Fans of Monday Night Football may just be lucky enough to see a trailer for the upcoming Activision title, Call of Duty: Black Ops. This is because the trailer is due to air in the ad break, once again demonstrating the stereotype of CoD being A MAN GAME!

Jimmy Fallon is continuing to be relevant to the gaming industry by getting on the developers at Treyarch to show off Call of Duty: Black Ops live on his show tomorrow night. Fallon’s show was also the place where Kinect was first shown on television back when it was known as Natal, and also had Cliff Bleszinski for an interview talking about Epic Games and Gears of War 3. Treyarch’s appearance will either be the revealment of something big, or just a testament to Fallon’s geekiness. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon airs tomorrow at 12:30am EST.

Eminem put on one hell of a show at the Activision press conference the other day, and along with that they’ve released a new Black Ops remix trailer featuring a song from his upcoming album “Recovery”. The song, entitled, “Won’t Back Down” features a duet with Pink and is leading the way for a pretty hefty Call of Duty: Black Ops promotional campaign. The song is actually pretty good, but I’m far more interested in seeing what Black Ops will really bring to the table in this much anticipated franchise.

Celebrate the release of Modern Warfare 2’s stimulus package map pack with double the amount of experience. From now till April 5th everything will be DOUBLED. Which means next time you frag some kills, be sure to display your broaden sense of sportsman ship and say their death was two times better than usual. This double XP week is for all players, so you don’t need the stimulus package to get the benefits. That’s probably a good thing since those maps seem way over priced.

Bound and helpless in a tiny hut surrounded by fierce Japanese soldiers, you watch. You are forced to observe a fellow soldier being grilled for information by a cigar-smoking general who would sacrifice his own life for the Emperor.  Your Marine brethren refuses to give in to the relentless torture.  As a reward, a searing hot coal is applied to his face.  As his blood spews over the interrogator, his life is terminated with a violent slash to the throat. All you can do is look on in horror as you realize the soldier coming toward you is about to deal you the same fate. Just as realization sets in that your time serving your country has come to an end, a glimmer of hope appears. A knife slices cleanly through your captor. He topples over, dead. Marines stream into the rundown tent and offer you a weapon. Time to exact vengeance on the Japanese soldiers who trapped you there. With that, the explosive campaign to Call of Duty: World at War begins.

When gamers think of other FPSs set in World War II, their response is usually lukewarm at best. When Call of Duty announced intentions to return to the era after the phenomenally successful Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, people took notice. However, since the wheel was turned over to developer Treyarch rather than Infinity Ward for this release, a startling amount of gamers believed the company couldn’t pull it off. Well, nonbelievers, guess what—they did, and with flying colors. Treyarch has gifted FPS fans with a followup worthy of the hallowed Call of Duty name, wholeheartedly atoning for their past transgressions. While it’s true that much of the praise should be credited to Infinity Ward for the game’s engine, Treyarch took what they were given and ran with it. The result is a visceral, involving experience that gets far more right than it does wrong.

The single-player campaign features two storylines: the U.S. Marine Corps and the Soviet Red Army.  Each story finds you as a member of one squad faced with many different issues along the way. In the Marines’ story, you fill the shoes of Private Miller, the marine who was rescued from the Japanese.

Missions are quick, gory, and concise. The basic premise for each outing is to get in, exterminate waves upon waves of enemies, and get out by any means necessary. Occasionally there will be differing objectives that require usage of artillery strikes, elimination of enemy tanks or defenses, but each mission is relatively similar. The game does lack in variety, but makes up for such with its graphic, intense gameplay. I did find that when trying to distinguish enemies from fellow soldiers, it was decidedly difficult. True, it was near impossible to do so in real life, but in a video game some allowances must be made. Often I would find myself offing comrades simply by mistake. In some missions it’s more obvious who’s the enemy by the way they’re dressed, but when everyone is wearing the same type of outfit, and NPC names do not appear until you’re right upon them, it can become frustrating. Also a notable flaw is the fact that grenade indicators have been downsized considerably. They can be tough to see and you’ll be on the ground drawing your last breath before you even realize what hit you.

