Archive - 2012

Borderlands 2 Season Pass Announced for Add-Ons

2012/08/30

New York, NY – August 30, 2012 – 2K Games and Gearbox Software announced today that Borderlands^®2 will offer four brand new add-on content campaigns following the release of Borderlands 2 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC. These four add-on content campaigns will each feature several hours of gameplay and introduce new adventures, allies, enemies and environments. They will retail individually for $9.99 (PlayStation®Network) / 800 MS Points (Xbox LIVE^®online entertainment network) / $9.99 (PC). The Borderlands 2 Season Pass will grant access to all four of these add-on content campaigns as they become commercially available. The Borderlands 2 Season Pass will be available for purchase when Borderlands 2 is available on September 18, 2012.

The Borderlands 2 Season Pass includes $39.96 of add-on content and will be available for $29.99 (PlayStation®Network) / 2400 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE) / $29.99 (PC). Once purchased, the Borderlands 2 Season Pass enables gamers to download all of the announced add-on content campaigns for free as they become available on the PlayStation®Network, Xbox LIVE and PC. All four add-on content campaigns are scheduled to be available by June 2013.

Gamers who pre-order Borderlands 2 from participating retailers will gain access to the Borderlands 2 Premiere Club, allowing them to download the Gearbox Gun Pack, a Golden Key, the Vault Hunter’s Relic and an all-new fifth character class, the Mechromancer. The Gearbox Gun Pack is a collection of unique guns to help players begin their journey on Pandora. The Golden Key is used to unlock a rare in-game item in the mysterious Golden Loot Chest found in the town of Sanctuary. The Vault Hunter’s Relic is an in-game item that boosts players’ gear-hunting fortune while playing solo or teaming up with friends. The Mechromancer character class will be available following the launch of Borderlands 2 once development of the character is complete. For those who do not pre-order Borderlands 2, the Mechromancer will be available for purchase at a later date. The Mechromancer character class and other preorder items are not included in the Borderlands 2 Season Pass. To pre-order Borderlands 2 please visitwww.borderlands2.com/preorder.

Borderlands 2 will be available in North America on September 18, 2012, and internationally on September 21, 2012. Borderlands 2 is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information on Borderlands 2 please visit http://www.borderlands2.com.

* Xbox LIVE, PlayStation®Network or Steam account and Internet connection required. Copy of Borderlands 2 required for play.

2K Games is a division of 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

EA Sports Reveals New NHL Legends

2012/08/30

Jerry Paxton

News

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – August 29, 2012 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) announced today that for the first time ever in a professional league simulation sports video game, EA SPORTS NHL 13 has added female athletes as playable characters. Former Team USA superstar Angela Ruggiero will join former Team Canada great Hayley Wickenheiser, both four-time Olympic Ice Hockey medalists, as playable legends in NHL 13. NHL Hall of Famers Doug Gilmour, Jari Kurri, and NHL legend Dominik Hasek will also be added to the roster of legends which includes the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. The NHL 13 demo is available for download now via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Promising the biggest year on year innovation to the franchise on this console generation, NHL 13 will be available on September 11, 2012 in North America and September 14, 2012 in Europe.

The addition of women’s hockey legends as playable characters within the EA SPORTS NHL franchise is the continuation of a commitment that the development team made to create greater representation for women’s hockey beginning with NHL 12.

“With the release of NHL 12 we added generic female characters in our Be a Pro mode based on a request from a 14-yr old female fan who emailed our staff because she felt underrepresented as a hockey videogame fan,” said Dean Richards, General Manager, NHL, EA SPORTS. “This year we are very excited to continue our effort of creating a more representative experience for female hockey fans by adding two of the greatest female athletes to ever play the game in Wickenheiser and Ruggiero to NHL 13.”

“The EA SPORTS NHL franchise took a big step last year by including female characters to create a more inclusive experience for female hockey fans,” said Hayley Wickenheiser. “I’m excited to be a part of NHL 13 and hope that the addition of women’s hockey legends will encourage greater participation in hockey from young women everywhere.”

