The details of Modern Warfare 3 have  been unofficially leaked, according to an article in Kotaku. Activision hasn’t even  released the name  of the upcoming successor in the Call of Duty franchise. The  name, Modern Warfare 3, was part of the leak.  In recent years, the Cod franchise has been the most important franchise in gaming history. Last year’s iteration, Call of Duty: Black Ops  grossed over 1 billion dollars in revenue.

The source of the leak is questionable and Activision is not excluded from the lists of culprits. In the era of the 24 hour news cycle, PR could be the life or death of a game. THQ’s Homefront moved over 1 million units its first week following a successful ad campaign. A great way to generate some  buzz is to unofficially release details of the most anticipated title for 2011. Many of the game’s locales and multiplayer maps have been exposed in a way reminiscent of an official release. Some of the details that were leaked include(don’t worry, I won’t spoil): The single player campaign being rumored to continue after the Russian invasion of America in Modern Warfare II andSpec Ops  receiving new modes. Players can also expect more perks and modes in the multiplayer dept. With the depth of details that were leaked, is this Activision’s way of releasing details and not having to field questions concerning the game? Since the leak was  “unofficial,” this protects IW from any responsibility.  Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist Robert Bowling clears some of the confusion up on his twitter account.

“A lot of hype & a lot of leaked info on #MW3, some still accurate, some not. To avoid spoiling the experience, I’d wait for the real reveal.”

Or maybe not. But he does concede that some of the details are true.

November is now the month for confetti and party hats, because it is unofficially Call of Duty’s birthday and fans  will line up in droves to buy Modern Warfare 3. With Battlefield 3 stealing the spotlight, this leak seems like an unofficial attempt to turn the spotlight towards Soap MacTavish. EA, like Manny Pacquiao, is challenging MW3 to the ring, but the once great champion, Activision,  has been relegated to unofficially releasing details on how great its next fight is going to be.

Well everyone, Portal 2 was released early for everyone, after a lengthy and slightly unrewarding ARG campaign that all hardcore Valve fans would have had an ear on for a while. Portal 2 is of course the sequel to the Valve tech demo Portal, which ended up being massively successful, and rightly so, it was an ingenious blend of FPS (Except you never shoot a bullet or kill anyone) and puzzles topped off with an immersing story that keeps you on your toes until the very end.

I must say, if you are one of those ten or so people who didn’t like Portal then this isn’t the article for you because, ladies and gentlemen, Portal 2 is definitely worth the hype. I played on the PS3 and have completed the single player campaign that took me 8 or so hours, this article will not spoil any twists or important information that you will come across during the game.

I’ll start by telling you that if you are expecting a ‘jump in and understand’ approach like the first game that was mainly focused on puzzles and a reasonably simple to pick up but boldly portrayed storyline then you might be surprised by the different approach that the sequel takes. It’s very much a cinematic game, more so than I’ve ever played. Ask what I was looking forward to Portal 2 for was and I’d say to get to the bottom of Aperture Science and more tough puzzles – Valve has delivered both of those things, sacrificing very little in the process.

I worried for quite a while that Portal 2 might end up suffering from the same ‘syndrome’ as PixelJunk Shooter 2 or Little Big Planet 2, and just lose a lot of what made it fun to begin with. Let me explain, LBP was a great game for people of any ages, with simple and constant puzzle mechanics that was lots of fun and compelled you to play many times and work hard on getting trophies. LBP2 on the other hand was also fun but lacked the replayability, in my opinion, because it complicated puzzle mechanics beyond the what younger players could grasp. If you tried making games with the LBP2 creator mode, you’d understand what I mean. In LBP you could make levels no matter who you were, but in LPB2 you’d have to be a rocket scientist to work out what all the motherboards and microchips meant. Something that LBP2, PJS2 and Portal 2 shared was an increase in the number of puzzle mechanics which, in the first two games I mentioned, make gameplay very vague and don’t settle to recap what you had just learnt. Portal 2 does not make that mistake though, giving you the exact amount of time to learn about a new mechanic (like Gels that repel or propel or create portal surfaces). All new mechanics have a history that you may choose to learn if you so wish, and usually have three or four chambers or tests of increasing difficulty. Conversely, no mechanic lingers too long, everything is kept fresh and interesting. Also there’s a couple of real mind bending puzzles that you hardcore portalists will enjoy.

