Brain Assassin » games

What Can Call of Duty: Elite Do for You?

JC — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:41:06 +0000

Since the subscription service for Call of Duty is now a reality, it’s time to take a closer look at what we gamers are getting out of it. Of course, Activision Blizzard is unable to detail most of the paid features for Elite because the premium-tier service was designed to be deeply integrated with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Until we are closer to the launch of the game we have to make do with the scraps the company throws at us.

Call of Duty: Elite is a service incorporating stats-tracking, social network elements, an interactive strategy guide, and plenty of options for competitive gaming. Activision tries very hard to sum Elite up in three words: connect, compete, and improve. At least it is kind of elaborating on the meaning of these three words on the Elite website. Suffice to say that, in a nutshell, Activision is not charging for CoD multiplayer.

The Features

A few days ago, Activision supplied the press with a FAQ (PDF, ~183 KB) detailing a lot of the free features and a chart of the free features. Here’s what we will be able to do without opting for the premium service:

Career stats
Weapon performance stats
Personal leaderboards
Heat maps
Upload 30 second videos to YouTube. The videos are tagged with all players and you will be able to stream and share these clips.
Online configuration of your load outs plus pushing them into the game from any linked device.
Facebook friend import.
Cross device messaging.
Studying of other player’s profiles.
Groups (customized by interests and affinities, identify group members in game, group leaderboards and message boards)
Clan support
Interact everywhere (web, mobile, console)
And, of course, there’s more to come

As far as the premium features are concerned, they will be demonstrated over the next few months. For the free beta Elite will work with Call of Duty: Black Ops even though the beta will only offer a number of key features of the full service. In other words, Elite will also support Black Ops.

The Long-Term Impact

First of all, two important facts:

It will still be possible to buy a map pack without subscribing to the premium service.
People won’t be able to buy prestige weapons or levels.

That being said, let’s ignore all the complaints for the time being and look further down the road. Things generally stay the way they are but the service must have some very appealing content. Why shell out $5-$7 a month otherwise? Let’s assume $5 as a given, that’s $60 a year for the service alone. There are probably two map packs – maybe three – each offered at $15. In this case you’d shell out $30 or $15 for the additional services offered by premium membership. That’s not so bad, isn’t it? Of course, if Activision decides to charge $7 for premium membership, you’d effectively pay $39 or $54 for premium membership. Depending on the additional services/content this may or may not be to your liking.

Anyway, Elite is a bold, smart move and almost guaranteed to work out. People simply will do what their friends do, that’s what we’ve seen with the last two iterations in the Call of Duty franchise. People complain about the $15 price tag but still they buy the map packs because they want to play with their friends. This snowball effect will help build the numbers.

I don’t understand how anybody can even think of paying a monthly fee for a first person shooter. Sure, it depends on the nature and content of the DLCs but we know from experience that most DLCs simply aren’t worth the money. Especially if you can’t even play the game until the third or fourth patch has been released. So, where’s the incentive, Activision?

Naturally, I’m also interested in what happens after downgrading to a regular subscription. Will you still be able to access the content you got while being a premium member? Finally, I’d like to see how Elite compares to Battlefield 3 Battlelog – which will be available for free.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Revenge Trailer Hits the Web

JC — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 05:58:31 +0000

Yesterday, the latest Deus Ex: Human Revolution trailer hit the web. Titled “Revenge” it is about … well, revenge. Have a look for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6WFuP11cs4

Of course, you may also want to consider the Collector’s Edition. Unfortunately, it’s only intended for us Europeans and since it’s using Steamworks it might not be a good idea trying to import this edition. Deus Ex: Human Revolution will only get a standard and Augmented edition release in North America. In order to get all the content offered in the Collector’s Edition Americans would have to pre-order the game twice, as multiple retailers are offering different pieces of content.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX0XF6gBkPE

Deus Ex: Human Revolution launches on August 23 in North America, August 25 in Australia and New Zealand, and August 26 in Europe.

Call of Duty:Elite and the Monthly Subscription Fee

JC — Tue, 31 May 2011 14:14:58 +0000

Acitivision Blizzarc Inc. is out to charge a monthly subscription fee for the upcoming online service called Call of Duty: Elite. This service will work with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and future installments of the franchise. CoD:E will provide extra content that isn’t available for regular customers and it will be available for paying and non-paying multiplayer fans.

