The Call of Duty ELITE Event and E3 2011

Hello again everyone, sorry this article is coming a bit late,

As you might have heard, I recently attended a Call of Duty ELITE event as well as E3 2011. This article covers both.

The Call of Duty Elite Event:
The event was held at Exchange LA on the evening of June 6. The event was set up to be a sort of formal introduction to the service. The guys and girls that came were some of the community "VIP's" from the Call of Duty Black Ops MP Reveal Event and many of the guys that attended the IW MW3 Event a few weeks back. I will let the photos speak for themselves but I could tell that quite a bit of planning, preparation, and notably, money, went into making the event possible. I spent a good bit of time with Robert Bowling discussing PC stuff. I figured I would be more useful doing that instead of trying to wrap my brain around using a controller to play Black Ops on Xbox. Once again, I got the feeling that Rob really wants the game to do well on PC and knows what IW needs to do to make that happen. Although they aren't ready to make any announcements regarding PC specific features yet, Rob assured me that those details will be available as soon as decisions are finalized over at the studio. Interestingly, the studio is taking a different approach to developing MW3 multiplayer. Rob told me that from a design perspective, they are working on moving away from the MW2 model, an arguably spammy, campy, killstreak-oriented model and returning to a more CoD4 oriented model. It will be interesting to see how that turns out as it certainly sounds both promising and interesting to me. At the end of the event, each guest was provided a "gift bag," which contained a CoD Elite T-shirt, a hoodie, a sticker, and a belt buckle. All in all, I had a great time at the event. It was truly a great experience to be able to meet and talk with everyone and the event was very well put together.

E3 2011:
The next morning, Tuesday June 7th, I was able to attend E3, my pass being provided by Activision. E3 has been something that I had dreamed of attending ever since I started actively getting involved in the community and was extremely excited that I been given the chance to go. Although I was only able to spend one day there and I'm sure that I missed some stuff, I was able to cover most of what I wanted to see. And no, that did not include the Wii U! I visited the Plastic Piranha, Ubisoft, AMD, Activision, and EA booths extensively. The AMD booth in particular was very good to see. Although I am currently an Nvidia and Intel customer, it was nice to see PC gaming being represented over there. It was also great to see the Plastic Piranha booth. Those guys are working hard to bring PC gamers everything that they are used to getting and more. Considering the limited resources that they are operating under, I was blown away by what I was able to play of the game. It feels like a cross between Counter Strike and COD4, the perfect combination I think! Very impressed...

Although I very regrettably did not get to try out Battlefield 3 due to EA policy, I was able to get hands on time with Modern Warfare 3's Spec Ops Survival mode. This is a new 2 player co-op mode that has players fighting waves of enemies of ever increasing difficulty. It is fought on restricted multiplayer maps, similar to Wager Matches in Black Ops. The mode is sort of a hybrid between Zombies and the traditional Spec Ops mode from MW2. You end up fighting regular soldiers, Juggernauts, helicopters, and dogs. Upping the ante even more, some of the enemies even have C4 strapped to them. Nothing like having a dog coming at you that's rigged to blow! Additionally, You can purchase weapons and attachments, equipment, and killstreaks from three appropriately marked crates scattered around the map using points that you accumulate from shooting bad guys. One of the most welcome features, for me at least, in this mode is the ability to share points with your team mate, something I really wish was implemented in Zombies. All in all the mode was very fun and can see myself playing quite a lot of it if I end up buying the game, which I think I will, barring another P2P MP disaster.

Overall, I was very glad to have been given the chance to attend another CoD Event as well as E3. They both were amazing experiences that I'm sure I will not forget anytime soon. Hat is off to the guys at Activision for inviting me.

Please check out my collection of photos and videos from E3 and the CoD ELITE event posted below.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, whatever, drop me a line in either the comments section below or via Twitter. I do this stuff, in part, for you guys so I would greatly appreciate hearing input, good or bad.

-H4WKE

Inside Treyarch: My Experience at Treyarch + The Call of Duty ELITE Service

EDIT: The CoD ELITE Beta is now accepting signups. If you're interested: http://www.callofduty.com/elite

EDIT2: Josh Peckler of Planet CoD has posted some screenshots of the service. Check them out here: http://planetcallofduty.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=164972

Hello again everyone,

So the community event lasted two days. The first day was the Infinity Ward MW3 event in Encino, CA. The second day we were taken to Treyarch in Santa Monica to check out the a pre-release build of the new Call of Duty ELITE service that will presumably be launching alongside MW3 this fall. The service will also be coming to Black Ops. The service was built and will be maintained by the newly formed Beachhead Studios. Also, anything and everything I saw or heard is subject to change from now until release day.

Following the leak of the ELITE logo and some subtle hints the previous day, I sort of knew what to expect and was frankly quite worried about it. Like many of you, I do not play games with subscription based models and really don't care for the whole P4F model either. However, the guys at Beachhead and Treyarch were very quick to emphasize that neither of these models will exist in MW3. Let me say that again: MW3 multiplayer not require a subscription. Furthermore, the CoD ELITE service will also be free to all players. All features which CoD players currently receive for free will continue to be free with MW3 and CoD ELITE. There will, however, be certain "premium features," one of which will be contests, where paying members can win physical prizes. Also coming with a premium subscription will be map pack redeem codes for each MW3 DLC as they release. Users who choose to pay into the service by subscribing will get some tangible value out of it. Once again, neither MW3 players, Black Ops players, or ELITE members will be required to pay to play or to use the service.

