Gut Reactions, Since I don’t have the time to write reviews of fully played games, well I do but by the time I’m done the game’s been out for months – for instance, I finally beat Uncharted 2 this weekend. I’m going to start giving you my gut reactions to games based on the first four – five hours of gameplay. Really, shouldn’t we know all there is to know about a game in the first 4 – 8 hrs? Warning – This Gut Reaction look at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a detailed look at the first four levels of the game. This means spoilers!

Playtime – 5 Hours.

I finally got a chance to play Modern Warfare 2 today and I have to say, so far I’m disappointed, I only played the first four levels and plan on beating this game before I do a full review but my initial reaction – meh. It’s gorgeous and so polished that it feels a bit "lifeless." The first three levels sets up the story and shows how you get recruited for Special Ops. In the first mission you are a Soldier tasked with storming a base (lots of base storming so far). I’m not sure what the objective of this level was. I was just shooting some nameless, faceless enemies that are so far away that you never actually see what you are shooting at. Next, I was in an armored vehicle shooting up some Middle Eastern village, I didn’t know why I was doing it, I just was. The problem here again is the village looked amazingly real but once again I couldn’t tell who I was shooting at. Just pulled the trigger, sprayed and prayed I’d hit something. The idea of the opening level is to give a sense of how frenetic things are going to become.

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Standard Disclaimer – Stop the monkeys! There are too many darn music games. Now that I’ve said that we can talk about Band Hero – Activision’s latest round of music games. I mean hey, let’s ignore the fact they just released Guitar Hero 5 a month or so ago and earlier in the year Guitar Hero: Smash Hits. Not only that but Activision is trying to be slick by calling this Band Hero.  On first blush you have to ask the question what is the point of this release. After going through the Pop Centric track list I get it. This package is for people who don’t like metal or think there has been too much hard rock and not enough pop music in past GH titles. I’m one of those people. The problem is a lot of the songs on this disc are amazing if you sing or use the drum set, but the guitar charting on a lot of these songs are just janky and don’t translate well at all, two immediate examples – Kung Fu Fighting. You are basically playing the flute part and everything else feels made up.  Now I’m not going to go into all the features on the game if you’ve played any of the previous Guitar Hero, then you know what to expect – full online multiplayer, music creation, world tour “story” mode, band creation, easy jump in and out, etc.

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To help combat recent trends suggesting that America’s veterans are struggling in the face of unemployment, Activision Blizzard, Inc., a worldwide online, PC and console video game publisher and publisher of the best-selling “Call of Duty” video game franchise, has established the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE). This nonprofit public benefit corporation will focus its resources on assisting organizations that provide job placement and training to veterans, as well as engaging the media and public forums to raise awareness about the issue.

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I think the headline says it all. Every once in awhile a pop cultural phenomena happens that’s impossible to ignore. I really have nothing constructive to say about today’s release of Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare. I don’t have the game in my hot little hands yet. I pre-ordered it from Amazon, but then canceled because – hey this is why I have Gamefly. So I’ll be getting it from Gamefly in a few days, which is good because it’ll give me a couple of more days to finish Uncharted 2: Drake’s Fortune before COD sucks up my life for a few weeks. Activision is sending me a copy of the game, but they always send me games a week or two after release (all of the game companies do this since I do not have an official Review Console)  – which is why we never have release date Game Reviews. Analyst are saying that COD2 will earn $500 million clams this week. I was thinking about buying up 10 copies and giving them away on the site, but then figured everyone who wants this game probably has a copy on order. Even if you don’t like games, go to a friend’s house and watch them play. You’ll get hooked. I have no doubt that the boys at Infinity Ward are going to give us another masterpiece. If you have the game let us know what you think.

You spin me right round, baby, right round.

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Recently, Activision tipped fans off to the exclusive tracks Eminem and Jay-Z hand-picked for the 2-CD track pack included  in the DJ Hero Renegade Edition, which streets Oct. 27.