Players will primarily access CoD:E through web browsers though Activision is planning to offer apps for Android and iOS devices. Elite will let players track their stats, participate in competitions for real and virtual prizes, and provide a lot of social-networking options reminiscent of e-sports. Apparently, stats-tracking and social grouping features will be free for everyone.

Premium Elite subscribers will receive a constant flow of Call of Duty content, like map packs. Campaign, co-op and multiplayer modes can still be had for no charge, so going for the premium membership isn’t strictly necessary. Unfortunately, details regarding the service are still very scarce. The guys over at Kotaku at least scored some information on how the service looks like.

In short, Call of Duty:Elite is divided into four sections: Career, Connect, Theater, and Compete. The first section is loaded with stats, the second one offers social-networking options. Theater allows users to host their favorite Call of Duty videos and Compete will allow players to win lots of prizes by letting players engage in short-term challenges and long-term tournaments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpUMZGM1N7o

No word on pricing yet but according to the Wall Street Journal Activision executives expect the cost to be less than Netflix monthly movie subscription. That could mean something in the range of $5-7 a month. Not quite pricey, right? Well, as long as we don’t know what to expect from becoming a premium subscriber that sounds like buying a pig in a poke.

Call of Duty: Elite will launch on the same day as the Modern Warfare 3 – November 8, 2011. If you’d like to test it before then, try to get an invite to the closed beta which will start later this summer.

New Intel on Call of Duty: Black Ops Coming In

JC — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:01:56 +0000

I found myself playing Call of Duty: Black Ops quite a bit over the last few days. I’m not that good and I usually do better with Modern Warfare 2. Still, there are a few general things that are nice to know. The following intel isn’t about strategies, class setups, game styles or anything else. Firstly, because I’m not qualified for that and secondly, there are hundreds – if not thousands – of guides, article, forum/blog posts, etc. out there dealing with that kinda stuff.

Dolphin diving into water will protect you from fall damage. That may prove exceptionally useful on Jungle.
On a sidenote, jumping on people or RC-XDs also prevents fall damage.
An indirect kill from a killstreak reward will count towards unlocking the next killstreak reward.
You can actually capture a flag while in Second Chance. You’ll even get a medal out of it.
But you can’t defuse a bomb while in Second Chance.
Valkyrie rockets can be destroyed by the Strela-3 (even though it’s vehicle lock-on only!) or by friendly fire.
Don’t throw smoke and gas grenades into water. They’ll simply disappear without ever going off.
SAM Turrets will kill you if they’re shooting against obstacles and you’re nearby. In this case, they’ll also blow up themselves. Choose a nice, open place for them.
Jammers affect RC-XDs and make them an easy target for nearby enemies.
Using a zipline will discard your Death Machine, Grim Reaper, or Valkyrie Rockets.
The auto-turrets on Berlin Wall can’t get a lock on you through smoke. Throw one in the middle area or two smoke grenades in the outer areas to safely traverse the no man’s land.
You can also use a smoke grenade to capture the B flag from outside the central way. Just make sure you pick the side your team holds, otherwise you’re easy prey for enemy snipers relying on IR scopes.
If you can, make sure to have a Counter-Spy Plane ready for enemy Blackbirds.
One particularly annoying thing is a bug Treyarch will hopefully fix ASAP: If you pull out your Care Package Marker when going into Second Chance, you’ll end up in Second Chance with your primary weapon. Somebody raped me this way with his Olympia the other day.

Hope that’s some useful intel for ya. Over and out.

New Deus Ex Trailer Shows Gameplay, Augmentations

JC — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:16:07 +0000

Today, Square Enix dropped a new gameplay trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution revealing a lot of the game’s gameplay mechanics and user interface. You’ll see the game’s augmentation interface where every augmentation is upgradeable in three levels. You also get to see some kind of infra-ray vision and an interesting weapon wheel to choose your gear from. Hacking a workstation obviously allows you to tinker with turrets, robots, and cameras. Next, you get some weapons demonstration – you can use different kinds of ammunition – and you even get to see Jenson’s meelee skills. Oh, and don’t forget the nice laser weapon with which you can aim and fire through walls.

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All in all, I like what I saw, especially the art direction. The monitors are awesome as is the user interface. If the trailer isn’t enough for you, head over to ComputerAndVideoGames.com – the guys over there did a little Q&A with the developers. The developers promised that there will be a lot of hidden choices in the game so that not every possible action is thrown in your face. They also said that the inventory contains everything but story items and that health regeneration isn’t as quick as in Halo or Call of Duty. Ah, I’m alredy looking forward to hacking consoles in early 2011.

