Activision knows what’s cool: Delta Force and Spetsnaz soldiers going toe-to-toe; an M4 with a front grip, an impact mod, and hex camo; blowing the holy ooh-la-la out of Paris; and the Honda Fit. That’s why they’ve peppered the Modern Warfare 3 levels with Honda Fits, the car of champions (pictured, shortly before getting killed because I’m standing so close to one Modern Warfare’s eminently explodable cars).
Did I mention that I drive a Honda Fit? And not just in Forza 4.
However much Majesco paid for the rights to Jaws, they apparently weren’t content with the Jaws game they did five years ago. So they’re at it again with Jaws: Ultimate Predator for the Wii and DS, which explains why the above screenshot implies this is a game about petting friendly Great Whites. Nintendsharks, if you will. Because the Wii and DS aren’t exactly ideal platforms for tie-ins to 35 year old movies.
Jaws: Ultimate Predator is out today. Get it for your kids wherever fine videogames are sold.
So before I get down to some obligatory complaining, let me make it clear that I like Modern Warfare 3, especially as a multiplayer game. The changes to competitive matches feel great. I love the co-operative survival ops, which is a unique Modern Warfare take on the horde mode you know from Gears of War and Halo. And I couldn’t be happier that private matches let you play with everything unlocked. This is going to allow for a lot of crazy game types based around odd rule sets and equipment limits in the same vein as toybox shooters like Halo, Perfect Dark, and Goldeneye.
So why didn’t Activision apply this mode to split-screen games on the Xbox 360? For some odd reason, you have to level up each account the same way you do in pubic games. But split-screen games are the epitome of private matches. What a lousy way to hobble what could have been a tremendous four-player split-screen shooter.
Furthermore, it looks like there’s no way to browse other people’s private matches on Xbox Live, or even support for moving parties from ranked matches into private matches. Am I limited to whatever gatherings I can scrape together on my friends list? And how does it work on the PC? Does the PC version at least get a server browser option for private matches? Activision has included a great feature in Modern Warfare 3, but they also seem to have buried it.
Furthermore, I am completely confused by all the online stuff Activision is doing. As near as I can tell, the service that tracks stats, offers social groups, and documents the game is called “Elite”. It’s free. But then there’s “Premium”, which is necessary if you want to start a clan. At $50 a year, the Premium service also pre-buys any DLC and qualifies you to enter Activision’s contests to win Jeeps and vacations and whatnot. On top of that, there’s something called “Founder”, which I think is basically a year of “Premium” bundled with the “Limited Edition”. What a lot of indecipherable verbal spaghetti. Gears of War played it pretty straightforward by just selling a Season’s Pass.
