All Articles: Call of Duty: Black Ops

Official Call of Duty Elite FAQ confirms free multiplayer

Posted on June 3, 2011 by John Scalzo

With all the rumors flying around about what will and what won’t be included with Activision’s new Call of Duty Elite subscription service, the publisher took matters into their own hands and released an official FAQ detailing the service so far.

There’s plenty of talk about the statistical analysis options and the Groups feature, but no mention of the monthly cost or the more “advanced features” of the premium membership. Though as mentioned previously, all map packs will be included as part of the premium package.

Thankfully, Activision drew a line in the sand and confirmed that online multiplayer will remain free in a post-Call of Duty Elite world. The service also will not allow players to buy their way to better weapons or perks. So it sounds like the “not required” nature of the Elite service will be true.

But just what does Elite entail? Find out by reading the entire FAQ after the break. (more…)

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CoD Black Ops Escalation map pack coming to PS3 on June 10; available on PC today

Posted on June 3, 2011 by John Scalzo

PC owners who want to escalate their Call of Duty: Black Ops experience will be pleased to know that Activision has released the second Black Ops map pack, Escalation, today. The pack will be priced at $15 and includes four maps: “Zoo,” “Convoy,” “Hotel” and “Stockpile.”

I’ve used this paragraph before, but here goes again… Also available in the Escalation pack is the awesome “Call of the Dead” (check out the trailer above), an expanded Zombies map that stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Danny “Machete” Trejo, Robert Englund and the Godfather of all Zombies himself, George Romero.

PS3 owners won’t have much longer as Activision also announced that the Escalation map pack would be added to the newly reopened PlayStation Store on June 10. It’ll be paired with a Double XP Weekend that starts on the 10th and ends on Sunday, June 12.

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CoD Black Ops Escalation map pack PC release set for June 3; “coming soon” to PS3

Posted on May 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

Activision has confirmed that the second Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack, Escalation, will be made available to PC gamers on June 3, exactly a month after it was added to the Xbox Live Marketplace. Priced at $15, the pack includes four maps: “Zoo,” “Convoy,” “Hotel” and “Stockpile.”

Also available in the Escalation pack is the awesome “Call of the Dead” (check out the trailer above), an expanded Zombies map that stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Danny “Machete” Trejo, Robert Englund and the Godfather of all Zombies himself, George Romero.

PS3 owners who are itching to get their hands on the map pack won’t have much longer to wait as Activision promies that it’s “coming soon” to the PlayStation Store.

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Mortal Kombat decapitates the competition in April NPD report

Posted on May 13, 2011 by John Scalzo

It’s no secret that the video game community has responded to NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat reboot with a resounding “I love it.” But like Shao Kahn taunting a clearly inferior kombatant, the game also emerged on top of The NPD Group’s April 2011 sales report. And according to a tweet from Kombat creator Ed Boon, the game sold over 1,000,000 copies during the month. Flawless victory indeed.

April 19’s other big release, Portal 2, teleported its way to the top of the list with a strong #2 showing. Of course, it’s important to point out that a good portion of Portal 2’s sales were digital downloads through Steam, which isn’t counted by the NPD.

But the biggest surprise from last month’s top ten might be the absence of Sony’s SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs. The online shooter was also released on April 19th, one day before hackers took down the PSN. The service has yet to return and its offline status definitely contributed to SOCOM 4’s lackluster sales.

Hit the jump for the complete top ten of April’s bestselling games. (more…)

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COD Black Ops goes grindhouse: Buffy, Freddy, Machete battle zombies

Posted on April 26, 2011 by John Scalzo

Treyarch promised “something special” for the new “Call of the Dead” mode included in the Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation Map Pack and they definitely made good on their promise.

Taking a page from Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse, the developer has enlisted a quartet of the biggest names from zombie films and television. Sarah Michelle Gellar (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Danny Trejo (Machete), Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Michael Rooker (“The Walking Dead”) have all performed voicework and supplied the use of their likenesses for the DLC pack. While they’re not officially playing Buffy, Machete, Freddy Krueger and Merle Dixon, they’ve definitely dressed the part.

The best part is who Treyarch got to play the leader of the Siberian zombies that the team encounters: George “The Godfather of the Zombie Movie” Romero! That’s just too awesome!

The Escalation Map Pack will be available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace on May 3 with PC and PSN versions following soon after.

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Check out CoD: Black Ops Escalation Map Pack trailer

Posted on April 19, 2011 by John Scalzo

Treyarch has unveiled the first trailer for the second Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack, Escalation. The developers discuss what gamers can expect from the four new maps: “Zoo,” an abandoned Russian zoo; “Hotel,” a 1960s-style vacation spot that is also abandoned; “Convoy,” an abandoned truck stop (am I sensing a theme here?) and “Stockpile,” an abandoned weapons depot (yup, definite theme).

Treyarch was less forthcoming about “Call of the Dead,” the new Zombies experience included with Escalation. Apparently, more details of the flesh-eating variety will be revealed in a few days.

The Escalation Map Pack will be available for download first on the Xbox Live Marketplace on May 3rd with PC and PSN availability coming later.

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Pokemon Black/White dominate sales chart

Posted on April 15, 2011 by John Scalzo

The NPD Group has revealed the list of bestselling games for March and the latest Pokemon game, Pokemon Black/White, has caught the top of the chart.

Pokemon White Version came out on top with Pokemon Black Version just behind it in the number two slot. According to Nintendo, both games combined to sell nearly 2.5 million copies (over 1.3 million for White and another 1.1 million for Black).

New releases were well represented among last months bestsellers with Homefront (#3) and Dragon Age II (#4) both taking up residence in the top five. The bottom half of the top ten was also almost completely made up of new releases including Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (#6), Crysis 2 (#7), MLB 11: The Show (#9) and Fight Night Champion (#10).

Hit the jump for a complete look at the NPD Group’s top ten for March. (more…)

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CoD: Black Ops Escalation Map Pack coming May 3

Posted on April 12, 2011 by John Scalzo

Activision has announced that the second map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops, Escalation, will be available to download on May 3. As with all other CoD DLC, the Escalation pack will exclusively be available on the Xbox Live Marketplace before eventually being added to the PlayStation Store and PC download sites.

The pack will include four new multiplayer maps, along with something Activision is referring to as Call of the Dead, “a Zombies experience like none before it.”

“In crafting the Escalation multiplayer maps – Zoo, Convoy, Hotel and Stockpile – the team developed them to be distinct experiences in their own right, giving players the variety they crave in both setting and gameplay,” said Treyarch Studio Head, Mark Lamia. “And I don’t want to spoil any surprises for Zombies fans, but Call of the Dead takes it to a whole new level.”

To celebrate the upcoming release of Escalation , Treyarch will host a Double XP weekend beginning Friday, May 6th.

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