In conjunction with the release of Max Payne 3 today, Marvel Comics and Rockstar Games have released a brand new comic based on the grizzled detective — and you can get the first issue right now, for free without leaving your favorite chair.

Max Payne: The Fall, written  looks into Max’s troubled past, as well as tells a bit of the story leading up to the new game.

Head over to the official Max Payne webpage to download the first issue now, as well as enter to win a printed copy of the book.

Hey look, it’s Halo 4′s box art.  Appreciate it, because a ton of gamers had to work damn hard to get it.

Being the fun loving company that they are, Microsoft sent out a ton of emails to select users titled “Your piece of the Halo Puzzle”, each with a piece of the above image. NEOGAF user spawn031 collected them all and supplied the above image.

Now everyone say thank you.

Looking to save some cash by picking up Max Payne 3 from a Redbox kiosk when it releases this Tuesday?  Let’s just hope you’re playing on PS3, as the US based rental service has confirmed that they will only be renting out the first disc of the Xbox 360 version, meaning you’ll get half of the single player game and the multiplayer suite.

Redbox corporate policy is to carry only single disc games, but as a spokesperson told the consumerist, they’re taking a different tone with Rockstar’s latest. “Redbox kiosks are only equipped to rent out one disc per rental fee,” the spokesperson said. ”Since customer feedback has told us that many of our game customers like to test out titles before they buy them, we’ve decided to offer Disc 1 of Max Payne 3 for Xbox 360 so that renters can try it out for a low daily rate.”

There is currently no option to rent out disc 2 via the service.

“Disc 1 contains the entire online multiplayer mode and the first half of the extremely substantial single-player game. We think that’s a great deal for just a couple of dollars a day, and we’re excited to offer it! We’ve added a message on the website and on kiosk screens to let renters know about the limited game-playing.”

Would you pay $2 a day for what is essentially a limited demo? Let us know!

Starhawk is one of those games where a lot could have gone wrong. The developers at Lightbox Interactive and Sony Santa Monica were quite ambitious and tried to incorporate a ton of different environments, genres and mechanics — normally a recipe for failure, but not here. Starhawk works — and it works well; even when it shouldn’t.

Dripping with style, Starhawk is an absolute joy to get and cause some chaos with. Of course, it does have its drawbacks like a short campaign and some slight graphical issues, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying one of this year’s first truly great games.

Starhawk places players in the futuristic boots of rifter, Emmet Graves. In the distant future, rifters are humans who scavenge a series of planets, known as The Frontier for a precious yet dangerous resource known as rift energy. Of course, things can’t be that easy — the rifter’s way of life is threatened by the Outcasts, a group of humans mutated by the same rift energy everyone else is searching for.

The first hour or so into Starhawk, I was trying to figure out why the game felt so familiar, then it hit me. I’m this rogue character, scrounging for resources and trying to get myself out of trouble with corporations and enemies, only to jump into my dodgy craft and try to avoid my pursuers in a dog fight — I’m practically Han Solo. I just need a wookie. Starhawk drips with style and the mix of wild west steampunk and space combat is a unique setting that’s incredibly cool and fun to explore.

One of the major reasons Starhawk works so well is just how seamlessly everything blends together. In a typical battle, you’re likely to shoot out a ton of enemies, and then jump into your mech which can instantly transform into a flying ship so you can dogfight in space. This all happens nearly seamlessly, and there’s hardly any slowdown. It becomes incredibly cool and rewarding to move so quickly in between sections of the game. It also makes a good portion of the battles a lot more epic, as you’re often chasing the same group of enemies from land into space.

Starhawk isn’t just another action game though, the game features a number of mechanics from other genres, including strategy and tower defense. The biggest example of this is the game’s structure building system, which plays an integral part in the game’s core structure. You create everything from simple walls, to gates and even entire armories. Once the game tells you how to build them, you’re free to use them practically anyway you want in battle. The best part of all this is that building these structures requires them to fall down from the sky, and it’s an incredibly cool moment when you time it just right and it falls directly onto enemies.

As well animated and voiced as it is, Starhawk’s campaign is simply a primer for the game’s intense 32-person multiplayer suite, and it’s a primer you’re going to want to take. The game’s multiplayer suite requires your knowledge of each of the game’s mechanics to be successful. It may be a bit stressful at first, but the payoff involves some of the coolest moments I’ve had with a game in a long time. There are so many ways to take out your opponents, and games end up getting personal and find you going from ground to space all in search of your rival.

The Blast Factor: There could have been a million ways to screw up Starhawk, but, thankfully, Sony Santa Monica did a great job avoiding many of these pitfalls. What they’ve created is a fun, chaotic mix of genres that’s easy to fall in love with and hard to put down. Starhawk is simply a must own for PS3 owners.

It’s Friday! You know what that means — fun, the weekend and of course, free games from Blast. Oh, and this week, we’ve got a doozy for you.

We’ve got four codes for the Xbox 360 edition of Minecraft. Want to build, dig and make blocky masterpieces with your friends? Winning is easy, all you’ve got to do is follow Blast on twitter @BlastMagazine and include us in your Follow Friday tweet. Four random winners will be chosen late Friday night, and be sent messages with their codes directly on Twitter.

So here’s the good news. We’re getting an Avengers game. The bad? It’s going to be a motion based title for the Kinect and Wii U. Yeeeeeeah.

Marvel’s Avengers: Battle for Earth from Ubisoft is said to feature roughly twenty characters from the Marvel Universe and draws its inspiration from the recent Secret Invasion storyline.  That sounds promising..right?

“We are excited to team up with Marvel Entertainment to bring some of the most iconic comic book characters from the Marvel line-up to life in motion-gaming,” said Tony Key, US senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft in a recent press release. ”Fans of the Marvel universe and superhero games are going to love the extensive combinations of characters, motion-controlled moves and competitive gameplay.”

From the sound of things, we’re either getting a motion controlled version of Ultimate Alliance, or a slightly retooled version of Kinect: Power-up Heroes, a slightly underrated game released for the Kinect last year.

A website has been set up for the game here, but there’s not much to it. While you’re waiting for more info, why don’t you read my list of what I would personally want from an Avengers game.