Legends Integration in NHL 13

Legends in NHL 13 will be integrated across several modes:

· Be A Legend – gamers will experience the glory of playing their entire Be A Pro career as a legend as they attempt to shatter the most impressive records in hockey, achieve legendary milestones and complete legends tasks.

· Legends teams – Play as the legends team, Team Ruggiero or Team Wickenheiser, which are comprised of legends and current NHL greats in head-to-head play – within Play Now, Online and Battle for the Cup modes. Players on Team Ruggiero and Team Wickenheiser were selected by each athlete, respectively.

· Hockey Ultimate Team & Be a GM – Gamers will have the ability to add legends to any team roster in Be a GM mode, or collect ultra-rare legends cards and use them within their Hockey Ultimate Team experience.

Headlined by all–new True Performance Skating, and supported by an innovative new A.I. system dubbed EA SPORTS Hockey I.Q., NHL 13 will deliver a revamped gameplay experience that accurately captures the speed, creativity and strategy of NHL hockey. In addition, NHL 13 will also deliver new experiences that connect hockey fans to their friends and the real world of hockey with the all-new GM Connected and NHL Moments Live modes.

PAYDAY: The Heist, Wolf Pack DLC Review (PC/Steam)

2012/08/30

Ripper71

News, Reviews

When I sat down and played OVERKILL’s PAYDAY: The Heist at E3 2011 I fell in love, as many players did. Here was a first person shooter that had missions designed after famous movie heists! Dane Cook once said in one of his standups that we all want to be in a heist, slightly wounded in the leg, limping down the street saying “Where’s the van?” and in the heart of most first person shooter gamers that is what they are dreaming as they watch Heat then start tearing it up in their favorite FPS. Some players who prefer a Sci-Fi approach scoffed at this game while others, like me, treasured the plastic Heist mask and waited for the game to come out. It was short, but it was oh so sweet. I kept playing the missions over, doing different things, almost always getting shot up a bit but working my way through location after location just trying to get away clean. Then having satiated my desire and thoroughly assaulted the game’s content I moved on to other games with heists still dancing through my head.

Then OVERKILL did something stunning, especially to a zombie nut like myself, they collaborated with Valve and gave us Mercy Hospital… for free.

Here is a quick synopsis:

The Mercy Hospital Heist is finally here! We have collaborated with Valve to bring our beloved PAYDAY fans a completely new heist, free of charge! Set in the Mercy Hospital – made famous by Left 4 Dead – everyone’s favorite robbers are out for blood. We also have some extra candy hidden in there for those who just can’t help ending up in the hospital. If the regular difficulty levels won’t do it for you, don’t forget that you can play the Mercy Hospital Heist in the new OVERKILL +145 difficulty. We promise you that this one will leave you gasping for air…

But wait, the infection seems to be spreading: not only do our beloved players get a new heist for free, they also get new zombie masks AND a new zombie theme! Oh, the horror! New related challenges and Steam achievements will be released in an upcoming patch.

NEW HEIST: The Mercy Hospital Heist is available to everyone who owns PAYDAY on the PC.

NEW MASKS: Players that have “Left 4 Dead” or “Left 4 Dead 2” in their Steam library and have it installed on their computers, are awarded the new zombie masks. Wolf and the gang can now disguise themselves as the walking dead.
NEW THEME: Players are now able to choose a new theme inspired by our favorite undead.

It was the perfect gift, if you had already invested in the game on Steam they rewarded your faith with free content and quality content at that. Now you got to experience a heist in the Left 4 Dead world! It was too much to ask for another free pack, OVERKILL needed to make some dough too and let’s face it, we didn’t just want more heists, we wanted more features. So along comes a clever way to bring on more content, one that will hopefully be done for the whole team and not just for one character whose name lent itself to poking fun at how every group of men now call themselves “The Wolf Pack.” We get a chance to follow the exploits of one of the team on other jobs: The Wolf.

Key Features:

PAYDAY The Heist Wolfpack lets players take on the role of hardened career criminals in constant pursuit of the next ‘big score’. Load out with an array of brand new weaponry including the new STRYK pistol, automatic AK rifle, or the GL40 grenade launcher which aims to please, as you execute two intense new heists and 48 new levels.