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Biggest Entertainment Launch Ever

JC — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 06:50:47 +0000

According to Shacknews Call of Duty: Black Ops sold 5.6 million units on launch day – in North America and UK alone. That’s almost a million units more than Modern Warfare 2 managed back in November 2009. My own copy currently is en route and I can’t wait to finally play the game. Luckily, I once again bought the game for the PS3 as there seems to be quite a growing number of bugs and exploits on the PC platform. If you’re interested, head over to the official forums.

So what does the game have in store? There’s a heavily scripted single player mode where you play lots and lots of different characters, a zombie co-op mode, and the multiplayer mode, of course. Naturally, multiplayer ist the most interesting ascpect of the game and I’m going to completely ignore all the rest. Here are the key features everyone should know:

Highest level is 50 and there are 15 levels of prestige.
The player must level up to unlock weapons and perks for purchase (all perks will become available with level 4, all killstreaks with level 10).
There’s a short, very informative list of all the perks and their respective pro versions over at the official site.
You can also find a list of all the killstreaks there.
The in-game currency is called CoD Points and it is used to purchase weapons and upgrades, and can be used for contracts and Wager Matches. Contracts are basically challenges with different goals and diffuculty levels. You buy contracts with CoD Points and upon completing a contract you’ll earn more CoD Points than you originally paid for the contract itself. In Wager Matches players wager their CoD Points agains everyone else and only the top three players get rewarded – the rest get nothing.
CoD Points are 10% of the XP earned per match and 1,000 points per level-up. Contracts, challenges and Wager Matches also comprise a source of income.
There are four game modes in the Wager Match category: Gun Game, Sticks and Stones, Once in the Chamber, and Sharpshooter. Further information is available over at The Call of Duty Wiki.

The Demon Hunter: Blizzard Unveils the Final Diablo III Class

JC — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 11:56:27 +0000

Three days ago Blizzard announced the final Diablo 3 class during the opening ceremony of BlizzCon: The Demon Hunter. The final class seems to be the most gadget-oriented of the five. The Demon Hunter brings a pair of dual crossbows and quite an arsenal of arcane gadgets to the battlefield. While the Demon Hunter definitely is a ranged character it’s not your typical ranger archetype. The new class uses knives, bows, crossbows, and dual-wielded one-handed crossbows as well as lots of gadgets like traps, grenades, or bolas.

Here’s a video of the Demon Huntress in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WByqPqwBrzs

The second video shows the Fan of Knives, the Molten Arrow, the Grenade, the Bola and the Entangling Shot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z5e6XO8mUU

Blizzard has updated its Diablo III characters page with the female version of the Demon Hunter class, adding a background story, some screenshots and concept art, and a few videos.

In other news, player vs. player (PVP) combat will take place in specially designed arenas. The arenas are spread out across the world of Sanctuary and they’re all unique. There are ranked (two teams agains each other) and unranked (1-on-1 or mutually chosen team battles) games. Participating in ranked games will earn you points which in turn lead to multiplayer achievements, titles, and more. You’ll earn points after every match and Battle.net matchmaking will pit you against similarly skilled oponents. The development team is currently in the process of sketching out unranked combat – stay tuned. For a arena hands-on preview head over to Shacknews.

Deus Ex 3 Book Incoming, In-game Trailer Released

JC — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:09:35 +0000

Almost a month ago, the in-game trailer from GamesCom made it into the net. I know, I’m late but I nearly destroyed my blog and I was on vacation so I was quite busy with other things than content. Anyways, I’m back and Deus Ex 3: Human Revolution is one of my most anticipated games next year. For more information on the game take a look at a previous post. The ‘new’ trailer looks very promising and I definitely like the look of it:

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In related news, there’s also a book planned, set in the Deus Ex universe. Publisher Del Ray announced in July that Deus Ex: The Icarus Effect, written by James Swallow, would be released in 2011. The novel is about Anna Kelso, a Secret Service agent, and Ben Saxon, a special-ops soldier, who draw too close to the truth in a world filled with conspiracies. Of course, the powers that be must silence them so that their intricate plans come to fruition. Information is scarce at the moment but according to the official press release some characters and story elements will overlap with the game. According to Jim himself, the novel serves as a “side-story/prequel” to the game’s plotline.