Time is running out, and if you don’t act soon, we may never get to play one of the most interesting and promising ideas we’ve seen in a long time; in just over 24 hours, the Kickstarter drive for Republique, the new iOS game developed by Camoflaj Studios, headed by former Halo Creative Lead Ryan Payton will expire and it’s currently just under $100,000 short of it’s goal.

The game follows the story of Hope, who places a call from a stolen cell phone to the player and asks you to hack into the security system to aid her escape.  The player must then distract guards and use the camera and alarm system to keep Hope hidden from her pursuers.

Republique is undoubtedly an ambitious endeavor, one that studio heads say they need to prove there’s a market for.  ”We estimate that République will cost north of $1 million to complete. After months of meetings and due diligence, we believe that we can raise the necessary additional funds to complete République from potential outside investors, but there is some risk that our efforts will be unsuccessful,” the game’s Kickstarter reads. “Before we enter into any financial agreements, we want to prove through Kickstarter that there is a market for a serious AAA mobile game. While we may eventually have to share future profits from the game in order to finance development costs, we have no intention of sacrificing quality, creative control or IP ownership.”

You can donate on the game’s Kickstarter page.

Bethesda Softworks has announced that Dishonored, the supernatural assassin game being developed by Arkane Studios is now schedule to release in the United States on October 9, with an international release following three days later on October 12.

“We are pleased that Dishonored has captured people’s attention,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “We are looking forward to sharing lots more information about the game leading up to its launch in October, and having a hands-on build of Dishonored in our booth at E3!”

Dishonored is set in Dunwall, a city where steampunk and new technology mix, but list in the shadows. Players take the role of Corvo, a former royal bodyguard who’s been framed for a horrific crime. It’s your job to uncover the truth..and kill some dudes…

Blast is going hands on with Dishonored at this year’s E3 in L.A. Look for our impressions during the big show.

According to Siliconera, Sony is filming a teaser for a new Killzone game, which is likely to be revealed at E3.

The game reportedly takes place after the events of Killzone 3, so the logical guess would be that Killzone 4 is set to be revealed, but there is a Killzone game confirmed to be coming to the PlayStation Vita. Silconera reportedly received part of the text that was reportedly written for a woman, reportedly Killzone villian Aurarch Visari’s daughter:

My sons and my daughters, today we take the first step toward our imperial future.

For years, this once-great nation has stagnated in the shadow of its enemies. Governed by scoundrels who flaunted the ideals established by my father, these traitors… these enemies of our race have diluted and exploited the triad of Duty, Obedience, and Loyalty.

This regime, this corrupt regime, has been dissolved. In its place does rise an era of stability and strength. A time of opportunity born from a promise that we shall return our people to their proper sphere of dominance.

Sony has confirmed that developer Guerilla Games is working on as many as four Killzone titles currently.

Yes. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will have a zombie mode. Please stop filling our inboxes with questions about it.

Confirmation comes in the form of an interview with Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia, which aired on today’s episode of X-Play, the only gaming centered show left on the formerly gaming centered channel.

“And then there’s zombies, the return of a co-op mode we created here at Treyarch for Call of Duty, and that’s going to come back in a big way,” Lamia said. “There’s a new world that we’re creating just for zombies players with all kinds of new gameplay.”

Black Ops 2 will release on November 13, 2012, and you’re going to hear a lot about it.

So remember Perfect Strangers? The show with that guy and his cousin Balki? Yeah, that one. Well, apparently someone made a game about it — and it’s actually pretty damn good.

Perfect Strangers: Nothings Gonna Stop Me Now is essentially a platformer that requires you to enter just what your dream is at the beginning of the game; mine for instance was to “Eat a Really Large Fish” and collect enough stars to make it happen. You use the space bar to jump and the right and left arrow keys to move from side to side. Yes, it’s that simple, but what’s not that simple is the game’s use of the show’s imagery and rocking theme song to create a pretty interesting visual.

The gaming industry is taking notice as well, Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski, known best for his work on the Unreal Engine and the Gears of War series tweeted about the game this afternoon, saying “Funny thing is about that Perfect Strangers game is that it’s a good example of blending lyrics and setting in a game experience.”

So cousin — what’s your dream?

No Half Life 3.

No Left 4 Dead 3.

No Portal 3.

Nothing new.

That’s what Valve said today regarding their presence at this year’s big gaming show, E3 in L.A. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, the game developer always has to answer questions of new content this time of year. Still, fans can’t help but be disappointed that they’re going to have to wait even longer for what’s become perhaps the most long awaited game — Half Life 3..or Half Life 2: Episode 3, or just about anything Half Life. The last game in the series was released on October 10, 2007, almost five years ago.

Instead, the company says that it’s booth at the show will show off already announced projects like Counter Strike Global Offensive and DoTA 2.

Of course, the studio is known for trolling their fans and being secretive. Perhaps this is just a ruse…

So remember yesterday when we told you that news about Skyrim DLC would be coming today. Well here’s the news, it’s coming this summer and it’s called Dawnguard.

Want more information? Too bad. That’s all we’ve got.

Bethesda says that more info on the DLC will be available at this year’s E3. Fingers crossed for horse armor.

You know that first look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the one that was supposed to debut during tonight’s NBA playoffs? Guess what, it’s now available via the franchise’s official Youtube page.

As rumored, the story takes place in the future, but it also takes place in the past. Sgt, Frank Woods, main character of the first Black Ops returns as an old man to tell the story that seems to begin with an attack on L.A.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 launches November 13 and is going to make a butt load of money..all while being hated by the masses.

The official reveal for the next Call of Duty, known the world over to be a sequel to 2010′s Treyarch produced Black Ops isn’t supposed to happen until later on tonight during the NBA playoffs, but the UK Call of Duty site seems to have spilled the beans a bit early.

While all of the game’s media like trailers and screens are blocked by a big “Coming soon” banner, the site does give a bit of info on the title. ”Pushing the boundaries of what fans have come to expect from the record-setting entertainment franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 propels players into a near future, 21st Century Cold War, where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare. Pre-order today.”

Apparently, the game seems to be a vast departure from the previous Black Ops game as it’s set in a “near future” and two leaked screens seem to show L.A. getting attacked.

We’ll update later on tonight when the first trailer becomes official.

Skyrim’s Kinect support patch launches tomorrow so you can yell about dragons and arrows in the knees all you want. What else comes tomorrow? How about the first real DLC announcement..sort of.