So, now that I've outlined what CoD ELITE isn't, let me give you some info on what it IS. CoD ELITE is a service that exists outside of MW3 but will integrate back into the game. We weren't given details as to how this integration would work or to what extent it would. The service will support Black Ops but will not integrate into the game to the degree that it will with MW3. The service is essentially a stat tracking and social universe for CoD players. It has quite a few features, only some of which I will mention here. It lets players track their stats and and compare with their friends' stats. Based on these stats, it allows players to spot trends in their performance to help them improve. It allows players to view stats on their recent matches. It allows players to view overheads of maps and view weapon stats. It allows users to see their recent matches details and upload clips to YouTube. This particular feature will work on PC, unlike the current Call of Duty website. It allows players to associate their personas on Facebook and Twitter with their identity in the CoD universe. It allows players to form groups and clans with other players. It allows users to compete for real prizes as well as digital ones. It also will have a nifty feature that will predict when a user will hit his or her next prestige level. Yeah, as I said, CoD ELITE is basically an all-encompassing stats tracking and social network built specifically for CoD players.

At the event, we used the service through a laptop's web browser. However, the devs confirmed that the service will be making it's way to more devices such as iOS, Android, etc. With all of the functionality build into CoD ELITE, navigating the site seemed surprisingly simple and intuitive. Overall, the UI was very clean and professional looking and is all in HTML5. With minimal web design experience, it was easy to see that quite a bit of effort was put into making the service work, both on the back end, the technical aspects, as well as on the front end, making it simple and intuitive for the end user.

As far as pricing for a premium subscription to CoD ELITE, no official word has been given by Activision. Any and all figures given by various gaming sites I am assuming are pure speculation. However, one thing that the devs told us regarding pricing was that if you're the type of player that buys all the map packs and plays the MP game extensively, the pricing will be low enough to be a "no-brainer."

That about sums up CoD ELITE. I hope I was able to clear up some of the misinformation surrounding the service as well as alleviating some of the fears that you guys might have had regarding a forced subscription for MW3 MP or CoD ELITE.

Glad I was able to bring this information to you all,

H4WKE

P.S.: I wrote this thing from 3-6 AM my time so please excuse any typos... It think I'm gonna go to bed now... :)

Modern Warfare 3 Reveal

REVEAL

The MW3 reveal is in full swing, I will update this post as more media is released...

"America Under Siege" Teaser


"England" Teaser


"Germany" Teaser


"France" Teaser

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam Review

I'll be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of Battlefield Bad Company 2 when it came out in March of last year. Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike the game but it seemed to dislike me, or rather my gaming rig... My rig is certainly near the end of it's life, notably the CPU and Mobo need an upgrade. In a full 32 man server, I manage around 40 FPS but I am sure it dips into the 30's and even high 20's at times. I wasn't a huge fan of the avatar movement and still am not. The hit registration was way off at release and although improved through patching, still isn't where I feel it needs to be. However, there was a lot I liked about the game.The epic scale of some of the maps, the sound, the vehicle combat (notably the heli's), the non-linearity of the multiplayer, and a sense of teamwork that I hadn't seen in any other game. I played BFBC2 off and on until about mid-August, then stopped. I wasn't overly exited about Vietnam when it was announced and held out on buying it. I figured that I'd wait until it went on sale before picking it up. However, I was lucky enough to have Jim aka. @THErealRUDEDOG on Twitter and site director over at FPSadmin.com offer me a copy. At that point, I had heard good things about the game, so I decided to give it a shot.

Let's start off with the notable differences between this expansion and the stock game. Obviously, this game is set in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It is multiplayer only and contains five new maps, six new vehicles, and fifteen new weapons. The damage statistics of all the weapons have changed dramatically from the stock game. All of the weapons are much more powerful than their counterparts from the stock game and the entire Vietnam experience feels much more 'hardcore-ish' on non-hardcore servers. This isn't a dealbreaker and isn't too much to get used to but to new adopters of the game, this will be one of the first things you notice. The game runs on the same version of DICE's Frostbite Engine as the stock game does so the mechanics and technical aspects of Vietnam are identical to the stock experience. The avatar movement is still clunky, the hit reg is still questionable, and everything seems to have a split-second delay to it like in the stock game.

The map design is on-par with the stock game, although DICE did experiment a bit more with verticality in a couple of the maps, one in particular takes place entirely on a hill where teams switch off fighting for control of the easier to defend higher elevations. Each map has it's own distinctive feel and nuances to it which players will gradually pick up on and use to their advantage. Overall, the maps are smaller and more linear than those found in the stock game which is both good and bad. It is good in the sense that the battles feel more directed and players will not usually have to deal with enemy fire from multiple directions. However, a couple of the maps are so linear that one team can somewhat easily control the choke points out of the other team's spawn. This coupled with the increased damage of all the weapons has devastating consequences and usually, many RAGE quits.

