6 Reasons Why Sledgehammer’s Action-Adventure Call of Duty Would Be Great

Before Sledgehammer Games was reassigned to work with Infinity Ward on Modern Warfare 3, they were working on an Action Adventure Call of Duty. And here’s why I think that it would be great for the Call of Duty franchise.

Call of Duty needs a refresh. All the Call of Duty titles have been the same since Call of Duty 3. A yearly release, regenerative health, map packs and console-based. A refresh would be great after 5 similar games.

It would change the face of the franchise. Call of Duty wouldn’t be that big old boring shooter juggernaut (as viewed by others, especially BF fanboys) but a different type of series.

It would bring more people into the Call of Duty community. Those fans of the action-adventure genre would join the Call of Duty community and be a new fan. And more $$$ for Activision.

It would be set in a new era. Well, it’s an action-adventure game, and it’s a different series within the CoD franchise, so why set it where we’ve already been? Why World War II? Why the Cold War? Why 2016 (MW3)?

New game modes. Campaign, Multiplayer and a different type of Co-Op.

New guns. Who doesn’t like guns, eh?

What do you think?

MW3 Content Season Kicking Off With 2 Brand New Maps

Robert Bowling announced MW3′s “Content Season,” starting January 24^th with 2 brand new maps. So let’s jump right in.

Liberation (formerly Park) takes place no where else in Manhattan, but Central Park. “There’s a lot of sniper sightlines, and you need to be cautious when you’re crossing. Don’t run and gun, a little bit more methodical, and that’s how you’re going to survive that round.”

Piazza (formerly Italy / Coast) has you on an Italian coast-side village. “Piazza is a different type of map altogether. It’s a very vertical chaotic route map. It’s primarily geared up towards the guys who like the really close-up run and gun. You gotta be fast.”

Relase Date
The first two maps will come on the 24^th of January for ELITE (Premium) Xbox 360 subscribers. There is no word for premium PS3 gamers though.

For the majority of us who don’t have ELITE, you are able to purchase all of the maps as a map pack in March.

Not Just Maps
Infinity Ward has also confirmed that DLC Weapons and Campaign Missions are “on the table”.

Here are all the images from the upcoming DLC.

Piazza, Liberation Images Credit charlie INTEL
Trailer Screenshots Credit charlie INTEL

Activision Press Release

First MW3 DLC Inbound January 24

Infinity Ward has revealed the first Modern Warfare 3 DLC will come on the 24^th of January.

In an exclusive CoD ELITE Premium video (Yes, you couldn’t see it if you’re not on premium. The video was also uploaded to YouTube but…), Robert Bowling explained why the DLC won’t be like a “DLC”*.

The way we’re doing downloadable content this year is unlike we’ve never done before. Not only in how you can get it – in content drops or choose for the collection – but also the type of content you’re getting. We’re doing more than just maps. We’re going to do Spec Ops missions and a variety of things that players have never seen before.

That’s the great thing about having three developers that are contributing to the season of content. You have Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer and Raven all pitching in. The full season of content for Modern Warfare 3 kicks off for Elite subscribers on January 24 on Xbox Live.

Unfortunately, PS3 gamers (including myself) will have to wait a while after it releases on the 360. In regards to how long the wait will be, an Activision spokesman said,

Today we informed the Call of Duty Elite Premium community that the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Elite Content Season will officially kick off on January 24 for Xbox users. We’ll have more details about the entire 2012 MW3 Content Season in early January, so stay tuned for updates.

There’s also another whammy for the players – CoD ELITE Premium subscribers get it first. Confused? Here, I’ll unconfuse you.

Who gets the DLCs first?

1. CoD ELITE Premium Xbox 360
2. CoD ELITE Premium PS3
3. Non-ELITE Xbox 360
4. Non-ELITE PS3

Robert Bowling tweeted a preview of one of the maps, Park.

Exclusive sneak peek at 'Park' - some of the first #MW3 DLC hitting Jan 24th for Elite subscribers! More info in Jan! http://t.co/CJQcNndm

—
Robert Bowling (@fourzerotwo) December 21, 2011

The other three maps were leaked, and here are the photos.

It appears the names were correct.

*Yes, this is a reference to Apple’s 1984 ad.
Whoa! What a coincidence! The first DLC will release on the 24th of January – the exact same date the first Macintosh was released!

Sources CVG · charlie INTEL

Ban a Player for an Incredibly Long Time? Challenge Accepted.

Ban a player for an incredibly long time, kinda like a permaban, oh wait, it is a permaban probably causing the player to get pissed off then suddenly realize they can make another account to play online?

An anonymous player was banned for 5000 days. Yes, I did just say 5000. That’s nearly 14 years without access to the MW3 servers.

Of course, that player can sign up for a new PSN account (It is a PlayStation noticing the X button to the bottom-right corner.)

It is a permaban, according to FourZeroTwo:

fzt.me/5000dayban #MW3 Player Banned for 5000 days?! Yes. If you see this message, it means you've been Permabanned (for something bad)

—
Robert Bowling (@fourzerotwo) December 13, 2011

The gist of this story is to never cheat, boost, or look at Robert Bowling the wrong way.

Source MP1st

MW3 Wins Best Shooter Award at 2011 VGAs

MW3 racked up first prize, winning VGA’s Best Shooter award. Of course, that meant it beat its rival Battlefield 3 along with Gears of War 3 and Rage being runner-ups.

Unfortunately, it came third place for the Best Multiplayer game award with Battlefield at second place.

It didn’t even come to the Top 5 of the Game of the Year nor did it of the Most Anticipated Game award.

VGA Website · VGA BEst Shooter

Sledgehammer Games is Hiring for Next Call of Duty

Sledgehammer Games, co-developer of MW3, is “looking for an exceptional online engineer to help bring our online experience to a new level. The candidate will be involved in the creation of multiplayer game modes and online community features for an unannounced high-end console title.”

I have a number of questions:

1. Why do they need an online engineer if they’re working with Infinity Ward? Maybe they’re not working with IW on this one!
2. “Creation of multiplayer game modes and online features”? New game modes coming to MP?
3. “Unannounced high-end console title”? WHICH CONSOLE?! A NEW CONSOLE?! XBOX 720?! PS4?!

Maybe they’re putting their 3rd-person Call of Duty into action.

Other jobs include Senior Level Designer, Office Assistant and Generalist Engineer.

Sources Charlie INTEL · VG247
See the Jobs Gamasutra (Online Engineer) · Activision (All Jobs)

Glen Schofield Asks for Better MW3 User Score

Sledgehammer Games’ Glen Schofield has gone to Twitter to ask Call of Duty fans to support MW3 on Metacritic.

I don’t usually do this but, if u like MW3 go 2 Metacritic.com & help our user score. It’s suspiciously low. Be honest but help if u agree.

MW3 is oddly attracting scores of zero across all three platforms. If you actually go to those people’s profiles, they have 2 scores: 10 for BF3 and 0 for MW3. They’re just BF3 fanboy assholes.

The current user score out of 10 is 3.1 on the 360, 2.8 on the PS3 and 1.9 on the PC.

Support MW3 (Xbox 360) →
Support MW3 (PS3) →
Support MW3 (PC) →

Source IGN

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Which is the Best Platform of them All?

So which is the best platform, graphically, to play MW3 on?

I’d say a good job to IW and SHG for making it a “same experience” for everyone, but I’d say, graphically, the PC is the best to play it in then the Xbox and then the PS3.