 is still a strong game and a necessary addition to the Xbox 360 catalog. And it’s been out for years.

It isn’t without fault – some of the levels are mundane (get to this point/defend this point/wait for the next wave of baddies), and ridiculously difficult. The fact that you have to play the game on Veteran to unlock 80% of its achievement points is a little mean, too. And some of the tank/driving levels seemed to drag on a bit too long. But again, these are complaints in an awesome game. For many years I’ve felt that Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was the best WWII FPS game made (consequently made by these same developers), but COD2 has easily taken the throne for me.

92/100

Tyler:

A company gets it right when most of them are prior game designers for a nearly identical game. Still, it ain’t easy to make a good game (judging by the number of bad ones). It was way back in early 2006 when I picked up COD2 and I was blown away by the visual detail and smooth play. It was the only game that I owned for the 360 when I bought it, so it was all that I played. Friends would visit and marvel at how awesome the game looked on my huge television. A review of the quality of the game, or rather the specifications (the checklist of graphics, story, plot and gameplay) that I usually go by is supplanted by how happy I felt at the time I first got my 360 and this game. Knowing this, my score might be a little skewed. Then again I haven’t actually played part 2 in a few years. Still…

98/100

Impressions: New COD4 Variety Map Pack – Dueling Editors Edition!

With the new Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack now live and wreaking havoc on Xbox Live (double xp this weekend!), two-thirdsvue of us are sounding off on what we think about the pack:

Mark:

So now that I’ve had ample time with the Variety Map Pack, I feel that I can actually talk about them semi-intelligently. First off, it’s really hard to play in a new map when I know every nook and cranny of the old ones better than I know my own apartment. I know these maps are new for everyone, but I was getting my ass handed to me for the first couple sessions because I was doing more exploring than fighting. Now I’m fairly comfortable with them, except for Killhouse, which for some reason I still haven’t played.

Right off the bat, the most striking thing with these new maps is how colorful they are. The originals, with a few exceptions, are full of grays and browns, but the new maps are full of bright, vibrant colors. Creek has a broad range of light and dark hues, ranging with the deep gray and black cave, to the green, lush above ground foliage. Creek has a definite WWII time period feel because there isn’t anything inherently modern about it. I really like that because it feels like an earlier COD map transplanted into part 4.

Speaking of throwback maps, Chinatown is a revamped Carentan from COD2, and it’s totally awesome. The action is mostly CQC, both in the really cool Chinese style buildings, and on the streets of the Hong Kong-esque city. This map contains a lot of deep reds and oranges, bright colors missing from the original maps.

In conclusion, if you regularly, or even irregularly, play Call of Duty 4 online, then there is no reason that you shouldn’t get these maps (unless you are really poor, in which case Russ said he will buy them for you). I really hope these maps get integrated with the originals so I don’t have to choose between the new or the old ones when I play. Also, I really want to play Killhouse, so come on COD, and give it to me.

Russ:
Let me start out by admitting that I haven’t played this game online all that much; whereas Mark and Tyler have multiple plays through the online ranks, I’m still on my first level 17 or somewhere around there. That being said, I still really enjoy and appreciate this game. Both “Creek” and “Chinatown” maps are brand new locales for me, but “Broadcast” is essentially the same as that TV station level on single player. I like when they make a single-player level into something similar on the multiplayer side, because immediately I can get my bearings.

I got slaughtered on the “Creek” level. It’s mostly open-air with an awesome tunnel that no one seems to go into, and I’m so bad at long-range combat that I get sniped left and right. That and I kept mistaking falling leaves for people. “Chinatown” seemed like your average close-quarters city level, similar to some that are already out. I did notice that there was a DVD rental basement, which is a pretty cool new dynamic. I did pretty well on this map, just because I was able to get a jump on guys by flying around a corner real fast, guns a-blazin’. “Broadcast” was my bread and butter, simply because I knew the area already. I stuck mostly to the rooftops, and had a pretty good kill/death ratio (read: 1/1 is my target).

There’s another map, “Killtown” or something like that, but you have to play some other game mode to get to it, and that’s asking a little too much of me right now.

modernization

I just found out that one of the new COD4 maps coming through DLC this week, Chinatown, is actually just kind of a re-skinning of the map Carentan from the Call of Duty 2 multiplayer. I had to watch a video to remember which map Carentan was, you know, because COD2 was so two years ago, and it was a pretty fun one. After watching a video of some Chinatown action, I can totally tell that they are just different flesh on the same skeleton.

I actually think this is really cool. I loved some of the previous COD maps so much, that I wish they could just put them into the new ones. Can you imagine how rad it would be to play in Eder Dam with all the modern weapons? The only thing that would make it perfect would be if you could ride in the vehicles, too. Check out video of this map here, or just wait five days and make your own.

He’ll always be Gob to me

Will Arnett was my favorite actor on Arrested Development. He was brutally funny as a total dick brother and fit in perfectly with the top quality cast. So it’s cool to hear that he’s a fan of hardline FPSing. It just seems to me that he’s playing down the passion so as to escape the stigma that  afflicts adult, male gamers.

Man, if I was playing COD and I heard the scintillating and sultry voice of Will Arnett comming over my headset I would have a hard time backstabbing him if he were on the opposite team. I’d still do it though… gotta live by the code.

“COD4 PC mods” or “Damn you Xbox live DLC screening process!!!”

I’m a Xbox 360 guy, first and foremost. But back in the day I wielded a mouse and keyboard in the Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight arenas on the MSN Gaming Zone. I switched over for the same reson most people did, the price of upgrading hardware in order to meet the ever expanding system requirements was too much.

For years I have been happy with the decision, that is until this year…

There were always map packs and skins to download. Now all I want is the ability to download the content that Valve’s Steam subscribers are privy to, and all of the Team Fortress maps and tweaks on the way, and now COD4 mods.

If detonating a quarter mile length of C4 is wrong then I would prefer not o be correct.