Aesthetically, Portal 2 looks brilliant. The opening sequence of the game is jaw-dropping, as the room around you falls apart (and none of the debris ‘fades out’ to compensate for MORE debris). The destruction all the way through the game that happens right before your eyes made me stop many times and have a ‘how did/could they do that?!’ moment. It was reminiscent of when I was younger and had triggered something to happen, I’d just sit back all slack-jawed and just watch hopelessly as the incredible events unfolded. The graphics draw you into the story, making it believable and cinematic. The use of shadows in some parts of the game is a fine drawcard for Portal 2 also. Later in the game the graphics began to look more and more like Portal, but I didn’t mind because the story picks you up and throws you a mile (in a good way).

The story is worthy of Valve’s Half-Life universe, everything is just the way it should be, Chell remains mute and can only be seen through portals and all new characters only add more wonderful layers to the game. I feel that I should reiterate though, the story is unlike Portal, there are a few plots throughout the game that are played separately, so dropping in as an outsider in a later level would be confusing. But that said, when played start to finish the story is possibly even better than the original, with plot twists left right and centre. First game in a few years to make me properly laugh and also properly cry (Not ashamed to admit, it did make me cry..at the end…for a little bit). One notable segment of the game is like a live-in history book where you learn everything you’ll ever need to know about Aperture Science, GLaDOS and the other characters of Portal 2 who shall remain nameless. If you are expecting to learn lots about other things like Black Mesa or Gordon Freeman or the Combine, squash those expectations because this game has the same amount of crossover as the first Portal game. Probably the best way to describe it without spoiling anything would be a good movie sequel of the original, it’s very cinematic. If you play Portal 2 and you aren’t a crazy fan like me and you feel a little dissapointed, trust me, at the end everything is all worth it. All I’ll say about the end is that it finishes one story and begins another that will leave you thinking, ‘thank you Valve for not doing like other games do and leave the ending open for another pocket-pinching trilogy’.

I would suggest playing the single player campaign first before the co-op if you are one to keep the story arc in tact (The multiplayer happens chronologically after the single player has finished), I haven’t played any coop yet so I’m not sure how much from the single player campaign will be revealed, if valve is sensible (which they usually are) then probably not much.

So save up your pennies/dollars/rupees and grab yourself a copy of Portal 2, this game will not disappoint. If you have a PS3 I suggest you get Portal 2 for it instead of the Xbox 360 (the old news that you can play using Steam on the PS3 against PC and Mac players and with the PS3 copy you get a code for a free PC and Mac copy). And make sure you play Portal before this because there’s a lot you wont understand if you play Portal 2 first. Watch out all-other-games-being-released-this-year, Portal 2 might just be the one that bowls you all over.

That’s all I’ll say for now, please feel free to comment on this article, let me and everyone at GamerHusbands Radio know what YOU think as well because, lets be honest, everyone has an opinion.

More of my reviews/ideas/thoughts/bizarre at twitter.com/warmanator

If you played the first game you might notice some changes in Dead Space 2. Isaac will talk this time. He hardly talked in the first game outside of the grunts he made as he was being attacked. In DS2 he will converse with others. This should add to the depth of the narrative. In theory, multiplayer is used to add more value to the game. Hopefully it’s more than the usual round of deathmatch and capture the flag variants. The DeadSpace faithful committ to this game, because of the suspense and narrative that it provides. If the multiplayer is tacked on, it could have the opposite effect and turn people off. it’s too early to tell. Multiplayer could be the hidden gem al la Assassins Creed:Brotherhood.

In 8 days, Isaac will traverse across our consoles in his effort to rid the universe of Necromorphs. Plasma Cutter…Check!

Its been nearly 400 years since the last blight and the Grey Wardens are few in numbers because no one believes that another blight is coming and they think it is just legend. You however soon find out that the Archdemon will be here in a very short time. You are recruited at a young age by one of the Grey Wardens who has been around for a long time and seen many battles.

The first hour or so of the game can take place in several locations and have several different stories. This portion of the game is your origin story. You can be a man, elf, or dwarf and then you have a background as a warrior, mage, or rogue. Warriors are damage dealers, rogues are the stealthy type and can pick locks, and mages are, well, mages. I could go on for hours describing this aspect of the game but you get the idea that you have a ton of choices in the very beginning and as the game moves on, the choices keep piling up.

It is not quite the “60-80 hour minimum” game that everyone promised but it is still very long by today’s standards. I got through it in about 40-50 hrs I think. I haven’t checked my hr counter in a while but it was somewhere around 38 the last time I looked.

