In 1997, 50s and 60s pop singer Pat Boone released In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, an album of Heavy Metal covers. A far cry from the crooner’s normal work, the album, complete with Boone in choke collar looking menacing was an obvious final cry for popularity, so Boone could enjoy one last shot at popularity with a younger crowd.

Warrior’s of Rock, the latest iteration of the long running Guitar Hero franchise is much like Boone’s metal album; an obvious attempt to stay relevant amidst a changing cultural landscape. Yes, the franchise was once the biggest franchise in gaming, but it’s clear that over five years since its debut, the franchise is in dire need of a reboot.

Perhaps the worst part about Warriors of Rock is that it showed potential to advance the series, but only manages to show the franchise’s age even more.  The game’s main draw is in its new Quest mode, which puts you in control of one of eight characters (All but two of the characters return from previous installments) looking to unlock their true warrior potential. Just how do they do that you ask –apparently by recovering a mysterious powerful guitar that in turn revives the demi-God of Rock as voiced by Gene Simmons of Kiss fame. The mode is filled with campy metal themed visuals and you can’t help but think that Activision finally realized they should have published Brutal Legend in the first place.

Story aside, how you really progress through the game’s quest mode is by doing exactly what you’ve done in previous Guitar Hero games, playing your instrument of choice through enough songs to complete each chapter, move on…repeat. There are a few kinks thrown in to put a few blurbs on the back of the box, like the boss battles, special powers and a seemingly random rendition of Rush’s 2112, but they do little to add to, or detract from the Guitar Hero formula, it just is.

Warrior’s of Rock’s track list harkens back to the older days of the series with a more hard rock flavored repertoire. Look, it’s not that I’m dogging playing some of the mainstream and poppy acts of recent editions of the game, they just weren’t as fun to play. Still though, the set list isn’t without its fair share of problems though, chief among them that the game splits up the list by character this time, which in turn breaks up the track list by genre. Don’t like death metal? You’re going to hate an entire section of the game. The same goes for merely every genre of rock. At least when the songs were divided up by difficulty you could lay claim to at least liking one of the songs in a section.

While playing through Warrior’s of Rock’s set list, you can’t help but get the feeling that the developers seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to track selection. Terrible live versions of ZZ Top songs covered by Metallica? No thanks. Especially not when the original song was in one of the previous games and was so fun to play. It’s almost as if the developers were hoping that gamers would rekindle their love for these classic set list hits in order to look over how boring these versions are to play.

Much of Warrior’s of Rock feels like a stretch to appeal to someone…anyone. In the process though, the developers throw so many rock clich©s and standards in that the game loses any sense of identity. As mentioned above, the quest mode is narrated by Gene Simmons (along with a bit from RUSH) but there’s a segment where you play through such historic punk venues as CBGB and OMFUG. Yes, I get the cultural importance of the venues to the world of rock music, but it just doesn’t fit here in a game filled with heavy rock and big budget shows. It feels much like a loud cry from the developers to stay relevant. It’s the video game equivalent of your parents suddenly showing up in a Ramones t-shirt so you’d still think they were cool.

The new guitar for Warrior’s of Rock is just as reliable as you’d expect a plastic peripheral to be, but here — the sides split off to form…an actual axe. It’s a cool ascetic, but it’s just that, and serves literally no valuable in game purpose. Curiously enough, the guitar features no touch pad, as made famous in Guitar Hero: World Tour, though several of the songs feature sequences built specifically for it. It almost makes players use older guitars when playing the game if they’re available.

Guitar Hero made its debut in the Fall of 2005, and has since seen more than 13 different iterations and spin-offs — that’s more than two different games every year. Once the most important game to the video game industry, the series has become stagnant and needs an obvious reimagining. My advice to Activision? Take a step back, take a year or two off without releasing a Guitar Hero game because it’s games like this that remind us why Rock Band is so good.

Update: EA has  indicated the previously announced announcement will not be taking place.

The news surrounding the recent and very public falling out between Activision and Infinity Ward has died down slightly, but will get an infusion during E3 next week. You may remember that IW studio heads Jason Ward and Vince Zampella were ushered out of their offices in March by Activision heavies amid accusations of breach of contract and insubordination. The story culminated in numerous lawsuits. Initially, Ward and Zampella sued Activision for breach of contract, at which point Activision counter-sued. This was followed by a mass exodus of IW talent to the pair’s new studio, Respawn Entertainment, and a second lawsuit against Activision filed by 38 current and former IW employees based on essentially the same complaints levied by the ex-studio heads.

