If I was betting man, I would bet that when the men and women at Treyarch sat down and tried to imagine what they could do to honestly make World at War even better than COD4, they probably came up mostly empty handed.  So instead, it appears they set out not to top COD4, but to just try and keep up.  On the surface that looks like quite a task when you consider that COD4 was (and is still) one of the deepest on-line shooters to ever hit the market, and was also the victor of many game of the year awards.  It kept literally hundreds of thousands of people coming back day after day, night after night, for well over a year.  Very few titles out there can boast the kind of on-line numbers that COD4 can.  Well, I’m happy to report that World at War at least stays on par with it’s predecessor, and maybe even surpasses it in some areas.

One of the things that made the fourth installment of the franchise so popular was the setting.  Finally, a well made war game that took us out of the 1940′s and away from WWII, and in to modern times for some current day action.  Treyarch made a very bold decision when they decided to take their title back to that familiar setting that so many games had covered before.  A move that didn’t necessarily spark excitement from the community, but a move Treyarch was adamant about, none-the-less.  This time you find yourself right in the middle of both the Russian push in to Germany, and the Pacific assault against the Japanese.  The campaign premise of WaW should actually be very well known by fans of the series, as it follows the same design as the others before it.  You actually control two different soldiers and two different sides of the battle, that usually twist back and forth every couple of missions or so, at just the right pace.  As you start to push your way through the campaign, several things are immediately noticeable, like the gorgeous visuals.  From the nice looking textures and awesome lighting effects, to the authentic look of the guns and troops, it’s a real pleasure to look it.  Granted, these graphics aren’t much we haven’t seen before, but they still look top notch.  Keep digging and you’ll find it’s also a real pleasure to play.  The controls are tight and crisp, and while the AI is not super intelligent, they’re just smart enough to keep you entertained all the way through the fairly lengthy single player campaign.

Don’t feel like fighting the enemy alone?  Grab up to 3 friends and go at it together, either just trying to complete the missions, or competing against each other for kills.  While a big chunk of the story and a few of the missions from the single player experience don’t survive to see the co-op side of things, it’s a still fun way to enjoy the game with your buddies, all the while adding more replay value to the campaign.

When you decide you’ve had enough of Keifer Sutherland’s voice, you’ll probably find out that multiplayer is the place to be anyway.  Using a ranking system that’s identical in nature to the COD4 system, you’ll gain XP points for obtaining kills or achieving objectives.  While the XP/challenge system is just a touch different this time around, it’s still fantastic in all the right ways.  Some of the perks have been changed, but you probably won’t miss the ones they took out, and the 3-5-7 kill reward system remains in place, but has a touch more flare this time.  For getting 3 or 5 consecutive kills, the prize remains pretty much the same(Recon plane, then artillery strike), but if you can get to the 7 kill mark without being taken down, that’s where the real fun begins.  The hovering helicopter has been done away with, and it’s been replaced with a pack of fierce dogs.  Get those 7 kills in a row, and you can unleash a countless number of dogs upon your enemies, for up to 60 seconds.  While being on the defending side of this attack can be quite the annoyance, when it’s you that gets to unleash it, it becomes oh-so-much fun.  If you sink in all the time it takes to reach the highest on-line level of 65, you’ll discover that the prestige mode has also made the trip.  You can go through the ranking system as many as 10 times, before all the rewards finally come to a halt.

When trying to think of what complaints I could possibly have for this title, I always seem to find myself drawing a blank.  I mean, there’s no glaring holes or anything really wrong with this game.  The only valid points I can think to point out come from the lack of new content.  Granted, this is a new game with a whole new story and campaign, but outside of some minor changes and new multiplayer maps, it’s still just more of what we’ve already seen and done.