Overall the game is very well done in my opinion. It offers everything an RPG fan could want. You’ve got loot gathering, magic, a small amount of weapon customization and a crapload of well written and acted dialogue. Speaking of dialogue, don’t buy this game if you don’t like reading or listening to people talk because you will be doing a LOT of that during your time with this game.

Gameplay is solid for the most part but there are things that frustrate me about it. The collision detection in this game is a little too touchy. I was always getting stuck on other characters or dead bodies while in combat and if they enemy you are attacking happens to move just a little bit, your character must also readjust. Once you take the swing though, it hits the enemy no matter how far away you are from them. This might sound like a good idea but it works the other way also. Say you are fighting a huge ogre and he goes to take a swing at you so you move out of his way so you don’t get hit, well you still get hit even if you are 20 feet from him. I’m starting to realize as I’m writing this that this review is going to sound very negative but I really loved the game.

Dialogue is one of the huge draws of RPGs but in this game it takes it to a whole new level. I guess I should be accustomed to it with games like Mass Effect and Fallout but it was getting tiring by the end of the game. Through the dialogue options though you can make the story your own and the choices you make do have real consequences or benefits at times. Other times, you think you are making a choice that will change the outcome but it doesn’t. In those instances it usually boils down to “do you want to fight this person now or wait through 20 minutes of dialogue and then fight them.” There are game altering choices though and unlike most RPGs, your party members are not set in stone and you don’t necessarily have to get all of them. One of the characters you actually wont get unless you are able to persuade someone to let them out of jail. Everything you do in the game also has an impact on how your party members feel about you and if they disapprove of you too much, they will leave(note: I did not have anyone leave because I was good for the most part but I know they can leave). It was funny in one part where you have a choice to fight your way out or negotiate and I chose negotiate. Well, one of my more aggressive part members took a huge disliking to that because I chose to negotiate. Also, you can ask your party members to leave if you want to but again, I never did. On the flipside, the more that a certain character likes you, the more it helps you out in that they get bonuses to things like attack, defense, magic power and so on.

Now to the obvious flaws and dislikes of the game. I ran into several glitches that in my opinion are not something that should be there. Numerous times the game glitched right after a battle and I would have to do it over again. It seems the game does not like you advancing too quickly. On a couple occasions I had to actually fight the same boss twice because I talked to a certain character before the game registered the battle as being over and they initiated it again. I was locked in a room once for the same reason and had to reload my last save. The one nice feature is that you can save anytime, anywhere except in battle and I highly recommend it because you never know what you are going to run into. Another is that if you advance the dialogue too quickly, the game wont recognize that the dialogue occurred and wont give you the item you were supposed to get. My dog went looking for treats one time and I read the dialogue and got the items. Soon after, I realized I missed something so I reloaded my last save. The next time, I just rushed through the dialogue but the items did not show up. That is the easiest example to explain but there were many other times that things like that happened. Sometimes, it affected the quest I was trying to complete and I couldn’t complete the quest.

I would recommend this game to RPG lovers but only to people who don’t mind a lot, and I mean a LOT, of dialogue(read: Teetocks, stay away). Like was previously stated, you cant always rush through it either so its almost like they are forcing the game to be longer than it needs to be. It was very rich and well done dialogue but by the end I found myself not wanting to listen to anymore. The story is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time and you do make choices that actually affect the endgame. Something I havent seen in a while. mass Effect was different in that the choices you made only affected the next ten minutes of gameplay but they didnt really present themselves later in the game. Dragon Age, however, takes the choices you make and integrates them into future dialogue sessions with other characters.

One last thing, as much as I hate to admit it, I actually had to change the difficulty to casual for the final battle.  After dying ten times in a row and not being able to do anything about it, I just gave up and changed it to casual.  I had been playing the rest of the game on normal but I had to change it for my sanity’s sake.  I was so close to the end of the game but I couldn’t get there because they made it so insanely hard.

Like Borderlands, The Saboteur is a game I’ve had on my radar for a long time.  Not the typical WWII shooter, The Saboteur has you play Sean Devlin, who has somehow been wronged by a Nazi general.  As Devlin, you set out sabotaging Nazi occupied Europe by joining the French Resistance in order to get back at those pesky Nazis.  The thing that interests me most about this game is the art style.  When you are in a Nazi occupied area, the art style is a black and white film noir (think Sin City) with the occasional yellow (and red ) accents.

