Modern Warfare 2 | Review

Shawn Lebert Says You wake up to a blaze of gunfire around you. The smoke is thick in your nostrils as your lungs struggle to breathe fresh air. Your ears refuse to clear as sounds remain muffled. Men grasp and pull you to your feet. Your body feels momentarily helpless as your brain is no longer in command. Welcome to the battlefield that guarantees death for the majority; and living for the minority. Say hello to Modern Warfare 2’s Veteran Mode, which is quite possibly the only game you can brag over your achievements and trophies.

Infinity Ward is back with a prejudice and an extreme amount of pure adrenaline-rushing action on a scale of epic proportions. For newcomers of the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 doesn’t separate itself as a solo entry into the series, unlike the first Modern Warfare did to it’s World War II upbringing. Modern Warfare 2 is a direct sequel to its predecessor, creating a new franchise within itself. Infinity Ward attempts—and—succeeds in moving away from its historical World War II development, and delivers a modern-day escapade.

Before its release, there was much debate whether or not to drop the title “Call of Duty” entirely, as was assumed the title change would not affect sales or cause confusion amongst fans. However, in the end, for the purpose of continuity, the “Call of Duty” branding was tacked on the retail package. Infinity Ward is attempting, in this writer’s opinion, to branch themselves from their counter-part (Treyarch) who developed Call of Duty 3 and World at War.

Modern Warfare 2 presents a new caliber to the CoD series with a title that explores a controversial and hypothetically surreal storyline that leads inevitably into a possible World War III. Infinity Ward’s sequel pushes not only the physical buttons to traverse through a heart-pounding excursion, but also triumphs in presenting an emotional aftermath to Modern Warfare’s original game. Gamers who experienced the original, and perhaps claimed its campaign was one of the best-ever experienced, will truly appreciate Modern Warfare 2’s storyline in terms of creative storytelling and shocking events; both amazing and fearful.

The developers pull some emotional triggers. The game’s campaign can make many player’s question their own action, which can lead to a controversial ordeal over what’s simply offensive and what has strong purpose. Modern Warfare 2 presents a questionable mission (No Russian), which forces the gamer to decide how they want to play the game. The “No Russian” mission provides fuel for many political and debatable figure-heads like Fox News [Editor’s Note: read “Fox News” as “Conservative-Republican blowhards.” It also goes without saying that The Goozex Report is not quoting Fox News and they may or may not have actually stated the following…] to present the mission as a murder-simulator that is designed without purpose.

Infinity Ward creates this hundred-million dollar “simulator” with the intention of making the player think that the game is more than just a shooter. It’s an expression over the power of war and the frailty of life. People are tired of effortless shooting games, for the fact that they bring nothing to the table. Modern Warfare 2 brings everything to the table, in an effort to tell a message to the world in a brutal, yet educational, fashion. Granted, the game contains fictitious events and characters, but it conveys a powerful onslaught of ideals and moral decisions that isn’t too far-fetched from reality.

All that’s being said in this review at this point is vague, but it’s with the intention for you, the gamer, to play this title and learn for yourself the difference between a game and the real world.

Spec Ops
Modern Warfare 2, unlike the original, adds an extra mode that entices players to compete and complete everything that is un-lockable in the game. Spec Ops, separate from the campaign, gives the player a solo, split-screen, or two-player online journey through a myriad of mini-games that they need to accomplish. You can earn up to 3-stars with each game. To get all 3-stars in one mini-game, one must beat it on Veteran, which is the hardest difficulty. These mini-games are familiar events from the main campaign; plus, those who have completed the original Modern Warfare campaign will experience a familiar locale! Lots of these games center around elimination, timed events, and items to retrieve or disarm. These games do not provide a straightforward way to completion, and may take a few retries and solid strategy to complete.

Unlike the original Modern Warfare’s insanely difficult and arduous campaign–infamous for its Epilogue mission–gamers may feel disappointed that Veteran mode may not be as obnoxiously impossible, which is definitely a good thing for some. However, Infinity Ward has decided to put the extra heat on players through Spec Ops; some of which will make you want to rip out your hair.

If anyone experienced the grenade-spam storm that was Call of Duty: World at War, Modern Warfare 2 has conveniently adjusted the enemy frag tossing to a complete minimum [Editor’s Note: Thank God.]. You probably will not experience more than two grenades tossed your way at a time. Don’t quote me on it, but that’s what I experienced, and yes, I completed it on Veteran mode. Instead, the developers created a smarter AI who runs to different cover rather than remaining in one position until dead. Flanking is also observed, and as frustrating as it is to die a LOT, getting flanked is at least more commendable than blind-firing-100% accurate-enemies; although, that’s still apparent in this game, too.

While Veteran mode difficulty is a touch lighter due to the less fragging sort, it still is Veteran mode and you’ll be hitting retry often. Although, in the end, it felt a bit easier. Perhaps “easier” means I didn’t get as frustrated as spending three and a half hours one evening getting the Mile High Club achievement – which to this day, is my favorite un-lockable.

As epic as the events are from the first game, you’ll eventually grow to love what Modern Warfare 2 presents just as much: creating a slew of fabulous, monumental incidents that’ll leave your jaw open. As a personal experience, which I have not felt for years, an overwhelming sensation of goose-bumps and chills ran through my body during the first hours of the game alone. Ramp up your sound, and you’ll probably feel the same way too.

The Campaign
Call of Duty: World at War has co-op within the main campaign. While that might seem more positive than Modern Warfare 2, you should hold your tongue right there. Infinity Ward developed a campaign that was intentionally designed for the single player. One can’t recreate these powerful events with an added “ghost” character – especially in a specific event like rushing to your helicopter over rooftops while the enemies are firing from behind: a scene that felt reminiscent from “The Matrix.” I felt like Keanu Reeves running away from the agents at the end of the film. It was that good. Unlike Halo 3: ODST, which does indeed have a co-op campaign – the extra buddy playing in ODST is simply a mirror image of the first player, creating a non-personal experience for the sacrifice of having more players on the same screen.

Modern Warfare 2’s campaign may seem like you received the short-end of the stick, as it’s not longer than 10-15 hours, depending on skill. Casual players will find the story’s length fine, while hardcore players might be disappointed. However, with the addition of Spec Ops, the campaign’s length doesn’t seem too much of a letdown.

