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Gamescom 2012: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Multiplayer Preview

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August 28, 2012

As much as Black Ops 2 looks to ensure that the single player campaign isn’t just lost in the shuffle, it’s not like Treyarch has completely forgotten about multiplayer, either. By taking advantage of the new 2025 setting and completely overhauled killstreak and create-a-class systems, Black Ops 2 is looking to give Call of Duty fans the most intense yet streamlined multiplayer experience yet, as we saw during our hands-on preview

The most striking difference was the overhauled create-a-class system, which boasts some big, readily apparent changes. Not only does the interace look completely different, the feature now acts similarly to an RPG inventory. Whereas previous games in the franchise presented you with a rigid set of inventory options, Black Ops 2‘s system is much more flexible, allowing you to assign weapons, perks, and equipment to fill up the slots you’re allotted in any way you see fit.

As game design director David Vonderhaar explains, this new system—dubbed “Big 10” internally—will work to provide players with a truly customizable experience. “You can take any ten pieces of content in the system—and this is the key differential between all create a classes before and the one in Black Ops 2. In Black Ops 1, you had to take content. You had a secondary weapon. You had a tactical grenade. You had those things whether you cared for them or didn’t care for them, whether you used them or you didn’t use them, but in the create-a-class for Black Ops 2 you don’t have to take those things. You can straight up not take a secondary weapon if you’re never going to switch to it, and then use that freely allocated point and put it somewhere else. That could be an attachment. That could be an extra perk. That could be a second lethal grenade. That’s the core of the system. That’s the difference, the key pivotal difference between this and the systems that have come before.”

David also pointed out that you’ll need to get to Level 4 in Black Ops 2 before you can unlock the create-a-class. With 55 levels and 10 levels of prestige, you’ll need to prestige at least once before you can unlock all possibilities this time around. In the hopes of us playing around with it some, though, everything was unlocked for us from the start, and I was immediately able to appreciate the changes.

I dropped my secondary weapon—admittedly, I rarely stay alive long enough to need it—and second lethal grenade, affording me two points to play around with. I then made sure my tactical grenade was what would become the bane of riot shield users (now referred to as an “assault shield,” as much like Gears of War 2‘s Boomshield, you can plant it in the ground and use it as makeshift cover), my electro-dart. Basically, this handy little device would temporarily paralyze anyone who walks by it with a mildly damaging electric shock. Of course, whoever was unfortunate to walk past it and start twitching violently didn’t need to worry about the pitiful damage, as I was more than happy to finish them off with whatever assault rifle I was messing around with.

These extra two points though I took and equipped a second top-tier perk, as David explained to us the concept of create-a-class “wild cards.”

“Wild cards are an entirely new type of create-a-class content. What makes these wild cards special is they allow you to break the rules of the traditional system. So, by allocating one of your points on a wild card, you can do things like take a third attachment for your gun, take a second Perk 1, take a second lethal, take two primary weapons, or add additional attachments to your secondary weapon. It’s wild cards that really open up the create-a-class possibilities, and there’s an intrinsic cost. They cost one of your ten. You can break those rules, but it will cost you. So, wild cards are the rule breakers.”

To be of any effect though, the wild card cost me my two open points—one to unlock the card and one to actually equip the extra perk. It would be worth it, though, as I really only needed the one weapon and its attachments.

And speaking of attachments, this is where things got really wild. I could barely wrap my head around how many different goodies I could strap onto my assault rifle. Some are your first-person shooter staples, like laser sights and what not, and others have been heavily influenced by the 2025 setting, like the millimeter scanner, which could well be the greatest anti-camping tool conceived. By equipping the scanner, you’ll actually be able to see through walls to find players who are standing still and allow you to eliminate them before they cause any real havoc. But, as David was quick to point out, the idea of gun attachments have been taken to a new level as well.

“The laser sight increases accuracy, specifically hip-fire accuracy. Now, if you’re a Call of Duty player, you know that as Steady Aim, and you know that as a perk, but in Black Ops 2, there are no perks that modify a gun. If you want to modify a gun, you will take an attachment for that gun. That is the best way for us to allow you to have an experience with that gun that’s appropriate for that gun. Whereas a perk might modify all guns evenly, this allows us to, if we think that perk-like ability is inappropriate for that weapon, then that attachment’s not available for that weapon. It’s a very key pivot here, because I can also tune this laser sight specifically for the gun, so if it’s already a gun that hip-fires very accurately, this laser sight might modify it differently than something that would have to modify all weapons evenly. That gives us a really good opportunity to balance all these weapons, because there are so many guns and so many combinations of attachments. It’s a very important part of our strategy.”

So, I had my rifle, I had my gun, I had my perks, and I had my grenades. I was ready for combat! This was your more traditional Call of Duty experience: running around, trying to capture objectives and mow down your enemies as much as possible before they got to you in order to not only win the match, but also achieve killstreaks—now called score streaks—to help your cause as much as possible. But this was another aspect of the game that had been overhauled. Not only were there rewards that were unique to the 2025 setting, like the various robotic drones you could call upon and control to bring death to your enemies, but now there were added benefits to using rewards that helped your team, like the Call of Duty staple, the UAV.

“The UAV doesn’t get kills for you, but it still helps you win, and it helps your team win,” David explained. “Those are the only rewards that stack in, that actually give you score. So, a UAV is up and your teammates get kills, those are giving you +25 every time. +25 every time someone gets a kill while your UAV is up. Well, that assures I’ll make the enemy team shoot down UAVs, right? No longer something to just be ignored, and you’re not doing much except helping your team, which is helping your team win. So this strategy is super-important to us. We want to reward players who are helping their team win the game mode—not just the game, the game mode—and we want to reward players who are helping their team. There are lots of scoring events like this. The UAV is just an example of one. Anything that doesn’t directly generate kills for you but helps your team gives you a little bit of score. Not a lot. 25. Normally, one fourth of a kill.”