New Handgun: The STRYK Full Auto Pistol
New Primary Weapon: The AK Automatic Rifle
New Secondary Weapon: The GL40 Grenade Launcher
New Deployable Equipment: Sentry gun – based on internet blueprints
2 New Heists: Undercover (transfer money to your account from the IRS) and Counterfeit (secret operation in the Sunshine State)
New Skilltree: Become the Technician. Raise your level cap to 193
New Player Upgrade: The Tool Kit – so you can interact faster
Hosting Ability: Invite friends to play in the new DLC maps even if they do not own the DLC themselves
6 New Steam Achievements: Ready to be unlocked by the ones that got what it takes

Graphics And Sound (Atmosphere):

The graphics are excellent and the sound is hectic and crazy just like you would expect in such a situation. You have your intel guy in your ear giving you static burst updates on the police movements and when something goes SNAFU, while listening to your guys shout to each other and tons and tons of gunshots. It is all crisp and clean and the graphics are nice and neat pulling you right into the action. Listening to the sounds can be key to a quick reaction too, you can hear where the police are and when a drill gets unplugged.

Gameplay:

Game controls are standard keyboard FPS style with a few extra buttons thrown in for necessary additional actions. And the action is hot and heavy fast. The game lets you know at the beginning of the mission what percentage of players in the world have beat the mission on that particular difficulty level, which gives you a hint they made the missions nice and brutal for this addition. You might want to even start at the beginning and work your way up again, not just because it is fun but the tighter you get your skills wired the farther you will get into the mission. Plus you want to level so you can unlock as much as possible and have a hopefully better survival rate. The great thing about this game is you get addicted and want “one more try” on and on since each time you get the heist a little tighter wired and figure out a better plan of attack each try.

These missions fit right onto the game seamlessly so that it doesn’t feel like a sequel or DLC but rather just the next gig, though these new gigs also come with a whole bunch of fun new weapons that will have you working at it over and over just to get them unlocked. Let’s face it anytime you can set up a sentry gun in a game you dang well want to! I can’t remember an example of a game where I wasn’t excited to set up the turret and this is certainly no exception.

At the time of posting this review I haven’t beaten both the missions and I haven’t unlocked everything, if I waited until then you would have had to make the decision for yourself long ago or just planned to pick up a pack of DLCs because OVERKILL is making sure that they stay on top of releases so that right about the time you feel ready for some fresh maps and new weapons they arrive. I have played it enough to know if I should recommend it though.

Last Call:

Buy this. The Wolf Pack DLC is both affordable and fits seamlessly into the game so that you are simply expanding your experience, continuing your career. These maps are amped up tough and feel like a natural progression from the other map making me think that OVERKILL know what they are doing with this game and for every big heist in a movie we can eventually expect a map here to match it.

Trailer:

Gallery:

Smite – Beta Preview (PC)

2012/08/30

Ripper71

News, Previews

I really have to give it to Smite, it is a strangely addictive blend of different games. At first I wasn’t too sure about it, it is far more complicated than it looks on the surface and even if you aren’t someone who thrives on PvP it can be an extremely fun play.

So first off to give this game a description: it is a real time strategy tower defense game with minions and character PvP. You play a god on a team of gods, each of which has it’s own specialty, and you have to fight other gods, their towers, their minions and the first team to take the final tower (in this case in the shape of a minotaur) at the back of enemy lines wins. As you battle your god levels quickly improving your skills and weapons as you do and when you die you have a wait period to get back in during which you are getting no experience while everyone else is. You do this a couple times and you’ll find yourself levels behind everyone else with no real way to catch up.

Each god not only has a specialty but also fills a special role. There are five man teams in which players pick a tank god, melee god, hunter god, range magic god and some that are a mix. Only one person on each team can play a particular god at a time so that you don’t wind up with a whole team of hunters, etc. The maps have three paths across them with little trails in between so though you have a party filling all the different roles they are split up over three paths. To allow for movement between the paths you spawn minions on a timed bases and they attack anything enemy in front of them.