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Many gamers complain that Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick turned the venerable gaming company into an organization that lacks vision, creativity and heart. In his zeal to turn all of their IPs into annual franchises he’s sucked the soul out of the company. I always thought the criticism was a bit harsh, I mean Activision still shows signs that it can be creative, i.e. The Call of Duty Series, and Wolverine was surprisingly good. I also don’t have a problem with sequels, I say give me more of what I love with some tweaks here and there and I’m pretty happy to play the same game over and over. I’m not sure what I expected from Marvel Ultimate Alliance II the sequel to their hit Superhero basher from a few years ago. I loved the first game, so I expected this one to at least be on par with that one and be fun. I mean really it’s taken over two years to give us this; a game that is almost exactly the same as the first one only somehow completely soulless. This is sequel making at is most crassness; there’s nothing unique, original or even fun about this game.

Story

The story starts off with your team being recruited by Nick Fury for a secret black ops mission in Latveria. When the mission goes wrong, Fury and the Heroes take heat from it. A year later an entire US City gets blown up on TV. The public outcry against Heroes forces congress to pass the Super Hero Registration Act. This divides the Hero community into those who are for and against it. You build your team and go on various missions. That I’m about 4 hours into the game and have no real desire to finish it or see if the missions get more interesting.

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The weather outside isn’t frightful (yet). And there shouldn’t be any delightful fires in your chimney. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start thinking about the holidays, when anticipated video games end up on wish lists and – hopefully – in stockings or under trees. Since you are so busy deciding who was naughty or nice this year, Activision made your shopping list easy by teasing seven titles sure to please any hardcore gamer. A few are out. Others are on the horizon. But all seven deserve a peek, and maybe a purchase.

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This week we have one huge game and another fun game hitting the store shelves.

WET

Wet is a game that hasn’t gotten much of a marketing push but promises to be an interesting shooter. It’s the game Quentin Tarantino would make if he was a game developer, or maybe the game developers watched one too many Tarantino movies. They have his sensibilities down to a tee, what’s not to like the lead character is a gun-toting, sword wielding kick butt woman. It’s a movie waiting to happen and is available on all systems.  At $49.99 it’s a rare game “bargain.”

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

It’s amazing, but I don’t feel like Activision has done a lot of promotion on this title and don’t get the sense that there’s been a lot of chatter. But the first game was a big critical and financial success so there’s no reason to expect the sequel to do gang buster business.  It’s the same as the first – only more, the storyline takes place in the Civil War Universe, so you’ll get the chance to build just about any team you want and battle other heroes along the way as you choose which side you are going to fight on. The game includes a new mode that lets you “fuse” your powers with another character for more devastating attacks.  The game includes multiplayer co-op modes. I should have my copy from Activision next week – but I’m sorely tempted to run out and buy it today. I loved the first game.  Of course it’s available on all systems.

I’m not going to front and act like I know anything about the DJ culture or who the heck Daft Punk is or why this is stupendous news, but it does seem like Activision is really pulling out all the stops for their new Music game DJ Hero and I’m getting curiouser and curiouser about it.  I mean how is this thing going to work? Do I want even more plastic gaming instruments in my house?  Anyway Daft Punk is adding a bunch of new mixes to the game.  Ton of images and full press release after the break.

• Daft Punk “Around the World” vs. Young MC “Bust A Move”
• Daft Punk “Da Funk” vs. NASA “Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB and Fatlip”
• Daft Punk “Da Funk” vs. Queen “Another One Bites the Dust”
• Daft Punk “Robot Rock” vs. Hashim “Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)” – Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts
• Daft Punk “Robot Rock” vs. Queen “We Will Rock You”
• Daft Punk “Short Circuit” vs. Boogie Down Productions “Jack Of Spades”
• Daft Punk “Technologic” vs. Gary Numan “Cars”
• Daft Punk “Television Rules The Nation” vs. No Doubt “Hella Good”
  

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