The developer has announced that they will reveal a “tidbit” of information regarding the long awaited DLC drop. This according to a tweet by Pete Hines, the VP of PR and Marketing at Bethesda; “A tidbit of info. Not a complete dload of info. Managing expectations. RT @ElderScrolls: Be on the lookout for the 1st DLC info tomorrow,” said the tweet.

Rumors have been swirling for months regarding the DLC, and signs point to the packs being larger and include snow elves and a crossbow weapon. We hear there won’t be horse armor.

Last week we brought you news that Sony confirmed Kratos’ return in God of War: Ascension, a prequel to the popular PlayStation exclusive franchise. Now we’re getting our first look at the game’s multiplayer suite — a first for the franchise.

The announcement came earlier today via a live announcement on the PlayStation Blog. Though not many details were made available, it looks like the new modes will be an integral part of the new game.

Look for more info on God of War Ascension during E3, June 5-7 in L.A.

It would have been almost too easy for Telltale’s The Walking Dead game to be a major disappointment. The zombie genre is of course overdone, and the once-proud developer has had a string of so-so releases in the past few years (I’m looking at you Jurassic Park: The Game). Yes, it would have been easy to make The Walking Dead another shoot first and ask questions later type of game, but thankfully Telltale has captured the spirit of the franchise and given us a poignant and almost touching tale of human desperation under the veil of a zombie apocalypse. It may not be perfect — in fact, there’s some very distinct problems lying here, but Telltale’s zombie soap opera is a return to form for not only the developer, but the genre as well.The Walking Dead tells the story not of the group of survivors we’ve all come to know, but of Lee Everett, a man being carted off to jail for a murder he either did or did not commit. As luck would have it, his trip to the big house is interrupted by a pesky zombie in the middle of the road, which sends the police cruiser he’s being driven in tumbling down a hill, killing the officer and thrusting him into a different kind of world than he was in just minutes ago. In the first episode, Lee discovers the walkers, meets some new survivors and adjusts to this new way of life — at least he tries to.

There are going to be plenty of people who are going to be disappointed that they’re not jumping into the boots of Sheriff Rick Grimes and unloading rounds into hordes of the undead, but perhaps that’s for the better. The Walking Dead aims to recapture the spirit of the original property and does a damn fine job of it. You’ll find yourself actually caring about the people you meet and the decisions you make. For example, when given the choice in games, I usually take the good guy approach, but with The Walking Dead, there were several moments when I was making decisions based purely on the emotion I was feeling rather than how I wanted the game to turn out.

This is thanks in large part to the fact that your decisions are all timed, and they’ll have less impact when you take longer to make them, meaning that you’re going to go on your first instinct more often than not. Compare this to a game like Mass Effect, where you have all the time in the world to sit and think about what you’re going to say to almost telegraph the game the way you want it. The result is a game that plays much more from the heart than the brain.

That’s not to say though that The Walking Dead doesn’t have it’s fair share of the undead, they’re just used more sparingly, which gives them much more of an impact. No, this isn’t Dead Rising, where you’ll be fighting your way through thousands of zombies, each encounter will actually mean something here. There’s a very important moment where one of your recently met survivors meets their untimely end and it actually holds a lot of weight. As opposed to the developer’s more recent games, The Walking Dead does a great job portraying action using context sensitive quicktime events, and the few zombie encounters found in episode one where great fun to play.

The above images may not look like much, but they’re reportedly our first in game (or at least in-engine) shots of the as-of-yet announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The pictures are reportedly from the website of Hollywood special effects company ReelEFX, but have since been pulled.

So what can we tell from the images? Not much to be honest, but it does look to feature the helicopter with mounted guns that has been making the rounds in videos (watch below) and screenshots online. And I’ll be damned if that doesn’t look like geniune, if not grainy Call of Duty style footage.

Activision and Treyarch are planning to reveal Black Ops 2 something Call of Duty next Thursday, May 3. Blast will have all the info as soon as it becomes available.

EA Sports has announced that Detroit Lions Wide Receiver Calvin Johnson has won the year’s Madden cover contest, beating Carolina Panthers Quarterback and last year’s rookie of the year Cam Newton in the finals 52%-48%.  The announcement came earlier today on ESPN’s Sports Nation.

Johnson’s selection is no doubt a result of the Lion’s best season in decades, whcih the WR was a major part of. With 96 receptions, 1,681 yards and  16 touchdowns, the Lions made their return to the playoffs this year, after starting the season 6-0 and taking second place in the NFC North.

New details have also come out regarding the actual content of this year’s game. The big news? Gus Johnson is of course gone following his departure from CBS last year, but this year brings the addition of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, CBS’ premier commentary duo. Though the game will retain Madden’s signature production style, EA Sports looks to have the commentary from Nantz and Sims to be more free-flowing and context sensitive, meaning that the duo will comment on everything from how your season is going to news from around the league.

The team at EA promises that this year, the commentary will feel much more natural, and there won’t be as much dead air since unlike the duo of Chris Collinsworth and Gus Johnson, who never got in a booth together, Nantz and Sims not only did, but they’re old pros at it, and it’s a chemistry that EA hopes will make this year’s Madden a much more realistic one.

Madden NFL 2013 hits stores later this year.

A new report from the Verge  claims that Microsoft will show off a brand new browser based music service aimed to rival the uber-hot music streaming service Spotify at this year’s E3.

Citing unnamed sources, the browser based project, code named Woodstock will allow users across multiple platforms including Xbox, iOS, Andorid and windows phone to share tracks and create group playlists. It will also reportedly also feature a system similar to Match on the iTunes.

Blast will be at this year’s E3 to bring you all of the up to date gaming — and music streaming goodness.

Hey guess what, there’s going to be a new Call of Duty game this year! Okay, so maybe that’s not the biggest surprise in the world, but that won’t stop the world from tuning in on May 1 when the next installment in the long running mega shooter series gets its world wide reveal during the NBA Playoffs on TNT.

While we don’t know exactly what will be revealed, the smart money is on the much rumored Black Ops sequel finally seeing the light of day. The title has been all but confirmed, seeing leaks (including Treyarch employees listing it as a current project) and rumors spread wild over the last few months. It’s a logical choice as well, as traditionally, the series has switched developers between Infinity Ward and Treyarch, and since last year’s game, Modern Warfare 3 was developed by Infinity Ward, Treyarch would be next.

