Thanks to the folks over at Activision for helping the economy with the great news that will bring FREE MW2 multiplayer Maps this month.  Coming March 30th to Xbox LIVE, Infinity Ward and Activision present Modern Warfare 2: Stimulus Package.  This is the first DLC currently announced.  Amongst the rumored maps, Crash has been mentioned to be on the list of the Stimulus Package DLC.  Behind MW2’s Terminal, Crash may be the 2nd best map in the Modern Warfare series.  It was a great map for Team Deathmatches, Search and Destroy and Sabatoge.  Snipers can pick people off from atop the chain link roof tops or rifleman can battle it out near the Helicopter Crash site near the center.  And of course the broken down building where rocket launchers and grenades were constantly hitting.

Players on the PS3 will have to wait one full month due to negotiations with Microsoft and Activision that gave Xbox 360 players one exclusive month of the maps.  Sony PlayStaion owners will have to quietly sit back until April, when they’re scheduled Stimulus Package will arrive on the PSN.  Additionally, Xbox 360 Silver Live members will be able to try out Modern Warfare 2 through the “Multiplayer Unlock event” running from March 12-15.

Of course, since the PSN service is FREE for all members, the Stimulus Package will not require any additional prerequisites.

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Everyone knows multiplayer is the bread and butter of the Call of Duty’s franchise. So naturally, there’s a good reason why they’ve been using the same engine since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Reliable gameplay. But this time Infinity Ward stepped up to the plate and brought their “A” game with Modern Warfare 2 and of course bettered a great game.  This fast paced First Person Shooter is the continuation of COD4 with upgraded lighting, textures and visuals. The easier to navigate menu shows you one of three gametype choices and proves it’s not all just about multiplayer anymore. Special Ops, Campaign and Multiplayer modes all provide a different slice of MW2. In our first ever group review, Aaron Mazza, Carlos Macias and I will break down Special Ops, Campaign and Multiplayer mode respectively.  We know the term “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” but did Infinity Ward and Activision raise the bar?

Modern Warfare 2 (Special Ops)
By Aaron Mazza

New to the series is the Special Ops mode. Although you can play the missions solo, its true design is meant to be played in co-op. The mode has you and your partner reliving scenarios from the Modern Warfare 2 campaign along with a few new unseen missions. It will take teamwork, communication, and patience to master some of these missions especially if playing on the Veteran difficulty level.

When you first load up Special Ops, you’ll find that only the Alpha missions are available to choose but obtaining stars will unlock the next tier of missions. Completion of a mission will normally grant you one star but if played on Veteran difficulty, you can get 3 stars per mission success. Get enough stars and the Bravo missions will unlock, then Charlie, and so on. The missions will run you through a variety of infamous scenarios, for example; you may be asked to get to a certain spot on the map while remaining hidden from enemy contact or an all out guns blazing assault to eliminate the enemies. There are 69 stars total to obtain and collecting all of them does not add anything to the solo campaign or multiplayer aspects but it is completely satisfying.

Special Ops Final Thought:

I think this addition to the game is a great one. The sense of comradery and teamwork are really prominent. Not only do I hope they include this in future games but add more missions and stars to obtain in DLC form. It’s a great new way to get lost into the world of Call of Duty.

Modern Warfare 2 (Campaign Mode)
By Carlos Macias

It’s very likely that you’ve blown through the single-player campaign in MW2 by this point, so this will either validate your opinion or make you run around the house screaming about how wrong I am. Either way, my two cents on Modern warfare 2 — sans the “Call of Duty” moniker…Infinity Ward don’t like that — are as follows.

MW2 was the 800-pound gorilla in the game industry this fall. One that plenty of games delayed themselves to early next year to avoid. And, can you blame them? The game is huge. Huge explosions, globe-trotting protagonists, colorful characters, and plenty of twists to keep you on your toes. A short adventure that can be considered the exact equivalent of the Hollywood summer blockbuster. Well, in this case, bigger since its gone on to make more than half a billion dollars at this point.

