Activision

CHICAGO – Imagine this — an X-Men game in which you don’t play a known member of the legendary team. Want to rage with Wolverine’s claws, shoot beams with Cyclops’ eyes, or rain chaos with Storm? Well, you’ll have to go back to the last “Marvel Ultimate Alliance” game to do so because they’re not playable here.

CHICAGO – Based on the incredible box office returns, a lot of the people reading this have probably already seen Michael Bay’s divisive “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” It’s understandable that they may want to continue the adrenalin-pumping adventure at home with Activision’s latest game based on the legendary Hasbro toy line. Sadly, as much as the movie pops in 3D, the game is disappointingly flat.

CHICAGO – Clearly, Activision and Treyarch aren’t satisfied with dominating the shooter market for only part of the year; they want the entire calendar. How else to explain the most ambitious DLC expansion plan in console shooter gaming history?

CHICAGO – Proving yet again that they know how to keep fans happy with their downloadable content, Activision and Treyarch have released another excellent batch of multiplayer maps for their mega-hit “Call of Duty: Black Ops.” The DLC named “Call of Duty: Black Ops — Escalation,” available exclusively on the Xbox, includes four new maps and a new zombie adventure named “Call of the Dead” that would be worth the $15 price on its very own.

CHICAGO – Are you exhausted by the original maps in “Call of Duty: Black Ops”? Have you played them so many times that you literally have them memorized to the point that you can dream about their every twist, turn, and hiding spot?

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Ascension

CHICAGO – This 11-image slideshow contains the official press images of the new maps soon-to-be available for “Call of Duty: Black Ops” in the DLC entitled “First Strike.” The add-on will be available on the XBLA on February 1st, 2011.

CHICAGO – Most of us who are old enough to have spent many of our formative hours playing “Goldeneye 64” often point to the title as one of the most memorable shooting games in history. Personally, I spent much of the time I should have been studying in college massacring my friends on the legendary Nintendo 64 game. Like most people of my age group, I was completely psyched for the 2010 reboot of the timeless game. It just makes my disappointment all the more painful.

CHICAGO – It could still fall prone to some of the multiplayer glitches and failures that marred the experience with “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” but as of November 2010, “Call of Duty: Black Ops” is an amazing success and stands as one of the best games of its kind ever released.

CHICAGO – While MGM continues to do everything in their power to delay the development of the James Bond franchise (“Quantum of Solace” came out in 2008 and not a single frame of a new film has been shot, meaning it’s still going to be awhile), Activision has pressed forward and developed an entirely new story in video game form.

CHICAGO – The music genre has never been more crowded with “Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock,” “Def Jam Rapstar,” “Rock Band 3,” and more hitting stores in just the last few weeks. There’s a lot of competition for genre fans but it hasn’t fazed Activision, as they’ve thrown the highly-anticipated “DJ Hero 2” right into the fray and the title emerges as one of the better offerings of the month.