Retailers have also let slip that Black Ops 2 will be the next game in the series, even going as far as to give the game a November release date; which would again stick with tradition, as each of the last few Call of Duty games have been released early in that month.

Looking for something to read while waiting for the announcement? Here’s what we thought of the original Black Ops, and here’s what we said about Modern Warfare 3.

There’s a common misconception that game reviewers love to write about terrible games, that we secretly hope for the games that you’ve put your hard earned money down on will suck so bad that we’d get to mock it viciously. To that effect, I really wanted Bloodforge, the ambitious, gory and stylish new action game for Xbox Live to be great, to set a new standard for what a downloadable title could be, but when I finally got my hands on it — it was anything but.

Bloodforge feels an awful lot like the Kim Kardashian of video games. Sure, it looks great, but once you ask it to do anything worthwhile, you realize just how disappointing it is. The camera? Terrible. The combat? Slow and clunky.  Even those visuals that should sell the game are filled with an unforgivable amount of bugs that make it Bloodforge seem like a shoddy, unfinished version of all the great third-person action games you’ve played in year’s past.

BloodForge tells the story of Crom, a once great warrior that has since thrown down his weapons in favor of a family life. When those pesky gods drag him back in, they trick him into killing his family and Crom gets all pissed off and starts cutting dudes for revenge. Your goal is to slash your way through maniacs, executioners and even the gods themselves to get your vengeance.  It’s a tale seemingly ripped directly from Sony’s God of War series; an obvious inspiration for Bloodforge, but they key difference here is that you’ll find yourself not caring about the story nearly as much as you did in the tale of Kratos. The entire time I was playing Bloodforge, I kept waiting for something to happen — anything, but it never did. The game just seems like a constant stream of enemies that spawn out of nowhere.

It’s very clear early in the game that Bloodforge takes a lot of its cues from the God of War series. Even the controls feel like they were taken from the PS3 exclusive franchise and ported over to the Xbox 360; you’ve got your strong attacks and your weak attacks, and the game even keeps track of your combos in the same manner as the game. What didn’t Climax Group and Microsoft take from Sony Santa Monica? That’s easy, the quality of the combat. I consider God of War III to be one of the most satisfying games combat wise that I’ve ever played — and Bloodforge is the exact opposite. Crom moves slow and clunky, and often gets caught in cumbersome animations that result in taking an excess amount of damage from nearby enemies. Climax Group was even bold enough to take God of War III’s Rage mode and call it Berserker mode, except here it’s just a slightly slowed down version of the game, like bullet time light.

Bloodforge’s camera system doesn’t help the game’s problems at all, as it makes the combat seem even more ineffective. Most comparable to that of Ninja Gaiden III (read the review here), the camera is set too close, so you can never get a good view of the entire battlefield. Even worse, the camera tends to swing around dramatically, and always tends to place itself in a position where you can’t even see the enemies close to you. It’s most frustrating when you’re faced with bosses that charge at your from off camera, before you can fix it, draining the majority of your life meter.

So just what does Bloodforge do right? Visually, it’s an interesting game.  The use of shadows and the inclusion of only a few colors (admittedly, there’s a lot of red for blood in the game) is reminiscent of Sin City, and adds a cool touch to the game. Even the cool visuals though are flawed, as the game is filled with bugs, like the time I was in the middle of a group of enemies and started floating to the top of the screen. I would move the stick to come down, and then I would go back up.  There’s a fair amount of screen tearing throughout the game as well.

The Blast Factor:  Bloodforge had the makings of a great Xbox Live Arcade title, but sadly it’s nothing but an unfinished mess of a game that clearly needed some more time in development. While it’s easy to compare it to games like God of War, the quality in the source material is miles ahead of what Climax Group has done here. Plain and simple — don’t play Bloodforge.

Admit it, there’s tons of stuff on Xbox Live that you want to buy, but you just don’t have enough Microsoft points. Maybe you want Fez, we hear it’s pretty good. Maybe you’re looking to get the newest DLC for Modern Warfare 3. Who knows, maybe you’re even looking to get those long lost Viva Pinata DLC pieces you’ve missed. Whatever — we don’t judge.

Blast is giving away 1600 Microsoft points. Want ‘em? All you’ve got to do is follow us on twitter @BlastMagazine and tweet us with what you’d do with the points. It’s that easy. We’ll randomly choose a winner Monday afternoon sometime. Also, be sure to check back tomorrow for our next Free Game Friday giveaway!

Quick! Everyone think of a sequel but they’re not dying for, but wouldn’t mind. Lost Planet 3? I know right! So yeah, Capcom has officially announced the third game in the frozen survival series. It’s okay, you can shrug your shoulders now.

Perhaps that’s a bit harsh, as the first trailer for the game is anything but business as usual. The game introduces Jim, a rig pilot who takes a lucrative job on E.D.N. III, the snowy planet of the first game. While take a survey of the land and obtaining core samples from the ground, Jim is ambushed by the Akrid, which begins Lost Planet 3 proper.

Lost Planet 3 is due out in early 2013.

Last fall Ryan Patton, the former Creative Director of this year’s Halo 4 shocked the world by unexpectedly stepped away from the project, saying  that “a few years, there came a point where I wasn’t creatively excited about the project anymore.” Patton formed Camoflaj studios quickly after his exit, promising  a first look at the studio’s debut title before long.

Today, we’re getting our first look at that project — Republique, an ambitious looking stealth/survival game for the iPhone and iPad. Payton told IGN that the development team’s goal is to “treat mobile like any other AAA platform.” The game stars Hope, who according to Patton is anything but a Super Heroin;  ”She is non-sexualized; she is not a killer.” Hope is vulnerable, the player is going to have to stir her away from danger more than going towards it.

This is no by the books action title though, the key to Republique is that you don’t actually play as Hope, instead, you play as an anonymous character who controls the world’s camera system, and your job is to divert attention away from the game’s star. Hope does her best to stay hidden, and employs some impressive AI to boot.

Though the original demo was funded by personal savings of Patton and the development team, they’re asking for your help, through Kickstarter to raise the $500,000 needed to make the project.

Here’s a new look at Hawken, one of this year’s biggest and most anticpated titles, straight from the PAX East floor!

Hawken launches this December.

Take a look at some of the more close ranged weapons in Max Payne 3, the long awaited shooter coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC next month!