This is the goriest Call of Duty yet. Faces are blown away from shotguns, limbs are torn off, and blood sprays all over surrounding areas in the heat of combat. What felt clean and almost sterile in Modern Warfare has now been caked with blood, sweat, and tears. War is decidedly cruel and inhumane, and this is one of the first games I’ve seen to showcase that fact so well. If in the heat of battle an enemy soldier plans to ram a combat knife through your torso, pressing in the right analog stick will allow you to counter with a well-placed stab to his neck. It’s this kind of attention to detail that has been previously missing in World War II titles. When heads are splattered all over the environments, at certain points you really do have to stop and wonder if human beings really can be this cruel to one another.

This gritty realism does come at a sacrifice. In Modern Warfare, where a close bond forms between you and your AI teammates (such as between Soap and Price), the interaction between squad members here feels a little artificial, almost as if the game is attempting to forcefully forge a connection. In this, it almost feels a little robotic. You never really begin to feel for these characters as we saw in Modern Warfare, and this is where I feel the game fails in outshining its predecessor. A host of weapons that were utilized in World War II are present, such as the Type 100, M1A1, Arisaka, and the BAR. The weapons look and feel fantastic, and balance each other out. Flamethrowers are available as well, which are quite effective in clearing out huddles of enemies from tall grass or snipers from trees. Bayonets are always useful for spearing Japanese soldiers who lie in wait in the grass. Don’t think they’ll allow you to slip past unnoticed as you come running through the countryside. You’ll learn to love these weapons just as you enjoyed the arms in Modern Warfare, but they do end up feeling a little cumbersome in relation to the smaller and more powerful guns of the present.

Along with completing the missions, rewards called Death Cards can be sought out. Essentially the same concept as Halo’s skulls, they are found in different locations throughout the campaign. They are used to add different twists to the game that would otherwise lose value after its first playthrough.  Searching for them adds entertaining cheats such as providing explosive bullets while in Last Stand, or turning soldiers into the undead.

When you’ve completed the extremely short single-player campaign, you have a few options from there. You can call upon up to three more friends to engage in a multiplayer co-op session in order to complete the game again. While this may seem pointless to those who don’t normally enjoy playing the same game over, experience earned in the co-op games carries over to your multiplayer rank. World at War’s multiplayer mode is where it shines most brilliantly. In fact, once you’ve completed the single player campaign, there is little reason to return unless you plan on earning experience through its cooperative mode.

If you’ve heard that World at War’s multiplayer mode is a carbon copy of Modern Warfare’s, then you weren’t completely misinformed. It is essentially the same gameplay with a World War II skin. Still, with COD4 having been played for a year now, a contender has been sorely needed to take its place and offer a bit of variety for gamers. There’s only so much that gold crosses can do before the game tends to grow old.

What you’ll find in World at War are your typical perks with a few new additions such as Second Chance, the ability to revive teammates, and Reconnaissance, which allows you to seek out the location of enemy dogs, tanks, and locations of artillery strikes on the map. Also provided are perks to aid in smoothing out tank combat, such as Greased Bearings, which speed up the turret rotation speed. The new perks and the retention of familiar ones was a great move, keeping things the same but changing it up a bit. Along with new perks, the kill streak bonuses have been altered. Three kills award you a recon plane (essentially the same as a UAV), five acquires an artillery strike, and seven sends out a pack of vicious dogs to take down enemies. The dogs seem to be far more effective than Modern Warfare’s chopper in that they are free to roam the maps the same as players can. They can also be eradicated  much easier than the chopper, but it’s a fair tradeoff. Prestiging is still an integral part of the experience.  A host of new challenges are available and provide that same feeling of euphoria once you’ve tackled a particularly difficult one.

