MonsterVine » Call of Duty

Next Call of Duty Announced in the ‘Coming Weeks’

William Saw — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:06:15 +0000

With Call of Duty: Black Ops claiming the monkier of “the best selling game of all time” in U.S. and Europe, Activision Blizzard has stated that the marketing campaign for the next Call of Duty will be the most successful in the franchise’s history.

Details related to the next Call of Duty game will be unveiled in the coming weeks, the game’s release is slated for this fall. When asked about the upcoming game, the publisher shied away from anything that would divulge in information but promises an “unprecedented online experience.” Activision Blizzard has confirmed that proprietary features from the Beachhead developed platform will be included in the upcoming game.

Head honcho Bobby Kotick was quick to fire back that the next iteration of the series will not be “taking anything away from the current game experience.” Promising that the next Call of Duty effort will not charge for online multiplayer, the Beachhead platform reportedly provides additional features that will surely be used for successive Call of Duties.

We will see at this year’s E3 if the new Call of Duty is worth all the clamor.

FindMakarov.com: Modern Warfare Countdown

Francis Rodriguez — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 23:07:05 +0000

‘Modern Warfare 3′ may well be upon us as Activision opens up a new website entitled FindMakarov.com.

A small flash video shows the appearance of Vladimir Makarov, a previous villain in the Modern Warfare franchise, before bringing us toward a countdown. The timer will end this coming Tuesday.

A set of dog tags were released to the press, which read:

Shepherd
Lt. General
003-01-2011
B Pos
MorelPref

And

End The War
FindMakarov.com

What are your expectations for the latest installment of Modern Warfare?

UPDATE: Feb 27 @11:54pm – Activision claims to have no connection to FindMakarov.com. The teaser website seems to suggest a countdown toward a fan-made live-action film inspired by Modern Warfare 2. More details can be found at GameSlice.

Activision Cancels Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong

William Saw — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:28:40 +0000

The big publisher has swung the axe at its two IPs: Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong. Activision has decided to disband its Guitar Hero business unit and cancel development of its yearly iteration citing “continued declines in the music genre.” United Front Games released a statement on its website saying, “We are sorry we did not get a chance to complete this project with Activision, but we understand why.”

Development teams that were focusing on music intellectual properties for Activision were reportedly hit with layoffs, apparently up to 500. Sources at Eurogamer state that among the studios hit include FreeStyleGames [DJ Hero franchise] and Vicarious Visions [Guitar Hero].

Other properties such as Tony Hawk and further music titles will not be releasing this year. According to Game Informer, the publisher is switching efforts to its three key brands: Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Starcraft. Diablo III was not among those listed.

Black Ops: First Strike Gameplay Trailer, Zombies

William Saw — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:19:09 +0000

Activision released a new gameplay trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops upcoming DLC, First Strike, which releases February 1, 2011. The trailer details five new maps, one of which is a zombie map, Ascension.

Includes “Berlin Wall”, allowing combat on both sides of the imposing wall; “Discovery”, a desolate, frozen German outpost in the Arctic; “Kowloon”, battle in the rain along the rooftops of a towering Chinese sprawl; “Stadium”, an intense locale with a pro hockey arena backdrop; and “Ascension”, where you fight zombies in a Soviet launch facility.

Trailer is available for viewing below. Nothing like milking the Rolling Stones license eh?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – A Conjoined Multideveloper Effort

William Saw — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:32:51 +0000

LA Times has learned that Activision recently tapped the newly formed studio subsidiary, Sledgehammer Games to share co-development duties with Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. While the game is still not officially announced by Activision, reportedly development on the game is “well into production and is expected to come out in November.”

Both Sledgehammer Games and Infinity Ward are “equally sharing duties of producing the single-player portion of the game,” and that Raven Software is developing the multiplayer portion of the game. Raven was also working on map packs for Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, the first of which is slated to arrive February 1 in a DLC release titled First Strike.

Previously, Sledgehammer Games was tasked to develop a Call of Duty spin-off game after the two Infinity Ward heads, Vince Zampella and Jason West, left the company and is now in a lawsuit against their former employer Activision. It also put Modern Warfare 3′s development track in jeopardy with the departure of several key staff employees.