Also, the original Max Payne will be coming to iOS next week and later this month for Android devices. Also…er..if you’re going to PAX East this week in Boston, the folks at Rockstar Games are giving away some pretty cool gear. Head to their booth to check it out!

If you aren’t paying attention this summer’s Spec Ops: The Line, you should be. The third person shooter developed by YAGER looks to turn heads by involving the player in it’s gripping story by forcing them to make difficult and often inhumane choices. Take a look at the new trailer for the shooter, due out June 26 for PS3, PC and Xbox 360, and look for more on Spec Ops: The Line on Blast!

It’s that time of year again! The snow is melting, the weather is getting warmer and we’re at the beginning of the 2012 Major League Baseball season. This year’s season has a lot of interesting questions going in, how will big name acquisitions like could the Cardinals repeat, how much will Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols help their new ballclubs? Will the Marlin’s move to Miami (complete with stadium right out of Baseball Simulator 2000) pay off? It’s a long season, and we didn’t want to wait, so we took MLB The Show: 2012 for the PS3 and simmed the entire season. We used the current rosters and allowed the game to do it’s thing. The results..were interesting to say the least.

AGAIN — these are not our predictions, just what the game says will happen.

Boston folk rejoice — the Red Sox got out of last year’s chicken and beer induced slump by not only winning the division, but bringing home the best record in baseball at 111-51. They were chased closely all season by those pesky New York Yankees, who put up a 101-61 record, claiming the American League Wildcard spot. Over in the National League, the Cardinals took the best record with 100-62. The Rockies were a HUGE surprise this season, winning the west, and producing an MVP in Carlos Gonzalez. The American League MVP went to Prince Fielder.

The Playoffs became a battleground for the league’s biggest franchises and biggest names. In the American League, Boston beat Detroit in five games in the first round, with the Yankees doing the same to the rangers. That setup another classic matchup between bitter rivals The Yankees and the RedSox for a chance to return to the World Series. It looked like the Yankees would get their revenge for the regular season, winning the first two games, but Boston quickly tied it back up, before losing the next game, and finally clinching their world series birth in game 7.

In the first round for the National League, Arizona stunned the world by eliminating the world champion St. Louis Cardinals in the five games in the first round, meeting the Colorado Rockies, who beat the Phillies in the first round in the championship round. Arizona proved themselves to be the more powerful upstart team as they won a trip to the World Series in six games.

World Series: Boston Red Sox VS Arizona Diamond Backs

This year’s Fall Classic lived up to it’s name, pitting one of the sport’s biggest and most loved franchises, looking for redemption against what can only be described as a Cinderella Story. It looked like that Cinderella Story would go all the way, as the Diamond Backs won the first three games, but the clock struck midnight as in classic  franchise fashion, The Boston Red Sox won their eighth World Series Championship.

According to MLB The Show, Boston should be getting ready for another victory parade.

Check out below for complete standings and awards. What do you think will happen this year? Let us know in the comments below!

National League Standings:

Central:

Cardinals – 100-62

Reds – 85-77

Brewers – 84-78

Pirates  - 71-91

Cubs – 71-91

Astros – 59-103

West:

Rockies  - 96-66

Diamondbacks – 89-73 (wildcard)

Giants – 84-78

Dodgers: – 77 -85

Padres: – 71-91

East

Phillies – 87 -75

Nationals-  82-80

Marlins – 82-80

Mets – 77-85

Braves – 74 -88

American League Standings:

Central:

Tigers – 83-79

Twins – 82-80

White Sox – 78-84

Indians – 78-84

Royals – 72-90

West:

Rangers – 94-68

Angels: 79-83

Mariners – 71-91

Athletics – 68-94

East:

RedSox – 111-51

Yankees 101-61 (wild card)

Rays – 86-76

Orioles 70-92

Blue Jays: 68-94

National League Awards

MVP – Carlos Gonzalez (Rockies)

CY Young – Erik Bedard (Pirates) 18-9 ERA: 1.95 SO: 208

Silver Slugger Award: Carlos Beltran (Cardinals) AVG: .336 HR: 19 RBI: 84

Delivery Man of the Year Award: Rafael Betancourt (Rockies) 53 saves ERA: 3.99 SO: 45

Rookie of the Year: Lance Lynn (Cardinals) 17-5 ERA 3.21 SO 176

Hank Aaron Award: Carlos Beltran (Cardinals) AVG: .336 HR: 19 RBI: 84

Golden Glove: Adam Wainwright (Cardinals), Hunter Pence (Phillies), Mike Cameron (Nationals) Chris Heisey (Reds), Jimmy Rollins (Phillies), Scott Rolen (reds), Chase Utley (Phillies), Gabby Sanchez (Marlins), David Ross (Braves)

American League Awards

MVP: Prince Fielder (Tigers) AVG: .289 HR: 43 RBI: 132

Cy Young: John Lackey (Red Sox) 19-2 ERA: 3.37 So: 158

Silver Slugger: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) AVG: .344 HR: 33 RBI: 108

Delivery Man of the Year: Andrew Bailey (Red Sox) SV: 52 ERA: 2.35 So: 40

Rookie of the Year: Jesus Montero (Mariners) AVG: .266 HR: 16 RBI: 66

Hank Aaron Award: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) AVG: .344 HR: 33 RBI: 108

Golden Glove: Jesse Litsch (Blue Jays), Taylor Teagarden (Orioles), Adrian Gonzalez (Red Sox), Dustin Pedroia (Red Sox), Brandon Inge (Tigers), Omar Vizquel (Blue Jays), Sam Fuld (Rays), Curtis Granderson (Yankees), Nick Markakis (Orioles)

Those of you who have been spending your time (read: days) wandering Skyrim looking for new quests while you wait for new content to hit one of the biggest games of last year take note — it’s coming…very soon.

Pete Hines from Bethesda tweeted today that “Some things coming down the road in April for all you Rage and Skyrim fans. April is gonna have some cool news and surprises. Stay tuned.”

The announcement is likely in reference to the game’s long awaited DLC. Stick with Blast for more info as it becomes available.

We’ve seen a number of teasers and trailers for next month’s superhero team-up Blockbuster The Avengers, but we’re now finally getting our first full clip from the film — and it’s a doozy.  Check out Scarlett Johansson, as The Black Widow, busting out of captivity and kicking some bad guy ass.