Rounding out the list of features is the long-awaited Nazi Zombie mode. Upon completion of the campaign you unlock a minigame where you fight wave after wave of zombie Nazis. It’s actually quite the contender, even against Left 4 Dead.  In actuality, all it does is skin regular enemies with zombie appearances. It’s still entertaining to board up windows and doors in an effort to fend off the horde. It’s an interesting addition to what would otherwise be a dead serious (see what I did there?) war game.

While playing through World at War does have its faults, there aren’t many negative things that can be said about watching someone play. This is the best-looking World War II shooter that I have ever seen. Desolate, ransacked villages, moonlit camps, and grassy pits are crawling with enemies. Landscapes are fantastic, and fit the hopelessness and despair of the game beautifully. Character models do have the downfall of looking a bit like they were formed out of plastic, much like we saw in Halo 2, and does detract from the realism. Where it fails here, it excels in with sound. Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Oldman lend their voices for stunning, forceful narration. Explosions are terrifying, and the chilling “Banzai!” of Japanese soldiers is the stuff of nightmares.

Is Call of Duty: World at War perfect? Far from it. Is it an action-packed, gritty, gory World War II shooter that anyone can enjoy? Why yes, yes it is. While it is devoid of some of the elements that pushed Modern Warfare to its tremendous success, it’s a solid entry to the Call of Duty series. It goes a long way in presenting the case that the second (and hopefully last) world war was one of the most violent and harrowing experiences the world has ever faced. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Infinity Ward should consider putting out a restraining order on Treyarch. If you enjoyed Modern Warfare or FPSs in general, this is one of the higher quality shooters you’ll find this year. If you’re not a fan of grit and prefer your war games more sanitized, such as in Halo, then you’d do well to steer clear.

World War II has become an extremely popular concept for videogames, especially first-person shooters. In fact, it’s so popular that some popular World War II series such as Medal of Honor have been around for a longer time than the actual war. Three of the most well-received shooters that took place during this era were the first three Call of Duty games. But, after a short while, the charm these World War II-based shooters have begins to wear off. Fortunately, developer Infinity Ward has recognized this and is now bringing the Call of Duty name into the modern era. Welcome to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

While Call of Duty 4 is set in a modern day setting, the story in the single player mode is completely fictional. In typical Call of Duty fashion, the game puts you in the boots of more than one character in the single player campaign. Here, you’ll switch between a soldier in the US Marine Corp and the British SAS. The story unfolds back and forth between events occurring through your character’s point of view and exchanges of dialogue during the load screens. As with previous Call of Duty games, Modern Warfare tries to make the story interesting, but it just feels like another fictional and typical modern day war story.

Not much has changed in Call of Duty 4 as far as the core gameplay is concerned. While there are a few added touches like being able to sprint and having new weapons to spice things up, the formula is still the same. The best strategy in the game is to hold the Left Trigger to aim down your sights so you can get the best shot. Otherwise if you try firing from the hip, it’s unlikely you’ll achieve many, if any kills at all. Fortunately, the Call of Duty games have been prime examples of how to make the gameplay in a shooter work well. The familiarity proves to work to the game’s benefit.

While new weapons might just be one new feature added to the game, they really go a long way here. Since the series is taking a departure from the conventional semi-automatic rifles and old submachine guns, it leaves a lot of room open for new firearms to toy around with. The weapons are all based realistically on their real-life counterparts and it’s easy to feel a little bit of Counter-Strike and Rainbow Six déjà vu. Aside from the standard assault and sniper rifles, machineguns and side arms there are grenade launcher attachments, C4 and claymore explosives, and a few other armaments available. The variety in these weapons is quite impressive and you’ll more than likely find yourself going back to the game just for the sake of trying out a pair of different weapons.

