Jul 27 2011

Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation DLC Hits Tonight, Get Domination Tips

Annihilation — the third pack of DLC maps for Call of Duty: Black Ops – comes to the PlayStation 3 late tonight after 2am Pacific Time. The DLC offers four new multiplayer arenas and a new jungle-based Zombies survival experience in Shangri-Li. In celebration of the big release, developer Treyarch has deemed that the double XP will flow all weekend long. I’ll be hosting a gameplay session this Friday night to soak some of that up myself, and my favorite game type is Domination. Truth be told, I’m not that good a shot, so objective-based modes like this one let me help the team and keep leveing up even if I’m nowhere near the top of the K/D ratios.

(Average: 2.29 out of 5)

Jul 15 2011

Incoming: Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation Maps Hit PS3 July 28th

+ Posted by Dan Amrich

First Strike was fun. Retaliation rocked. But Call of Duty: Black Ops fans want more – they crave new battlegrounds and new experiences. Black Ops developer Treyarch knows this, so they’ve been busy creating another fresh batch of DLC maps: Annihilation. The newest add-on content will be ready for download from the PlayStation Store starting Thursday, July 28th.

Annihilation features four new standard multiplayer arenas – Silo, Hangar 18, Drive-In and Hazard – and the deadly jungle Zombies experience, Shangri-La. “The goals we set were about quality and variety,” says Treyarch’s Online Director, Dan Bunting. “We wanted to make everything feel unique and distinct.”

Annihilation delivers on those goals with five all-new environments:

(Average: 2.34 out of 5)

Jun 03 2011

Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation DLC Comes to PS3 June 10

+ Posted by Dan Amrich

Hopefully everybody enjoyed the double XP period for Call of Duty: Black Ops in May – neither Treyarch nor Activision wanted to see any of the PS3 fans miss out just because of the technical issues. Now the next round of Black Ops action is locked and loaded: the long-awaited Escalation DLC pack will be available in the PlayStation Store on Friday, June 10th.

Escalation features five big chunks of content – four multiplayer maps and one star-studded Zombies experience unlike any other. For fans of competitive combat, your new battlegrounds await:

HOTEL takes the sunny splendor of a luxirous Cuban casino resort and turns it into a bullet-riddled war zone. Details like the blown casino safe and poolside bar offer some unusual cover for run-and-gunners, but thanks to the high vantage points at opposite ends, it’s also a great map for snipers.

(Average: 2.26 out of 5)

May 19 2011

Enjoy Double XP for Call of Duty: Black Ops This Weekend – Only on PS3

+ Posted by Dan Amrich

Leo Tolstoy once said, “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” Ask any PlayStation gamer who missed out on the Call of Duty: Black Ops double XP weekend a few weeks ago, and they’ll tell you: Leo knew what he was talking about. While other platforms soaked up the extra experience points, PS3 gamers had to hang in there while PlayStation put everything in order behind the scenes. In cases like that, patience isn’t a virtue — patience is a pain in the butt.

As the double-XP date loomed nearer, more and more PlayStation gamers wondered if they’d be able to take part in the festivities, and Treyarch – developer of Black Ops – swore to fans that they would not be forgotten.

(Average: 3.90 out of 5)

Apr 14 2011

Guitar Hero’s Tale Ends (for now) with a Massive Giveaway. Enter Here!

+ Posted by Dan Amrich

“We thought, there is no way this game is going to be successful.”

Prophetic words from Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Harmonix, recalling the early days of Guitar Hero. And when you look back far enough – past the millions of copies sold, past the weekend parties, before the game became a pop-culture milestone – his skepticism is actually very understandable.

At that point in history – 2005 — Harmonix had created several high-quality games, but none that were megahits. Frequency and Amplitude brought innovative music gameplay on PlayStation 2, following the trail blazed by Parappa the Rapper, Um Jammer Lammy, and Konami’s Japan-only Guitar Freaks. Harmonix had also worked with Konami on Karaoke Revolution with success, but even Rigopulos says “they weren’t blockbuster hits, they were base hits.”

(Average: 2.76 out of 5)

Oct 29 2010

Activision’s Blur Offers Double XP All Halloweekend, Developer Play Session

+ Posted by Dan Amrich

I am about to become a legend. No, really: In Blur, when you hit level 50 in the multiplayer system, you have opened up all the cars (oh, Koenigsegg CCX, how I love thee), activated all the mods (Mastermine – which fragments other people’s mines and gives you the points for it – is my [...]

(Average: 3.49 out of 5)

Jul 13 2010

Live on PSN: Blur Multiplayer Demo

+ Posted by Dan Amrich

I love driving fast cars — and destroying them. Ever since the original Twisted Metal in 1995, I have always loved games that give me both wheels and weapons. I’ve never been much of a simulation guy, so while I can appreciate Gran Turismo’s beauty and stunning accuracy, I’m the type of gamer who can’t [...]