In the trailer we see why Reach’s multiplayer will be superior to Halo 3’s in every way. Larger scaled environments, new, exciting and powerful weapons, a variety of gameplay modes, including Invasion and Headhunter, something called “Active Roster,” an Elites vs. Spartans mode (thank you!!) as well as, wait for it…jetpacks!

Call out what you see in the comments below and play the multiplayer beta for Halo: Reach May 3.

A statement from Bungie’s creative director Marcus Lehto read:

“On another note, I hope you all like the MP bomb we’re about to drop on the world in about a day.”‘

He said that yesterday evening, leading us to believe “about a day” means sometime before this evening.

We’re expecting the “bomb” to be something significant and hopefully in video form. Bungie has told us persistent perks like sprinting will be in the game, but we’ve yet to see it in action. Maybe a video depicting new multiplayer features?

When Bungie releases it, we’ll post it. Stay tuned.

The game, set to release April 17, will come with a fully fleshed-out cooperative experience, which Ubisoft promises will employ the same mighty stealth action found in the single-player.

Deniable Ops is comprised of a series of game modes which task the gamer with performing everything from defending an EMP to taking out enemies with stealth. Persistent Elite Creation is how players will be rewarded for their hard work as the game progresses.

The game, as its name implies, is a multiplayer-based handheld game set in Renaissance Italy. You’ll play against other like-minded assassins and attempt to kill each other while blending in with civilians, who, as the game teaches us, get all up in a frenzy when you cut someones throat or stab a lady in the chest.

Assassin's Creed II Multiplayer

As if the surprise arrival weren’t enough, Ubisoft made the game available for free instead of the speculated $2.99. The deal runs for the next 48 hours, so waiting on this one is not a good idea.

Source: Kotaku

You will play the beta.

According to Brian Jarrard of Bungie, Halo 3’s multiplayer beta amassed a participation of only about 800,000.

The difference this time around is that the Halo: Reach beta is available to those with a copy of Halo 3: ODST, which Jarrard estimates to be close to 2 million, with many more buying in when the May date gets closer.

In an interview with Kotaku, Jarrard  said the multiplayer beta will feature a “handful of maps, a variety of gametypes – both new and old – and a nice subset of armor abilities.”

We already know one of the multiplayer maps and some of the new abilities, but man oh man am I excited for May.

Source: Kotaku

Below is a launch trailer for the co-op bro-fest as well as a video detailing the game’s multiplayer modes.

A review for the game will be posted in the next 24 hours. Look for it!

“The 2010-11 fiscal year will see a greater number of franchise releases than fiscal year 2009-10, including Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, a new game in the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series, Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands, Driver, Raving Rabbids 4 and a new episode of Assassin’s Creed, which will be the first in the series to have an online multiplayer mode,” the statement reads.

We have no idea what this new “episode” is, but gaming mega-site IGN reached out to Ubisoft and received word that the title is not and expansion to Assassin’s Creed II and is in fact a brand new Assassin’s game, set directly after A2 that will feature, when it releases in 2011, online multiplayer, in one form or another.

Source: IGN

The list comes from an unofficial Modern Warfare 2 blog, MW2blog, and Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward community manager Tweeted “Can’t confirm nor deny any leaks for #MW2. Official stance is to just wait and discover the awesome yourself on November 10th.”

So, to me, that sounds like this a genuine list, but of course, we won’t know for sure until next Tuesday!

Marathon (Tier 1)
Standard: Unlimited Sprint
Pro: Get over obstacles faster

Sleight of Hand (Tier 1)
Standard: Faster reload
Pro: Aim down sights faster

Scavenger (Tier 1)
Standard: Retrieve ammo from dead bodies

Bling (Tier 1)
Standard: Dual attachments on primary weapon
Pro: Dual attachments on secondary weapon

One Man Army (Tier 1)
Standard: Use primary weapon in secondary slot

Stopping Power (Tier 2)
Standard: Increased bullet damage
Pro: Increased bullet damage to vehicles