The Avengers hits theaters nationwide May 4.

You’re running late.  You need directions and your boss is calling you. You fumble through your pockets and pull out your phone, waiting for it load
everything you have to do. It’s really a hassle when you think about it. It’s also a hassle that Google is looking to make a thing of the past.

Today, the internet giant announced Project Glass, a revolutionary new eye-wear system that looks to blend your world, with the social and online experiences you already use like chat, maps and social media. Confused? Check out the announcement video:

Looks pretty cool right? Don’t get too excited, Google warns that the system is nowhere near ready for release, and is still in a very early development stage, noting that the video is just conceptual. “A group of us from Google[x] started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment,” the official Google Labs page stated. “We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input. So we took a few design photos to show what this technology could look like and created a video to demonstrate what it might enable you to do.”

Nick Bilton of the New York Times reported that even the actual hardware is still in development, and there are several versions of Project Glass currently being tested at Google HQ.

Want to help shape the future of Project Glass? Google is looking for feedback here

By now you’ve probably heard all about Kinect Star Wars. You’ve heard about the delays, the Rancor..the dancing. You’ve probably also heard about how nearly everyone who’s played it has been worried that it’s going to disappoint anyone with a love for one of the world’s most beloved franchises. It can’t be that bad can it?

Yes. Yes it can

The sad news is that Kinect Star Wars is just as unimpressive as you feared it would be; in fact, it’s pretty bad. There are some wonderfully entertaining moments here, but they’re far outnumbered by frustrating control issues, terrible gameplay choices and uninspiring campaign moments. Star Wars and Kinect seem made for each other, but sadly it just plain doesn’t work.

I’ll admit that when I first popped in Kinect Star Wars, I was hopeful, Terminal Reality and Lucas Arts appeared to have found a comfortable place to tell a new story, while still fitting in with the franchise’s cannon. The game opens with C-3PO and R2D2 telling the player that Luke Skywalker has charged them with reorganizing the Jedi Library, and they find the lost story of a young Jedi master and her padawan trainees. For what it’s worth, the game does a fairly decent job leading you through the tutorial levels and into the main story.

The problem though is that the game does little to create an identity of its own and relies on new versions of your favorite (and not so favorite) Star Wars moments to fill its content and presents them as its own. Like the speeder bike chase from Return of the Jedi? It’s here…sort of. Same thing goes for the second death star attack and a few other key Star Wars moments.With all of this, you’d think Star Wars Kinect was aimed at Star Wars fans who grew up with the original trilogy, but the game is clearly made for the Clone Wars generation; awkward sounding CGI looking Yoda and all.

None of this matters though if Kinect Star Wars did what we all hoped it would, make us feel like a Jedi. You know, let us swing a lightsaber or two, force choke a few guys and perform a Jedi mind trick along the way. Instead, we get the frustration of feeling like Star Wars kid.  The vehicle sections perform well enough, but it’s the on foot sections that cause the majority of the problems. Your lightsaber is mapped to your right hand, while force powers are mapped to your right. Sounds simple enough right? Somehow Kinect Star Wars still manages to screw up your inputs all too often. Want to jump? Be prepared to dodge — right into that ditch. You may have wanted to swing your lightsaber at your opponent’s head, but the game knows that you really wanted to swing low…right where they’re blocking. Worse yet, none of the force powers feel even close to as rewarding as they should be.

What you’ll likely find most annoying about Kinect Star Wars is just how much it takes control away from the player. We’ve seen Kinect games like the Gunstringer handle on rails sections brilliantly, but Lucas Arts and Terminal Reality are insistent on not just showing the players how the game works — but taking their hand and almost walking them through it at every step. You’ll clear one section..then go through a mini movie..repeat ad nauseum and you have what the majority of the game feels like.

From a presentation standpoint, Kinect Star Wars feels incredibly unfinished more often than not. There are times when the game looks great…but there’s even more times when the characters animate funky, the frame rate drops and pieces of art just plain old disappear. We know that Kinect Star Wars was delayed more than once for polish..why didn’t they finish it?

So, let’s talk about those dancing scenes, shall we? For those who aren’t aware, the game not only features several dancing scenes, but also allows you to control some of your favorite characters, like Han Solo and Boba Fett to dance as well. Now I was ready to start out this review by completely going off about it — but you know what, they’re some of the game’s most fun moments. Yes, it’s weird to see these badass characters that I love dancing, but if you can get past that and let things go..it’s not all that bad.

The Blast Factor: It’s gotten to the point in recent years that it’s tough to take Star Wars seriously, and that actually helps Kinect Star Wars, as it’s similarly hard to take the game seriously. Yes, there are some enjoyable moments here — but they’re far outnumbered by the under-performing mechanics, shoddy presentation and missed opportunities. For all of you who have been waiting to feel like a Jedi — keep dreaming.

This Sunday, WWE takes over Miami for the biggest show of the year; the grandest stage of them all, the showcase of the imortals — Wrestlemania 28. The mega match on the card features the world famous Rock against current WWE Journeyman and rising star John Cena. There’s also a Hell in the Cell match with HHH taking on the Undertaker and CM Punk defending his WWE Championship against Chris Jericho among others.

But why wait for Sunday? Blast took the latest WWE game, WWE 12 (reviewed here), and simmed the entire card.  We had to be creative with some of the matches, but thanks to the the cool Community Creations feature, we were able to fill in a lot of the gaps.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Daniel Bryan (C) VS Sheamus

When mid card mainstay Sheamus won the Royal Rumble, it left a lot of people scratching their heads, but alas — he’s in the main event, taking on surprise World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan in the biggest show of the year.

So how did the match go? Pretty much how you’d expect. On a few different occasions, it looked like Bryan had the Pale Wonder beat by locking in his finisher — the Labell lock, but each time, Sheamus was able to break free.  After the second time, Sheamus seemed to have gotten his second win and nailed Bryan with a Brogue kick to get the win, and the championship.

Randy Orton VS Kane

So here comes a bit of a tangent. This match reminds me of why I stopped watching Wrestling for a bit. Why are these two fighting? It’s like someone over at Titan Towers said to themselves — “Crap! Kane and Orton aren’t in matches! What do we do?” Wrestlemania has always been the night where huge matches happen, and to be fair, the card has a few of them — but this seems like the main event for a Judgement Day Pay per View. Why not have Kane take on Zack Ryder, like they’ve been promoting for months now?