About the only thing that makes it hard to experiment with all the weapons is the length of the game, offline at least. Previous Call of Duty games had single players that could be beaten anywhere from eight to twelve hours. Modern Warfare, however, can be completed in as little as six or even five hours if you’re really well-experienced at any kind of shooter. Fortunately, the game has that short but sweet touch to it, so the few hours the single player lasts is fun all the way till the end. When you beat the game you’ll unlock an arcade mode, which basically takes how well you do in a mission and gives you scores based on your performance. So while it’s short, there’s plenty of incentive to head back and play it a few more times.

But for most players, the real reason they’ll keep coming back is for the game’s online multiplayer portion. Like its predecessor, Call of Duty 4 has support for up to twenty-four people online simultaneously, so look out for plenty of blazing guns and explosions out there. As with several other shooters, Modern Warfare’s strengths mostly lie in its online portion. The gameplay is deeper than the single-player, requires a lot more thought and strategy and does more than outshine the offline portions.

When you start playing online your options will be very limited; only two types of matches will be available and you’ll have to stick with pre-selected classes. However, after a few matches your rank will increase and before long you’ll be able to create your own class. But even after being able to create your own class there you’ll still need to improve your rank to unlock more content. Most of this content includes new guns, weapon attachments and accessories; all of which become deadlier the further you improve your rank. Every kill you get is factored into your account to raise your rank; the more points you earn the better. Creating your character class is very simple; you’ll choose a primary weapon, sidearm, grenade type and choose what Perks your character has.

Perks are a new feature to the series. They basically alter your character to give you an edge against the competition. You can apply up to three different Perks to your character, which range from increasing your health, stopping power, making your bullets penetrate deeper, increase your general accuracy and so much more. While it might sound like the option to put on Perks is cheating they do so much that you can overwhelm the entire battlefield. Besides, when most of the people you’ll encounter online have Perks turned on, it’s anyone’s game either way.

The online mode also has another nice little feature to entice you to compete at the top of your game. If you manage to get three kills without dying then you can call on a UAV drone to scan and reveal where your enemies are located on your mini-map. Get another two kills after that without dying and you can call an airstrike to sweep by and bombard an area of the map of your choosing three times. And if you achieve two more kills after that, then you’ll have a helicopter lend you a hand with killing anyone who dares to defy you. Not only that, but using these rewards will yield you more points towards your profile; so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t try your hardest while online. Oh and there are sixteen maps included with the game, so those should be more than enough to keep you busy until more content is released.

With so much offered in the game, it’s easy to think Call of Duty 4 would suffer from unimpressive visuals. However, this turns out to be quite the opposite. Modern Warfare doesn’t just look good, it looks fantastic; easily one of the best-looking games out there. If you’re looking to find a game that will undoubtedly impress your friends with visual flair, Call of Duty 4 will do more than suffice. Not only that, but the game always runs at a smooth sixty frames per second and lag online is surprisingly rare. Needless to say, Call of Duty 4’s going to offer plenty of moments which will impress you thanks to how well it’ll render everything.

One area that the Call of Duty series has always excelled at is the sound, so it’s expected that Modern Warfare have a similar effect of impressing. Oddly enough, the sound is actually one of the game’s weaker points, but this isn’t really a low blow since the game does sound impressive regardless. The main reason why the game doesn’t sound as impressive as previous titles is mainly due to the voiceovers; they almost sound like they were taken directly from previous games. For those that remember playing through the British portions of the campaign in Call of Duty 2, Captain Price will sound awfully familiar to them. Everything else in the game sounds amazing; everything comes together exceptionally well and gives off a feeling like you’re in the middle of World War 3.

At the end of the day, Call of Duty 4 is a superb accomplishment that has already shown it has what it takes to at least get a Game of the Year nomination. The single player may be rather short for a Call of Duty game, but there’s plenty of reason to keep coming back over and over. The drift into the modern age has helped the series come out of its shell and reach new grounds, and it’s easily the best installment in the series yet. If you’re looking for a shooter to make you remove Halo 3 or The Orange Box from you Xbox 360 for a while, this will do the trick.