This also explained the name change, as acquiring points was what allowed you to unlock rewards and so heavily objective based players (like myself) could help out the team or capture objectives and see his score increase without ever firing a shot. We saw this some in Modern Warfare 3 with obtaining experience points like in Kill Confirmed mode by just picking up dog tags, but now we’ll see a more direct advantage to this within the game.

The effect is surprisingly noticeable. When I was carrying the flag in CTF, I saw my score multiplier double each time I got a kill. There was one match where I took down four guys who’d been unlucky enough to bunch up around my electro-dart (electro-dart for the win!) and got the point equivalent of 15 kills because of the multiplier that was added on for being the flag carrier.

Aside from the standard Team Deathmatch and CTF games, we also saw Hardpoint, the newest game mode added to the Call of Duty multiplayer repertoire. The best way to describe Hardpoint is that it plays exactly like Gears of War’s Annex mode. There is one point on the map worth a set number of points, and when those points run out, the hot spot moves to another section of the map. When one team captures enough points, they win the match.

When all was said and done, I was rather impressed with what I had seen of Black Ops 2’s multiplayer. The four levels we saw—Aftermath, Yemen, Cargo, and Turbine—were designed in the usual Call of Duty fashion to keep the action fast and frantic, and they all looked great graphically. The create-a-class really made me feel like I had a say in how I went into a fight and helped me perform better than I usually do because I could make my class conform more to my strategies. Last but not least, the new score system helped me feel like I had a fighting chance to help the team out with some rewards that are normally  just out of reach for me. From what I saw, it definitely looks like Treyarch is definitely upping the ante with Black Ops 2‘s multiplayer. I’ve got a hunch that Call of Duty fans will be very pleased come mid-November.

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SDCC 2012: EGM Preview: Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse

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July 20, 2012

Lucky there’s a family guy!

Note: Some language used may seem offensive, but it comes directly from the game and TV show and should be taken in context of such. 

When we first learned that we would be getting a full-fledged Family Guy game for consoles, all us fans of the hit animated sitcom jumped for joy. And when we learned it would revolve around the idea of Brian and Stewie bouncing around parallel dimensions once again like the classic Season 8 episode that introduced the Multiverse, we were ready to crack open a Pawtucket Patriot Ale and start playing.

Obviously, we’re still a couple months away from release though, so you can imagine how we’ve been chomping at the bit to see more of this game, especially after our brief view of the Amish level at E3 only whetted our appetites. So, when given the chance to hop on the Family Guy bus at San Diego ComicCon to see another new dimension, how could we refuse?

The level we saw, the third of the game’s ten dimensions the game will ship with, is a world where cripples are in charge. Every parking spot is handicapped, all sidewalks have ramps, and everyone rides the short bus (which also happens to spawn enemies from). And of course, Joe Swanson is something of a big deal here.  In fact, the menacing ‘Crippletron’ from the infamous “No Meals on Wheels” episode returns with Joe taking his prime spot once again as the head of this monstrosity comprised of hundreds of wheelchair bound enemies.

In terms of the game play, we saw Brian and Stewie effortlessly switch back and forth in mid-level to rain death and destruction upon those who traded in their crutches (one of them anyway) for AK-47s and others who had outfitted their wheelchairs with rockets to reach true ramming speed while carrying guns or clubs of their own.

Luckily, Brian and Stewie have plenty of tricks of their own up their not paralyzed sleeves. We saw everything from sniper rifles, assault rifles, automatic shotguns, flamethrowers, and laser blasters, all of which could be upgraded by earning cash from causing destruction in the environment and laying waste to your enemies. We also saw a variety of special items on the game’s item wheel, including golden eggs that hatch into fighting chickens and Stewie’s patented diaper grenade, to help Brian and Stewie move their way through these new and unusual worlds while also paying their own little tribute to some of the TV series’ best episodes.

One of the nicest things we saw with the demo though was how in just a short month the game’s look and feel seems to be a lot cleaner and crisper than the demo we saw at E3. And when you combine that look which falls directly in line with that of the show, some solid third-person shooter action, and some absolutely hysterical writing, as the game is being written by the folks at Fuzzy Door and everything is approved by Seth MacFarlane himself, its very easy to see how fans of Family Guy should start getting excited about this game. The only question now is what other dimensions besides the Amish and Handicapable worlds will Brian and Stewie travel to? We’ll just have to wait until September to find out.

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SDCC 2012: Hands-On: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

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More Than Meets the Eye

Some franchises are what Comic-Con was made for. That perfect pop culture blending of action figures, video games, comic books, cartoons, and movies ensuring that they resonate with fans of all kinds on at least some, if not all, of those mediums. Transformers is one of those franchises and they kicked off SDCC 2012 with a bang.

On the heels of their major announcement that they’re actually moving Transformers: Fall of Cybertron’s release date up a week to August 21st, High Moon Studios and Activision invited us for a chance to go hands-on with not only some of the single player campaign, but dive into their revamped multiplayer modes and new Transformer customization feature for the first time. And this new time with the game only makes me wish they moved it up even further because Transformers: Fall of Cybertron looks to hit every major note with fan boys and hardcore gamers everywhere.

