Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare – were you impressed?

The morning Inbox wonders when The Last Of Us Part II will appear on PlayStation 5, as one reader hopes for a Dark Crystal video game.

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Shockingly good

I’ve got to admit that Modern Warfare trailer was pretty great. We sure have come a long way from Infinite Warfare (and that was Infinity War as well). I’m already irritated they didn’t just call it Modern Warfare 4 though, because other than Price all the rest were non-characters and Price was still alive at the end of Modern Warfare 3!

That aside this looks like a long-awaited return to the present day and now it’s been long enough I’m sure it’ll get a good nostalgic kick from those that remember the original. I don’t believe a word of it when they start talking about realism but as long as the graphics are good and the atmosphere feels realistic then that’s fine by me.

From the way they’re talking it also seems obvious that they’re gearing up to have more No Russian style controversy. And, depending on exactly what it is, I’m kind of okay with that. As another reader said a while back it’s very rare that a video game tries to push the boundaries in terms of content and being shocking is something no one seems to even try anymore. Especially in this age of non-political political games from Ubisoft.
Dalglish
PS: Just one problem, why did they change the voice on Captain Price!

GC: Original voice actor Bill Murray (not the ghostbuster, but Don Beech from The Bill) is 77 now.

 



No smoke without fire

I suppose a lot of it is a case of GC not running the dubious/obviously fake stories, but isn’t it amazing how so many video game leaks and rumours turn out to be basically 100% correct? Apart from Nintendo-related ones I’m struggling to think of any that haven’t panned out before, which is cool in a way but basically means the art of the game reveal is dead.

We didn’t get much info on Call Of Duty but just knowing the name allowed you to work out pretty much what it was going to be and watching the new trailer it seems those guesses were correct. (Getting rid of season passes was a surprise mind, although I guess that’s a general industry trend that was going to hit Call Of Duty sooner or later.)

But if random age rating boards around the world are just going to let slip new games with no warning I don’t know what companies can really do. I would’ve got really excited about that Ghostbusters remaster news but having it rumoured then confirmed later kind of diluted the whole hype experience, which I’m sure isn’t good for the game apart from anything else. I guess there’s just no secrets on the Internet.
Gigas

 



Nintendo surprise

So are we expecting any kind of big surprises from Nintendo this E3? If they’re having a Pokémon Sword/Shield Direct next week then surely that implies it will barely be mentioned during the E3 Direct? But since they’ve said practically nothing about Animal Crossing and Luigi’s Mansion 3 I’m not sure if that leaves room for a big surprise or not?

A part of me also wonders whether this open world FromSoftware game could even be a Nintendo exclusive? I know that seems unlikely, but From were down as a Switch developer from the very start and I’m not sure that Dark Souls Remastered counts, seeing as they weren’t really involved. The fact that nothing’s leaked out about the game also kinda of points more towards Nintendo’s more watertight security.

Probably a long shot but it’s interesting to speculate, which is why I personally love E3 as it always seems like almost anything could be announced… even if it usually isn’t.
Jonesy

 

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Transition period

Maybe I’m completely off base here but it seems to me like Microsoft is slowly transitioning into giving up being a console maker. I don’t mean just in that streaming will take over, but if Xbox is going to be some service you subscribe to what makes it special? The only difference is going to be Microsoft exclusives and they’ve been a disaster this whole gen. I know they’re supposed to be fixing that now, but they are so far behind they’re not even close to having a line-up that people are going to want just for their games.

Which means Google Stadia has very little to do in order to combat it, or so it seems to me. Even worse, from Microsoft’s point of view, if Sony uses their tech to having their own streaming service that’s going to be instantly more appealing because their first party games are much better.

I know Microsoft is making money from renting out the tech but to me it seems to put them in the role of someone like AMD rather than what they used to be. From a profit perspective maybe that doesn’t matter, maybe it’s even better, but it all seems a bit anticlimactic to me. If Xbox isn’t the hardware and it’s not the streaming service (because they’re letting Sony use the same tech) then it’s just the games, and at the moment that’s not much at all.
Korbie

 



Twice bitten, forever shy

I haven’t played the 2006 Sonic The Hedgehog game either, so it could easily be the worst game. I actually quite liked The Simpsons: Hit & Run, although the idea’s daft it was still a fun game.

But it does remind me of the worst game I think I’ve ever played, which was The Simpsons Wrestling. Wrestling and Simpsons were my favourite things back then, so it seemed the perfect mix. Fortunately, I didn’t fall for Simpson’s skateboarding.
Anon

 



Nuclear option

Anyone else disappointed to find out that the new Need For Speed won’t be at E3? Considering it’s out this year that is leaving it very late to announce anything, given we don’t even know its name right now or what it is. I’m not saying this to have a go at EA as I really hope they nail what must surely be the series’ last chance.

As a great fan of arcade racers we need Need For Speed to keep going or it’s going to be even harder for other, similar games to get made.

Since the series has been in such trouble lately I’m going to guess this is time for the nuclear option and the new game will be Underground 3. I just don’t see anything else igniting interest as much and if they don’t do a sequel soon those two games are just going to be forgotten. I don’t know when the reveal is going to be now but it needs to be a good one.
Archon

 



Least weird

Not to rain on anyone’s parade but I can tell you I won’t be getting Death Stranding. I certainly do not consider Hideo Kojima a genius and have not enjoyed any of his games. I tried to get into Metal Gear Solid V, as I’d been told it was the ‘least weird’ of his games and found it boring, fiddly, and with a stupid story. I was quite impressed by the graphics though.

I would imagine most casual gamers probably feel the same way so I will be interested to see if being a Sony exclusive makes it seem more appealing. I could see that happening, even if people don’t like it once they start playing it.
Bahamut

 

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Business as unusual

To be honest even coming out in February is earlier than I would’ve expected for The Last Of Us Part II, so I’m just glad it’s nearing completion. At first I thought they were just gearing up to say that it was being move to the PlayStation 5 but now I guess it really is going to be like the last one and just get a remaster shortly after launch (which if the last one was anything to go by won’t make much difference).

It makes me wonder though how many other games are going to be treated the same. Ghost Of Tsushima almost certainly, but probably Death Stranding as well? And surely Dreams as well, or the whole community will be split as soon as the new console comes out.

Maybe this will be the approach for the new Xbox as well? That already kind of hinted that Halo Infinite is current and next gen. Maybe it will actually be released on Xbox One this year or early next? I don’t think we should take it as granted that it’s going to be business as usual for anything next gen, and I think we might begin to see the first proof of that at E3.
Tanner

 



Inbox also-rans

I was so confused with your Outer Wilds review because I kept assuming it was that other game. What an unfortunate similarity, they must be kicking themselves.
Grant

Oh my potatoes, have you seen the new Dark Crystal trailer on Netflix? It’s the most 80s thing I’ve ever seen, I love it. And just to make it relevant to the Inbox I’d love if they did a game based on it.
Craster

GC: Well, Netflix do have an event planned for E3, where it’s implied they’re going to announce some new games…

 



This week’s Hot Topic

The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was inspired by reader Purple Ranger, who asks what is the best Nintendo exclusive ever?

Following similar topics for the best PlayStation and Xbox exclusives we want to know what you think is the best exclusive released on any Nintendo console. That includes portable and home formats, such as the NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Switch, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, DS, and 3DS. Anything is eligible as long as it was a Nintendo exclusive at some point – it doesn’t matter if Nintendo themselves published it or not.

Why do you like the game so much and do you feel it was important to the success of the host console? Did it make any special use of the console’s unique features and how did it compare to other exclusives of the same period?

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk

 

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