Multiplayer
Multiplayer is still an absolute must-have for such an addicting online functionality. Personally, Infinity Ward provides the best multiplayer experience for any console thus far; it didn’t need to steer far from the previous multiplayer as there wasn’t much to improve on. It includes deathmatch, team deathmatch, free-for-all; pretty much everything that was there from the first time. Rank your soldier up and get yourself more perks and guns! [Editor’s Note: Infinity Ward greatly improved the scoring system and the perks from the first Modern Warfare.]

The production value to the game is quite stunning, resulting in top-of-the-line graphics, smooth frame-rate, dynamic sound and amazing scripted events. The voice work is superb and is voiced from a familiar cast from the first game. The yelling characters boost my performance in hustling, that’s for sure. It’s effective, and not a single line feels out of place. It’s Call of Duty at its finest, and it’ll be difficult to top this one, until, well, Modern Warfare 3. Moments within the game leave unanswered questions within the plot and some may find that the antagonist is mostly off-screen, which might make the controversial segments feel pointless.

Modern Warfare 2 still revolves around faceless soldiers, and perhaps that’s the best way to do it. You might not be entirely sold on the feature that you play as multiple soldiers, whose lives aren’t necessarily free from death. Therefore, you never grow attached to a main character. However, with that makes it more surprising who lives on and who does not. It makes traveling around the globe possible with different faces.

There’s no denying that you should play the game, as there is no higher bar. Modern Warfare 2 pretty much exclaims that there will be a third, and I sure know we will all wait for it two years from now.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | First Impressions

Shawn Lebert Says The behemoth has landed. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is ground-zero. The masses are finally able to withdraw the greens and cling to Infinity Ward's latest title on the market. A direct sequel to the original Modern Warfare, which takes place five years after the first conclusion, comes the brave and bold extra step for a worthy sequel. So far, Infinity Ward has not let down, preserving the golden features of the original Modern Warfare, but ramped up the action to the 110th percent.

Hands down, two years ago, when I completed the original, I was convinced that the campaign was my favorite first person shooter. It had everything. Action, story line, drama, suspense, I could go on. The value for the game was extraordinary and the substance actually had weight, it had actual depth. There are a lot of shooters out there that seem to fail beyond these proportions. There are many that do not capture the emotional intent that Infinity Ward seems to impress. For the time being, I have only experienced less than a handful of checkpoints in the first mission of the sequel. Just by that estimate alone, I am telling anyone that reads this that whatever memory you held dear for so long, whatever inspirational, epic experience you may have had, Warfare 2 might not only revitalize those memories to the surface, but capitalize on the already established content that the first game was so positively noted for.

After the explosive entrance into the campaign, I can not verbally express the sheer thrill of what was happening. Goosebumps that I have for so long forgotten came back to the surface. The only way to describe it is to compare the game to a heart-pounding ride at Six Flags. I fell right into the action. I was the actual soldier on the battlefield, hearing and seeing those bullets smashing into the environment around me. Infinity Ward definitely wants long-time fans and newcomers to experience an intense and powerful game.

Of course, without question, there is training before one finds themselves in the nitty-gritty of the campaign. It's standard obviously, but the developers put an amazing amount of detail into the prologue beforehand, with the help of beautiful graphics, really convincing voice acting, and dynamic sound. The yelling drill instructors were actually alarming and I was compelled to do a better job!

Infinity Ward knows how to hit the right buttons, investing in creating a world so deep and motivating with the right kind of enthralling characters who are both good and evil. You love the good guys and love to hate the bad ones. I have yet to encounter the controversial moments. Although briefly scanning over information on the net, I have completely kept myself in the dark about what I should experience other than the trailers. As far as opinion about the highly questionable and controversial content, I believe that Infinity Ward knows what they are doing and wouldn't tack anything on for the purpose of turning corporate heads. Their stories are motivational and important.

I briefly took a look into the Special-Ops mode, which gives one or two gamers the opportunity to play together in little mini-games to earn stars. This mode takes an ample amount of time as it varies between objectives, such as elimination, challenge times or both. I can't wait to get back into it to see what more I can do.

Of course, last but not least, is the multiplayer section of Modern Warfare 2. It doesn't steer clear from the previous multiplayer and keeps all of the good elements that keeps it addicting. The perks are still intact with a few extra tidbits. This includes the ability to take the image of the last man who killed you and use their weapon configuration. Although I don't know how or why this is beneficial or implemented yet, as I have not played more than an hour.

Admittedly, I wouldn't mind Achievements in multiplayer as it is very fun, but I understand their reasoning. The awards in multiplayer alone are rewarding enough for an achievement-less or trophy-less addition.

By far, Modern Warfare 2 is adding up to be the successor to its predecessor and I'm only in the midst of the first couple of hours! Keep watching The Goozex Report for the full review.

GameStop Modern Warfare 2 Party

Erik Kubik Says The rumor on Monday night was that there were places in town having MW2 launch parties with pop and pizza. But I trudged off to the GameStop that is close to my house to see the much talked about Humvees and Marines who were supposed to be showcasing the game.

I arrived at the store around 8:30 pm. There were no Humvees or members of the armed forces. Instead there were 2 White H2’s from a local dealership, which were backed up near the front entrance. There was a line of people standing around the store and the H2’s numbered near 25. I took a few pictures, watched a few people playing on 42” LCD in the back of one of the H2’s, and chatted with another guy filming the event. He later told me it was for part of a college project on “Gaming Addiction.” By about 9 pm the crowd had grown to around 50, people of all ages were present, from 13 to 63. As expected I saw very few women, save for the mom’s and girlfriends who had been drug to the event. Some of the guys from Wearethegamerz.com announced they were setting up a FNG challenge inside the GameStop. Whoever got the best time received a sealed copy of Wolverine’s Revenge for PS3. By this time the GameStop employees were walking around letting those know who looked and were under 17 that they could not demo the game or participate in the FNG challenge without a parent’s consent. A few people whined and complained but GameStop stuck to their guns.

A few of the GameStop employees were handing out coffee, energy drinks, and pastries as we waited outside in the cold for a chance to demo the game or take a crack at the tournament. The time was now 9:30 and I soon discovered I was one of the only people there to buy the Playstation 3 version. Here I was the lone fish in a semi hostile sea of 360 fan boys. With the crowd swelling to 100 people or more I quickly signed up for the FNG run. My end time was 50 seconds, 25 seconds behind the future winner.