“No Russian” has been the most controversial piece of the game but, in my opinion, it serves as no more than the crux of what propels the story forward. Not art. Infinity Ward is pushing buttons (and someone certainly has to) by how it depicts the scene, but it is no different than why Bruce Wayne becomes Batman after his parents die. Or, the many different, generic starting points of action flicks where terrorists hold civilians hostage. It’s the closest you’ll probably ever get to such a horrendous act but there’s too many holes upon further inspection.

Go in the same way you would go into the latest “Die Hard” or Bond flick, enjoy the lush locales, unrivaled action sequences, and you’ll come away having a blast with the latest from Infinity Ward.

Modern Warfare 2 (Multiplayer Mode)
By Juan Perez

If you’ve played Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare or Call of Duty: World at War you know about the engine that makes their FPS games cream of the crop.  Modern Warfare 2 takes that great engine and enhances the gameplay with newer maps, advanced weapons and of course host migration.  That’s right, host migration has finally been introduced and it works.  Now, when the current host of a match leaves the game, you’ll be prompted with a screen that will choose the next best host in queue.  This essentially keeps the matches going rather than closing them out like before.  And for the power hungry players, the option to “kick” a player is now possible.  No more cussing tweens in your matches.

Killstreak rewards can now be customized. Before in COD 4, everyone had the same 3 killstreak perks.  UAV, Bombers and a Helicopter.  Now, each amount of kills can call in which ever perk you want.  For example if you don’t want the 3 kill perk of UAV, skip it and enable the 4 kill care package instead.  The highest killstreak reward is set to 25 and that is the Tactical Nuke.  Pretty much everyone including yourself dies <sigh>  Of course that means staying alive long enough to benefit from these perks.

Maps pack a punch. MW2’s maps are fantastic.  They mix in a new bunch of locations taken from the campaign mode while somehow preventing the camper to stay in one place too long.  Introducing levels makes the experience a new one.  Not only do you have to look left, right and around corners, but looking up in buildings and down in warehouses keeps you on edge.  Despite having larger maps the action feels much closer than before.  One of our complaints in COD:WaW were the long distances between the battle at hand and where you spawn after you die.

Less abuse more skill. I’ve always had my gripes with the overuse of bouncing betty’s (World at War) and martyrdom’s (Modern Warfare 1) and they finally corrected it.  Yes, there’s still martyrdom’s but that perk is only enabled after 3 deaths in row.  There’s another perk that buff you with more energy after 3 deaths in a row giving you that extra health to end the death streak.  The kill cam is still present which allows you to see who killed you after you’re dead.  The kill cam is now shown to all players replaying the last kill from the shooters point of view.  Now you know who to blame!

The negative aspects, unfortunately. Invite system is a complete failure.  Before you were able to invite all your buddies at the same time through the in-game invite system.  Now, they’ve taken a page from XBox 360 and went with invitations through your friends list.  This is much slower to gather your friends into a party.  And speaking of parties, the Private match glitch allows others from joining even after “kicking” them out.

Pros:
Great maps, plenty of volume
Levels within maps (alleyways, rooftops, in buildings)
Killstreaks/Deathstreaks

Cons:
Short campaign mode
PS3 game invite issues

Final Thought: There’s no denying that the Call of Duty franchise improves on their great FPS games year in and out and Modern Warfare 2 continues the trend. Infinity Ward’s controversial scene in “No Russian” changed the way gamers saw shooter games. For a moment, I had become sensitive to the killings and shootings during gameplay rather than the emotional-less actions most shooters have in games. But great games are great games and the sales figures don’t lie — selling $550m in its first five days on sale worldwide.  For fans of FPS, I’d make this game a “must buy”.  For fans who absolutely dislike FPS, I’d also tell you to get this game.  Keep the cussing down in multiplayer games to avoid being kicked and join the biggest social “meet-n-shoot” on both Xbox and PS3. …After all they’re just games, right?

