A TREND LONG IN THE MAKING

Jan 2, 2013

RPG infused [Fill in the Genre Here] has perhaps permanently gained dominance. In our augury last year we predicted that RPG’s proper were not on the decline in terms of quality per se but certainly becoming more rare.  The opposite is the case for games wanting to force leveling, character specialization, crafting, item hunting, grinding, open world...

KOTICK REMEMBERS THE HOLY EQUATION: MONEY = POWER

Nov 13, 2012

BO2 is a special disappointment in that it was Activision’s clear chance to cap off their run on this console generation on a good note.  With a firm handle on the capabilities of this generation, this is the one I’d expect them to nail conceptually.  The next CoD will have the unfortunate task of debuting on six different consoles, this current gen and...

LET THE GOOD OLD TIMES ROLL...INDEFINITELY

Nov 13, 2012

I’d wager that your relationship with Call of Duty could be reductively pushed into one of five categories: A) loyal adherent to the competitive multiplayer scene; B) Nazi Zombies zealot; C) generic FPS fan that bought MW1, World at War, and MW2, but none since, always wondering if this will be the year to break the fast; D); an indifferent college kid that...

Jul 17, 2012

Grab your jockstrap, bro. You’re delta force now (again). Or you’re a navy seal now (again). Read: Infinity Ward is putting the finishing touches on a new iteration of brotastic terrorist slaying bullshit for you. Dig deep into your sacred terminology. “Yeah bro, those guns are real. Our troops really use that stuff.” “I’ve had the Call of Duty 4...

Nov 10, 2011

At first glance Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest, baddest, iron balls toting first person shooter of this generation. You won’t believe some of the sequences the campaign throws at you, or the ridiculous plot that gets saddled with suspension of disbelief responsibilities. Jaws will drop, no question. Step out of the cave though and you’ll a set of aging,...

Nov 10, 2011

For the uninitiated, Modern Warfare III is pretty much what you’d expect from a finely polished, blockbuster first person shooter. Shit blows up. Dudes grimace. Guns are the coolest. The entire concept of pacing is completely thrown out the window in favor of whisking you across the globe from one epic set piece to another. Everything you experience is white...

Jul 23, 2011

Exhibit A: Unfortunately, not even our esteemed editors are clever enough to make this one up.  No joke, Squenix will soon bless us with a Final Fantasy rhythm based fighting game on the 3DS.  Actually it may be more accurate to characterize it not so much as a “game”, but more like a laser guided missile targeting their seemingly inexhaustible demographic...

Jun 11, 2011

Just when you may have thought Activision was shooting blanks, holding only stale ideas for its perennial shooter, they follow through with Call of Duty Elite.  In a true show of the capabilities held by the largest interactive entertainment company Earth’s seen since the Coliseum, Activision created and staffed Beachhead Studios, which promptly hammered out...

Jun 10, 2011

Something dawned on me while sitting through Activision’s bloated Call of Duty appointment, a two and a half hour engagement that my self-respect forced me to abbreviate.  For a series that gets consistently shat on for working up insufficient innovation between its yearly iteration, there’s one element the nay-sayers consistently leave out: Modern...