I stepped backed in line and I noticed someone had finally set up another 42” LCD in the back of the other H2. The crowd chatted among themselves eagerly talking about the game, the last midnight release party, and what some of their plans were for the night and tomorrow. As some of the gamers whined about the cold and their parents, I caught strands of conversation about taking work off and planned Monster-fueled- all- nighters.

As I was talking to a fellow PS3 gamer, one of the GameStop employees who recognized me from frequent trips to the store asked me how I was doing and what was with the tattered moleskin in my hand. I mentioned I was taking notes and pictures for an article on a website. He asked if I had gotten to play it in one of the back of the H2’s yet. I mentioned I had not and with that he led me to the front to get a shot to play Spec Ops.

11:30 came and went and by this time the line was wrapped around the building. Over 150 people had joined our ranks and were eagerly crowding the wall of the building trying to keep warm while the nervous energy and anticipation built. When 12:01 struck and we were let in the store there were muted cries of joy where I expected to hear screams of excitement. Everyone seemed relieved to get their copies.

By 12:45 the parking lot was empty. The H2’s were gone, and the GameStop employees were closing the store. I was headed home with my game in hand, eager for tomorrow.

The Recreation of an Unboxing Of CoD: MW2

Our very own mgsfan222, aka Cole Burton, aka Jimmy Kudos 222, unboxes the Prestige Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Watch at your own risk. If nothing else, you can check out still shots of the dude's bedroom.

Breaking Down the Current Values of the Call of Duty Franchise

Mike Rohde Says: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 releases in just a few short hours (at the time of this writing). Anticipation is at a fever pitch while gamers across the nation are lining up for midnight launches, Major Nelson is taking photo opportunities with fourzerotwo--and here you are--as a brand new player to the scene, you want to know what the fuss is all about. If you’re hesitant about jumping on the band wagon and don’t want to sink $60 into a game you might or might not like, then you can travel back in time and play the games that helped make CoD: MW2 into a must-have game for any fps fan. Call of Duty is a legendary franchise and is the only series that goes head-to-head with Halo in terms of taking the top spot of the most played games on Xbox Live.

This article is also for those of you who joined the CoD saga in mid-battle. If CoD4 and World at War were your introductions to the franchise, then why not go back and play CoD2 and CoD3? If you’re wondering why I’m not mentioning the original, that’s because it’s currently only available for the PC. I do understand there are plans to bring CoD Classic to the Xbox, but the only dates I can find are an undefined TBA 2009 (they have two months left to make that date…).

With that said, here’s a table with the titles, current values on Goozex, and the Metacritic score.

Now that you know the current values for the CoD franchise, it might be of interesting note to see how CoD4’s current value matches up against other highly-rated games of 2007, and that includes GTAIV, which released in April 2008!

• CoD4 released in Nov 2007: 450
• Halo 3 released in Sept 2007: 400
• Grand Theft Auto IV released in April 2008: 350
• Bioshock released in Aug 2007: 300
• Mass Effect released in Nov 2007: 200

One last note: As of right now, the first three reviews on Metacritic is showing perfect scores for CoD: MW2.

Call of Duty: Modern Controversy

Troy Benedict Says Welcome to Call of Duty: Shark Week here on The Goozex Report! A week-long blitzkrieg of articles and news stories surrounding one of the year's most anticipated video game releases: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Be warned that this article might contain some general spoilers. If you've purposely avoided reading anything about Modern Warfare 2 in hopes to witness the game with untainted eyes... well, then you're not doing a very good job by reading this article! There are no plot-ruining spoilers revealed here, but there is some discussion about the opening scene of the game further below, that might take away some of Modern Warfare 2's surprises.

When people think of controversy and video games, the Grand Theft Auto franchise and lawyer/crusader Jack Thompson generally come to mind. In reality, games are marred with controversy all the time, even seemingly harmless titles like the Nintendo DS's Scribblenauts has had its share of controversial discoveries.

People like to complain about anything, and the best place to complain about things is through the Internet. And who are some of the biggest users of the Internet? Gamers!

You might not be aware, but the Call of Duty franchise has had its share of controversies. To some, these issues are insignificant, to others they're worthy of petitioning over 100,000 people to influence the developer/publisher to make changes. Here are some of the more recent controversies surrounding the Call of Duty franchise.

With Call of Duty: World at War, PETA the animal rights organization, took offense to scenes in the game where the player killed attack dogs. PETA also didn't like the multiplayer perk that allows the player to unleash a pack of attack dogs on their enemies. In order to help promote a kinder, gentler portrayal of dogs in the Call of Duty games, PETA sent Activision copies of Nintendogs. Activision responded by saying that the dogs were included in the game for authenticity, as they were used extensively during World War II, and didn't feel that the in-game violence towards the attack dogs condoned or endorsed cruelty to animals.

There have been subtle jabs between the two development studios who make the Call of Duty games: Infinity Ward and Treyarch. Many argue that the Infinity Ward releases are superior to Treyarch's. Infinity Ward has worked on Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Treyarch has developed Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty: World at War, as well as the Wii port of Modern Warfare 2 called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex. (Whew! Talk about an overuse of colons!) Regardless of the developer, the Call of Duty games are huge commercial successes, and are always amongst the top of the list of most-played multiplayer games on both the 360 and the PS3. In my opinion, I do think that Infinity Ward continues to push innovation through its Call of Duty releases more than Treyarch does. That being said, Treyarch is going to have some big shoes to fill with 2010's Call of Duty title, as Infinity Ward set the bar pretty high with Modern Warfare 2.

Perhaps the most drastically overlooked controversial issues that could have been resolved with a little common sense, was the recent YouTube ad for Modern Warfare 2. The video clip features the voice, as well as an in-game likeness of, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. He discusses how randomly throwing grenades in multiplayer is "for pussies." The video clip ends with Cole Hamel's character being tagged with a ridiculous amount of grenades and he is then blown up as he shouts out an expletive. After the action fades to black, the name of a fake interest group, "Fight Against Grenade Spam" is shown. The acronym is F.A.G.S. The most offensive thing to me about this video isn't the video's "rawness" or its acronym, but the sheer idiocy in planning and execution that must've gone into the production.