With all this set into place you attack towers, enemy minions and enemy players all while trying to work your way to the enemy minotaur and fall it. This can result in some very chaotic play as you run from path to path trying to defend towers, back other players, flank enemies, all with the plan to hit that final minotaur with enough of your team at the right time to fall it. Team work is essential, strategy if any is considered tends to win the battle and the better the player knows how to control their gods the better their chances of victory. This is all well and good then you have a player who is spending their whole time criticizing others instead of fighting, making homophobic and racist comments and running around wherever they feel like at the moment. It surprised me to run into this issue in beta, usually it is when the game opens up to the public that these issues arise, but players can send beta keys to friends now so the player base has dropped average IQ and players are far more concerned with winning than testing mechanics. This is one of the rare times I think the player base will improve when general population starts.

A very nice touch is that while you level if you go to your base either by heading back or by dying it upgrades your weapons and can be set to auto give you the best spells. This is really key because during the match you may get up to level 15 for example but when the match is over you are still level one or you get just enough points from the match to hit level 2. So there is your in game level and your actual level and they are completely independent of each other. This oddity also takes a bit of getting used to.

Last Call:

This is really more of a first call for the game, just a preview where everything still isn’t set in stone and by the time the general public get a hold of it it may have evolved further. It is a fun game right now, even if it seems to be a mash of different genres squished together and surprisingly working. This is a game to watch for.

Trailer:

NewerTech For The iPad (Products Review)

2012/08/30

Ripper71

News, Reviews

We recently reviewed a hard iPad case and stand from Newer Technology, or, NewerTech as they generally go by and how it helped one of our staff members who had an injury and was trying to work with the iPad one handed. Since then, we have had the opportunity to get our hands on a couple of items that serve not just function but fashion in the workplace.

NewerTech iFolio For The iPad:

This case features a high-end, designer look while having a practical design and price point. Easy to put the iPad in while also keeping it completely secure, this case has two spaces perfect for business cards (one slot for yours to hand out, the other to collect other people’s) plus a folder section that can hold quite a bit and still allow the case to close. During this review, I had a thick business envelope and a set of NuTouch gloves inside the case as well as a NuScribe Stylus in the pen holder and was able to easily close the case with room to spare. The case is hand-stitched leather from Brazil and feels as nice as it looks, maybe better. Though the case is reinforced for protection of the device it is also softly lined on the inside to keep the iPad from getting scraped.

The style, particularly with the strap, gives a very fashionable purse design to the look which is absolutely outstanding for any business woman trying to make an impression. The case will look good on a man too though he may want to got with a darker color. There are a lot of colors to choose from and examples of them are in the gallery at the bottom of the article, I went with red and with this certain design I might have wanted to go more with black. That being said I absolutely love the case and plan to put it into daily use.

NewerTech NuScribe:

This is an elegant solution to using your iPod or iPad when you have a hard time working on the smaller screens and keys. I have huge paws for hands with huge fingers. They are proportionate but just giant. So when I find myself texting and not relying on the well meaning but horribly grammatical Siri to say something it takes me twice as long as the average person. Worse yet try to make a correction in a text and getting my finger to hit the right line drives me way too crazy. Don’t even get me started on Draw Something, a terrific game that shows that most people are either great artists or absolutely hideous. I am not a good artist but I couldn’t even draw a stick figure without jacking it up because my fingers were so big. I couldn’t see my drawings on the screen under my fingers!

Deliver unto me my savior in art and texting, the NuScribe. It is a small fashionable pen modeled after some of the nicest expensive pens on the market. It looks like a normal pen and writes like one but if you turn it over it has a rounded rubber nub that is perfect for scribing. I can now draw better than stick figures, I could actually shade pictures! Too bad I was so horrible that even my closest friends gave up on playing Draw Something with me long ago (at least the Facebook posts mocking my abilities have finally died off). Simply put NuScribe makes a bad artist ok, a good artist great and cuts down on typos dramatically. I think everyone should get it who uses a touch screen of any sort. Also keeps you from smearing nacho cheese powder from your favorite snack treat across the screen.