I started my evening by jumping into the single player campaign and trying my hand at some missions midway through the game. My first mission threw meright into the pilot’s seat as I went flying for the first time with Combaticon Vortex through Cybertron and mowed down Autobot grunts with machine guns or dropped some devastating bombs on them that wiped out chunks of the battlefield. What was amazing about this mission though was how critical Vortex’s vehicle mode was as the battle took place across platforms of varying altitudes. As I transformed and let out a circuit shattering shockwave, I immediately had to leap and seamlessly transform back to vehicle mode and start climbing to take down grunts with rocket launchers before switching back to robot mode and moving further into the base. It was crisp, clean, and felt damn good.

I then skipped ahead a little further and if Vortex felt good, playing as Megatron felt down right badass. With his massive tank cannon I turned countless Autobots to slag as their puny pistols bounced off my frame. And then with his new hover mode’s stomp ability, I was able to literally crush them beneath my heel as I continued on my path to counteract the Autobots master plan.

After getting only a taste of the campaign, I hurried off to Team Deathmatch. But before I even had a chance to explore one of the ten maps the game is shipping with, I played around with the Transformers customization mode where I mixed and matched different body parts on one of the four returning classes to make a Transformer truly unique to my style. And announced at SDCC was the Insecticon and Dinobot customization DLC pack that would add features to this mode. While it may sound like a costume pack, which I admit isn’t something I typically get excited for, to make my own personal multiplayer avatar look like one of these iconic Transformers definitely piqued my interest.

So, once I made a red and blue Autobot Infiltrator with a Short Fuse EMP Grenade and some massive shoulders, I rolled into combat and wreaked havoc (I was match MVP with 15 kills to 7 deaths with 6 assists, but my team lost 33 kills to 30 before time ran out) in what is still a tremendously tight mode.

Admittedly angry over my team’s loss, despite my personal domination, I tried out the Conquest mode next. Set up as your standard Capture the Point match, we were required to capture three possible stations and scored points every few seconds for each of the three we had. First to 400 points was declared the victor. Again, a very tight take on a classic versus multiplayer mode, but this time my team was victorious although my K/D was a lot worse. I shared the MVP award this time with EGM News Editor, Eric L. Patterson as I captured the most points, but he dominated on the K/D front.

Finally, we moved over to the revamped Co-op mode, Escalation. Although featured in War for Cybertron, this Transformers take on Horde mode has a new twist in that each player is required to fill one of four positions. Only one person can be a healer, one can be a gunner, one can be a shield, and one can deploy ammo. This forces a lot more teamwork and communication than in the previous version of the mode and deters anyone from being a lone wolf. Eric and I found this out the hard way as we couldn’t even get past 10 waves before succumbing to the Decepticon onslaught. Traps of all kinds littered the battlefield that we could activate for a price, and each unit had a special power to help turn the tide of battle, but even on Easy Mode, if you don’t work as a team, you’re just booking yourself one way tickets to the scrap heap.

When all was said and done, I don’t think I could have been more impressed with Transformers: Fall of Cybertron as a whole. I can’t wait to see the full campaign and how everything ties together and I really can’t wait to spend a night just making a dozen different personal Transformers for multiplayer. I think that any and all Transformers fans out there, no matter what medium may have drew them into the franchise, will find something to love about this game and am really looking forward to getting my hands on the full thing next month.

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E3 2012: Quick Quotes: Enemy Front

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July 8, 2012

A little less Private Ryan, a little more Inglourious Basterds

“We wanted to get back to a bit more of the rock ‘n’ roll spirit. To do that, we wanted to get you off the front lines, stop being a grunt, and doing the same old Normandy-to-Berlin run.”

—Stuart Black, creative director, Enemy Front

When asked how City Interactive’s WWII first-person shooter, Enemy Front, would differ from WWII games we’ve seen in the past, Stuart Black, veteran of Black and Viking: Battle for Asgard, talked candidly about just wanting to kick ass and take names—and he’s made a few design decisions in order to ensure just that. As insinuated in the quote, the path your characters will take through Nazi-occupied Europe doesn’t end on Berlin’s doorstep. Instead, you’ll start in Dunkirk sneaking behind enemy lines during an Allied retreat, move on to Poland to help the resistance and assault a Hitler think tank, and then take on a secret base in Norway at the game’s climax, wreaking havoc on the Nazi war machine all along the way.

Black’s story is also moving away from the drama and relationships of soldiers in a unit serving on the front lines. Plenty of war movies served as inspiration for this game—but Saving Private Ryan wasn’t one of them. Instead, your character’s an old-school badass in the vein of vintage Clint Eastwood. Just one man taking down entire platoons of Nazis all by himself…and getting the hot French chick in the end after doing it.

But it wouldn’t be a Stuart Black game if you didn’t get great feedback on the chaos you’re creating. Destructible environments—filled with tons of exploding barrels, of course—and different, more obscure weapons than you’d typically see in a WWII shooter will help make this a bang-up confrontation of the Axis versus the Allies. And, yeah, even though we all know how WWII ends, Enemy Front looks to bring fresh experiences to our grandfathers’ war. All I know is that with all the “future war” games currently in vogue, it’s nice to see a developer remember their roots—and remind us of them as well.

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E3 2012: The Big Question: WWE ’13

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Will the return of the Attitude Era in WWE ’13 finally allow wrestling fans to let go of WWF: No Mercy?

When you talk to fans of wrestling videogames, many still claim—to this day—that the N64’s WWF: No Mercy, released in November 2000, is the best wrestling game they’ve ever played. Whether it was the storyline dynamics the game introduced, the massive roster and customization features it boasted, or the unavoidable truth that the game released during the most popular wrestling era in history, one fact is clear: Players just refuse to let go of this game.