9.5/10

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Not a fan of spoilers? Then you may want to skip the above Modern Warfare 2 video that “everyones” talking about. In this highly controversial scene you’ll understand why most gamers who have seen and even played this level of MW2 are a bit traumatized.

“Call of Duty: World at War” began their opening scene with one of their bloodier scenes as you watched one of your fellow Americans’ throat slashed in front of your eyes. As his blood sprayed in the air, your life was spared after a successful rescue mission found you making your way through a Japanese village.

For those of you who watched the “No Russian” video above, did it disturb you? Would you prefer to skip this level of MW2? For me, the spoken accent in the elevator scene alone led me to believe what I thought was going to happen. Disturbing.

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No more pennies to weigh down the needle from skipping, Activision’s DJ Hero is the real deal without scratching your vinyls.  Growing up in the late 80’s to early 90’s everyone either wanted to be a DJ, were friends with a DJ or tried scratching on their grandparents old turntables.  Heck, my older brother, DJ Gonz, mixed it up in the 90’s snatching up every milk crate he knew of within a 10 mile radius.  Fifteen years later, how will this DJ simulation game compare to the real thing?

Hardware worth gaming on. Before even inserting the DJ Hero disc, I examined the turntable controller bundled in with the standard version of DJ Hero.  Amazingly, the turntable controller felt sturdy and the feedback for the wireless connection was spot on.  Included are two AA batteries for the turntable, a wireless USB adapter and game disc including 93 original exclusive mixes.

Last night a DJ saved my game. Everyone knows a DJ can make or break a great party, well it’s no different in DJ Hero. The 93 original exclusive mixes come from none other then the best, Grand Master Flash, DJ AM, DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Shadow are just to name a few. While some of the playable  DJ’s in the game are fictional Activision provides a biography and gives them comical and entertaining personalities. Customizing your turntable, headphones and outfits are all unlockable as you attain more stars upon set-list completion. You can also play as the famous real life DJ’s as well.

If you mix it they will come. It doesn’t get any better in DJ Hero then when you’re asked to mix artists across several decades. My favorite mix has to be Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”, versus MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This”. Although Black Eye Peas’s “Boom Boom Pow”, versus Benny Benassi’s “Satisfaction” was pretty hot.  I challenge you to not bob your head while playing — go ahead, I triple challenge you!

Learn to Scratch-n-Mix. By far the most interactive tutorial in the “Hero” series, DJ Hero’s Grandmaster Flash takes you into his recording studio teaching you how to crossfade, scratch and master the effects dial. Using the perfect tutorial song, you’ll practice with Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” and Daft Punks “Da Funk”.  DJ Flash’s condescending tone makes you think it’s easier than it is.  Pay him no attention, he’s only a founding father of record mixing.

Attention to detail. Playable track looks like classic vinyl record. When a mistake is made you’ll hear a sound like a needle on a blank record.  Similar to Guitar Hero — playing the track on the neck of the guitar — DJ Hero features a spinning vinyl as your track surface.  Strategically placed advertising has become a stitch in the industry and DJ Hero shows them here as well.  The included “resume countdown” is a nice feature.  If you pause during any set-list song it gives you a “3, 2, 1″ count down before the track resumes.  Clever set list names shows you thought went into them, i.e. Scratching the Surface.  During loading time in between saves and set-lists you will notice the old record insert our parents and grandparents would use to convert their old 33’s to 45’s. The Euphoria button, or as the Guitar Hero people would know as star power feature, blinks red on the turntable controller when ready to be used to double your points in an attempt to get that fifth star!

Merging of two worlds, don’t put your guitar away just yet. You know a “Hero” game would not be the same without the inclusion of the Guitar. While all tracks are not guitar compatible some are which means double the fun. The Activision folks didn’t want Guitar Hero to lose its rock roots so the song selection that’s let’s you rock out with your DJ comrade are strategically selected. Some artists that you can rock out with are:  Foo Fighters, Motorhead, Foreigner and Zakk Wylde.