While trying to top COD4 would’ve been pretty hard, failing at making something just as good would’ve been hard as well, when you take in to consideration that Treyarch basically took the same engine, same multiplayer system, and same campaign design to bring us this game.  Not to take anything away from WaW, but it really does feel like COD4 with a new setting and a touch of polish here and there.  With that being said, the game still looks and handles so well, the touch of polish and new setting make it worth every penny.  For fans of the shooting genre, it’s highly recommended, but for fans of COD4, it’s simply a must have.

Release: November 10, 2008
Genre: First Person Shooter
Developer: Treyarch
Available Platforms: X-Box 360, Playstation 3, PC, Wii, DS
Players: 1-4(co-op), 2-18(Multiplayer)
MSRP: $59.95
ESRB Rating: Mature
Website: www.callofduty.com/CODWW

Below is a statement released by Microsoft regarding their console and it’s success:

“We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism, knowing that dollar for dollar, Xbox 360 offers more social entertainment value than any other console on the market,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Record Black Friday sales in the U.S., coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox LIVE members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009.”

It’s not as though this is a surprise to anyone.  Microsoft has arguably the best lineup of games out there, and unarguably has more consoles and active on-line users than it’s main competitor mentioned.  With the 360 continually getting cheaper, and no price cuts in sight for the PS3, it looks like another big year for the box in 2009, especially if the economy stays in it’s current condition.

The Christmas season is upon us, and as we look ahead to December you may notice a fairly major drop off in the number of games coming out this month, and if you look even closer you’ll notice a major drop in the caliber of games that are launching.  Make no mistake about it, December has some big shoes to fill, as it tries to follow maybe the biggest 3 consecutive months in console gaming history.  While you’re not going to find any Gears of War, Little Big Planet, or Call of Duty class games, if you look closely you may see a few bright spots.  Below is a full list of games coming out for each platform.

Playstation 3

12/02 – Prince of Persia

12/02 – SingStar ABBA

12/09 – Sonic Unleashed

12/16 – Rise of the Argonauts

X-Box 360

12/01 – Destroy All Humans 3: Path of Furon

12/02 – Prince of Persia

12/16 – Rise of the Argonauts

Nintendo Wii

12/02 – Mushroom Men: Spore Wars

12/02 – Nancy Drew: The White Wolf

12/02 – King of Fighters: Orochi Saga

12/02 – My Fitness Coach

12/09 – Neopets Puzzle Adventure

12/09 – Rygar: The Battle of Argus

12/09 – Imagine: Fashion Party

12/16 – Word Jong Party

12/16 – Summer Sports 2

12/22 – Rock Band 2

12/30 – Rock Band 2 Special Edition Bundle

Playstation 2

12/01 – Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

12/02 – SingStar ABBA

12/09 – Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

12/22 – Rock Band 2

PC

12/02 – A Vampyre Story

12/02 – Grand Theft Auto IV

12/09 – Prince of Persia

12/16 – Rise of the Argonauts

Nintendo DS

12/02 – Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi

12/02 – Prince of Persia

12/16 – Dreamer: Puppy Trainer(Gamestop Exclusive Title)

12/16 – Dreamer: Horse Trainer(Gamestop Exclusive Title)

While the Nintendo Wii takes home the prize for the most games coming out, the overall quality of those games seems to be, as usual, a question mark.  In case you’re wondering why the PSP is not on this list, it isn’t because I couldn’t find a list of games coming out… it’s because I did, and the list was empty.

Top Picks For December

The new Prince of Persia title that’s coming soon has been hyped quite a bit, and definitely deserves to be on your list, especially if you’re a fan of the series.  The early reviews I’ve seen for this game are quite good, and it’s coming to just about every console in some form or another.

Grand Theft Auto IV is finally making it’s appearance on the PC this month, and if you’re a PC gamer, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.  In my mind, this is still one of the top 3 titles to launch for the console market this year, and while it may sound like old news to anyone who has already played it on a console, if a PC is your only gaming option, it’s a must have.