Flash forward 12 years later—so long, in fact, that the WWF’s now been the WWE for 10 years—and take a quick look at the current wrestling scene. CM Punk’s currently the most popular personality the WWE has—and it all started last summer when the straight-edge superstar went allegedly “off script” in a rant that shook the company to its very core. His feud with John Cena—and, ultimately, the WWE brand itself—led Punk to walk out of his hometown of Chicago as the WWE Champion, but supposedly no longer under contract. All this did was rile up fan support for Punk even more. He was this generation’s Stone Cold Steve Austin. Someone you couldn’t censor, couldn’t predict—and, most importantly, couldn’t stop.

So, naturally, Punk needed to be the cover wrestler for WWE ’13, as the momentum he started in 2011 hasn’t slowed down at all. But Punk isn’t just the most popular wrestler of this era; he also hearkens back to the nostalgic time of WWF: No Mercy—the Attitude Era. The late ’90s were dominated by D-Generation X, Stone Cold versus the Rock, and Mick Foley and that damn stinky Mr. Socko. CM Punk reminds a lot of wrestling fans of those larger-than-life personalities from that era—the ones that helped make WWF: No Mercy so great.

So, in order to strengthen the bridge between now and then, WWE ’13 is introducing a new option called “Attitude Era” mode, where you’ll get to play through eight classic storylines from that era all over again. Whether it’ll have the branching paths of No Mercy is yet to be seen, but the idea of being able to play through those classic storylines with those legendary wrestlers—but with a modern gaming engine—might be too good to be true. We also have no word on just who these classic eight might be, but I think I made a few decent suggestions in the previous paragraph!

When you combine that homage to the past with an even beefier WWE Universe mode, refined Predator animation technology, the new WWE Live system that features “Spectacular Moments” like ring breaks and barricade crashes, and a brand-new audio system, the only question that remains is this: Will the Rock’s storyline end with him in the midst of a mediocre movie career? That, and where the f*** are our ice-cream bars?!

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EGM Preview: Enemy Front

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June 2, 2012

Face Towards Enemy

When we look back at how first-person shooters have evolved over the past decade or so, WWII was really the setting that started it all and set us down on this path that has led us to modern and futuristic weaponry and intricate geo-political storylines that may be rooted in some obscure facts. But the folks at City Interactive want to make sure that we do not forget about the past and so in a market flooded with modern settings, they give us Enemy Front, an old-school, no holds barred, down and dirty WWII first-person shooter that reminds us why its so much fun to romanticize our grandfather’s war and just blow Nazis up.

In Enemy Front you play as an American OSS Ranger who epitomizes the strong, silent type. Inserted into Nazi occupied Europe during the invasion of Dunkirk while the Allies are in full retreat, you’re running in the opposite direction, headfirst right into the teeth of the Nazi war machine. There, you will team up with a sexy female French resistance fighter and a no frills British commando to work your way deep behind enemy lines to take out key Nazi installations as your mission won’t take you on the traditional direct line to Berlin. Instead you’ll fight through at least France, Poland, and Norway as you assault some of Hitler’s most prized outposts in order to help the Allies turn the tide of the war. And because of the variety of locales, don’t expect this to be your typical five-hour campaign.

“A big thing I wanted to do was get out of that 5-hour campaign rut. I’m sick of it. I’m a huge FPS fan myself, obviously, and it’s just like as I’m about to really get into these other games that are out there, it’s over. So our levels are looking to be about an hour long each. They’re built on CryEngine 3. You can do pretty wide open levels with that, but we’ve kept things relatively linear. It’s a bit of a corridor shooter, but you’ll see that it’s a very wide corridor and you still have options on paths to take and what not. I’m a big believer in the Power of Three when it comes to game development. Anytime you’re thinking of a number in development, it’s probably three. So at any given moment, in terms of level design, I want to player to have at least three choices as to where they’re going and what they’re going to do. And so we’re looking at about 11 levels and hoping to get about 12 hours out of the campaign,” says Enemy Front Creative Director Stuart Black.

Enemy Front also looks to differentiate itself via the weapons it allows you to use and how they can be used in combat. Spotlighting a lot of less featured weapons from most other WWII games allows the game to have a newer feel in this old-school genre as weapons like the British Lanchester SMG are actually your character’s weapons of choice. There is also a unique reload system where you can reload your weapon faster, no matter what it is, if the clip hasn’t been fully emptied. This risk/reward system can become critical in a firefight as you have to strategically plan when to reload as a longer reload caused by emptying the clip could mean the difference between life and death.

But just because a lot of focus is being keyed in on the single player campaign for the game doesn’t mean it won’t have a multiplayer feature. Looking to incorporate a territory-based twist to your standard Team Deathmatch, Enemy Front will definitely allow you to jump online with your buddies for some WWII setting multiplayer mayhem. Beyond the confirmation of Team Deathmatch though, there was nothing else that was willing to be revealed about the mode at this time.

All in all, this throwback seems like a breath of fresh air as, even with its simplified scene and story, it gives the player a real sense of empowerment pitting you against the entire Third Reich and giving you a legit chance to come out on top. I can’t wait to return to my WWII first-person shooter roots a bit when Enemy Front comes out during this upcoming holiday season.

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EGM Preview: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

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Back in Black

The original Call of Duty: Black Ops took a risk with the franchise by inserting players into a new conflict for the series—The Cold War—and changing up its storytelling mechanic to where most of the game actually takes place via flashbacks. Much like the rest of the franchise though, Black Ops was a huge success, and the new characters introduced resonated with gamers everywhere. So where could Treyarch go from here with their next chapter in the Call of Duty franchise? Well, if the original Black Ops was a change of pace, then Black Ops 2 looks to take the franchise and turn it on its head (in a good way).

