Short an issue I'll go into in a moment, which isn't even really an issue but more of a semantic distinction, Call Of Duty Multiplayer takes us straight back to the fun we had playing Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault. We jumped from Wolf to MOHAA not because Medal was better as a game necessarily, and it ran pretty rough sometimes. We made the switch because it evoked its cinematic heritage with such precision. Call of Duty does it too, and it's no wonder, seeing as it's virtually the same team that made it. With four nationalities and their respective armaments lovingly realized, not to mention a suite of fully twelve maps to play the team-based modes, it occupies my thoughts constantly. I had the opportunity to speak with a couple guys from the team during production, and the enthusiasm for their project was obvious. If I were Activision, I'd have bought them too. I would also say things like "Look at my new developer" or "Isn't my new developer nice."
I do echo Gabe's thoughts regarding the Search And Destroy mode. It's far from a dealbreaker where CoD is concerned, and I've played enough Counter-Strike to expect demolition-style gameplay to work the way he describes, but if anybody can plant the bomb they should just let them. When half the team is still alive with full health, but some jackass has run off and planted a bomb he has no hope of protecting it's sort of frustrating to lose a round. I've read in interviews that the gametypes are easy to code up, via perfectly visible scripts that even a cat could master. They'll either take it into their own hands, or we'll start seeing a Search and Destroy v2.0 homebrew at virtually any moment.
Via my vast network of secret contacts, I have had an opportunity to play final code on Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and I want to warn people that they are going to see some extremely high numbers associated with this title. I'm tempted to just call it Game of the Year and just get it over with. What I've played on demo discs and already raved about is garbage compared to the final version, which you'll see in stores this month. The visuals are stylish and extremely accomplished, a universal glow effect cements you squarely in the legendary context. The ability to rewind time in limited amounts gives you a second chance on that tricky jump you should have made, and even as a single player game it logs into Xbox Live and lets you receive game requests. You can also stab a guy right in the head, if you want to.
New Desert Combat is out today, don't forget - here's a Bit Torrent from AIX Gaming to get you started. Also, a game that could not be more dissimilar from Desert Combat - Karaoke Revolution - should be in stores today as well. Though Konami is publishing it, it's actually by Harmonix - a.k.a. "The Frequency Guys." I don't know how well the game will perform at retail, as I know two people total who would be interested in a game that grades your singing. And one of those people is me.
(CW)TB out.
public enemy on a disc
