Much was said about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s “Modern Warfare Zombies” before release. Perhaps too much. Many wrote it off and assumed it would repeat the mistakes of the half-baked Zombies mode found in Call of Duty: Vanguard. The reveal confirmed that the mode wouldn’t be round-based, further splintering opinion. I was more optimistic. As a fan of Treyarch’s first attempt at open-world Zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Outbreak, I truly believe there’s potential for another type of Zombies mode that can complement round-based maps by keeping players invested in the undead during …
BO3 is EIGHT // Modern Warfare Zombies
Black Ops III is eight years old. Time does fly. While there’s certainly a lot of revisionist history surrounding it – omissions of major frustrations at launch, rough DLC launches with game-breaking bugs, and the Revelations ending and “super EE” debacle, to name a few – the game was undoubtedly the golden age of Call of Duty Zombies. It combined a standard of cinematic flair previously unseen in Zombies with gameplay improvements and new systems like Gobblegum that increased replayability and rewarded players. There was a great mix of maps in both setting and gameplay, with some unforgettable Easter Egg …
This Week at Bungie: Fire, Everywhere
It’s been a red-letter week for Bungie, the studio behind Destiny 2, with almost 10% of its staff made redundant, reports of the live service game missing financial and player retention targets by large numbers – 45% below projected revenue – and the all-but-confirmed delay to the next Destiny expansion, ‘The Final Shape’. Players have been unhappy with the direction the game has been heading since the release of Lightfall in February, and the fears for the future are only growing following the reports (that are still) coming out of Bungie. As someone who was a very late adopter of …
Every Wake-ing Moment in the Dark
I first laid hands on the original Alan Wake on my fourteenth birthday. After watching a few trailers that piqued my interest, I requested it on a whim. I didn’t like horror at the time, but something about the game spoke to me. I reckoned I could handle it. Apart from a few Barbara Jagger-related nightmares, I think I did okay. From then on, Alan Wake was always on my mind, whether it be a rumour about a sequel popping up, a YouTube theory video, or the urge to revisit it. A replay of the game during the Coronavirus Pandemic …
We’re All Drowning in Video Games. It’s a Nice Feeling.
It’s been an overwhelming year for video games — and it’s not finished yet! October and November are rammed with games from across the genres releasing on an almost daily basis. We’ve even had some titles delayed until next year to escape the madness, like the Alone in the Dark remake starring Jodie Comer and David Harbour, and some delayed indefinitely, such as Ubisoft’s FPS XDefiant, which risked being dwarfed by Call of Duty Modern Warfare III’s potential return to form. Alongside a bunch of new releases, there are also some redemption arcs taking place. Add in some backlog and …
The Dark Aether Storms Towards Call of Duty NEXT
When Black Ops 4 Zombies concluded with Tag Der Toten, many questions arose about the future of the cult-followed mode. What has followed has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride, as Zombies tries to find its footing in the “Modern” Call of Duty landscape. One thing is for sure, though. The undead mode just will not die! The first game in the new era of Zombies, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, overhauled many systems and mechanics to give Zombies a “familiar but fresh” feel. All updates for the game were free, and Treyarch released the largest amount …
Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways – Review – Capcom Won(g) Again
When the news first broke of a Resident Evil 4 remake, there were many concerns that Capcom was taking on a task bigger than it was capable of delivering. The Japanese studio had been on a roll since 2017’s Resident Evil 7, and the remake of Resident Evil 2 was loved by many. However, tackling Resident Evil 4 would be a different beast entirely. The 2005 third-person shooter is one of the most influential video games of all time, with its over-the-shoulder camera and shooting mechanics inspiring an entire generation of games. If you’ve played a game with a third-person …
MW3 Zombies: The Next Chapter of Dark Aether Starts with a Huge Revelation
When Modern Warfare 3 was revealed to have a Zombies mode that followed the ongoing story of Zombies, we were unsure of how Treyarch was going to approach establishing a third time period in the fast-growing narrative of the Dark Aether saga. We finally received our first look this week with the Modern Warfare 3 Zombies cinematic reveal trailer, following several teasers that showed clear links to the original chapter of Dark Aether from Black Ops Cold War. There’s a lot to cover so let’s get into it. Dark Aether was established following the ending of the original Aether saga …
Mortal Kombat 1 Review: Only a Few Frames Away from a Flawless Victory
As Mortal Kombat celebrates its 30th anniversary, you’d be forgiven for thinking the series might potentially start coasting along as a legacy title. Not many game series make it past 15 years, let alone 30 of them. Fortunately, this was never on NetherRealm Studios’ agenda, as the developer returns with the 12th mainline game in the franchise, Mortal Kombat 1, which includes a host of new systems and features that suggest the best is yet to come for the Mortal Kombat franchise. This isn’t a fighter past its prime; it’s a fighter in its prime. As the title suggests, Mortal …
Changing Stance: The Case for a Mortal Kombat ‘Kreator Mode’
I’ve loved the excessive gore of Mortal Kombat ever since discovering the franchise in my mid-teens. Every new instalment arrives with a bunch of fresh fatalities and brutalities, ready to make me laugh and cringe in equal measure at the mess of blood and guts left on the screen. I, along with many players, get a big kick out of all the different over-the-top ways to batter and finish your opponent. It’s a massive reason for the popularity of the series, with it infamously being responsible for the moral panic that resulted in the creation of the American ratings board, …