The story of Black Ops 2 looks to take place in two main conflicts—the first of which is The Cold War of the 1980s. With talks of Iran, Afghanistan, and Ronald Reagan’s STAR WARS program permeating the culture of the time, you will once again work with Alex Mason and Frank Woods. Yes, Woods is alive and well (and being played by James C. Burns again) as we find that Mason’s unstable mental state had him believe Woods was dead in order to carry out his Manchurian Candidate mission. In the game play demo we saw, we briefly were introduced to what Black Ops 2’s Afghanistan would look like—along with being graced by Woods’ distinct attitude as Mason and Woods rode on horseback (with realistic horse movements as Treyarch went as far as to mo-cap some thoroughbreds) through the Afghanistan desert, working in the best interest of the time for the United States.

The other conflict will not take place in the past or even modern times—but in the future of 2025. There, you will play as Alex Mason’s son, David, who has followed in his father’s footsteps as an ass-kicking soldier supreme who has to stop a ghost from his father’s past—Raul Menendez—from ruining America’s future.

“While playing the game, you’ll see through the eyes of Alex and Frank how this monster is created in the first Cold War,” explains Black Ops 2 Director Dave Anthony.  “Then, in 2025, while playing as David, you see him again and you actually experience what this monster is capable of. While working with David Goyer [writer of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight] on pushing the story and re-writing the rules on the story telling aspect of Call of Duty, the first place we really looked was the villain himself. We wanted to create a human being—not a two-dimensional character. The best reference I can probably give you is if you look at a TV show like The Sopranos, where the main character of the show—Tony—is a villain. He is a cold-blooded murderer; he does things we in our right minds would never do. But, you find subtle layers of understanding of who he is as a human being. You find yourself empathizing with him on many different levels—it puts you in a real conflict. So we have that side of Raul Menendez, and working with David Goyer on this—the man who wrote Heath Ledger’s Joker—you can imagine how far Menendez will go. It’s been very exciting because we’ve been working on this character non-stop for 18 months and I can say that Raul Menendez will be a very memorable character for you.”

Continuing with the two conflicts aspect of the game, Black Ops 2 is really centered around two things: Player choice and parallels (beyond just the father-son relationship of Alex and David and a villain’s past and present). And it wouldn’t be a Call of Duty game if there wasn’t a conflict with global ramifications throughout. So, the first big parallel is that—much like how the 1980s were about oil and stopping the spread of communism—the Cold War of the future looks to be similar.

Doing extensive research and bringing experts on future warfare in like P.W. Singer of the Senior Fellow Brookings Institute (to add to Call of Duty’s go-to-guys on warfare Lt. Col. Hank Keirsey and Col. Oliver North), Black Ops 2’s geo-political conflict revolves around REEs—Rare Earth Elements. REEs are important because they power the laptop you might be reading this on, the iPhone you use to call your friends to talk about this preview with, or the flatscreen TV you’ll end up playing Black Ops 2 on—and 95% of the world’s REEs are currently mined in China. Electronics manufacturers are at the mercy of the world’s most populous country, and a country which could cripple the economies of many other countries if they so choose because of it. The demo we saw of Black Ops 2 hints that they might do exactly that, as REEs make everyone forget all about oil.

In terms of player choice, there are now branching paths in the middle of chapters—similar to what you might see in Gears of War, where you can choose to go down different paths with your character and see the same conflict from different angles. The example we were shown was where David could choose to take a sniping position on an L.A. freeway and cover his troops as they moved through some rubble below, or lead the charge himself and take the lead. Same conflict, two completely different points of view—an element which could give some great replay value to the campaign.

The most thrilling new aspect of Black Ops 2 may be the technology though, both in-game as well as the stuff that actually powers that game. In terms of gameplay, the demo we saw had David firing a sniper rifle with specially-charged bullets which could actually fire through concrete as thick as L.A. freeway support columns. And, we knew where to fire those specially-charged bullets because of the special X-ray-like scope attached to the gun. As David then wove his way through Los Angeles—the target for one of Menendez’s attacks—he took control of a small squad of Quad-rotor drones that he commanded through an area in a fashion similar to how Commander Shepard commanded his team in Mass Effect 3.

But you aren’t the only one in control of fantastic technology like spy drones outfitted with weapons as Menendez and his group obviously know a thing or two about hacking government equipment. Aside from these aerial drones, there were also ground drones called C.L.A.W.s that reminded me of AT-ATs from The Empire Strikes Back—another loose parallel to Reagan’s STAR WARS plan perhaps? So, aside from terrorists, David now had to contend with these unmanned drones that are more deadly accurate than a human could hope to be. And, because they don’t think like humans, they have a completely different A.I. pattern for you to contend with.

Another gameplay parallel we saw—and this one was more in line with the Black Ops series itself—was David having to fly what was referred to as an FA-38 VTOL (vertical take-off and landing). That such a plane could exist in 2025 is possible due to fact that the military is currently testing an F-35B VTOL manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Once airborne, David must shoot down a series of drones and the task itself that might remind some players of the Vietnam helicopter mission with Alex and Frank from the first game. That entire sequence though ended up playing out completely differently, as you might imagine the differences between a 1960s helicopter and a futuristic super-jet. 