Machinima Inside Gaming Awards 2010 Winners

William Saw — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:51:35 +0000

On Friday night, Machinima.com hosted its 2nd Annual Inside Gaming Awards show at the Hollywood/Highland venue Marbella. MonsterVine had the opportunity to see the awards program in-person but it was also live broadcasted over UStream as well. Red Dead Redemption swept the awards show bringing home: Game of the Year, Best Narrative, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Design. Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops won Best Multiplayer and Best Control, while Sony Santa Monica’s God of War III received marks for Best Game Cinematography and Best Animation.

The archive footage of the awards show is found at Machinima’s YouTube however we have the recap/overall impressions of the event right here.

Full list of winners below.

INSIDE GAMING AWARD 2010 WINNERS

Game of the Year

Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Games)

Best Trailer

Deus Ex Human Revolution E3 Trailer (Eidos Interactive, Square Enix)

Best Multiplayer

Call of Duty®: Black Ops (Trevarch, Activision)

Best Narrative

Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Games)

Best Art Direction

Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Good Feel, Nintendo)

Best Animation

God of War® III (SCE Studios Santa Monica, Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Game Cinematography

God of War® III (SCE Studios Santa Monica, Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Indie Game

Minecraft (Mojang Specifications, Mojang Specifications)

Most Compelling Character

John Marston (Red Dead Redemption) (Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Games)

Best DLC

Lair of the Shadow Broker (Mass Effect 2) (BioWare, Electronic Arts)

Best Downloadable Game

Limbo (Playdead, Microsoft Game Studios)

Most Original Game

Minecraft (Mojang Specifications, Mojang Specifications)

Best Control

Call of Duty®: Black Ops (Trevarch, Activision)

Best Innovation in Game Design

Forge 2.0 (Halo: Reach) (Bungie, Microsoft Game Studios)

Best Original Score

Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Games)

Best Weapon

Grappling Hook (Just Cause 2)

Best Sound Design

Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Games)

The Vine Podcast Anniversary Extravaganza – November 18, 2010

William Saw — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 01:03:58 +0000

Can you believe its been 2 years since MonsterVine took its first baby steps and launched into the gaming blogosphere? Its been a blast writing for you, the reader, and it could not have been possible without the collective hard work put in by our volunteer staff. They kept the ship afloat simply by bringing in their unique, diverse, and passionate voices about video games in a increasingly cynical and snarky medium.

In celebration, we put together a podcast discussing the latest games we’ve been playing and go into an in-depth discussion of Kinect and Call of Duty: Black Ops. So join me, Gyuri, and Craig as we talk about video games and of course, Kinectimals.

Thanks for sticking around!

The Appetizer – Call of Duty: Black Ops (singleplayer)

William Saw — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 19:00:35 +0000

In this episode of The Appetizer, Will and Gyuri don their tinfoil hats for a conspiracy theory in Treyarch’s latest Call of Duty: Black Ops. We discuss the non-chronological singleplayer storyline filled with flashbacks, redacted statements, and plenty of covert operations. In particular, we showcase the first level of Black Ops tracing back to the historic Bay of Pigs event where the CIA is tasked with assassinating Fidel Castro.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Multiplayer Teaser Trailer

William Saw — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 02:41:18 +0000

Treyarch, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, has released their multiplayer teaser for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops. At first it too familiar but the trailer lets on more than you’d expect. New weapons, killstreaks, and a video editor allows for editing and sharing of replays and moreso, epic gameplay montages. The folks at Treyarch seem to be ramping up the insanity factor in Black Ops with mobile surveillance cameras, exploding RC cars, dual wielding ballistic knives, and even a crossbow, a la Gears of War Torque Bow, that detonates upon impact.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Announced

William Saw — Sat, 01 May 2010 02:36:20 +0000

World at War developer Treyarch has announced that the newest entry in the Call of Duty franchise is titled Black Ops and will be released on November 9, 2010, ahead of its revelation on GameTrailers TV tonight.

While the announcement gives no details on the game, speculation of Treyarch’s next Call of Duty title would take place in the Vietnam War era. Expect for a simultaneous launch on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC platforms given the series history.

According to Game.co.uk, Black Ops will see the birth of the Elite Special Forces and will engage in off-the-record missions using unconventional weaponry. Locales include Cuba, the Arctic, and the jungles of Vietnam.