I’ve never read anything by James Swallow – sounds more like a porn name than a serious writer, eh? (sorry Jim, I couldn’t resist) – so I’m trying to stay open-minded about the novel. His work record doesn’t look bad either and he’s already won the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers Scribe Award for Best Original Speculative Fiction. Additionally, he has been working as a core writer on the video game itself, so that should definitely make an interesting read. I’m not usually into video game tie-ins but what the hell. I’ve recently aquired Matthew Stover’s God of War, so DX:TIE won’t be a first, right? Right!

Blizzard Reveals Crafting System for Diablo III

JC — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:38:52 +0000

At GamesCom 2010 Blizzard revealed how crafters will be able to create their own gear. In Diablo II, you had the assistance of the mystical Horadric Cube to create new items. In Diablo III, Blizzard introduced the Artisan, a new character who does the work for you. You just need to enlist an artisan and provide some materials and he sets out to create your new gear.

To add an Artisan to your retinue you have to help him out – usually by doing a quest for him. After you gained his trust he will follow you on your travels. They will set up show in the nearest town and you will be able to interact with him there. There are three types of Artisans that will be available to your hero: blacksmith, mystic, and jeweller.

You can sell and repair items at the blacksmith, as well as have him create weapons and armor for you. He can also add sockets to any weapon or armor.
The mystic creates magical implements like scrolls, potions, runes and charms, and enchants items.
The jeweller is an interesting fellow: He creates gems for you and allows you to combine gems to create one of higher quality. This Artisan can also remove gems from items.

In order to increase the quality of the items you have to train the artisans so that they too can level up. Skilling up your artisans will also unlock unique recipes. For the artisans to do your bidding, you have to provide them with certain materials. These materials differ from artisan to artisan. You can get the necessary materials by salvaging items you find while playing. Every player will gain an artifact that allows you to break down items into materials so that you don’t have to go to town repeatedly just to salvage the items. The materials stack and thus only take up one square in your inventory each. Of course, higher-level items are salvaged into higher-level materials. Contrary to the Horadric Cube, the artifact so salvage items doesn’t take up any inventory space. Last but not least, Blizzard says that many rare crafting recipes and materials are only found as world drops.

If you want to take a loot at the Artisan for yourself, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtMXh1C19dM

What else did we learn from Blizzard at Gamescom? Well, quite a bit. Here’s the short form because I’m lazy:

There won’t be town portals anymore and the designers are focusing on way points instead.
Blizzard isn’t exploring console ports. For now.
Hardcore players will gain fancy effects in their profiles that make them stand out in Battle.Net.
There will be a storage limitation with your stash but it will be ridiculously large.
There will be set Items in Diablo III.
Enhancing and socketing items will require gold. Actually, almost everything will require gold.

Deus Ex 3 E3 Trailer Shows What’s to Come

JC — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:22:21 +0000

A few days ago, the E3 trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution made it into the web. The third installment actually is a prequel to the original Deus Ex published in the year 2000. In March the first trailer was shown to the public. The E3 trailer expands on the former and drops a few hints of the possible plot. Before I start rambling, do yourself a favor and enjoy the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FRWYRqaGFE

Deus Ex took place in 2052, Deux Ex: Human Revolution takes you into the year 2027. Since Human Revolution is a prequel the augmentations are mechanical rather than featuring nanotech like the first two games did. The augmentations will be divided into four types: Combat, Social, Stealth, Technology. Thankfully, the developers also got rid of the unified ammunition introduced with Deus Ex: Invisible War. The game deals with the ethics of transhumanism and meta-humans. The greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus in the main character’s dreams serves as an allegory to this theme. As was the case in previous titles conspiracy theories and powerful corporations are very prominent.

The main character, Adam Jensen, is a security chief with a company that specializes in biomechanical augmentations. Once he witnesses an attack on his company the conspiracy – and the game – begins. Jensen needs to find out who just killed all the scientists and why they did it. You can surely guess the rest: questions lead to other questions and soon Jensen has to save the cheerleader world.

There’s only one thing really bugging me. Once again, the game will hit different platforms (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). I seriously hope it won’t suffer the same fate as Invisible War did. As a consequence of console-oriented development the levels were smaller and the game was lacking detail. There’s nothing else to do but wait and hope. The game currently has a tentative release date of March 2011.