From the videos I’ve seen, the gameplay seems to be a cross between Splinter Cell, Assasins Creed, and Call of Duty (or pick any WWII shooter).  There is some stealth to the game, but all of your standard era guns are in there as well, so you’ll have more than piano wire to help you out.  Also of note is Devlin’s ability to climb structures, although I doubt he does the Triple Lindy from the top of buildings like Altair to get down.  Due out December 8th.

Hit me up if you want to be in the GHR Skate crew.  If not, and I see you in game, I WILL SHRED ALL OVER YOUR FACE.  That’s how I roll.

See you in May. 

In an attempt to breathe new life into a franchise that many say has long since gone stale, EA is having the arcade racing gurus at Criterion Games take a whack at the next Need for Speed.

In an interview given to Kotaku, and reported on by ShackNews.com, EA’s COO John Riccitello said that there won’t be a new Burnout right now because Criterion is “…working on a revolutionary take on Need for Speed.”

No additional details were given, other than Riccitello’s assurance that Criterion’s project would not merge the two gameplay styles.

Personally I think this is a brilliant move. EA to me has lost its focus on what it wants NFS to be. This year, there will be several NFS games hitting consoles–ranging from the sim-ish NFS: Shift, to the “arcadey” NFS: Nitro. The last good NFS I played was Hot Pursuit 2. I had high hopes for NFS: Pro Street, but bizzarre gameplay mechanics (high-speed runs killed the game) left me dissappointed in the title. Burnout is my favorite racing series, and I’m very curious to see what direction they steer this franchise.

Dante’s Inferno opens up the EA press conference. Wow. Looks absolutely insane. Seems to have a similar art style to the God of War games.

Sims 3 is shown. Never a big Sims fan but this looks fun. The iPhone version has been getting good reviews so I’ll give that one a look.

Littlest Pet Shop shown. Thank god TiVo has a fast forward

Charm Girls Club. Saw some girls play “Speed Hair Teasing” before TiVo remote could be picked up. Fast forward…Thank you TiVo

Need for Speed : Shift shown. Looks interesting. Very Nice graphics. They were talking about the innovative ‘cockpit view’ which didn’t seem all that innovative to me. It’s the view I see in most games that I dislike and switch away from.

Dragon Age : Origins is coming out October 20th on PC, PS3 and Xbox. Lots of cinematics, no idea how good the game looks or what gameplay looks like.

Mass Effect 2 is shown. Looks like Shepherd isn’t dead, just faking to run some covert op. No elevators are shown, that’s a good sign. Tons of great cinematics shown, looks amazing but no real gameplay.

Fight Night : Round 4 is shown. Tyson vs. Ali and it looks great. Comes out June 25th.

EA Sports : MMA is announced for 2010.

Lots of sports games are shown.

Madden Online Franchises are announced. 32 Player franchises with trades, message boards, stats, standings, iPhone App. Looks interesting if people stick with it.

Wii Games shown. Starts with Wii EA Active and selling the fact that games can be a positive force. Grand Slam Tennis shown, looks like a better version of the Wii Sports game.

The Saboteur is shown and actual gameplay is seen. The game is black and white until you win over the people in that area. Looks like a re-imagining of the Hitman series.

EA then shows Tim Schafer and Brutal Legend. Character design looks crazy good. Tim comes off as really loving the game and the voice actors in it: Ozzy Ozzbourne, Lita Ford, Rob Haford, Lemmy. This game looks hella fun. Lands Roctober 13th.

Crysis 2 is coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC. Nothing else known right now.

APB is shown. An MMO set in a city. 100 players, some are criminals, some are cops. Very interesting concept. More cinematics shown. Guessing it’s just PC but they didn’t mention anything.

Star Wars guys all roll out to the theme music. Sith and Jedi abound. Lucas Arts and BioWare guys come out. Here’s The Old Republic MMO announcement we’ve been hearing about for years. Trailer looked good but just more cinematics. With BioWare I think it will be amazing.

EA confirmed today that the sequel for Army of Two is in the works. For some fun 2 player co-op action, Army of Two is the best. Can’t wait for this one. D1C for Tilt and me.

You were right. Following reports of disappointing holiday sales, Electronic Arts announced cutbacks in their quarterly conference call on December 9th.

EA CEO John Riccitiello announced a ’3 prong’ attack in order to boost income in fiscal 2009 – less games, focus on games with strong online and ongoing content, and reducing expenses (i.e. laying people off).