Going back to the technology behind the game, I think players will be surprised at what Treyarch is getting out of their engine this time around: Their goal is 60 frames per second, and PC quality graphics on a console. A high bar to set indeed, but I would love to see if the team can pull it off. What we did see though was a pair of incomplete multiplayer maps dubbed “Aftermath” (urban area) and “Yemen” (rural area) that really showed us what they were trying to do to reach those goals, as different parts of the maps were in different stages. More complete parts had “reveal mapping”—a technology new to the series—which gives crevasses and cracks in the ground or walls a more sensitive, detailed, and realistic-looking texture to them. We also saw examples of brand new lighting schemes and particle effect, which included bounce lighting and self-shadowing to really emphasize the realistic qualities of light that are being added to locations.  I think the most impressive thing about these maps were how different they looked compared to anything we’ve seen before in the Call of Duty multiplayer.

“You’ll notice a lot of the areas you walk through are very distinct and unique spaces on the maps,” says Dan Bunting, Director of Online for Black Ops 2. “In ‘Aftermath’, I started in an empty parking lot and then moved into a parking garage, went into a destroyed street, through a fire escape tunnel, and ended up in a hotel lobby. We intentionally do this. Its important to us as designers that we design maps that are easy to understand and that players have a sense of space. As soon as they spawn in, they know where they are. They need to be able to call out to their teammates things like ‘There’s a flag carrier in the lobby!’, for example. It’s not just about communication though, it’s about how the maps flow. There’s always a learning curve when you first start off on a new map and we want to decrease that as much as possible. The fastest way to learn is by having very distinct spaces.”

Clearly, it wouldn’t be Call of Duty without its multiplayer—and it wouldn’t be Treyarch if the “Zombies” mode didn’t return. Thankfully, fans everywhere will enjoy shooting zombies once again, as that mode has been confirmed for Black Ops 2. The folks at Treyarch didn’t want to go into much detail beyond that, but Game Design Director David Vonderhaar did give us some interesting tidbits on what the team is aiming to do with multiplayer overall.

“When we knew for sure where we were going with the time period, and what the game was supposed to be like, it actually opened our eyes up to thinking very critically about challenging what assumptions we had been making about how this game should work, extending the systems that we have, and just what cows are sacred. Did the game have to work the same way it did last time just because it’s a sequel? We asked ourselves this and with many of the game’s core systems like create-a-class and kill streaks, we pulled all these things back to where they started from and asked why do we have this particular perk that acts in this particular way? Are they good? Are they bad? And we really just focused in on three key things on the design side. First, we wanted to create a healthy amount of balance. Like with the Ghost perk. It prevents you from being seen by UAVs. But that’s something that is just on/off. You can’t tune something that is just on/off. So we needed to put ourselves in the best position to where this content is tunable. Then we looked at progression.  Going from when you first pop that disc in to what for many people becomes 40, 60, even 80 hours of game play time. But most importantly, we focused in to make sure that players had the most diverse amount of game play. We challenged ourselves when it came to game play style and as long as we could keep coming up with counters for the most insane game play style then we’re confident we’d create this wide range of game play that appeals to the largest range of people possible.”

Of course, what better way to provide gameplay diversity than with a brand new mode? Strike Force Campaign is a mode that has some real-time strategy elements to it, where you can jump into the shoes of any character or drone on the field, or pull back to a satellite-like image where you can point out posts and command your troops to move where you want them to. And—depending on how well you do or do not do—the following missions and mission options could be drastically different. Again, strong player choice and replayability is being offered here, and Strike Force being its own special campaign adds a lot more meat to the game as a whole as it hits an entirely new demographic with the real-time strategy aspect.

All in all, I do not think I could have been more blown away by the demo we saw and the effort that Treyarch is pouring into this title in every possible aspect. And honestly, this is the most excited I’ve been for a Call of Duty game since the first Modern Warfare. From the parallel moments in history to the new player choices, game modes, and fantastic looking futuristic weaponry and combat, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is something that all gamers, not just fans of the franchise, should be keeping their eyes on as its November release steadily approaches.

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Hands-On: Family Guy Online

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment
April 16, 2012

It’s FREE-kin’ Sweet!

Brian and Stewie’s adventures in the multiverse. Peter versus the giant chicken. The greased up deaf guy. These are just some of the hysterical moments we think of when we think of Family Guy. Now, in its 10th season and with nearly 200 episodes under it’s belt, including several seasonal and movie based spoofs, it is time for our favorite family from Quahog to invade the digital realm in a way, well, you just might not be ready for.

Family Guy Online looks to immerse you in the world of the animated sitcom in ways you never thought possible by actually putting you inside of Quahog as its newest resident alongside the Griffins. Dubbing itself a Free-to-play ‘MMLOL game’ (Massively multiplayer laugh-out-loud), you’ll get to choose from four classes stemming from the main members of the family (for a small fee you can also unlock the ‘Brian the Dog’ class). There’s the Peter class representing your tanks, the Lois class representing healers, the Meg/Chris teenager class representing your brawlers, and the Stewie class representing your rogue class. And you can customize them to look as outrageous or mundane as you want with chances to unlock more costume parts by completing quests that tie directly into the show.

And the quests are really what will make Family Guy Online stand out. Helping various characters from the show that act as your NPC quest givers, you try to impress the almighty Mayor Adam West in trying to be the best Quahog citizen possible. And if you’re a fan of the show, you’ll want to do every quest as not only does it help you towards the overall end goal of the game, but each quest has unique dialogue performed by the actual cast of the show as well clips that set up each quest to let you know just what episode this task was inspired by. Plus, Adam West serves as your overall narrator and as long as they keep making Family Guy episodes, you can bet there is a good chance to see the game expand later on.