According to the pair’s Facebook page, we can expect something serious at E3. Since the studio is brand new, there is likely no game to be shown, but expect something big none the less. Color me excited.

Source: G4

It’s one thing to get sued by 2 people you fired. It is quite another to get sued by almost 40 former and current employees all claiming that you bilked them out of the royalties from the biggest (and arguably best) game of last year. But that is exactly what happened yesterday in LA Superior Court when 40% of the crew behind MW2 sued Activision for between $75 and $125 million in unpaid royalties and potentially more in compensatory damages.

Of the 38 plaintiffs in the new lawsuit, 17 still work for IW/Activision. The suit reads, “Activision engaged in this inappropriate course of conduct in an attempt to force employees of Infinity Ward to continue to work at a job that many of them did not want just so Activision could force them to complete the development, production and delivery of Modern Warfare 3.” It claims Activision owes Infinity Ward employees a bonus pool of at least $118 million, of which $82 million is supposed to go to employees other than West and Zampella. It also claims that Activision told IW employees that they would have received bonuses that were 2.5 times higher than they did on March 26th, had studio leads West and Zampella not been fired.

This all being said, Infinity Ward should prove a very interesting office environment as proceedings move forward.

Regardless of whose side you are on in this crazy Call-of-Duty soap opera – or even if you don’t care – you have to admit that the news is pretty megaton boom-boom. The implications from what takes place in these cases will reverberate throughout the industry for years to come.

Because the new suit is based on many of the same claims West and Zampella filed previously, the lawyer for the 38 asked that the two cases be combined.

Here is the unsurprising response to the news from Activision:

“Activision believes the action is without merit,” a company spokesman said in response to the suit. “Activision retains the discretion to determine the amount and the schedule of bonus payments for [Modern Warfare 2] and has acted consistent with its rights and the law at all times. We look forward to getting judicial confirmation that our position is right.”

Source: LA Times

It was a big day in Infinity Ward resignations yesterday. Following news earlier this week that seven ex-Infinity Ward staffers had joined ousted studio leads Jason West and Vince Zampella’s new studio Respawn Entertainment, G4 now reports that seven more IW staffers resigned yesterday. This is the largest number of employees to leave the company in a single day since the scandal originally broke in March.

No word yet if these latest departures will follow suit and sign with Respawn, but I think the writing is on the wall at this point for IW and Activision. Although Activision is the world’s biggest publisher and they have vast resources from which to fill the gaps left behind by vacating IW-ers, there are very few left out there who believe that this mass-exodus of top talent from one of the world’s best developers will not translate into declines in quality for forthcoming IW projects.

Source: G4

Bobby Kotick snapped during a happier moment...

BlizzCon 2009 is officially happening.‚  The fourth annual convention for all things Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center, August 21^st and 22^nd.

This year’s BlizzCon will be bigger and better than ever before.‚  Due to a high forecast of attendees, floor space will expand from three convention halls to four.‚  That’s an entire extra hall for you and your raiding pals to soak in Blizzard’s latest offerings.

Blizzard has been known to keep secrets, but when they’re ready to divulge, BlizzCon is usually where it happens.‚  Who knows, maybe we’ll finally get a glimpse at the World of Warcraft movie fanboys have been screaming for, or perhaps, their next non-World of Warcraft MMO.‚  One thing is for sure, whatever coveted secret Blizzard decides to unveil will blow our minds.

Mike Morhaime, CEO and founder of Blizzard Entertainment says,

“We’ve been amazed by the incredible response to each of our previous BlizzCon events,” and that‚  “We’re pleased to be bringing the convention back to Anaheim this year, and we look forward to this new opportunity to meet Blizzard gamers from around the world.”

And why shouldn’t he be. ‚ With hands on time with pre-release titles, discussion panels with Blizzard developers, competitive and casual tournaments for attendees, great prizes, commemorative merchandise based on the Blizzard universe, and a silent auction, this year’s BlizzCon looks to be aiming for new heights.

Keep an eye on the BlizzCon 2009 official site for further details regarding ticket availability and pricing.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft^(R) and the Warcraft^(R), StarCraft^(R), and Diablo^(R) series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes eleven #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Battle.net^(R), is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Blizzard Entertainment generally uses words such as “outlook,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “remains,” “to be,” “plans,” “believes,” “may,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “estimate,” future,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “project,” “remain,” “scheduled,” “set to,” “subject to,” “upcoming” and similar expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales levels of Blizzard Entertainment’s titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Blizzard Entertainment’s ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Blizzard Entertainment’s products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Blizzard Entertainment, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard’s success in integrating the operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated, and the other factors identified in Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.