Lightweight (Tier 2)
Standard: Move faster

Hardline (Tier 2)
Standard: Killstreaks rewards require 1 less kill
Pro: Deathstreaks require 1 less death

Cold Blooded (Tier 2)
Standard: Undetectable by UAV, air support, sentries, and thermal

Danger Close (Tier 2)
Standard: Increases explosive weapons damage

Commando (Tier 3)
Standard: Increased melee distance

Increased melee speed Steady Aim (Tier 3)
Standard: Increased hip-fire accuracy

Scrambler (Tier 3)
Standard: Jams enemy radar

Ninja (Tier 3)
Standard: Invisible to heartbeat sensors
Pro: Move silently

SitRep (Tier 3)
Standard: Insertions. Reveals enemy explosives and Tactical Insertions

Last Stand (Tier 3)
Standard: Survive after being killed for 10 second, pistol equipt. You can crawl too

Source: MW2Blog via Kotaku

All the statistics are quite staggering, but one that stands out is certainly the fact that gamers have already played it collectively for the equivalent of 9,905 days or over 27 years!

Another mind-blowing accomplishment? Of the game’s 34 Metacritic scores, 17 of them have been perfect, with the others clocking in at over 90%.

Total Number of games played – 1,217,424
Total Number of Kills – 92,110,787
Total Number of Treasures Captured – 1,860,645
Total Amount of Money Earned – $38,841,367,350
Total Time Played – 9,905 days (or 27+ years)

We’ll have a review for you soon, but for now, keep on keepin’ on with that demo!

The demo, which clocks in at just under 1.3GB, houses 4 multiplayer environments, four competitive modes, and two co-op missions. What does this mean for you? If you got into the previous multiplayer demo, the one given to you for your “Infamous” purchase, you’ll definitely want to download this one. And if you’re a total Uncharted 2 virgin, this demo is so hot sticky sweet that you’d be crazy to miss it.

Also included in the demo is Cinema Mode. Much like Halo’s “Theater,” Cinema allows you to watch and share match highlights, perfect for creating montages and such.

So fire up your PS3 and jump into the PlayStation Store to start the fun!

The first BioShock had no multiplayer component, only a glorious single-player campaign, and no one knocked title for that decision. However, Bioshock 2 does multiplayer, and from the looks of this video…..you finish that sentence.

Bioshock 2 is due out on Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime in 2010.

The game is under development by Splash Damage, the studio behind the Enemy Territory games.

Brink has RPG elements that require you to build up your player from the clothing and gear he wears to the missions he decides to go on, to which side of a civil war he chooses to fight for.

You’re on a man made city called Ark — a complex of hundreds of islands seen as the last visage of hope for humanity. It was originally one of those “Bio-Dome” green habitats until Earth’s oceans started to rise, making the Ark a refuge instead of a paradise. After 25 uneasy years, the residents of the Ark reached their breaking point. War breaks out.

The game has beautifully stylized visual elements and scenery. It also has an interesting control scheme with a “smart button” that lets you target a ledge or point on the map that your character will vault, leap, climb or fall to automatically. The game understands where you’re trying to go and interacts with the environment around you.

The game is set for a Spring 2010 release, and it wasn’t playable at E3 this year. Though, the demo we were shown looks wonderful.

Blast did get to sit down with the game’s Creative Director, Splash Damage’s Richard Ham. Ham is a powerful name in video games. He invented Syphon Filter and just finished a stint with Microsoft working on Fable II. Ham told us there’s a message behind Brink and other types of post-apocalyptic games, as video game developers, like movie directors and television producers, engage in social commentary with their mediums.

BLAST: What do you hope to add to this project? What’s your vision for Brink?

Richard Ham: When I actually went in to interview with Splash Damage I was actually a little bit nervous thinking “gosh I don’t really have a lot of multiplayer shooter experience.” I mean Syphon 2 had a little bit of a deathmatch game, and that was kind of nice. Fable has a little bit but not very much, and Paul (Wedgwood), the owner, said “that’s perfect. That’s exactly what we want because I’ve got a whole team full of guys who have been doing nothing for the last decade but make kick ass multiplayer shooters and that’s what they’ll continue to do.”