Not to mention, it wouldn’t be Family Guy if you didn’t have insane non-sequiturs. We were able to go hands-on with the first handful of quests available in the game (including trying to set the fastest time record for catching greased up deaf guy, or just smashing Peter’s collection of Trashmen records…we get it…the bird is the word) and after getting over the fact that we were exploring locations like The Griffin’s House or The Drunken Clam, there were literally hundreds of random things in the world to interact with that had nothing to do with the task at hand, like pulling a midget from a well. Just another normal day in Quahog for sure.

What might be the nicest aspect of the game though is that even with (hopefully) a ton of other players online is that the guys from Roadhouse Interactive, the main developers behind Family Guy Online, are trying to craft a personal experience for each player as well as a social one.

“So your first quest when you enter the game is to talk to Peter Griffin. Pretty easy, I know, but we want to hand hold you a little in the beginning. But when you talk to Peter, he actually gets up and out of his lawn chair that he’s lounging in, and talks directly to you. We’re doing some pretty amazing things from a technology standpoint in terms of instantiation for gamers, so even though there are multiple people in the world who may be talking to Peter there, you’ll still see him get up and out of the chair only for you. And this is important to us because the source material, Family Guy, is so character driven. So instead of him just standing there with a question mark over his head, we created a way for the characters to react and engage you specifically and we think that will help the gamer and their created character feel important,” says Roadhouse Interactive Co-Founder and CCO Ian Verchere.

After our brief sojourn in the virtual Quahog, we sadly had to bid farewell, but what we saw had us very excited. The class system is something that MMO fans will immediately be able to recognize and the attacks fit each character class perfectly as we fought off enemies that made sense to the world and quests before us. And when you mix a great looking, fully realized 3D Quahog with solid controls and the classic humor of Family Guy, I think it’s going to be hard for fans not to embrace this digital world when the open beta launches on April 17th, especially considering its F2P status.

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Hands-On: Double Dragon: NEON

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — 3 Comments

Fight for Right with the Might of the Dragon

The 80s were a time when the groundwork for many of today’s great gaming franchises and genres was laid out. This era of 8-bit goodness is what galvanized many of us gamers into becoming the hardcore players of today and still inspires many developers and publishers on the creative side. And one of those classic genres that is still emulated even now is the side-scrolling beat ‘em up. And one of the best of that era was the original Double Dragon.

But even as the side-scrolling beat ‘em up has continued moving ahead, the Double Dragon franchise never moved past the early 90s and so for many of us, a nostalgic piece of our childhood has remained there, never updated or revamped like many other classic franchises of the era. Until now.

At PAX East 2012, we were able to go hands-on and play the first two stages for Double Dragon: NEON, an overdue re-launching of that classic franchise being spearheaded by Majesco Entertainment and WayForward Technologies. This game isn’t just a spruced up port of those original Double Dragon games on the NES and in the arcade though. The best way to describe what we saw overall was a blending of those original beat ‘em ups with some over the top elements from something like Big Trouble in Little China including a spaceship and Marian being strung up in a Kim Cattrall like pose after her kidnapping.

In all this, the game will look to pay homage to those original games while mixing in some tongue-in-cheek 80s humor and references that will make all children of the 80s smile a little bit. You’ll see it in everything from the art style to the high-five co-op mechanic (more on that in a bit). And there are a lot of things that do get carried over from the original games to appeal to the old-school fan.

From the game starting with Marian getting punched in the gut and getting carried off by random thugs, to Abobo being the first boss you face, and Linda still cracking her whip, which you can in turn pick up and use against other foes, old-school fans will hit a lot of recognizable beats before the story starts to take a new direction with the new main antagonist, Skullmageddon. My only concern is that newcomers to the series may immediately see the art style that tries to blend those yesteryear layouts with today’s sensibilities and not pick up on many of the game’s throw-back references and pass on something they don’t quite understand.

In order to help lure in new fans though, the game will look to have the polish we’d expect from a modern title and feature a lot more complex moves and abilities that will take advantage of current controllers. The controls felt great, even in the somewhat early build we played, and a series of new and more involved combos allowed for juggling enemies like never before. There is also a new abilities bar that, although not active in our demo, is supposed to allow you to customize your own 80s mix-tape cassette with a variety of Double Dragon inspired powers like throwing fireballs.

I think a key that will appeal to fans old and new though will be the co-op, or as the guys from Majesco prefer, “bro-op”. Supporting both local and online 2-player co-op, where players can take on the roles of the brothers Jimmy and Billy Lee, the game has added mechanics to try to stress that NEON, much like the original arcade games, is best played with a friend. And in that, we get another popular 80s reference being worked into the game, the high-five. Although the animation right now may not be the most masculine of maneuvers by the Lee brothers, there is actually a key strategic element to this as depending on what direction you hit the right joystick to initiate the high-five, you can share health or your ability meter to help your friends stay in the game.

When we were done with the demo, I have to admit I was pretty impressed. As a side-scrolling beat ‘em up, the game handled very well and in terms of staying true to the tone of Double Dragon, I think NEON is a fine successor to bring the series back into the limelight. Now, it’s just a matter of seeing what final product looks like come this summer on XBLA and PSN.

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EGM Preview: Assassin’s Creed III

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Starting a Revolution

The Assassin’s Creed universe has become one of gaming’s most dynamic and fluid on-going stories as it explores history in a unique and thrilling way. Turning some of history’s most interesting personalities and settings into some of gaming’s most interesting sidekicks, antagonists, and levels, you never really can predict where they are going to go next until Ubisoft reveals the next step themselves. And now that they’ve pulled the veil back on Assassin’s Creed III, the questions have all shifted to just what can we expect next from a game that is being put together by the team who did AC1 and AC2 and has the best and brightest from Brotherhood and Revelations coming on board as well. Fortunately, EGM has some of the answers.

