You have a brand new game that you can’t seem to tear yourself away from and you were having an absolute blast… until you became stuck on a frustrating boss battle that’s preventing you from moving on to the next level or completing the campaign. It’s driving you insane and you want to break your controller in half, but damn it, you’re not putting it down until you finally get past the bugger, even if takes you all night.
We’ve all been there. Here are two examples of irritating boss battles I have encountered during this generation; ones that really stick out in my mind where the controller nearly wound up going through my television screen. (more…)
As we await the impending arrivals of blockbuster games such as Halo 3: ODST and Modern Warfare 2, many of us have been occupying ourselves with Techland’s Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, which is arguably one of the best Western games seen to date.
While trudging through Bound in Blood, the thought of a Call of Duty game based on the Civil War has crossed my mind, mainly because of the opening levels and some of the themes that the game explores.
For most followers of the Call of Duty series, the modern games currently represent the preferred format and as such, MW2 will be one of the most sought after titles of this year upon its release.
In regards to subsequent titles after MW2, it appears that Treyarch’s next stab at the franchise may center on the Vietnam War with possible espionage missions based on The Cold War era, and I have previously suggested that Future Warfare would be received well, should it be the decided direction when the series inevitably shifts gears again.
But what about the Civil War? Would this be a viable course for the franchise at some point in the future? (more…)
In the Gears of War games, civilization has been decimated by the Locust Horde and small faction of elite soldiers are engaged in a desperate battle to prevent the extinction of the dwindling human race.
It’s hardly an uplifting premise.
Fortunately, a little levity to this miserable situation is provided courtesy of the vast assortment of comical, entertaining and often cheesy lines that are consistently delivered by Marcus and company. Here is a look at some of the best: (more…)
Much of the CoD series’ success can be attributed to its multiplayer components. However, the campaign levels of each game consistently deliver gripping experiences as well, yet these often receive significantly less praise than the popular multiplayer battles.
For many people, nothing compares to the thrill of online play, though it can still be very satisfying to play through an intense campaign alone.
Having said that, the compilation below represents my top ten campaign levels from the Call of Duty games. It was a little tricky to narrow these picks down, as there are many excellent levels from this series and I do recognize that everyone will have a unique viewpoint of their own.
10. Ultimatum – CoD4
Ultimatum starts off slow, as you’ll begin by searching guard houses for the captured SSgt. Griggs, but it’s tremendous fun to silently stalk unsuspecting adversaries and take them down before they even know you’re there. After you eliminate Griggs’ captors and rescue him, you’ll arrive at a hydro tower with your name on it, waiting to be toppled. You plant a couple of charges, stand back, hit the trigger, and watch as the tower dramatically collapses over the ledge. It never gets old. This of course does not go unnoticed and the situation heats up in a hurry. A number of firefights ensue until the level ends with you staring helplessly at the sky to watch as a pair of freshly launched missiles gain altitude in one of the game’s more memorable moments. (more…)
Here is a look at a few games that I’d like to see sequels for. Keep in mind that to prevent the article from being too lengthy, games where sequels may be inevitable weren’t taken into consideration. (more…)
Music in video games is an integral and important part of our playing experience. Game composers are world class musicians, although their contributions to the industry can be, at times, undervalued compared to other elements.
Visuals, of course, are extremely important in the creation of a particular atmosphere. However, much like films, music can be equally significant in gaming so that developers may invoke certain emotions or define a specific mood.
If a game’s music is well done and catchy, it allows me to become more immersed in the overall experience. Often, I’ll get an urge to play a certain title again because the music continues to resonate in my head, and organizations such as Video Games Live demonstrate that musical scores from games can be cherished just as much as the titles themselves.
So with these points in mind, I’d like to pay tribute to some of my favorite pieces of music from shooters – past and present: (more…)
A new set of maps for Call of Duty: World at War (due in June) wasn’t the only major piece of news floating around recently pertaining to Activision’s famed FPS series. Rumor has it that Treyarch’s next contribution to the series may center on Vietnam, based on Activision’s supposed efforts in obtaining rights for Vietnam War era music.
It’s not a well kept secret on how much I enjoy the CoD series, so when rumors start flying around about its potential direction, I pay pretty close attention. It’s all speculation at this point, although it comes as a bit of a surprise to me, since I was fairly certain that the next entry from Treyarch would simply be another World War Two game, in the form of World at War 2. While I don’t think that we’ve seen the final Call of Duty game set during World War Two, it appears that the theme may be on a definitive hiatus.
Now some folks may view this shift with the typical “who gives a crap what Treyarch makes attitude,” though personally, I’m in favor of this course. (more…)
Shooters truly are a haven for folks that enjoy inflicting massive amounts of pain on the enemies they encounter in games (read: not in real life). It’s good, harmless fun and a nice way to release some pent-up frustration without causing any property damage (or doing anything else you shouldn’t do that would land you in hot water).
Of course, there are certain weapons that are much more adept than others for this purpose. So here is a look at some of the most sinister weapons that we’ve come across in various shooters. Keep in mind that this list isn’t necessarily meant to be a compilation of the “best” weapons in shooters overall, just a look at some of the more violent and/or torturous ones: (more…)
A considerable amount of time has passed since there has been any news of Joanna Dark and the Perfect Dark series. Of course, it’s been a few years since Perfect Dark Zero arrived on the Xbox 360. And the game wasn’t received quite as well as Microsoft and Rare would have hoped, in spite of it being a launch title. It managed to sell over one million copies, but this was largely due to the fact that there wasn’t many games to choose from upon the release of the console (the namesake helped, too). But for many, the game was soon dismissed as a very weak follow up to the Nintendo 64 classic, and folks quickly moved on to Call of Duty 2.
To my knowledge, there does not seem to be any immediate plans for another Perfect Dark game. And Rare isn’t exactly known as an FPS powerhouse anymore. Once some of the key GoldenEye team members moved on to form Free Radical, this left the company in a state of flux and ultimately, forced the group to shift gears and focus on other genres. These days, Rare is much more focused on properties such as Viva Piñata and Banjo-Kazooie. To their credit, this has served their business well, since many people once again view Rare games as top quality products. Their reputation took a bit of a hit after the release of PD Zero (even though I didn’t mind it, personally) and Kameo.
The fact that the Perfect Dark namesake is sitting on the sidelines, however, is unfortunate in my opinion. I think there’s a lot of life left in the series and that the property still has the potential to live up to its great lineage.
In my opinion, if Rare were to begin work on another Perfect Dark game, (more…)
Gears of War 2 and CoD: World at War were by far my two favorite shooters of 2008. In my NBS Platinum Awards post, I gave the nod to Gears of War 2 as the best third person shooter of the year, and by the same token, Call of Duty: World at War received similar honors as the most enjoyable FPS of last year.
So between these two great shooters, which one should be considered the best game? (more…)
