Raven Could Be Making Call of Duty Titles [Rumblings]

Some might say that Activision is in crisis. Their “A Team”, Infinity Ward, has been emptied over the past month or two since Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired, and the legal fallout came to light.

Activision has three Call of Duty games that we know of. There’s Black Ops, in development at Treyarch, and there’s an untitled CoD game by Sledgehammer, which sources say could be something like ‘Future Warfare’, ‘Advanced Warfare’, ‘Secret Warfare’, or ‘Space Warfare’, according to recent discoveries based on domain and trademark registrations by Activision. The third is obviously Modern Warfare 3.

There’s a rumour floating around the internet that Raven, another studio owned by the publisher, is going to be making DLC map packs for Black Ops.

But the question that everyone wants to know is: who the hell is going to work on Modern Warfare 3? Bungie certainly made it clear that they don’t want to.

Now, I must be honest when I’ve made clear my impressions of Raven titles in general. They’re good – just not great. Look at Wolfenstein or Quake 4 to get my drift. But their latest effort, Singularity, when released, might be the telling factor in whether it would be a good move to potentially let them handle Modern Warfare – Activision’s most profitable franchise.

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Sources:

Rumor: Raven Working on New Call of Duty [Shacknews]

Trademark and Domain registrations [Superannuation]

Raven Could Be Making Call of Duty Titles [Rumblings]

Call of Duty: The War Collection for Sale at Amazon

Something was witnessed on Amazon as well as GameStop just the other day, and that thing was Call of Duty: The War Collection. It’s a pack which includes most of the WW II themed Call of Duty titles that have been released over the years. It has Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, and Call of Duty: World at War. It’s lacking the first Call of Duty though.

Call of Duty 2 was developed by Infinity Ward and released in 2005, but the other two were developed by Treyarch, while IW moved on to develop the Modern Warfare series of games. Treyarch is now working on Call of Duty: Black Ops.

This bundles seems to be for the Xbox 360 only at the moment, with a PS3 and PC version speculated to arrive later on, but it might just be an exclusive. The release date is scheduled to be somewhere in June 2010, and should sell for $59.99.

Sources: Amazon - CVG

Call of Duty: The War Collection for Sale at Amazon

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]

Call of Duty: Black Ops Official Reveal, Trailer

Apocalypse Then: Redneck Rampage

On this day in gaming history, in 1997, Redneck Rampage was released.

It’s a title developed by Xatrix entertainment, which later became known as Grey Matter, then absorbed into Treyarch – the “B Team” when it comes to Call of Duty games, such as World at War.

Redneck Rampage was a title which used the build engine, famous in the 90s for use with several games, such as Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, and Blood. These titles became known as the big four of build games.

It followed the story of Leonard and Bubba, two country hicks and brothers, as they fight hordes of alien creatures. Along the way you pick up many inventive, original weapons, as well as powerups like alcohol and pork rinds which give you health, but drinking and eating too much can have adverse effects.

One of the best features the game had was the soundtrack. Contrary to what many games in the mid nineties and even in 1997 had, which was mainly MIDI, or E-MIDI in the case of Shadow Warrior, RR had a proper soundtrack by well known Psychobilly artists like The Reverend Horton Heat. You might know them for “Psychobilly Freakout”.

Redneck Rampage was followed by an expansion, Rampage: Suckin' Grits on Route 66, a sequel in Redneck Rampage Rides Again, and a spin-off title in Redneck and Redneck Deer Huntin'.

The licence for the series was purchased from Interplay by Vivendi, and then sold to Blizzard last year. There’ve been rumours ever since suggesting that another Redneck Rampage title might be in the works, and it might be an MMO, seeing as that’s one of the genres that Blizzard loves so much. Otherwise, like some of the other classics from the 90s, like Duke Nukem 3D, it might well be that the series will be released on Xbox Live Arcade or another platform.

For more on this game, check out my hub on HubPages.

Apocalypse Then: Redneck Rampage

Six Days in Fallujah Still Coming, Likely This Year

                                    “Hold up, we lost our publisher!”

Last year there was a lot of talk going around about this title, called Six Days in Fallujah. The game was revealed in about April 2009. Then later, after Konami withdrew as the game’s publisher, interest in the title died down, and it was even said that most of the team at Atomic Games, the developers, was let go.

But development on the title continued regardless, and now several months later, the name has resurfaced, and a source told IGN recently that the game is completed, and so should come out this year, although a release date is still pending, and the game still needs to secure a publisher it seems.

“I can promise you that game is still coming out and it is finished.”

It was speculated that Konami pulled out of the publishing deal seeing as the game was considered very controversial, and many people, particularly veterans and families of soldiers fighting in the Middle East, spoke out - and against - the game. They claimed it was too soon for such a game to be released as the war was still ongoing at the time, and still is, several years after it began (in Afghanistan: 2001- ; although Iraq was 2003 onwards).

The game takes place in Fallujah, Iraq, during the early part of the second Gulf War, or War in Iraq, or War Against Terror (whichever you prefer).

My guess is they’ll also need to get the hype machine dusted off and working again, seeing as people pretty much forgot about this game, and declared it cancelled or dead in their minds months ago. It’ll be going up against other popular modern shooters like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Medal of Honor, and not to mention Treyarch’s Call of Duty, although that’s set in a different period (supposedly Vietnam or the Cold War in general). Hell, even old favourites like Modern Warfare and last year’s Modern Warfare 2 are also based in and around the ongoing war.

As for a publisher, some say that they could go the self-publishing route through digital distribution channels, as it seems getting a publisher and going retail would be a difficult and risky thing to do with this title. Seeing as the game was initially supposed to be for consoles like the Xbox 360 as well as the PS3, in addition to the PC, Xbox Live and PSN spring to mind too.

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Source: IGN

Six Days in Fallujah Still Coming, Likely This Year

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

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

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

Call of Duty 7: Vietnam Rumours Arise Once Again