Another year, another COD, right? It is the one thing you can always count on to terrify publishers from releasing on the same date which makes the week’s purchasing decision a pretty easy one. You’re either getting Call of Duty or you’re not. There aren’t other games to even consider. But with this being the umpteenth release of the blockbuster franchise, how does it live up to previous years and even more importantly, how does it compare to the hype?

The Long

With their being three developers in the rotation now for the Call of Duty franchise, Sledgehammer enters the fray with a new IP with the Advanced Warfare story. A drastically different tone than either Black Ops 2 or Ghost, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare follows the world of the privatized military which are effectively government sanctioned mercenaries. As seen by all of the marketing materials, this corporation known as Atlas is headed up by the one and only Kevin Spacey and the role he takes as the player’s surrogate father after his own son is killed in combat.

Without giving too much information about the story, it follows pretty much every one of the expected beats. It’s not that it’s bad, but it is not going to surprise anyone either. It’s like going into a summer blockbuster that has no need for plot twists. It has a ton of polish and explosions that prevent you from having to think too hard.

With Call of Duty: Ghosts looming in the horizon along with the next gen console launches, Call of Duty: Black Ops II has one last push to make the FPS world sink in more months of their life in the meantime.

On August 27th, the final map pack called Apocalypse will be released for Call of Duty: Black Ops II on XBox Live with later releases coming to PS3 and PC. It will include four new multiplayer maps (Pod, Frost, Takeoff and Dig) and one new Zombies map (Origin) to help round out the Black Ops II experience.

Pod: A failed utopian community from the 70’s has left stacks of dilapidated residential pods nestled into an abandoned cliff side in Taiwan. Its residents long gone, the modernist compound now hosts frenetic combat as players must run atop the pods, as well as navigate their multi-tiered interiors for a strategic edge.

When I first got this press release, I wasn’t very happy. After all, it was only six months ago I packed my bags and left New England to come to LA and now I find out that there is going to be a gaming show with celebrities being taped in my old backyard. Massachusetts and New Hampshire were just short drives for this Connecticut native. But things aren’t always as they appear at first glance.

A combined effort of Blind Sheep Studios and GameFlak, Celebrity Gaming Challenge takes the term celebrity and stretches it a little thin. Right now, the only thing known about the two celebrity team captains is that they will both be members of the New England Patriots. And the shooting will take place in October, right in the middle of the NFL season.

Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that these celebrity team captains probably aren’t going to be the cream of the Patriots crop. But none the less, I give them credit for their ingenuity and clever use of technicalities of the English language.

If you are a Call of Duty: Black Ops II player, you probably spent the better part of your day yesterday playing the new Vengeance maps that came out on XBox 360. If you’re a PlayStation 3 owner, let’s face it that you aren’t a real Black Ops II player to begin with. The XBox 360 players got to dig in to the four new multiplayer maps as well as the new Buried zombie map as well.

Instead of a standard fare trailer showing off the levels like the teaser videos have done already, the team at Treyarch worked on something a little different. In the launch trailer for the Buried zombie mode map, Treyarch paired up with Malukah who is best known for her Skyrim cover song (with over 10,000,000 YouTube hits) to create “Always Running”.

With a voice similar to that of Amy Lee from Evanessence, Malukah does a fantastic job capturing the desperation overcoming players during zombie mode. This combined with some fantastic in game close call footage gives a very different feel than a fast paced shoot ’em up that Call of Duty: Black Ops II often gives its players.

I know that two weeks ago we showed you the reveal trailer for the Vengeance map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (which comes free to Season Pass holders) but we’ve got a new trailer featuring new gameplay footage from the DLC levels. But, more importantly, the Replacers who are our favorite marketing gimmick so far for any game out there also get a new member. Joining JB and Peter is…. well I can’t spoil the trailer for you.

In addition to the new member of the team, we do get to look more in depth at the four new levels coming to Vengeance. The Cove looks like a fantastic combination of the beach level from Mario Kart combined with Zanzibar from Halo 2. Rush is a paintball video game finally done right, probably since it involves actual guns and not subpar paintball gameplay mechanics. Sadly, this would be the one time I’d hope for a paintball mode back like they had in Goldeneye 007 and we aren’t getting it.