But I digress.

This was one of the most physical matches on the card, and both men sacrificed their own bodies for the match. Orton hit two RKO’s, even one through the announce table, but Kane was still able to kick out. Similarly, Kane was able to hit the chokeslam on two different occasions, but the Viper persevered. Three seemed to be too much for Orton though, as he missed with the Punt, and was caught by the Issac Yankem, The Christmas Monster, Fake Diesel, Big Red Machine, who hit a final Chokeslam, and got the win.

Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos VS Eve and Beth Phoenix

Yep. That’s Maria Menounos, from TV’s Extra and some other shows I don’t watch. Apparently she’s a huge WWE fan, and thus will be hitting the ring this weekend. I guess the whole thing started when Menounos had two other Divas besides Eve and Phoenix on her show.  Go Figure.

In the battle of the perfectly timed beer run, Menounos (via creation station) hits power splash off the top rope (no really) for the win.

Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes (C) VS The Big Show

This one is sort of like Orton VS Kane match, it feels like they’re fighting because they had nothing else to do. I’m a big believer in Cody Rhodes and his ability to be one of the company’s top stars, and it feels like he could be doing so much more at the biggest show of the year.  There were rumors that he would be taking on real life brother Golddust, but I would love to see him and former partner Ted Debiase Jr. put on a coming out party with one hell of a match.

As the story goes, Rhodes has been taunting Big Show about his terrible Wrestlemania record for weeks, and that seemed to have angered the big man, as he man handled the dashing one, Show finished off Rhodes with a big right hand to claim the Intercontinental Championship and the win.

Team Johnny VS Team Teddy

Let’s face it — the brand split isn’t working. There’s two shows, and supposedly two different brands, but each show has wrestlers from both..it just gets confusing. Hopefully, this match, which pits teams the General Managers from both shows put together against each other, with the winner getting control of both shows is a springboard for the company to finally end this failed experiment.

Since WWE 12 won’t allow 12 man tags, we had to do singles matches in a tournament style setting to figure out the winner of this one. It came down to Santino Marella from Team Teddy and Dolph Ziggler from Team Johnny, but sadly there would be no Cobra today – Dolph Ziggler pinned Santino to give control of Raw and Smackdown to John Lauranitis.

WWE Champsionship  CM Punk (C) VS Chris Jericho

When this match was hinted at, I was excited. Here were two of my favorite wrestlers — I had even seen Punk on several occasions as an Indie wrestler going tow to toe for the biggest prize on the biggest show, and that’s all they needed.

Then WWE started with the wonderful storylines they’re known for. See, CM Punk is Straightedge, he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t do drugs. So what does Jericho do? Why he uncovers facts about Punk’s past to get in his head. Punk’s dad was a drunk! Punk’s sister did drugs. ..

Groan.

The talent of these two men speaks for themselves, and it did in this match, as the two stars put on one hell of a show. In desperation though, Jericho’s experience won out, as Y2J hit a powerbomb on Punk for the win and the championship.

Hell In A Cell: The Undertaker VS HHH (with special guest referee Shawn Michaels)

A lot of people were upset that there was no Money in the Bank match at this year’s show — so how does WWE compensate? How about putting three of the biggest stars of the last 20 years in a cell together. Sound good? Great.

This match is really three years in the making, resulting in HHH and HBK being unable to put an end to the Deadman’s 19-0 streak at Wresltlemania. The booking on this one is actually pretty cool, and these two should put on a great show, and the added factor of HBK being referee only makes things more interesting.

So we couldn’t have HBK as a special guest referee, but despite that, this match did not disappoint, and they had one of those classic matches you don’t forget very often. They broke the cage, they broke tables, they nearly broke each other; but in the end — Taker was able to keep his streak alive, giving HHH the last ride to get the win.

John Cena VS The Rock

After one year of talk, after some of the most unique promos and chants, the Rock and Cena finally get together in the ring this Sunday.  The Rock is in his hometown of Miami, so the cheers for his were even more deafening, but Cena would not be denied.

In a back and forth match, that saw plenty of near falls and epic moments, Cena hit the five knuckle shuffle, and then an Attitue Adjustment to the mixed reaction of the crowd for the win.

 That’s it! Who do you think will win this weekend! Let us know in the comments below!

Maybe it’s my love for Back to the Future, but I’ve always liked the idea of going back and changing things, or seeing a different side of the story. That’s what immediately drew me to Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City; the game that puts in the middle of the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3 and gives you the chance to play them from a different perspective. Early on in the playthrough though, I only wanted to go back and change one thing — the fact that I had to play this game. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is nothing but a failure. Its mechanics are broken, it’s heartless and there are almost no redeeming qualities about it. In a case of life imitating art; Operation Raccoon City often feels like the soulless, brainless horde it pits you against.

It didn’t have to be that way though — Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is built on some truly great ideas. The game takes place during the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3, but from a completely new perspective. Your job as an agent is to expose the truth about the outbreak plaguing the city, but as an employee of the Umbrella Corporation, you’re goal is to cover up the trail that leads back to your employer, by any means necessary. It’s an interesting plot, and one that reunites you with some of the series’ biggest names, and asks you to make some pretty bold choices. At least…that’s what it should have done.

ORC is void of literally any unique plot twists or feeling in general. Here’s a game that literally had its plot written for it, and all the developers had to do was write a few twists that would resonate with their already established fanbase. Playing through ORC often feels like walking through a carnival haunted house — you know deep down that you should be feeling something, but you just can’t bring yourself to care enough. Towards the end of the game, you’ll be given a few choices as to just how the game will end, and they’re endings that have dramatic effects on how the Resident Evil series would play out, but by that point in the game I was so uninterested in what was going on that I couldn’t care less if everyone suddenly died. But hey, at least the shooting is good right? Right?!

God no.

There’s no other way to describe ORC other than calling it broken. Nearly every aspect is a mess, and doesn’t work anywhere near where it should be. Take the aiming for example; it’s either way to loose or way too slow, and you’re never really sure which one it will be. There’s also no real consistency in just what it takes to down an enemy at any given time. Took out an enemy easily in the last section? Don’t count on it in the next — hell, you may have to empty an entire clip into the same enemy type — and no, it’s not a tougher version of the same enemy, it’s just that uneven of a game.