NewerTech NuTouch Gloves:

It’s funny when you go to review an item, you get it in your head that you have to test it to the fullest, that you have to come up with a way to simulate conditions where the item would be ideal. Case in point would be the NuTouch Gloves that I was sent to review. I am located in Reno, NV where we have had measurable amounts of snow every month of the year except August and it even though it has snowed in August it didn’t stick. Quite often by this point in the year it is in the 80s, dipping much much lower in the evenings. So the fact that it happened to be unseasonably warm in the upper 90s when I unpacked the gloves had my mind running to fanciful tricks to try and test them out properly. I could put my hands in an ice chest full of ice until they were near freezing while someone stuck the iPad up to the AC for a while then I could try to enter stuff without the gloves and repeat the whole thing with the gloves going on. Worked like a beauty, as a matter of fact I realized after I did it that I was being an idiot.

The point of the NuTouch Glove isn’t so much to see if I can maintain touch sensitivity in the cold, it was to see if I maintained touch sensitivity in the gloves. I have plenty of winters been standing out in the cold, often below zero Fahrenheit, yanking my hands out of my gloves so I could do something on my phone then throw gloves back on or jam them in my pockets. Gloves suck for touch sensitive items. Well standard gloves do, these are a whole different game. Designed with special conductive fiber woven into the tips of the gloves you not only maintain touch sensitivity I think it actually improved it slightly. The gloves keep your hands warmer allowing for better circulation and heat increasing reliability. Long after I was done testing it I continued to wear the gloves because they were comfortable and my results were so solid. It was only after petting one of our cats that is shedding right now that I realized I had better take them off and put them away for now before they became a giant hairball.

Last Call:

Newer Technology may not be a hot name on your lips yet, but if you keep an eye out for useful technology and great accessory designs then they will be on your radar soon enough. It is a pleasure to try out their products because they are quality as well as excellent function. I can’t wait until the next thing they ask me to try out, in the meantime expect to see me traveling with all of the items I reviewed here.

Gallery:

Tritton 720+ 7.1 Surround Sound Headset Announced

2012/08/29

Jerry Paxton

News

San Diego – August 29, 2012 – Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (“Mad Catz”) (NYSE MKT: MCZ) announced today the TRITTON 720⁺ 7.1 Surround Headset, the upgrade to the Company’s TRITTON AX 720 Headset. Compatible with both the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system from Sony^®, the TRITTON 720⁺ 7.1 Surround Headset is expected to ship in September 2012.

The 720⁺ features a number of key enhancements designed to offer superior performance and sustained comfort. All new Neodymium drivers have increased in size from 40mm to 50mm resulting in improved bass response and audio clarity. Featuring the latest Dolby Headphone technology, the720⁺ delivers rich 7.1 Surround Sound, ideal for pinpointing in-game enemy movements or for enjoying movie blockbusters. In addition, the 720⁺features Selectable Voice Monitoring (SVM), allowing users to choose to hear their own voice through the headset. Sporting a lightweight and flexible design, the 720⁺ has been designed for extended playing sessions and comes replete in an eye-catching gloss white finish.

“Following our recent announcement of the Pro⁺, we are pleased to continue upgrading our range of TRITTON headsets with the announcement of the720⁺. We expect the 720⁺ to be a key product in our range as we continue to grow our portfolio and market share within the headset sector.” said Darren Richardson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. “We believe the enhanced features and upgraded design of the 720⁺ further demonstrate our commitment to offering market leading product which appeal to the passionate gamer.”

Additional information and purchase options are available at: www.trittonaudio.com/720plus

Archos Announces GamePad Tablet

2012/08/29

Jerry Paxton

News

Denver, CO – August 29, 2012 – ARCHOS, an award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, is proud to announce their first gaming tablet. This new type of tablet, the GamePad, combines gaming controls with Android^TM for a full tablet and gaming experience in one. Gamers will not only have access to all their favorite games, they will also have access to email, Internet, apps and more through one device.

The GamePad features a 7-inch, capacitive screen, physical control buttons and analog sticks. This Google certified tablet has full access to Google Play^TM for the tens of thousands of games available, runs a dual-core processor @ 1.5 GHz combined with a Mali 400mp quad-core GPU. In addition, the GamePad includes automatic game recognition and mapping tools – patented technology to ensure control compatibility with every advanced Android game.