Anyone who looked at the release calendar for Oct/Nov/Dec and didn’t see this coming needs their eyes checked. There is such a thing as too many games, and I think we saw it in quarter 4 of 2008.

Read Giant Bomb and Joystiq for more.

There can be no doubt that videogames are as integrated into our societal mainstream as Mom’s apple pie and political mud-slinging. As if there wasn’t enough proof, try this one on for size. EA and Nissan have announced another first for our favorite industry. Nissan will publicly introduce their 2009 370Z sportscar to the public at large through a videogame. The game given the honors is EA’s Need for Speed: Undercover.

GameDaily.com reported on the announcement. Christian Meunier, VP for Nissan Marketing stated, “Our relationship with EA has been instrumental in bringing the Nissan brand to a passionate and unique audience. By launching the all-new 2009 Nissan Z first through Need for Speed Undercover, we also gain the spirit and energy that EA gamers experience so strongly. Together with EA, we have truly integrated the all-new 370Z in the overall game experience in a meaningful, multi-layered and profound way.”

Corporate suit speak aside, this isn’t the first time that the automotive industry has been affected by videogames and gamers. If memory serves, part of the decision to bring Mitsubishi’s Lancer Evolution stateside was it’s placement in, and preference by game players of Sony’s Gran Turismo (I found an 07 blog on AdLab.com that backed up what my brain remembered). This is just the first time where an auto manufacturer and a game publisher have jointly introduced a new product to public via a videogame. While I’m opting for the 2010 Camaro, instead of the new Z, I think this joint marketing effort between Nissan and EA is awesome.

The Madden ’09 demo is finally here. Unlike any football demo ever, Madden ’09 uses an IQ test to evaluate the player’s skill. It is still unknown how this will effect overall gameplay, but this seems to be the most significant change in years. The first noticeable upgrade in the demo is the graphics. The player models are comparable to their real life counterparts. The gameplay sustains the high quality of previous Maddens. Make sure and download the demo for preparation of the GHR Madden League. COMING TO A CONSOLE NEAR YOU!

Now, back to the story that started all this, according to this article from Sarcastic Gamer, Kotaku thinks that the boycott was a “hollow victory.” Apparently, Kotaku thinks they are the Major Nelson (aka spinmaster) for EA. Also, here is the link to the story that Joystiq ran about thinking the boycott was pointless.

And just in case you missed the interview from IGN that had EA’s surrender in it, here it is.

EA does it again! If you haven’t already heard, EA is planing to sell gamers Battlefield: Bad Company with the option to buy more guns through DLC. So help us, and our friends @ Sarcasticgamer, and join the boycott. Please go to all the major gaming blog sites (N4G.com, Kotaku, etc.) and make your voice heard.

It was rumored that EA was going to have additional weapons available in a gold addition of Battlefield: Bad Company. And for those that choose not to purchase the Gold edition, the weapons would be available on Xbox Live through DLC at a price for each individual item. Here is the response from EA that Kotaku released…

“…Battlefield: Bad Company features numerous weapons in the core game. In addition to the core set of weapons, Battlefield: Bad Company will release five unique weapons free of charge through five different promotional programs prior to launch. EA will again make these weapons available to players free of charge after launch, in case anyone missed the pre-launch promotions.

At launch, EA will release a Gold Edition of Battlefield: Bad Company which will feature an additional five new weapons. For players who do not purchase the Gold Edition of the game, they can still buy the five weapons at a small individualized price per item. All weapons are balanced for gameplay. More weapons offer players more choices but do not create an advantage/disadvantage for players who do not opt to buy new items.

Currently, the menu in the Battlefield: Bad Company beta notes all ten weapons; the five available free of charge pre-launch as well as the additional five available in the Gold Edition.

We will have more details on the pre-launch campaign and Gold Edition of Battlefield: Bad Company in the next few weeks.”

Our friends at Sarcasticgamer have decide to start a boycott of the game. We have decided to join them. Yes this is some what of a small issue, for now. But where does it end. 10 to 15 years ago paying $59.99 or more for a video game would have sounded crazy, today it is a reality and very few people even blink at it. Now we are going into an era where if nothing is done, gamers will be paying that much for starter game and then have the option (if they can afford it) to ‘add’ to the game. This is not a customizing feature like themes and pics, this is a expansion pack that will be coming out the same day as the game (complete with 5 weapons). What is the point EA? Why not included the weapons in the game? How far are we as gamers willing to allowed to be pushed? I say enough is enough. Leave my nickels and dimes alone.