Party game for home use or clubs. DJ Hero is already getting the popular reception it deserves.  During set lists there’s no break in between songs, just like being at a club the DJ goes right into the next song.  The entire package will cost you $120 for the basic and $200 for the “Renegade Edition” featuring Eminem and Jay-Z.

Spin it back. By far the best feature is the “Rewind”.  When you play enough beats in a row you’ll be able to spin the turntable backwards allowing you to replay the track and getting double points for it.  This is just one more aspect of DJ Hero that brings out the realism in the game.  When I “Rewind”, I tend to spin the wheel similar to a clown with plates.  Let it rip baby!

Pros
Turntable feels solid
Song combination’s
Number of playable tracks
Rewind/Scratching feature

Cons
Long load/save times
PS button access panel
No online lobby

Final Thought: DJ Hero could very well be the next musical instrumented game with the most potential. Thanks to the classic Guitar Hero franchise look, DJ Hero steps in with a solid foundation of gameplay, originality and a fresh re-birth for music games. I was never a fan of the cumbersome hardware for complete band games, but this compact yet sturdy turntable fits the bill. Songs made for parties, I’m confident in saying it’s the most well rounded playlist created in the genre. Believe me, you’ll want to pick up DJ Hero up and work out your carpal tunnel (the good kind). After all, its DJ Gonz approved. Wicka-Wicka, REWIND!

9/10

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PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 fans will be glad to know that until November 1st, that can pick up Map Pack 1, 2 and 3 for $4.99 each! Or 400 Microsoft points for those who don’t understand the math behind them.  Myself included.

For one week only (offer ending November 1, 2009), Map Packs 1, 2, and 3 will be Half-Off in both the XBL Marketplace and the PlaystationStore*. So if you are missing one, we hope this makes it a bit easier to complete your collection!
*(PS3 Owners: sale only available in North America)

Double XP is also in effect until November 1st. It should be easy to get promoted within these new Maps while getting 2x the exp points.

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I think he wants to be friends... SHOOT HIM!

As much as I enjoy a good round of multiplayer mode, I am an old-school gamer at heart.  With that said, I grew up playing games along with my brothers and majority of the games that came out in the 80s were co-op.  There’s just something about working together with family and friends that give me a much more richer multiplayer experience than just shooting the hell out of them.

Infinity Ward realized how important co-op play is becoming and is introducing a new mode called ‘Spec-Ops’.  Spec-Ops is a mode that is completely apart from the single-player campaign.  You and your buddies work together to complete different objectives across multiple maps.  The objectives vary from simply clearing out a map of enemies, to getting down a snowy mountain the quickest on your snowmobile.  Players can even change individual difficulty settings, so no longer will men have to play on casual mode while their girlfriend holds the controller upside down screaming “HOW DO I MAKE THAT MAN DEAD?!”

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Out goes the old.  In comes the new.  This 250GB Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console was revealed at an exclusive preview event in Los Angeles where guests were the first to experience “Modern Warfare 2” multiplayer gameplay on Xbox LIVE. It will hit store shelves on November 10th, 2009.

What comes in the box:

Beginning with “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s” worldwide release on Nov. 10, fans can arm themselves with Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console, which features an exclusive design inspired by the epic thriller, more storage space than ever before in a 250GB Hard Drive, two Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers, as well as an Xbox 360 Headset and a Standard Edition copy of “Modern Warfare 2” for an estimated retail price of $399.99 (USD).

Activision and Microsoft have teamed up to bring us this MW2 treat. I just wish they would have told me a week ago :/

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Worst...Price Drop... EVER?!

With Guitar Hero 5 releasing last week, it’s now time to bring down the price for its previous version, Guitar Hero: World Tour.