But now that they’re moving over to console, they really do want to kind of bridge a gap, and what I tend to think we’re actually going to accomplish here bringing all this together is with Brink I tend to think it’s almost a gateway drug in that players like me who traditionally don’t play a lot of online shooters — I mean, I love Call of Duty. I play them all, but I get to the end of the story, and then I shelve it, and I never go online because “that’s a dangerous place” it’s a nasty place and it’s a real shame, because for all these years I’ve been missing out on these great experiences. So a big, big push for Brink is creating a great multiplayer experience, but then making it open and accessible so players who would have thought twice about going online actually have a reason to and will find that “wow we’ve really been missing out.”

BLAST What design elements did you immediately want to bring to Brink?

RH: Probably the number one thing for me, the biggest thing that I wanted to push, was the notion of having dynamic objectives. It’s actually something I did a long time ago going back to Syphon Filter 1. You’re going through a mission and all of a sudden “oh a new objective will happen,” based on the preset storyline of the game and of the level you’re in.

We’re going the complete opposite way in that every mission you’re going to go on has a clear set of objectives you are to go through and pretty much plays by the book. …

But your personal story is radically different depending on what class you’re playing, what body type you have, what type of player you are, what level you’re at. Because in the game there’s this kind of invisible commander running the whole show, running your team, who knows what’s going on, knows who’s doing what and can basically give out orders, optional orders, to everybody.

We will bribe you as a player to do these things. “We need somebody to turn into an engineer to repair the crane. First guy that does it, 300 experience points.” That’s the equivalent of killing 30 guys. Why would you not do it? We’ll do it just to get you to change, just to try. Even if you don’t make it, we’ll reward you.

That’s a really big push. All these dynamic objectives are coming up. It’s one of the reasons I think it’s an accessible game. A first person shooter online is a pretty hardcore place. You go in there; everybody’s been playing for days and months, and they know every square inch of that level and you’re like “I don’t know what to do.”

The worst experience I ever had playing an online shooter was the first time I played a capture the flag match, and I got the flag, and I was like “What do I do? Where do I go? Everyone wants to kill me. My team wants to kill me. This is terrible!” You want to kill yourself just to drop the damn thing. You’re completely helpless. In Brink, at any given time there’s always a lot of missions you can take. You can be on the front line where all the hardcore guys are, whooping it up. If that’s not going to work for you, look at that objective wheel that comes up. There’s always going to be lots of options, whether it takes you behind enemy lines to do some sneaking around, whether it’s all about rescuing civilians, capturing enemy command posts.

BLAST: There are a lot of shooters and a lot of online multiplayer shooters. There have also been a lot of lofty multiplayer games — M.A.G. for instance. What specifically about Brink do you feel will turn on players?

RH: Well there’s a standard answer, but the big one is that mission inside a mission. But there’s other things too. Splash Damage, you go back to the Enemy Territory Games, it was the first online shooter that actually had experience points and leveling up, even before Battlefield. So, they’ve been doing this for a long time, and it’s now kind of become en vogue. With Call of Duty’s perks, people go “oh wow this is really exciting.” Killzone has a really deep system. Resistance had one as well. But these guys have been doing it for a long time.

We’re all big fans of MMOs back at the office. I think players when they finally see all the RPG options that are available so they can really customize themselves and create the perfect guy for them that’s going to be really refreshing.

The entire storyline of Brink is the outbreak of the civil war on this remote man made island, kind of the last refuge of humanity — or so they think — it’s a civil war and there are two sides. The important thing is you choose up front whether you fight on the side of “the man” of security, keep the peace or do you go on the other side and play as Resistance. The important thing is on your side, you’re clearly in the right. When you get to that mission on the other side of the fence, it’s a completely different story and there’s a completely different set of things going on. That’s a really key element in the game is this kind of two sides of the same coin and you don’t know the whole thing until you’ve seen it all.

BLAST: The post-apocalyptic genre has exploded recently. Do you see parallels to modern society with these games?