The worst part though is easily the horrid AI throughout the entire game. Enemies will literally jump in front of your squad and move around wildly, then run in a random direction. They’ll also go out of their way to get shot by your ammo for some reason. Your squadmates aren’t much better either — they’re completely unaware of their surroundings, and will do everything from run into mines, to continuously try to run into the next room..through the wall of the room you’re in now. The first rule of a squad based shooter? You damn well better be able to tolerate the squad you’re with; but ORC often feels like a Disney movie about the world’s worst soldiers, except it’s not funny, and you’re going to have to deal with them the entire time.

The game gets a bit more enjoyable when you’re playing with real live friends, since you won’t have to deal with as bad of AI, and there’s some interesting multiplayer modes that allow you to play as some of the biggest names in the franchise, but the only real enjoyment you’ll have with ORC is when you’ve ingested a ton of alcohol with your buddies, and you Mystery Science Theatre the hell out of it.

The Blast Factor: What could have been a cool offshoot story in a long established universe is nothing more than a weak attempt to wring every last dollar out of an established franchise and its fan base. As a horror game, it’s weak. As a shooter, it’s broken — and as a Resident Evil game it’s just downright embarrassing. There’s literally no reason to play this game.

Blast Magazine is giving away one  PC boxed copy of the highly addictive and fun MMO World of Tanks. Want to win? All you’ve got to do is follow Blast Magazine on twitter @BlastMagazine, and tell us what you would do with a tank for a day.  

One random winner will be selected one week from today — next week Wednesday, April 3.

Good Luck!

EA Sports should take it as nothing short of divine intervention that mere hours before the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, the game’s much embattled cover boy won his first tournament in years; guaranteeing that  he, and thus the game will be on every news cast, sports show and gossip monger’s lips for weeks to come. Truth be told though, the game didn’t need the extra stroke of publicity luck; unlike Woods himself, his golf series has been a long standing benchmark not just in golf games (slim pickings there), but in sports games in general. Sure, if you’re an every year player, the changes may not seem that revolutionary, but the amount of detail and depth found in this year’s Tiger title makes this a must play — for most people.

The biggest addition to this year’s game is the new Total Swing Control system, which adds an incredible amount of depth to the game. You’ll still tee off with the right thumbstick, but now, speed, tempo and control are all taken into account, and actual talent comes into play. It took me quite a few times to adjust to the new control scheme, but after while, it becomes very natural and fluent. Total Swing allows for a lot of strategy, and perfecting is means dropping shots just where you want them, while struggling with it means hooking shots and bending a ton of clubs.

PGA Tour 13 also gives players freedom over just where they hit the ball, adding even more depth to an already stellar experience. Need some height? Aim your shot for the bottom of the ball. Need a line drive for distance? Aim for the middle. This combined with the Total Swing Control System makes for an incredibly deep, system that’s still fun to learn. One could make the case that it’s almost too deep, that it requires an abnormal amount of skill, that its akin to actually being skilled at the game, but PGA 13 does a great job easing you in to its more depth features in a way that it never seems like it’s too much at one time. Everything you’re doing feels like the next logical progression of what you did before it. Does that mean I was any good at it? As in my real golf game — god no.

On top of that, PGA Tour 13 does a great job taking control for players who aren’t quite catching on. Using the caddy system, you’re able have the game line up your shots, select your clubs and do just about everything from take the shot for you. The team at EA Sports has done a remarkable job taking a deep gameplay system and making it accessible for all types of gamers. Is this Hot Shots Golf accessible? No, but it’s still a big step and it will make the game playable by a lot more people.

The game also features full motion support for both platforms, and while Move support has been around for the last few years, this is the first time Kinect is fully supported by the title. It’s functional enough, and the first few times, it’s really cool to swing in real life, but it gets old, especially when you take into account how twitchy it can be. The voice control works well, I was able to change clubs on the fly and was able to ask my caddie for assistance — and it was very responsive. Just take one piece of advice for me — don’t try to use Kinect to navigate the game’s menu system. Tiger Woods always seemed like one of the most natural fits for the peripheral, and it’s good to see it implemented, even if it doesn’t always work as it should.

PGA Tour 13 is easily the best looking of the series thus far as everything looks phenomenal. As a yearly Madden player (go ahead — flame), I found myself getting jealous at how good some of the players looked in the game. How come Tiger Looks so much like Tiger, but we get an Aaron Rodgers that looks like a whacked out freak? That doesn’t compare to the courses though, which are filled with sweeping vistas and remarkable lighting effects.

Unfortunately, the new modes available in PGA tour 13 are less than stellar. There’s the Legacy Mode, which finds you recreating the career milestones of the game’s coverboy, and is very underwhelming and oddly uneven. Why am I sinking a putt on national TV before I even practice in my dad’s backyard? There aren’t any real “money moments” that are worth writing about, and my guess is that the legacy mode will be a last ditch effort for most of the game’s core players. The online suite also allows players to create their own country clubs, which will appeal to those who really enjoy the experience, but it will be lost on those who don’t. Plus, you can’t create Bushwood authentically — I tried.

The Blast Factor: Like any good golfer, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 capitalizes on its errors and accounts for them to create a complete game. It’s deep, yet accessible. It takes skill, but never loses it’s fun.  Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 is easily the best of a remarkable series. It may not be a hole in one, but its a solid birdey.

Call of Duty Creative Strategist and Infinity Ward lead Robert Bowling has announced via his Twitter that he will be leaving the studio and Activision as a whole. ”Today, I resign from my position as Creative Strategist of Call of Duty, as a lead of Infinity Ward, and as an employee of Activision,” Bowling wrote earlier this morning.

Bowling has been a long time employee of Activision and Infinity Ward, serving as the studio’s community manager and more recently, has been the figurehead for recent game launches, playing an integral part in several launches and media events.

Though Activision has not announced a replacement for Bowling, they offered kind words via this written statement; “We sincerely thank Robert for his many years of service. He’s been a trusted and valued member of the Infinity Ward team. We wish him all the best on his decision to pursue future opportunities.”  Infinity Ward offered similar sentiments, tweeting that they “wish Robert all the best.”

Bowling has not announced his future plans and no — we don’t know if he’ll join former Infinity Wards heads Jason West and Vince Zampella at Respawn Entertainment.