That’s right. The mega gaming franchise Call of Duty is going back to the beginning. Well, to the 1940’s to be exact with the newly released trailer for Call of Duty: World War II.

Here’s some more info from the official press release: “Over two years in the making, Sledgehammer Games delivers a gritty, personal experience in the setting of the largest worldwide conflict in history to a new gaming generation in Call of Duty: WWII.

Play through the story of ordinary men turned soldiers in the 1st Infantry Division as they fight to preserve freedom in the face of tyranny.”

We’re in. Check out the trailer after the break. Call of Duty: World War II hits the beaches (and stores) on November 3rd.

Last week, I got to check out a special invite-only event put on by Activision at the YouTube Space LA to preview Guitar Hero Live. While I had seen it in action at E3, this was the first time I really got to spend time with the game, as you’ll see from my less than stellar performance in the video after the jump.

When it comes to the presentation, Guitar Hero Live has absolutely stepped it up. In GH TV, you’re able to play over some of your favorite music videos for songs you already love and there is a massive library of music to select from. At the event, I was the only one to play Green Day ‘Oh Love’ but was thrilled to have the chance to. On the other side is the concert experience with GH Live where the player sees the perspective from being on stage as a member of the band and looking out at a real crowd, not just some polygonal fans.

With all the uncertainty in the world, at least there’s one thing we can pretty much always count on: new Call of Duty games. The latest one is called Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

This new chapter in the franchise takes place in “a dark, gritty future where a new breed of Black Ops soldier emerges and the lines are blurred between our own humanity and the cutting-edge military robotics that define the future of combat.” That does sound cool.

Judge for yourself by watching the first trailer for the game, which has just been released. Look for Call of Duty: Black Ops III to arrive on November 9.

The trailer is after the break.

As reliable as the turning of the earth, you can always count on DLC packs for games to come along and kick things up a notch (or two). In this case we’re talking about the latest DLC for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

The new DLC, called Ascendance, is the second DLC pack for COD:AW. It includes four Multiplayer maps, the OHM Multiplayer hybrid weapon and weapon variant, a new Exo Grapple playlist, as well as Exo Zombies Infection, part two of the Exo Zombies co-op experience. Yep, zombies.

Why are you not downloading this already? Well, sadly, you have to wait until March 31. But then, it is so on!

Check out the trailer afte the break.

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.