RH: We’re actually trying to use this platform to actually say something. I’ll be honest; I turned 40 this year. I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and I’m getting to the point where I actually want to say something. I don’t just want this to be about cheap thrills, and I know it has to be. It has to be fun, but when you look at the setting and what’s going on with the two sides, I’ll be honest we’re definitely trying to put parallels into whats going on in our world today, particularly Palestine and Israel.

You look at that situation, and it seems completely intractable. If you look at it from one side or the other, well everything’s entirely justified or justifiable. It’s been in a stalemate forever. We can use a setting like this, because obviously nobody wants to play a shooter set in modern day Palestine. Nobody would want that.

It’s like Star Trek back in the 60s. “Well we can’ really do anything about race relations on network television, so let’s paint a guy with half his face white and half his face black and have him have an internal struggle.” It was a way for them to actually do stuff, and that’s kind of what we’re trying to do as well.

The setting really just kind of comes out of that naturally.

GoW2 really hits multiplayer hard, which it should, given Xbox Live’s expansive online community, and the success of the original Gears online play. It would be crazy not to build upon that. Three new multiplayer modes: wingman, guardian and submission have been added to the original four. 

Wingman pairs up two people to face off against four other groups of two people in a death match. Submission is like a darker capture the flag which pits two teams of five with the task of killing an AI regulated character, and then carry their dead carcass back to their home base. Guardian is exactly like Assassination, but with a twist:  it allows the players to keep fighting after their leader has been killed, but takes away the ability to respawn

When it comes to story, GoW2 does not offer too much. It’s definitely bigger, with huge enemies and environments that will certainly take full advantage of your HDTV. 

The story begins six months after the ending credits of the last Gears of War. Not much is known about the story, all that is known for sure is that Fenix has a love interest, people will die, and Carmine will be back. The rest  is pretty much the same, locusts are taking over the cities, and Fenix and his diehard crew are the only ones to stop them, (hmm … Halo anyone?) If you are looking for an intricate story , you may be best served to look elsewhere.

It’s basically the same plot that has been rehashed since WWII, evil forces are taking over the world, and only a select few can stop them — except with this one, you got chainsaws.  

Many PlayStation 3 owners experienced arguably the best of the systems launch lineup with Resistance: Fall of Man. The game was a huge success critically and consumer wise. There was no doubt that a sequel would be made and two years later it happened. 

With Resistance 2, it is all about scale. Insomniac’s latest shooter delivers on just that, with 100-foot enemies, 60 player online, and 8-person cooperative play, complete with its own storyline.

The story takes place two years after the first, starting off where the last cinematic from the original Resistance left off.  Our hero, Nathan Hale, joins a powerful group of super soldiers called The Sentinels that seem to have the same immunity to the Chimeran virus as him.

This time around the narrative will be from Hale’s perspective, unlike the first games where the story had been told through Rachel Parker’s eyes. 

Multiplayer has been improved considerably with up to 60 players playing at once. Insomniac knows that with 60 people in one area would just be unmitigated chaos. The solution was to split the 60 players into groups of five giving each group specific objectives to complete. 

The weapons from the first game will be making a return, but with a few added tweaks. Like the Bulls-eye, which now has a sniper scope One new and interesting new weapon  is the Splicer which shoots electromagnetically charged saw blades at your opponent, slicing them into ribbons.

If the 60 person multiplayer doesn’t catch your interest there is an 8-player cooperative campaign for you and seven other buddies to play. Instead of just letting you play through the single player storyline, Insomniac has created a separate storyline that scales to the amount of players that are playing. Players have up to three different classes to choose from. The Tank has high health and has a shield to help take heavy damage, special ops, who deals heavy damage, but has low health and medic who is the primary support class who focuses on the group.

It is to see that with the amount of things being crammed into this one title that you would have a hard choice of purchasing a game. If the promise of a huge, deep story with 100 foot boss fight, 60 player online play, and an 8 person cooperative campaign doesn’t sell you on this game — nothing will.

Blast Magazine Correspondent Juneil Cabreza also contributed to this article.