Until now, tablets provided gamers with touch controls that lacked response and compatibility for their advanced games, providing a disappointing gaming experience. As one of the main tablet uses, there is a strong need for a tablet that does more for gaming. Thanks to the complete touch and physical controls of the ARCHOS GamePad, Gamers can enhance their experience starting at the end of October 2012 for less than 150€.

“When Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, was first released they included game controller support within the framework and that is when we decided to build the GamePad,” says Henri Crohas, ARCHOS Founder and CEO.

Some leading game developers have already embraced the physical controller support that was introduced with ICS rendering their apps compatible with the physical controls of the GamePad or with game controllers plugged into tablets or phones.

However many games originally did not include physical control mapping, which is why ARCHOS developed their mapping and game recognition tool; a patented technology that allows any virtual controls to be mapped the GamePad’s physical control buttons.

“Thanks to the mapping and automatic game recognition systems included on the GamePad, we already have over a thousand android games compatible with the ARCHOS GamePad’s physical controls, including back catalog titles that originally didn’t include physical controls,” continued Crohas.

ATTENTION DEVELOPERS
Over the past six months, ARCHOS has been discussing the GamePad with leading Android game developers around the world to make their games compatible with the GamePad’s physical controls and now we invite others to participate.

Developers interested in getting their current and upcoming games mapped for the ARCHOS GamePad can contact GamePad@archos.com.

March of the Eagles Announced with Trailer

2012/08/29

Jerry Paxton

News

New York – August 29, 2012 – Raise the regimental banner and beat the drums of war, because the Emperor is calling you back into service with the help of Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio. Announcing “March of the Eagles”, a strategy wargame covering the ten years of the Napoleonic Wars, when a Corsican boy used maddeningly clever new tactics to bring all of Europe to its knees.

Players will take control of any one nation of Europe in this geopolitical barfight, dispatch armies and envoys, raid supply lines, form coalitions and get with the times, already. Because one thing’s for sure: Napoleon’s Grande Armeé is coming, and he’s not interested in second place though he might have to settle for it, if he’s just one guy in a 32 person multiplayer battle with set victory conditions.

Sign up for a chance to be part of the closed beta for March of the Eagles:
http://beta.paradoxplaza.com/signup/39/

Deadline to apply for the beta is September 6th.

Trailer

New Chaos on Deponia Screenshots Released

2012/08/29

Jerry Paxton

News

Hamburg, August 24th 2012. Daedalic Entertainment releases new screenshots of the upcoming adventure game Chaos on Deponia. Players can celebrate the reunion of Rufus and Goal in the sequel of the worldwide beloved game Deponia. Compared to the predecessor, Chaos on Deponia improves in every possible way and players can expect even more depth and fun.

The award winning hit Deponia has been critically acclaimed by the gaming press and became the best reviewed adventure of all times in Germany within the shortest time. Rufus, the main character, is as lovely as his home Deponia. He, the odd and cantankerous guy, lives in the most remote part of the worldwide junkyard and works on his plans to escape to the hovering city of Elysium. After uncountable failed attempts he succeeds – nearly, at least. As a result, he falls from the sky and lands back in his hometown together with the mysterious girl, Goal.

For Rufus, she mainly is a good reason to escape once again, and so he begins to plan her way back. Obviously, Rufus’ bad luck seems to be infectious and, in the sequel Chaos on Deponia, both end at the point where all began. Before they can start another attempt to escape, Goal’s consciousness needs to be restored. Besides that, they have to save Deponia from threatening chaos.

Chaos on Deponia will be available on November 6th, 2012 on Steam for PC and Mac.

http://www.deponia.com
http://www.facebook.com/daedalic http://www.twitter.com/daedalic

Gallery

Modern Warfare 3 DLC Collection 3 Review (XBLA)

2012/08/29

Judgeman

News, Reviews

Infinity Ward has released the third downloadable collection pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This pack includes 4 Special Ops maps, 3 Face Off maps, and the brand new Chaos Mode for players to check out. For fans of the Modern Warfare franchise, most of you will already have gotten this map pack. For anyone else, this pack truly shines for those that love to do the Special Ops maps and like the tighter, smaller fights that can be found in the face off maps. If you are looking for any larger maps for team deathmatch, then unfortunately, this pack isn’t for you.