Did the video editors simply throw this advertisement on the Internet without getting higher approval? Ultimately, the video was pulled from the official YouTube page when the Internet started heating up. Perhaps this was a well-planned marketing scheme, subscribing to the notion that "there is no such thing as bad publicity." To me, it reeks of "it sounded good at the time" amateurism.

Developer Infinity Ward was also rumored to have disabled the ability for Xbox Live users to use the party chat feature during ranked multiplayer games. Party chat allows Xbox Live subscribers to chat amongst their friends regardless of what game they're playing on the Xbox 360. To me, this makes perfect sense for ranked multiplayer games, as ranked online matches is where a player's win/loss record truly matters and is where the more serious gamers play. As I understand it, when a player dies, their communication channel is cut off as to not assist their teammates by giving away enemy positions while their character is in limbo. Party chat would circumvent this this "disconnection." Like I said, this rumored decision makes sense to me.

The PC version of Modern Warfare 2 had PC gamers up in arms in October, after Infinity Ward stated that multiplayer on dedicated servers would not be allowed. To console gamers, this doesn't seem like a big deal, but to the PC gaming enthusiasts it is very much so. Select groups in the PC gaming community called modders, like to get under the engine of a game and modify aspects of it to create a unique online gaming experience. Sometimes this is importing new character models, or changing a weapon's rate of fire or even its effectiveness. Most of the modding that is done is harmless, but modding an online game can make for a very unbalanced multiplayer experience. Infinity Ward's reasoning behind the exclusion of dedicated servers was to keep online matches as free from cheating and griefing as possible. With a pay-to-play service like Xbox Live, I expect the game publisher/developer as well as Microsoft helps to ensure a fair and balanced online experience. I know too many online gamers who have quit playing certain games altogether because other players took advantage of glitches in the game, and a patch to stop the "cheating" wasn't implemented fast enough.

But it doesn't stop there.

Another series of downsides to the PC gaming experience for Modern Warfare 2 recently surfaced. According to Joystiq.com, Infinity Ward confirmed during a Best Buy online chat, that in addition to the PC version having a 9-vs-9 player limit, there would also be no way to kick players from ranked matches, and there would be no console commands. Again, for console gamers, this doesn't seem like a major issue, but to the PC gaming enthusiasts, it's extremely limiting.

Of course, we can't talk about controversy and Modern Warfare 2 without mentioning the game's opening scene, where you assume the role of a group of terrorists who walk through an airport killing innocent and unarmed civilians. Infinity Ward had stated that the player does not have to participate in the killings. Having such a shocking opening, whether or not the player openly participates in the murder of innocent people, could lead to a lot of media denouncements of the game after its release, especially after recent news of the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas on November 5th. Will more conservative news outlets, like Fox News, heavily condemn Modern Warfare 2 for a possible glorified look at violence through the eyes of a terrorist? Again, is this a brilliant marketing scheme for Modern Warfare 2, or is this an attempt to inject some much needed emotion in the video-game medium? People say that games aren't art because there's no emotional connection. If the game elicits a response, even if it's one of extreme discomfort and anger at the events unfolding, could Infinity Ward help push the industry forward in this regard?

William Shakespeare once said, "What is in a name?" When you're referring to Modern Warfare 2, nobody is really sure. When the game was first announced, Infinity Ward was promoting it as just "Modern Warfare 2." The Call of Duty branding was blatantly missing. This, of course led to all sorts of rumors and speculation. Was Infinity Ward creating a spinoff of the Call of Duty series? Activision finally confirmed that the standard-edition of Modern Warfare 2 would feature the Call of Duty brand logo to show its association with the Call of Duty franchise.

Check back here all week long for more articles about the Call of Duty franchise, including the first impressions of the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Looking Forward to November

Erik Kubik Says Traditionally, November signals the beginning of the Holiday release schedule for games. More or less, from my understanding, it’s when developers stand to make the most money throughout the year, even if their games are terrible. There are some hot titles coming out. It comes down to buying now or waiting until Goozex delivers my copy.

Band Hero--One of two music games coming in November, this game comes out November 1st for 360, PS3, PS2, DS and the Wii. It’s totting itself as Guitar Hero fun for the whole family. I do know it has an extensive song list, with 65 Top-Forty songs and the ability to import more songs from the other Guitar Hero games. Players will be able to drop in and out, much like Guitar Hero 5. Honestly, I’ll pass. Rhythm games are not my thing, but I do predict it will sell well with families, especially on the Wii. If you already have Guitar Hero and Rock Band then you should wait until Goozex can get you this game.

Lego Rock Band—Unfortunately, I know very little about this game. It is coming for Wii, PS3, and 360 on November 3rd. It’s nothing more than a “family friendly” rock band game with Legos. The Legos can be used to customize their avatars, vehicles, and rock dens. There will also be Lego-themed challenges. Does that mean building things or knocking them down? It seems the presence of Iggy Pop and David Bowie are there to make it more “rockable.” If I had to pick between the two, Band Hero and Lego Rock Band, I might actually pick the latter since it is something different. Anyways, unless you have small children, just wait for Goozex.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is Game of the Year material and it is making its way onto the PS3, PC, and 360. Just from the trailers every gamer knows this is going to be a great game. It has everything you love about the Call of Duty Series and more. It comes out in early November. I cannot wait to play the Special Ops mode, which is similar to the final mission in COD 4, “Mile High Club.” The multiplayer elements are going to be mind blowing. My prediction is Modern Warfare 2 is going to be a must-have for the Holiday season. Do not wait for this game on Goozex as you will have to wait many months.

Assassin’s Creed 2--This game comes out for the PS3, PC, DS, and the Xbox 360. The first game was one of my least favorite games of 2007. The previews for the sequel show an interesting game but I am worried about length. After 6 hours is that going to be it? Is the new setting, Renaissance Italy, and the new game play features like dual assassination blades and flying machines, be enough for gamers? The game slashes onto shelves on November 17th. My thoughts are unless you loved the first game wait for Goozex to bring it to you.

New Super Mario Brothers--It is time to dust off my Wii. This wondrous take on the old comes out November 15th for the Wii. Featuring 4 player co-op and 2d Game play, I can dig this. There are mushroom propellers and a penguin suit. What? No frog suit or metal helmet!? I like that Yoshi is back but I’m worried how well the 4 player co-op will work out. The game is built around the idea of working together, so what if you have ornery friends or the AI is terrible? For a gamer like me, this means the TV will meet my Wii mote. In the end, if you are a hardcore fan and are in the mindset that I gotta-have- every Mario-game, grab this game as it comes out.

Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles--I am going to buy this on launch day, the 27th of November. As a big fan of Resident Evil, I want no mistake that I need to have this game. Reason 1, it comes with the Wii Zapper. The second reason to own this game is that you get to blast zombies with Claire and Leon as they travel back through Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil Code Veronica. Like Umbrella Chronicles, Wesker will make an appearance and this will just make me want to drag out my Dreamcast or my Playstation. Co-op rail shooter with Zombies- what else do gamers need over Christmas break? If you don’t like Resident Evil or rail shooters, then wait for it on Goozex.

So readers what are you looking forward to?

Future Releases Worth Your Purchase

Cole Burton Says As all of us gamers know, there are very many great and popular games coming out this year and the next. That is why I am going to give my opinions on some of the games that I am most hyped for.

Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 2

I used to be a huge Halo fan, but after 5 minutes of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, all that changed. There are 3 editions of Modern Warfare 2: Normal, Hardened, and Prestige edition. I currently have the prestige edition pre-ordered for $150.00, that’s how much I like Call of Duty.

This game will have a great campaign and multiplayer by the looks of it. Not only that, it will also have the new, two-player special ops missions.

In addition, there are many improvements, such as in-game host finding and the ability to throw your knife.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted 2 is a game that I plan on getting from The New Goozex Exchange day 1. I loved Uncharted: Drakes Fortune and I was lucky enough to get a beta code from GameTrailers to play the first level cooperatively and play the multiplayer, I was blown away.

There is so much suspense for this game just from the trailers alone. This is my second-most hyped game for the year, right behind Modern Warfare 2. For those of you looking to push your luck, there will be a limited, and I do mean limited, edition of the game. The only way to get it, will be to win it. Check the Playstation blog for more info.

Saw: The Video Game
In my opinion, Saw the video game hasn’t been getting enough attention. If you have seen the movies, this is a must get, if you haven’t seen the movies, watch the first two and you will be hooked. The game places you in the position of Detective Tapp from Saw 1 and it fills the gap between the first and second movies. Another cool thing about this Saw entry is that it will be produced by the original creators of Saw.

M.A.G.

M.A.G. might be one of the best PS3 exclusives of the year. It looks like it will have a great multiplayer with 256 players per match. Some people are worried about lag issues, but this game wouldn’t be made if that were a fact. No one would play a 256-man lag match. There are three teams you can choose from, at least one should fit your fps personality.

Halo ODST

Although I do not play Halo that much anymore, I still plan on getting ODST for old-time sake and to complete my collection.

Assassin’s Creed 2

I enjoyed Assassin’s Creed a lot until I finished the game, then it had right next to zero replay value. However, I am sure the sequel will not have this problem, but, if it does, at least the first play through will be great.

This time, you don’t play as Altair, you play as Ezio. There will also be more weapons and vehicles. In addition, you will have friends that have their own abilities to help you out.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

I played the demo of BF:BC and did not like it. I eventually got it on goozex with some spare points and was amazed. Apparently, the demo sucked but the real game was great!

In addition, the multiplayer was great. I cannot wait to add this game to my collection March 2010. The destructible environments were what separated bad company from other mindless fps games and it look like it will do the same again.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading about some of the games I am most hyped for this year and next. Remember to keep that wallet fat for these, or do the smart thing and get them from Goozex.com!

Grundy The Man's Current Top Five Wish List

Blake Grundman Says Several triple-A titles are no longer scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of this year, and the 2009 Holiday season is beginning to look more bare than any year in recent memory. That said, there are still a great number of worthwhile titles that are on my wish list, including some games that have already been released and some that are coming out next month. Here is a list of five games that I do not want to live without:

1. Left 4 Dead 2 – After the tremendous success of the original Left 4 Dead on both the Xbox 360 and PC, it seemed obvious that there would be a sequel on the way. To the surprise of many, Microsoft announced that the sequel would be coming on November 17th, 2009. This is less than one year after the release of the first game, so it is likely that the game will be overflowing with new content, in order to rebuff the ire of frothy fanboys everywhere.

2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Infinity Ward is back at it again, with another soon to be classic installment for both the Call of Duty and Modern Warfare franchises. As much confusion as there has been about the name of the game, in the end it won’t really matter, because this will sell like gangbusters on every platform it is released on. There is no doubt in my mind that with the developer's pedigree, this has the potential to be a legitimate game of the year contender.

3. Halo 3: ODST – Any wish list would seem empty without an appearance from Bungie’s Spartan busting juggernaut. With ODST being the first Halo shooter that doesn’t star Master Chief, there is bound to be some backlash, and I do not expect the game to sell as many units as Halo 3 did; however, the game will most likely not have the same marketing push either. Regardless, look for this to be a big seller.

4. Assassins Creed 2 - Back and better than ever, Ubisoft is looking to throw all of their marketing might behind Ezio’s newest quest into the Renaissance period of Italy. After seeing how well the first game sold, it would not be beyond the realm of possibility to see a repeat of the success. Oddly enough, the publisher decided to release the game side-by-side with Left 4 Dead 2. I am sure both games will do tremendously well, but it will be interesting to see who wins the head-to-head showdown.

5. Wii Sports Resort – This might be at the bottom of my list, but I still want it. Nintendo can do no wrong on the first-party software front, and with the inclusion of the Wii Motion Plus peripheral, there will undoubtedly be droves of housewives that are clambering to get their hands on it; and I'm getting in line right behind them.

So, what's on your wish list?

Review of Call of Duty World at War

kube00 Says: The next stop in the Call of Duty franchise is none other than Call of Duty World at War, which takes gamers back to World War II. Treyarch, the developer of Call of Duty 3, takes another shot at the franchise. My first impression of the game reminded me of Call of Duty 4, except I time traveled back to the 1940’s. Feeling and playing like Call of Duty 4 is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s nothing new and neither is World War II.
The game starts off with the Americans in the Pacific. This is a good thing as there has not been a recent attempt at a Pacific World War II game. This part of the game has a lot more variety than expected. Gamers have the opportunity to go for a plane ride and rescue downed pilots while blasting through the flames and smoke to take down Japanese Zeros. Most of the campaign here is based around island hopping and taking control of allied outposts.

The second part of the game features the Eastern European front, or as I like to call it, the Soviets- Outmanned-and-Outgunned- vs-better-equipped-Nazis-with-Tanks. Developer Treyarch does a good job of capturing the Soviet feel for this part of the game. Everything is run-and-gun against overwhelming odds set in crumbling Soviet Factories and Cities. To me, this felt like Medal of Honor, Call of Duty 2, etc.; all the WWII games have done this before and for the most part there is nothing new. There are a few spots where gamers enjoy bits of sniper action similar to the movie Enemy at the Gates. But the sniping parts are nothing like Call of Duty 4’s sneaking, sniping, and escaping mission. In addition, players have the opportunity to take a tank with a front mounted flame thrower for a joyride.

Graphically, Europe and the Pacific look really good, as Treyarch used the same engine as COD4. Although the color pallet is limited, there are lots of greens and browns; the texture detail of objects and buildings are well done. The well-detailed characters, settings and the lighting help to create a tense, warlike mood. The cut screens added to the game’s story, part newsreel, part mission briefing, and part history lesson: it all flowed together nicely. Besides the great music score, the noises of battle were overwhelming at sometimes, the pounding of artillery, the screaming men crying out for help, all of these sounds make COD WaW a more realistic war.

There are a few new editions to this World War II theme. The Soviets have Molotov cocktails, which is a feature I felt was hit and miss. But the second part of the game has a few new items that I could not get enough of. There are bayonets. Stabbing the charging enemy in the chest and watching them gurgle and gasp never gets old. But what would be a WWII game without the flamethrower? Burning the brush, trees, and the enemies is a great way to pass the time and to keep gamers interested. It has to be the most useful and underused weapon in the game.

The multiplayer is fun and feels similar, if the not the same, as COD4. As before, multiplayer is all about getting experience, utilizing different weapons and classes for different maps, unlocking perks, and working as a team. Furthermore, there is split screen, and LAN co-op, both featuring competitive campaign play. Little features like these help to give COD WaW longevity. When the game is finished, gamers unlock Nazi Zombies, a fast paced survival game, which can be played Co-op as well.

There were a few things I did not like. Europe WWII theme is overused. It has been used so many times in FPS games, how about something new and original? Your teammates AI seem a little dull at times, while the enemy AI seems a little too smart once in a while. The single player campaign on easy can be completed in less than 6 hours. But overall, Activision and Treyarch did a good job, and most reviews seem to like the game. So if you liked COD4, I'm sure you'll like this game, and with the multiplayer the game longevity is decent. I'll give it an 9.5 outta 10. It is 1000 Goozex points right now for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, less for the PC and Wii versions. The bad news is that there are very few gamers who are letting their copies go.

Sign up for Goozex now and receive 100 points and a trade credit.

GOTY Reader Poll Results

An amazing 56 people, out of the 1032 people who visited in the past week, actually voted in the Game of the Year Poll. Maybe the lack of voting was due to the fact that you're favorite game wasn't listed? Who knows? Who cares. Anyway, Metal Gear Solid 4 solidly won, followed by a tie for second place with Left 4 Dead and a game that was released in 2007, which beat out Fallout 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV. Sad, sad, sad.

The Year in Review and Game(s) of the Year

The Goozex Report launched in late August of this year. The blog started with me writing posts about not wanting to pay for video games to an audience of maybe a dozen readers (if I was lucky). After some time, The Goozex Report caught the eye of Goozex, Inc., and is now listed on their Supporters page. A Goozex member even contributed a logo and some artwork. As time went on, The Goozex Report started attracting fellow gamer-writers. We now have six contributors who volunteer their time writing brilliant articles. We’ve also made some great new friends with game sites of their own and we owe a lot of our success to them!

Since August, The Goozex Report was featured on the front page of N4G dozens of times, other blogs and forums have posted links to our articles, and we can proudly say we’ve had over 40,000 visitors in four months time from 127 different countries. We realize that some game sites get that kind of traffic in just a few hours, but we’re still new and still growing. We just might continue on through 2009. After all, where else are you going to learn when Gears of War 2 starts dropping in value?

As for gaming in 2008, it wasn’t a bright year for unique and new titles. Using Metacritic as a scale, of the top 10 highest rated games, only two Xbox 360 titles were not sequels. And only three of the top 10 PS3 games were not sequels. Kudos to Sony for LittleBigPlanet: a unique and original game that received positive reviews. On the other hand, while Left 4 Dead and Dead Space are receiving favorable reactions, they do not exactly represent unique genres or ideas; but at least the titles are not followed by a 2, a 3, or in the case of Grand Theft Auto, a 4.

Has the video game industry run out of ideas? Or are they following Hollywood’s lead and simply pumping cash cows? In any case, it does not speak highly for today’s creative talent. 2008 desperately missed 2007’s BioShock (yes, I realize that BioShock released on the PS3 in 2008). I’m really hoping that for 2009, the big publishers reach out to some new, independent developers who are creating unique, and dare I say—intelligent—games of the future.

The emphasis developers have placed on creating a great story has killed the focus on improving game mechanics, which seriously hampered the playability of such games as Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway. Can anyone out there please tell me what the heck the storyline in the cutscenes
had to do with the actual game play? I shook my head in disbelief at the end of that game. To regain some credibility, game developers really need to prioritize game mechanics first, story second, and graphics third.

In choosing a Game of the Year, several factors must be considered: game mechanics, graphics, sound, characters, single player campaigns, multiplayer online game play, and yes, story. What games of 2008 fully delivered? What fell flat?

When I was first asked what my GOTY pick was, my gut reaction was to say, “Call of Duty 4.” (Before you start screaming, I fully realize the game released in 2007.) That’s the game I played and had the most fun with for the majority of the year. It certainly trumped Halo 3 in my opinion. As for a 2008 release, Grand Theft Auto IV certainly did not live up to the hype. If that game starts winning GOTY nods from around the web, I’m gonna puke, a lot. Over and over. Lots of puke.

With that said, as a devoted Goozex member, I’ve only played eight 2008 releases (I’m still waiting for GoW 2, Fallout 3, Fable II, CoD: WaW, Dead Space, and several others to show up in my mailbox). And only one of the eight games that I’ve played is in the Top 10 (yeah, GTA IV). Of the 2008 games I’ve played (GRiD, Soulcalibur IV, Madden NFL 09, Battlefield: Bad Company, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, Viking: Battle for Asgard, and Mercenaries 2), the only game I’d want to revisit and finish is Mercs 2. Does that make Mercs 2 my GOTY? No. Not really.

So, what is my GOTY pick? Judging by the game that I played the most, and had the most fun playing, I’d still pick CoD4 as the reigning champ two years running. Maybe my pick for 2009 will be GoW 2 or Fallout 3.

Maybe, just maybe, Goozex fans have to stretch the calendar year when deciding GOTY. After all, you can’t really pick a game until you’ve played them all.

For those of you feeling let down that I did not pick a true GOTY, here’s MrWeymes, who has a
solid lock on his PS3 pick. After you read his review, Grundy the Man has a solid lock on his pick for the Xbox 360.

The Goozex Report PS3 Game of the Year
Andrew Weymes (MrWeymes) Says: With 2008 coming to a close, it's time to reflect upon an excellent year in the video game industry. There are so many games eligible for Game of the Year that it's almost too difficult to choose. Every genre, for every kind of gamer, had a few excellent games to play over the past year.

However, every excellent game has its shortcomings. For instance, Metal Gear Solid 4 has an amazing single player experience, with a slightly above average multiplayer component; while Left 4 Dead is an absolute joy online but lacks an enthralling single player experience. There were so many excellent games this year, each with their own flaws, it is hard to compare them
directly with one another. Of course, Game of the Year should come down to a few questions. Which game will you remember long past the year it was named Game of the Year? Which game will still be better than the majority of games in upcoming years? Finally, which game figuratively made your jaw hit the floor?

That game (for me) is the Playstation 3 exclusive, Metal Gear Solid 4. Whether you are a fan of the stealth/action genre or not, there is no denying the beauty of Metal Gear Solid 4. For those unfamiliar with Solid Snake, and the rest of the Metal Gear Solid universe, the story may be a bit confusing, but with the help of the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database available for download on PSN, people new to the series can follow the story with relative ease.

The cutscenes that bring this excellent story to life are easily the best of all time. They help immerse you in the experience, because as soon as the cutscene ends, and the gameplay begins, everything looks the same: excellent. The cutscenes would mean nothing if the gameplay wasn't as amazing as the story, but that is simply not the case.

The gameplay is tense, addictive, and simply fun. Apart from a few key scenes, you can approach the game in a number of ways. For example, you can kill every soldier in the area in a very blunt manner, such as shooting them all in the head with a pistol. In that same area, you can find a way to proceed without killing one soldier. Finally, in that exact same area, you could kill a few soldiers, hide until they are no longer looking for you, and proceed through the rest of the area stealthily. That's what puts Metal Gear Solid 4's replayability through the ceiling. You can play it as a pure action game, or a pure stealth game, or a mix of both.

The chase scenes are among the best of all time. One chase scene in particular is probably the most memorable gaming segment of the year.

In addition to everything mentioned above are some excellent, and memorable, boss fights. Bosses are totally unique and it may take you a few minutes to figure out how to kill them. As fun as it would be to describe each boss battle in detail, The Goozex Report doesn't believe in spoilers, therefore this will be a spoiler-free article. What can be said is that there are definitely some "what the expletive" moments in some of the boss fights, making them very memorable.

That pretty much covers the single player aspect of Metal Gear Solid 4. With, or without multiplayer, Metal Gear Solid 4 is Game of the Year. Single player gaming is the essence of video games, and without a doubt, Metal Gear Solid 4 had the best single player experience of the year. However, Metal Gear Solid 4 did come with Metal Gear Online on the same disk. Metal Gear Online is a separate game, so it shouldn't affect the score of Metal Gear Solid 4 in a negative, or positive way. That's not to say that Metal Gear Online is bad. For fans of the stealthier portions of Metal Gear Solid 4, Metal Gear Online probably won't disappoint. It's multiplayer isn't comparable to the likes of Gears of War 2, or Resistance 2. It's more of a slow pace. Many of the players of Metal Gear Online will quick snipe you if you are too out in the open, or if you are taking cover in obvious places. The multiplayer is very competitive, and will probably turn off more casual players.

To summarize, there is no other game more worthy of Game of the Year than Metal Gear Solid 4. The story is too compelling, the cutscenes are too well done, and the gameplay is too enjoyable for any other game to win this year. Metal Gear Solid 4 didn't need to include Metal Gear Online on the same disk to win Game of the Year. It would have won regardless, but the inclusion just means that you are getting an even better deal. 2008 was an excellent year for video games, and while there were many games considered for Game of the Year, The Goozex Report felt that Metal Gear Solid 4 deserved it the most for the PS3.

The Goozex Report Xbox 360 Game of the Year
Grundy the Man Says:
My Top 5 List

5. Super Smash Brothers Melee (Wii)

4. Mega Man 9 (WiiWare)

3. Braid (XBLA)

2. Left 4 Dead (PC)

1. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)

This year, many stellar games were released. I was hard pressed to shorten my list down to a top 5, but I did my best. It was almost a dead heat between Left 4 Dead on PC and Fallout 3 on the Xbox 360. In the end it came down to the immersive nature of Fallout 3’s storyline that gave it the winning edge.

Fallout 3 is the kind of RPG that Bethesda prides themselves on making. They resuscitated a franchise that was in stasis for over a decade and managed to make it more vibrant and alive than its predecessors. Not to say that it replaces the classic Fallout games, but it is very much a worthy heir to the throne of Vault 101.

A barren wasteland isolates the player in the middle of nowhere, with very little handholding. You are left to comb the wasteland in search of items, friends, and storyline. Bethesda even took huge risks by writing a branching story that is monumentally influenced by key decisions throughout the course of the game. One choice can wipe out an entire city worth of story progression and questing. That is the very definition of ‘ballsy’ and makes this one of the most amazing games of 2008.

With over 30 hours in and many more to come, I couldn’t imagine a title being more worthy of Game of the Year.

Monmin Says: The only 2008 games I've played are Left 4 Dead, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise, and GTA IV. That excludes a lot of major releases this year, but anyway, my game of the year is: Left 4 Dead.

Kube00 Says: Okay I would say my top picks are:

Metal Gear Solid 4—It has so much to offer, a great story with amazing cutscenes, it’s a PS3 exclusive, and has great multiplayer.

GTA IV—It re-invented the series. The game itself is long, at least 40 hours; and the multiplayer, although not too deep, is fun for quick games.

Editor's Note: Yeah, Kube00 just made me puke. But we still like him and look forward to reading more of his articles.

Multiplayer or Single Player?

Andrew Weymes (aka MrWeymes) Says: The Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube era was primarily focused on single player gaming. Of course, Socom and Halo had many online players, but the majority of gamers were still playing games for the single player experience. However, it is apparent that multiplayer gaming is on the rise over the past few years and much has changed within the current generation.

Many games that have a solid single player experience—but no multiplayer—are often slammed for this alleged short coming; and even have points deducted in their review on gaming websites. An example of this is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. While Uncharted didn't receive terrible scores, the inclusion of a multiplayer experience akin to Gears of War would probably have helped.

There are many gamers who don't enjoy multiplayer, and are concerned with this growing trend in the industry. Single player campaigns are getting shorter and shorter. While the quality of the campaigns is high, it's hard for a single player gamer to spend $60 on a six-hour experience; especially when developers focus their efforts on making the online run smoothly, having a good amount of maps, as well as weapons, and having a good selection of game modes. It's almost as if the single player experience has become secondary, which is backwards compared to previous consoles. Treyarch provided a prime example of this trend by releasing a Beta version of the multiplayer for Call of Duty: World at War as compared to a demo of the single player.

This generation is also seeing a rise in multiplayer-only games such as Warhawk, Socom: Confrontation, and to a lesser extent Left 4 Dead. While you can play Left 4 Dead by yourself, it's clearly made for cooperative play. If games like this become top games in the industry, developers will start to look at single player games differently. There is no sense in making an epic single player experience if it's not going to played by 1/3 as many people as this months multiplayer game.

There are pros to playing single player games, as well as multiplayer games.

Single Player Pros:

• Storylines can draw you in, and make you feel for the character.
• A good amount of single player games have a solid frame rate throughout the game.
• Texturing and lighting effects are always better in single player campaigns.
• Scripted moments that are shocking during your first playthrough.
• The feeling of beating a boss by yourself.
• Exploration.
• A good soundtrack.
  

Multiplayer Pros:

• Playing with people you know is usually fun. For people that live far way from each other, it's nice to socialize again.
• If there is no lag, competing fairly against people from all around the world, or just competing against your friends can be thrilling.
• Talking to real people during cooperative gaming brings a new level of strategy to the table when compared to AI team members.
• Replayability. Many people only play the single player experience of a game once. Multiplayer gives you a lot more hours for the money you spent on a game.
• Winning. It's always fun to beat someone else.
  

It's obvious that multiplayer is now a vital part of the video game industry. If you were to ask the average male, age 10-25 what Call of Duty is, he would probably know the answer, regardless of whether or not he plays that particular game, or video games in general. If you were to ask that same man what Lost Odyssey is, or Dead Space, or Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, he probably wouldn't know. The question is, what do gamers that spend their days playing video games, and talking about them on message boards think? Which kind of games brings you more satisfaction, single player or multiplayer? Which is more fun to play? Most importantly, where is the video game industry heading? Will single player campaigns become secondary to their multiplayer? Have they already?

Is World at War Worth the Full Price?

Goozer Says: Call of Duty 2 was one of the very first games I played on the 360 and there was no turning back. Call of Duty 3 never made me question whether I should try Rainbow Six Vegas. Call of Duty 4 solidified my stance on the entire series: it is simply the best. And now Call of Duty: World at War is available.

I wanted this release to be a reason for celebration. However, after playing the beta for World at War, I came away feeling like I’ve been there and I’ve done that. This really isn’t anything new except for the maps. Sure, there are attack dogs, and I could see the mortars popping off in the distance; I’m not saying the game wasn’t updated, I’m just saying I feel like I’ve played it before. I’m not so red-hot on picking it up like I was before. But then again, I’m not red-hot on paying full-price for my video games these days.

It’s like someone said in the comments to an earlier post, video games drop faster in value than any other commodity out there. It’s not uncommon for a video game to drop 50% in value after just a few short months. So why pay $60 for a game now that will be worth $30 in a relatively short amount of time?

I’ve heard the arguments that buying games brand new supports the industry and blah and blah. But guess what? It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and my $60 is not going make or break the system. Besides, like another commenter has stated, people buy used homes and used cars all the time, and those industries aren’t exactly going under (whoops, bad examples considering the current state of the economy).

Regardless, despite my ego wanting to join the cool kids playing Gears of War 2 and World at War, I’m simply going to hold out. I really don’t see the need for it. Besides, I’m getting my copy of Madden 09 shipped to me now, and I still need to finish Rainbow Six Vegas. Yeah, I looked into the Tom Clancy titles after seeing CoD 4 helicopters in my nightmares.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, this is a Call of Duty discussion. If you’ve never played the series, it comes highly recommended. And if you start with Call of Duty 2, it’s dirt cheap (just like World at War will be in six months).

For an excellent review of Call of Duty: World at War, read Games Are Evil’s review.

TGR Knows What Xbox 360 Owners Are Buying in November

The poll results are in and it looks like Cliff Bleszinski and the hype-machine have Horde-stomped the competition. Gears of War 2 took in 77% of the vote, with Call of Duty: World at War finishing a distant second place with 26% of the vote.

James Bond came in a respectable third place with 15% of the vote.

EndWar barely registered with only 5% of the vote. Out of 53 voters, EndWar got three lousy, stinking votes. Tom Clancy is probably happy he's sold the publishing rights to his name. It might not be a happy Holidays for the Ubisoft crew. Oh well. Maybe this will give them time to finish up the next chapter in the Sam Fisher saga. TGR would like that.