The first thing we have to talk about is the time period. Many have stated that the game takes place during the American Revolution and although this is true, it might be more accurate to describe it as Colonial America as the game will actually start in 1750 and end somewhere in the 1780s so you’ll see many events leading up to and post-war as well. There will be plenty of battles from the American Revolution, of course, as this wouldn’t be the largest Assassin’s Creed yet if they didn’t explore much of that in detail, but don’t be surprised if a lot of the fun is just trying to work your way through 1760s and early 1770s Boston and New York with a heavy red coat population looking to hunt down our newest assassin. Boston and New York will also serve as your two primary hub locations during different years for much of the game.

And speaking of our newest assassin, we finally have learned how Desmond’s bloodline made the great leap across the Atlantic. Connor, a half-European, half-Native American, will have to explore and embrace both his Native American heritage as part of the Mohawk Nation and his European roots if he is to overcome this new Templar threat that will have him working both sides of the American Revolution as he fights the Assassin/Templar war from the shadows. Part of him embracing his Mohawk bloodline will be in the form of the weapons he will use.

The first new weapon that fans will immediately embrace is the tomahawk. For those who prefer up close, brutally bloody moments, this handheld axe will fast become a favorite for many. There is also the bow and arrow that will lend a completely new element to taking out enemies stealthily due to the quiet nature the weapon. Although we did not see any game play with the bow, we were promised it would be there and that it would change how many approach missions as assassins. There will also be the return of iconic weapons such as hidden blades and there will be A LOT more guns due to the advancements in gunpowder over the years that Connor will be able to take advantage of if he can get his hands on a few. I’m sure the British can lend our new hero a few, no questions asked, right?

Another new weapon though that got most of our attention was the rope dart. Not quite a grappling hook, the rope dart can also give Connor some ranged attacks as well as really strike fear into nearby patrolling troops. We also saw it in action for one encounter, but it definitely let its mark on us. Connor was perched in a tree as a British patrol of about six soldiers walked by. Connor threw the rope dart into the chest of one of the patrolmen and then jumped off the branch of the tree still holding the rope, basically hanging the now dead red coat to serve as a warning for later patrols. Connor then leapt into combat with the remainder of the group and we saw some thrilling new counter-kills including one where he placed a rifleman’s head against his own gun and used his foot to blow the soldier’s brains out.

Now, I had mentioned that Connor had been in a tree when that sequence started and that is because many of your missions, about 30% to be exact, will be taking place on the frontier. Since much of America was still wilderness in the 18th century with just a few cities serving as colonial hubs that would later expand outward, it would make sense that much of the game has Connor moving through this untamed land. And since the game takes place over such a large period of time, you will see many areas in both winter and summer. So a lake in one level could be frozen over in the next so you could then run over it. And being in the Northeast, this also means a lot of snow for you to move through that affects Connor’s speed and stealth abilities, but was absolutely gorgeous to look at, even if it is more recommended that he try to stick to tree branches.

And since much of Connor’s free-running in these areas will have him moving through trees and over rocks, the AC team gave him the most fluid climbing mechanics yet as many of the foot and hand holds that we are accustomed to are no longer present and Connor will have to improvise on the fly. And with the frontier being 1.5 times bigger than Rome was in Brotherhood, it’s a good thing that Connor can climb trees to help get around more quickly in this massive piece of real estate.

Another interesting aspect of the frontier, and again continuing with Connor’s Native American heritage, will be his encounters with wildlife. Startling animals could alert soldiers to his presence, but skinning and killing them could also allow him to sell meat and fur back at the city hubs for money and I am sure several side-missions will center around this mechanic.

And speaking of city life, Connor will spend a good portion of his time here, too. More NPCs than ever before will be seen on screen in the hustling and bustling Colonial New York and Boston that will be in ACIII. There is also new free-running mechanics here as the chase-breakers from multiplayer have found their way into single player. Now you can dive through open windows and cut through actual building or apartment interiors when being chased to escape your foes, making this easily the largest Assassin’s Creed game yet, inside and out.

Mentioning NPCs reminded me though that Connor will not be alone in his fight. Some of history’s greatest characters will once again be getting the Assassin’s Creed treatment as George Washington and Ben Franklin will be mission givers in this game as you take part in history yourself with Paul Revere’s Midnight Run or take orders from General Israel Putnam at the Battle of Bunker Hill. And speaking of Bunker Hill and NPCs, the most impressive thing I’ve seen in games in a while was the rows upon rows of individually rendered and modeled British soldiers during the Battle of Bunker Hill.

When prompted as to how many were on screen at any given time, the folks from Ubisoft assured us there were over 2,000 British soldiers on screen at any one moment firing volleys of bullets from their 18th-century rifles as we moved through the trenches, trying to be stealthy in the middle of a war and not get shot by accident, as we approached our target, a British captain and high-ranking Templar official, who was assassinated in one smooth running motion as Connor took advantage of the chaos of battle around him.

When all was said and done, with everything that we had seen, I was quite simply in shock. The massive world, the new characters and weapons, and the setting were enough to knock my socks off. The new game play and combat elements the Ubisoft team had implemented along with working our way through the frontier were absolutely gorgeous to look at and if they are anywhere as smooth as many of the elements from the previous Assassin’s Creed games, then there is not a doubt in my mind this will be the greatest adventure yet. I just wonder how Desmond feels about all this.

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