Rock Band 2 is also making a late appearance for a couple of systems this month, as it finally launches for the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 2.  While it’s a lot like the first one, the new tracks look good, and if you already own the instruments it’s a no brainer, especially with a price tag that’s a tad less than the ones on the bigger consoles.

So this has nothing to do with gaming, but I feel compelled to also mention that The Dark Knight will be shipping out on DVD and Blu-ray, December 9th.  If you’re even a remote fan of Batman, superheros, Heath Ledger or just movies in general, you simply must give this one a look.  One of the greatest movies I’ve seen in a long time, and an almost unbelievably good final performance by the late Heath Ledger.

So there you have it.  No it’s not great, but if you pick your way through the soon-to-be bargain bin titles, there’s a few good ones in there.

In the last few months we’ve seen gaming companies pretty much across the board report record losses.  We’ve seen mass layoffs from several companies, we’ve seen the stocks tumble to record low numbers and we’ve even seen some studios close down entire branches.  Late last week we even saw the New York Stock Exchange threaten to de-list Midway Studios’ stock, due to such a horrible performance from them over the last several months.  So when you read that the French-based studio, Ubisoft, is making money in this tough time, you can’t help but have a hard time not raising an eyebrow.  Earlier this week, the company released their first half fiscal results, and they saw an increase in profits of almost double over the same time frame from last year.

Ubisoft has brought us some fantastic titles in the past, including the Splinter Cell series, the Rainbow Six: Vegas series and their newest title, Endwar.

Even during all this financial mayhem, it all appears to be business as usual for Ubisoft, as they not only have not had any layoffs or job cuts to speak of, but they even recently bought a new developer to add to their collection, Massive Studios.

Personally, I think that part of their success has to do with the support they give their titles.  Not just during development, but even after their games have launched.  If you look back at both Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfare titles, tons of DLC was released, giving the games more longevity, and no doubt helping the sales figures. We saw similar things with their Rainbow Six: Vegas series, and word has it DLC is already on the way for both Endwar, and their soon to be released title, Prince of Persia.

To put the cherry on top, Ubisoft also reported in a press conference recently that the highly desired Assassins Creed sequel is on the way, though they would not give a time frame for the release.

In the current state of our nation, it should be considered a great achievement for any company out there that’s not making an indispensable product, to be able to say they’re making money on their merchandise, but for a video game studio?  It should be considered monumental.

“Our December Episode celebrates the season that we like to call ‘Interactivus’ in a big way. How big? Well, so big that, like the mysteries of the holiday itself, the details will have to remain a secret for now. But, we know you are all curious, so we will give you one small hint – the best things in life are free!”

So there are several guesses at what this could be, but the one sticks out above all others has to be Playstation Home.  Maybe now everyone finally gets in and will have a chance to see what it’s all about?  Funny that they say “the best things in life are free” but yet you’re probably going to have to buy this episode of Qore to access it… and that’s assuming they don’t pull another fast one, and at the last minute say, “yearly subscribers only” for exclusive content.

Unfortunately I can’t find any other info about the possibilities, so it looks like we’re just going to have to wait it out.  Don’t let us down Sony.

So put yourself in Microsoft’s shoes. How do you make an already great video game system better? How do you take what is already the hands down best on-line service for video game consoles, and improve on it? Simple. You offer to try and fix the few complaints people had about the current dashboard and main menu layout . You offer a complete overhaul of the dashboard appearance and design. You offer around 13,000 movie titles that you can stream instantly at a very low cost. You offer the ability to have faster load times on just about every game. But most importantly, you offer to do all of those things, while keeping the already popular features and consistency of X-Box Live the same. Mission accomplished.