The vehicles are all new but handle similarly to their stock counterparts but without any of the modern tech seen in the stock game. DICE did a great job of making all of the vehicles feel authentic to the time period. Contributing to the authenticity, many of the vehicles have a radio that loops over two hours (according to DICE) of Vietnam-era music. To all you pilots out there, the Huey helicopters in the game are an absolute blast to fly. There's nothing better than flying into battle over the jungles of Vietnam in a highly maneuverable heli with a dirty windshield and "Fortunate Son" blaring in the background. Overall, Vietnam has the most polished vehicle combat I have seen from any game in a long time. They absolutely nailed it.

The sound in the game is just as impressive as ever, easily outdoing any game I can think of. The sound designers at DICE certainly know their stuff. If you have played the stock game, be prepared for the ear-gasms to continue.

The overall atmosphere of the entire game feels exactly as it should for a Vietnam game. Admittedly, I have never been to Vietnam, but the jungles and rice paddies look just like I would think they should. The grittiness of everything in the game, the dirty vehicles, the explosions, gunfire and shouts of VC and American forces fighting, the atmospheric sounds in the maps... Everything feels very authentic and true to the time period and setting.

Overall, although Battlefield Bad Company Vietnam isn't prefect, it is a very good game indeed. It is more polished, has more variety in its combat, sounds better, is more immersive, and more true to it's time period than similar games said to be set during the same time period. Personally, I have found more enjoyment in this game than any other of the AAA titles that I have bought over the past year. At $15, the price to content ratio seems just right and arguably, tipped more towards the side of content than price. EA and DICE have not pulled any punches with this release and if you're looking for a fresh take on the core gameplay of Bad Company 2, then look no further. After playing Bad Company Vietnam, I cannot wait to see what DICE does next, be it BF3 or something sooner. 

Scores:

Gameplay - 4/5

Graphics - 4/5

Sound - 5/5

Value - 5/5

Overall - 4.5/5

-H4WKE

What is "Black" in Black Ops?

As many of you may recall, I was very excited and optimistic about Call of Duty Black Ops leading up to its release. After the release of so many disappointing PC titles recently, I hoped that Black Ops might be that game that could actually revitalize and strengthen our community that has played CoD for so many years. I felt like we might finally have a game that we could rally around and call our game. I drew on the surprising level of support Treyarch offered the PC for World at War as well as the promising comments made by the studio about their plans to continue this support and really crank out a superb PC title. I trusted Treyarch would do just that and I frankly couldn't wait until launch day.

Along with many of you, I played the heck out of the game for about the first month after release. However, around the beginning of December and much to my own surprise, I quickly lost interest in the game. I have spent a fair amount of time asking myself why exactly I don’t enjoy this game as much as I have tried to convince myself I should. Technical problems aside, there was one striking reason that I kept coming up with.

Yes, on the surface, the game seems absolutely packed with content. Zombies, a decent, albeit overly scripted single player, a currency system, theatre mode, wager matches, and character customization all add up to a pretty impressive feature set. Unfortunately, these additions mask the fact that there is next to no innovation on the competitive MP side of things, the real backbone of CoD.

As a comparison, in Modern Warfare 2 and as some of you know almost too well, a game I certainly played my fair share of, you could get in a flipping AC130 or Chopper Gunner and send the opposing team running for their lives or even call in a Tac Nuke and end the game. Arguably, horribly unbalanced game mechanics but the WOW factor was certainly there, it was fantastic. Nothing like this exists in Black Ops. It simply seems like a re-skinned version of the previous IW title. The same thing happened with Treyarch’s previous title, World at War. IW introduced many new game mechanics in Call of Duty 4, weapon customization, killstreaks, perks, ranks. World at War followed much the equation set by IW and it came off as a World War II re-skin of Call of Duty 4. Treyarch removed a lot of things from MW2 deemed "unbalanced" but didn't add anything back in. There isn't anything new in Black Ops that makes me laugh, smile, or cry, it's emotionless, it's boring. It feels like an empty shell that didn’t build on the MW2 equation at all. Unfortunately, simply re-skinning the previous IW title isn’t going to cut it Treyarch.

The game did not meet my expectations, or as it seems, the expectations of many in the community. Hopefully Treyarch continues to patch the game towards a playable state on a wider range of systems. If they can do that, I believe many players will return. However, until I see some real innovation and new ideas coming out of Treyarch, which I know they are capable of, I doubt I will be able to purchase another of their games.

-H4WKE

PS: The other thing that I find constantly gets in the way of my enjoyment of this game is, somewhat surprisingly, the selection of servers itself. No, I don't want to play in a 24/7 Nuketown, or a TDM or DM. I prefer tactical game modes such as DEM, DOM, SD, and CTF. In my opinion, server admins need to consider what types of game modes and maps people who aren’t twelve actually enjoy playing in, not simply what draws instant traffic when setting up their servers. Not pointing any fingers at anyone specifically, just realized that finding a server that isn’t 24/7 Nuketown, TDM, or DM, with a decent ping isn’t as easy as I would think it should be.