Detour is eerily reminiscent of a scene from Left 4 Dead except now everyone can shoot back. Uplink has the feel of a classic Bond level to it with a computer control room that everyone gathers in but the only difference this time is how gunships can rain down fire through the skylights. Finally buried adds not just a new location to the zombie mode but a new gameplay twist with a rampaging giant to deal with or befriend.

We’re looking forward to this DLC for CODBO2. Should make a great enhancement to an already awesome game. At least it will help pass the time until Call of Duty: Ghosts arrives.

Can’t wait for that one either. Until then, we’ve got some vengeance to tide us over. Look for it on XBox Live starting July 2.

Sometimes those XBox 360 users have all the fun, right? That may be what you’re thinking if you’re a user of the PS3 or a Windows PC to get your gaming on and are waiting patiently for some great DLC content like Call of Duty: Black Ops II Uprising.

Well, fear not, as your wait has ended. That’s right, beginning May 16, you PS3 and Windows PC users will have the opportunity to play Uprising, Activision and Treyarch’s DLC Map Pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops II. This rather cool map pack includes four new multiplayer maps as well as the “Mob of the Dead”, which takes players to Alcatraz island and pits you against hordes of flesh-eating zombies.

But that’s not all, the “Mob of the Dead” also features a cool twist: you take on said zombies in the shoes of one of four Prohibition-era mobsters, which are voiced by some major Hollywood actors: Billy Handsome (Ray Liotta), Al “The Weasel” Arlington (Joe Pantoliano), Salvatore “Sal” DeLuca (Chaz Palminteri), and Michael “Finn” O’Leary (Michael Madsen). All four are serving time in Alcatraz Prison, only to discover that being behind bars is the least of their problems.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is addicting. Between the standard competitive multiplayer and the Zombie mode, thousands of lifetimes of game hours have already been played online. Now while the game doesn’t exactly go into a slump over time after its release, there is definitely a renewed spike in gameplay with the release of new maps.

Things may have been a little different last year with the early access that Elite members received in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 but with Call of Duty: Black Ops II Season Pass holders and the general public gaining access to the new maps at the same time, expect servers to fill up and social lives to diminish. But how do you help salvage social relationships with friends, family, work and significant others? Activision says it’s time to call in a Replacer.

In the video below, you’ll check out the real benefit of taking on a Replacer. For those moments that you don’t really need to be there for like putting together furniture or the first few annoying hours of labor, a Replacer is the ideal substitute.

In under two months, more than 427 million hours have been logged into Call of Duty: Black Ops II multiplayer and zombie modes. At this point, it is reasonable for players to be clamoring for some new content. Treyarch has responded with a resounding, “It’s coming!” with the the Revolution DLC pack (which had some tidbits leaked late last week). The Revloution DLC pack will be coming out first to XBox 360 on January 29.

The Revolution DLC pack will include four new multiplayer maps, a new zombie map, the first new zombie DLC mode and the first ever DLC weapon. Check out the level descriptions below as well as the full preview trailer after the jump.

Don’t worry. We aren’t giving any more awards to Angry Birds. At least not today. But we do have four more games for the best of 2012. If you haven’t seen the previous two days awards, click here for Monday’s and here for Tuesday’s awards. Make sure to check back tomorrow for our final specialty awards and then again on Friday for the ultimate award from The Flickcast and Bitcast teams, the Game of the Year.

New IP With the Most Potential – Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

With writing from R. A. Salvatore and art design by Todd McFarlane, many would have thought that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning would have the makings of a surefire hit. With over 300,000 units sold by March of 2012, Reckoning gave a good showing for a brand new IP and had many people talking about it. Unfortunately due to financial problems with a loan from the state of Rhodes Island, 38 Studios was forced to close and with it went the possible future of the Kingdoms of Amalur series.

Despite coming from a brand new studio, Reckoning had all the makings of a hit game. Beautiful design, interesting and complex story with tons of back matter and, the most important, incredibly fun combat and gameplay. It was a huge world with tons to do that players could get lost in. Whether or not they even cared about the narrative, there were unending areas to explore and enemies to vanquish. Now, one can only hope that someone else picks up this IP and gives it a second chance to continue giving more people the chance to explore its epic world.