Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: Call of Duty: Vietnam

Showing posts with label Call of Duty: Vietnam. Show all posts

2010/05/15

Call of Duty: Black Ops Details: 4-Player Co-op, Crossbows, Wiiiiiiii!

Call of Duty: Black Ops, officially announced recently, has some more details that have been revealed. They say that the game will have will have co-op mode for up to 4 players, much like World at War, and that one of the game’s weapons will be the scoped crossbow – something that isn’t featured in many FPS titles that I can recall, apart from the Half-Life series. And this crossbow is obviously meant for more silent take downs, but if you get into a firefight, you can swap out the normal bolts or quarrels for explosive ones, which sounds like something out of Thief. And these will likely make for some mass destruction as you aim for explosive barrels to take out a number of commies all at once.

USA Today also got a look at one of the missions from the game. It’s reportedly called “WMD” [likely short for Weapons of Mass Destruction], and takes place in the Ural Mountains in 1968, during the appropriately named Cold War. This is where the SR71 Blackbird part that everyone’s talking about takes place, as you play a spotter directing a squad on the ground, guiding them on how to approach and take out a bunch of commies. Then later on you get to control one of the soldiers. These Black Ops soldiers end up jumping off of a cliff, which no doubt sounds like something out of Lemmings… or Modern Warfare 2.

Much like Medal of Honor over at EA, American and Russian veterans are being consulted and contributing to Black Ops’ authenticity. Among these is Major John Plaster, formerly of the Studies and Observation Group in Vietnam, as well as Sonny Puzikas of the Soviet special forces.

Mark Lamia:

"Our writers are focused on telling an epic story. You will see the evolution of some of these characters through time and the conflict. When you meet with these people you can't help but feel inspired about what they are telling you and it opens up new avenues of gameplay."

There’s speculation that we’ll be able to see more of Black Ops at E3 this year. No word on whether there will be a mode similar to Nacht Der Untoten where you get to shoot zombies and so on.

Call of Duty: Black Ops will be out later this year, on November 9, with a version also be coming to the Wii, in addition to the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

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Source: First impressions: 'Call of Duty: Black Ops’ [USA Today]

2010/05/04

Call of Duty: Black Ops Official Reveal, Trailer

The future of Infinity Ward is shaky, what with all the legal actions, lawsuits, and what not flying around, with some analysts saying the studio will be closed this year. This obviously must impact the future of Modern Warfare 3. Great going Activision.

Another worst kept secret in the world right now. Many people thought that this latest offering from Treyarch, the “B team”, would be called Call of Duty: Vietnam, even until just a few days ago. But it turns out after the official unveiling just recently, that Call of Duty: Black Ops is the name of the game – just like some other rumours suggested.

And possible locations that will be present in the game have also been revealed, with some sources saying Cuba, South America, the Arctic, Iran, and the jungles of Vietnam will be on display for players to run around in. The story has been said to feature black ops missions from WW II right through to present day. This will be the first Treyarch-developed CoD title to venture outside of WW II. Their last effort was World at War in 2008.

“We at Treyarch are excited to reveal our latest development – Call of Duty: Black Ops! Be sure to head over to CallOfDuty.com/blackops as more details begin to unfold! Follow @JD_2020 and @Treyarch on Twitter for the latest news & discussions regarding Black Ops.”

"We can’t wait for our community to experience Call of Duty: Black Ops. We have focused our entire studio on this game, with dedicated multiplayer, single-player and co-op teams creating the most intense, gripping and riveting experience possible for our fans on all fronts."

An official website has been set up for the game, with a release date set for 9 November 2010 – a year after Modern Warfare 2.

Retailer GAME says the following:

"Call of Duty Black Ops is the next instalment in the thrilling Call of Duty franchise. Packing an amazing singleplayer story that will see you fight across the globe in locations such as Cuba, Vietnam and the Arctic."

"Now you will witness the birth of the Elite Special Forces and take part in off-the-record missions using unconventional weaponry to get the job done!"

The game also has preorder pages at Amazon, for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game.

Even a trailer for the game has been released, with some websites dissecting it to squeeze more information out of it.

They say that the game will be one big flashback, with the person telling the tale being tortured. The trailer shows snowy environments [the Arctic, or Siberia perhaps?], UH-1A Huey helicopters [made famous in the Vietnam War], some guns like a silenced Steyr Aug, a parachuting mission similar to games in the Medal of Honor series, and the most interesting of all: an SR71 Blackbird with the pilot in space suit, flying in sub-orbit.

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Source: callofduty.com/blackops [official website]

2010/03/29

Call of Duty 7 Called “Black Ops”, Coming November, Details

It seems the new Call of Duty destined to arrive this year, as is the case every year, is rumoured to be named Call of Duty: Black Ops.

The game will not only take place in Vietnam as was suspected for many months if not a year or more, but will take place in operations that span from World War II to the present day, including The Cold War, Vietnam, Cuba, Iran, South America, and supposedly even one in London, which would be the infamous SAS mission that took place at the Iranian Embassy in 1980 – which nearly went south very quickly, with some botch-ups of note, from what I’ve seen on the History Channel.

The game is also said to have support for dedicated servers for the PC version of the game, where Modern Warfare 2 didn’t, and will bring back the Zombie mode from World at War, seeing as this title is also being developed by Treyarch, as was WAW.

The game is said to be arriving in November, 2010, as is customary or even traditional by now. Although one particular retailer, GAME, states that it might be October.

I can say that even though some, or even most, of these are rumours, it sounds exciting. Travelling through time, and playing with different gadgets and weapons. It’s going to be like every Call of Duty you’ve ever played crammed into one. Awesome.

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Source: Rumour – Call of Duty 7 called Black Ops, gets zombie mode and dedicated servers, more [VG247]

2010/03/03

Activision Fires Infinity Ward Heads, Talks About Future Call of Duty Games

The big news that has swarmed all over the net lately is that there’s been a feud of sorts between Activision and Infinity Ward, the developers of Modern Warfare 2, and most other Call of Duty games.

Reportedly the President, Jason West, and CEO Vince Zampella, of the studio have been fired for "breaches of contract and insubordination”. Security guards escorted people out of the office too. The LinkedIn and Facebook pages of both guys confirms the rumours, and have left IW. Some rumours suggest that it was due to IW not being paid royalties from Activision.

Steve Pearce and Steve Ackrich are the new interim heads at the company.

The infamous Bobby Kotick of Activision has apparently also held a meeting or two with the remaining staff. People all over are not only attacking Activision, but reckon that the situation is far from resolved.

But the development of Call of Duty games goes on, as there will be two expansions or DLC packs for Modern Warfare 2, set for release this year, a Treyarch developed game supposedly set in Vietnam, and now another Call of Duty game said to be an action-adventure game, developed by Sledgehammer games, formed by the heads of Visceral Games (developers of Dead Space), Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. And that still leaves another Call of Duty game probably coming next year, which must be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, by IW, if things settle down within the company.

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Source: G4tv

2010/02/21

Next Call of Duty Seems to be at Least Partially set in Vietnam After all

Yes, the rumours have been going around for a long time now, but no official confirmation, apart from the fact that this game, likely developed by Treyarch, will come out sometime this year, likely in Q4.

So what is new in this whole situation that we haven’t heard before? Well, it’s been picked up that there was a casting call in Los Angeles organised by Treyarch in order to fill some roles for the game, AKA getting some voice actors involved as well as motion capture.

One of the characters supposedly involved in the game is one Frank Barnes, “a fiercely patriotic veteran of WWII. A solid leader, possessed with an excellent ability to assess and respond to any situation quickly and decisively”. He is also part of the elite SOG (Studies and Observations Group), who were allegedly involved in some deep black ops operations during Vietnam, that not many people know of, as well as some of the more well-known ones too, like the Tet Offensive.

[Picture is actually of the Vietnam Mod for Call of Duty: World at War, a game also developed by Treyarch.]

There’s also mention of a Joseph Lewis, a athletic black man in his 20s, and Jason Hudson, a white man in his 30s with over 15 years of military experience.

But among some of the roles required to be filled, there’s one character named Kristina Ivanova, a Russian-born CIA operative and martial arts expert.

I’m glad to see that stereotypes in games are still alive and well.

But this also points to some other rumours which have suggested that the game will be set during the Cold War as a whole, and not just in Vietnam (although it would be cool if there was at least a few missions set there).

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Source: VG247 - TVGB

2010/01/09

Call of Duty 7: Vietnam Rumours Arise Once Again

I remember years ago it started off as a joke, or a wouldn’t it be cool? topic in gamer circles, but the rumours have persisted over and over, and now another one says that Treyarch, the guys behind World at War, will be the one to develop the next Call of Duty game, supposedly set in Vietnam – an infamous topic not only in real life, but in gaming too.

There have been attempts in the past to recreate events from one of the worst wars of the twentieth century – one that should have taught the US not to venture into territory that they don’t know, and that the enemy knows off the back of their hand.

The one I remember playing most recently would be Men of Valor by 2015 (the guys who made MoH: Allied Assault). It was praised by some, but I didn’t enjoy it much at all. There have been others like ShellShock and ShellShock 2 which failed miserably.

It certainly hasn’t been explored as much as World War II, in any case. But one thing that was mentioned in these rumours is that the title will basically just be based on Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Apocalypse Now – three Vietnam War movies that are often mentioned and sited as inspiration.

Another rumour to consider is that the game will come out in 2010. One wonder if there’ll be any zombies in this one.

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http://abstract360.com/2009/12/rumored-call-of-duty-vietnam-to-be-more-story-heavy/

Rumor: Call of Duty 7: Vietnam

2009/05/07

The Wish Granter- Call of Duty: Vietnam

Rumours have now been going around about a new branch in the franchise, and instead of World War II or Modern Warfare, it’s going to be in Vietnam or something.

As I’ve said before, Call of Duty’s WW II exploits are getting a little stale, with mainly just the same stuff (the Russian campaigns have been more or less the same since the first one), but with prettier graphics. I liked the American campaign of World at War, with the Pacific Front being explored more, and it gave a little taste of what might come in the form of this Call of Duty: Vietnam, if it is real. And why not? It’s just a natural progression, and could, and should happen sometime. Even Medal of Honor did a Vietnam game, Men of Valor, which was okay.

The first time my hopes were raised was due to an April Fool’s day insert in an issue of NAG magazine in 2008 or so, where they had a fake box cover reading Call of Duty: Vietnam, and the picture had a couple of marines with M16s jumping out of Huey helicopter as it hovered over the grassy plains- sort of like that part in We Were Soldiers, with Mel Gibson. Even though it was all a joke, I just got excited about the idea that one day we might get it. This latest rumour then is also not much to get excited about on alone, but when you start to think about it, you can picture it.

Vietnam is both a rose and a thorn in the side of American culture, and perhaps the culture of others nations. Yes, the Americans withdrew, and they lost over 58 000 men, and it was reportedly one of the most terrifying wars ever fought, according to survivors. But on the other hand, think of how many people treated veterans when they came back home. There was that line from the trailer of ShellShock 2: Blood Trails, a game based in Vietnam, which came out recently (and sucked apparently): “A country that doesn’t want me.” That stuck in my head.

Imagine bits of your favourite Vietnam films, like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Born on the Fourth of July, Apocalypse Now, We Were Soldiers- those are some of my favourite films of all time. Now I think it’s time to have a collection of some good, memorable games set in Vietnam too.

Sources:

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2009/05/01/call-of-duty-7-in-vietnam-cuba/
http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/eymOjBy17do/rumor-call-of-duty-moving-on-to-vietnam