You really have to hand it to Microsoft, because they’ve done something great here. I mean, the complaints about X-Box Live and the layout of the previous dashboard were minimal. You could find them if you looked, but you really had to search hard to find anyone that was horribly unsatisfied with how it all used to look and run. Granted, I’ll be the first to admit that the old dashboard looked like something straight out of 1995, and some of the Marketplace search options were not the greatest, but at the very least, it was perfectly functional, and there was nothing really wrong with it. Despite that, Microsoft took the good thing we had, and made it great. They started with a complete re-design of the dashboard we all knew. After getting past the brief learning curve, I found that everything was easier to find, and the menus were a breeze to navigate. The addition of the new 3D “window” viewing system that replaced the old 2D “list” system makes it easier to see what’s ahead of you when looking through almost any menu, and some of the options that have been moved to new menu categories have made finding just about anything effortless. A few new subtle changes to how you look for things in the Marketplace have also helped, and overall make the experience of finding something specific a lot easier. Putting more options of things to change on the fly under the in-game dashboard window(which now pops up in the center of your screen instead of off to the side) gives you better access to your preferences while playing a game. Also, the addition of the party system is great, and now you’re not limited to two people chatting per line. You can load a room full of your friends, all talking on the same channel, and all doing different things at the same time.

One of the small complaints about the new setup is the learning curve. After all, we had all been used to the old look for almost 3 years, so like any drastic change, it takes time. Some options have found their way to new categories, and figuring out where everything is and becoming comfortable with it, can take a day or two. What by far is the most spoken complaints are the avatars. Some people think they look too juvenile, some think they’re a rip-off of the Nintendo’s Wii’s “Mii” avatars, and others just plain and simple don’t think they have a place on the 360 dashboard. Well, like them or not, they’re probably not going anywhere. The 360 is the cheapest console on the market now, and the number of under-18 gamers is likely to grow even higher that it already is this holiday season. It’s pretty obvious that’s the crowd that Microsoft was aiming for with the addition of the avatar system, and my guess is it’s sticking around for the long haul. No worries though, as you’re not really forced to use them. You can easily back out of the avatar design system it throws you in after installing the update, and rather than going to the “My X-Box” or “friends” section of the main menu where all the avatars live, you can simply press the guide button and escape the cartoon mayhem, all the while keeping your options intact.

Aside from making everything look and feel better with the dashboard and menu layouts, Microsoft also fixed one of the biggest gripes about the hardware itself… it’s too loud! When you put a disc in the tray and it loads, you begin to think that it’s very possible your system may start flying around the room. The fans kick up and the console starts to become obnoxiously noisy. You get used to it, but now we have another option besides just dealing with it. Assuming you have a hard drive, you can now install games on to it, making for a much quieter gaming experience. It takes about 10 minutes per title, and the size of the files it installs range from 4-9 Gigs. Even after you install the game, the original disc still has to be in the tray for piracy reasons, but after the console has verified the copyright code on the disc, the disc drive shuts off, successfully eliminating all the noise we’ve had to listen to for the last 3 years. Besides making it quieter, you’ll also notice that load times have gotten better for almost every game after it’s been installed, giving you even more incentive to let the hard drive do the work.

Now to the best part. Streaming those awesome movies from Netflix. In order to access the feature, you must have a Gold X-Box Live account, and any one of the unlimited Netflix accounts (which start at only $8.99). From there you dive right in to all the streaming goodness. On-line, Netflix.com now has the option to search for only “play instantly” movies, which can be streamed. From there, you line up those movies in to your queue, head over the 360, and there they are. Any movie in your queue that can be streamed is now available and ready to go, and along with them is access to the movie summary, and the ability to rate them after you’re done watching. A good internet connection will be able to start the streaming within a matter of seconds, and while even the best video quality isn’t fantastic, it’s still good, and well worth every penny you pay for the service.

The bottom line is Microsoft didn’t pull any punches. Sure, you’re going to run across people that don’t like it, and you’re going to find people that don’t like having to search for everything while using the layout for the first time, but in my mind Microsoft set out to do something great here, and they’ve done it. The plethora of new goodies, and the easier to sift menu arrangements are just the tip of the iceberg. Take what they had and make it better, without sacrificing anything along the way? Done, and done.