UK video game retailer GameStation joined in the bandwagon of dropping the price for GH:WT, but some skeptics might think they were a little too cautious with their price drop.

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One of the major updates to Guitar Hero 5 can be noticed as soon as the game boots up.  The Party Play mode allows you to jump in and out of a song as you please along with your friends.  Say you’re rocking out with your buds and the pizza delivery man rings the doorbell.  Whoever is going to get the pizza can easily drop out of the game, get the pizza, and come back into the game with very little effort.  This is certainly a much welcomed update as having a player drop out of the track midway would definitely put a damper on the experience.  The same can be said about joining someone’s game.  Easily dropping out and in of Guitar Hero 5 is going to be a feature I believe all music games should adopt.  Add to the fact that all songs are unlocked, and you can certainly see why this would be a great feature.

In Guitar Hero: World Tour, and other music games where you can play as a band, players are stuck playing one instrument at a time.  I can’t remember how many times I had to be the vocalist with barely a voice left because the other players couldn’t even be bothered with singing.  In Guitar Hero 5, everyone and anyone can play as any instrument they want.  If you want to treat Guitar Hero 5 as an all out Karaoke jam, you can certainly have everyone performing vocals.  Same goes for guitars and drums.  This is another great update that I feel will probably be mimicked in other music games as I can’t see myself playing another music title without feeling like I’m back in prehistoric days playing with just two guitars, one drum, and one vocalist.

The career mode is nearly identical to previous Guitar Hero games.  You play in multiple venues to earn stars in order to unlock more venues and more tracks to play.  The better your performance, the higher number of stars you will receive.  One new addition in Guitar Hero 5 are the challenges attached to each song.  Every song in career mode will have an icon representing the instrument required to attempt the challenge.  Sometimes all instruments will be shown, indicating the challenge is for an entire band.  The challenges take the career to another level as not only are you trying to complete the track, but you’re also performing an additional task to earn bonus stars.

Don’t have any friends but still want to rock out in a band?  All you need to do is head online where you can play with other rockers on Xbox LIVE & Playstation Network.  You can play the career online as well as a specific competitive mode if you want to challenge others in one of seven modes: Pro Faceoff, Momentum, Streakers, Do or Die, Perfectionist, Elimination, and RockFest, where players vote upon one of the previously listed gametypes.  Online competitive mode can support up to 8 players at a time.  That’s a lot of rockers!

The tracklist for Guitar Hero 5 is the biggest on-disc track list yet of any music game.  85 master tracks from a varied amount of artists including Gorrilaz, The White Stripes, and Johnny Cash to name a few.  With the ability to FINALLY import tracks from Guitar Hero: World Tour and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, as well as the ever growing DLC library from the Guitar Hero Store, Guitar Hero 5 offers a great selection of popular tracks.  Guitar Hero 5 also has hidden characters which you can unlock to use as your playable character both offline and online.  These characters add a creepy layer of realism to the game, especially Kurt Cobain as I’m sure we’re all know how his life came to a very tragic end.  Regardless of that, the character models look amazing and is quite the special touch in this title.

FINAL THOUGHT: With 85 tracks to play along to, party play mode, and challenges in the career mode, Guitar Hero 5 is undoubtedly the latest and greatest Guitar Hero game in the franchise to date.  Music game lovers will definitely be pleased with Activision’s offering this year as it has enough updates to keep the game true to its roots while offering something fresh.

8.5/10

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For those who aren’t hip, (myself included) DJ AM a popular Disc Jockey has passed away at the age of 36 in his NYC apartment. While current speculation is that DJ AM was found with prescription drugs and a crack pipe near his body, this may be a result of his “devastating” break up with recent girlfriend, Hayley Wood.

DJ AM will have featured mixes throughout the DJ Hero soundtrack including: “Poison” and “Last Night a DJ saved my life”. DJ AM will also be a playable character in DJ Hero.  DJ Hero is an upcoming Activision game set for release on October 27th.

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