Special Ops:

For this pack, its the Special Ops mode that truly comes out the winner with new content. With four new maps, Special Ops has the most content then any other mode in the Chaos Pack. The pack includes Arctic Recon, Light ‘Em Up, Vertigo, and Special Delivery. Vertigo is the weakest of the four maps because it essentially is a survival map. You are on top of the hotel in Dubai found at the end of the game, surviving wave after wave of enemies while taking down helicopters with the launchers that are available to you. In Arctic Strike, you have been tasked with disabling a Russian ship via charges that you will plant at strategic points. Special Delivery involves the player trying to save a fallen comrade that is being held in a secure position, while the other player provides cover from the air in an Osprey. The last one, Light ‘Em Up, is my favorite of the four. You are infiltrating Makarov’s castle hide out, and must secure intel before proceeding, while the other player lights targets up from the helicopter that is flying high above. The use of light in this map made it for me.

Overall, this is a fairly mediocre map pack, with one great map, one weak map, and two mediocre ones. Light ‘Em Up shines through for me as the star of these Special Ops maps, while Vertigo is the weakest due to the lack of objectives for the map. If you like the Special Ops maps, then this will be good for you, but if you are more focused on the multiplayer maps, then check out the next section.

Multiplayer Maps:

With the Chaos Pack, there are three new multiplayer maps available, and all of them are Face Off maps. We get Vortex, U-turn, and Intersection. Vortex is the clear winner for me in this pack, because I loved the ambient environment. Vortex is set on a farm during a tornado, which can be seen heading towards the area. The actual map, like all Face Off maps, is small and straight forward, with a few buildings and a field of crops for cover. Intersection is a solid urban map with many stores and nooks to hide in. Intersection is, like the names references, an intersection in New York City. This is the map for some close combat style game play, while running between buildings and trying to stay out of the streets. Lastly is U-Turn, the weakest of the three. U-turn is a strip of highway in Iraq that is littered with various vehicles that have been destroyed. It is very linear in its game play with very little in the way of strategy for the players.

Face Off maps have been touch and go for me since the beginning. I like the smaller feel of them, but I never play in smaller games with my friends. When I play online, it’s always in the larger six versus six team games, which are horrible for such small maps. If you and your friends are looking for some tight three versus three action, then these maps will work, but if you are looking for the large scale maps then I would completely skip this pack.

Chaos Mode:

Chaos Mode is a new arcade style mode that pits you and your company of friends against wave after wave of enemies. Chaos Mode only offers Resistance, Village, Underground and Dome as maps that can be used, so your choices of environments are limited. You will earn special perks for chaining kills together and can pick up new weapons by watching for weapon spawns on the map as you progress through. Each kill will need to be confirmed by picking up the dog tags and each player will have multiple lives which helps to extend the game play of the Chaos Mode.

Firefight, Horde Mode, Chaos Mode. Whatever a developer calls it, this mode is essentially the same type of survival mode that you have played in other games before, but with the Modern Warfare 3 spin on it. Chaos Mode is strong and works well, if you are desiring such a mode. Truly, for me, I could have lived without this mode and would love nothing more then having a couple of extra larger scale maps for multiplayer to replace it.

Final Thoughts:

The Chaos Pack for Modern Warfare 3 is going to be the first pack, I believe, that players will truly ask themselves “Do I really want this pack?”. With four Special Ops maps and the new Chaos Mode, the Chaos Pack is heavy in the single player or smaller group game play. The three Face Off maps do nothing to persuade me otherwise, since these maps are made for no more then six people at a time. If you like the smaller maps and felt that you needed more Special Ops in your life, then the Chaos Pack was specifically made for you in mind. If you are like me, and want some more maps for the larger scale mulitplayer games, then unfortunately the Chaos Pack has nothing to offer you. The Chaos Pack is available now for download and runs $14.99 through Xbox Live.

Trailer: