On the surface, Call of Duty: Black Ops doesn’t seem that different from last year’s Modern Warfare 2. I don’t blame you, because I felt the same way. But after last night’s events and all the tidbits came pouring out, I was beginning to see what’s making Black Ops worth a damn.
First, let’s take a look at the perks list (modified from Kotaku):
Tier 1
Lightweight – Move Faster (Pro)
Scavenger – Pick up ammo from fallen enemies. Replenish lethal grenades. (Pro)
Ghost – Undetectable by the Spy Plane and the Blackbird.
Flak Jacket – Reduces explosive damage.
Hardline – Killstreaks require 1 less kill.
Tier 2
Hardened – Bullets penetrate better.
Scout – Hold breath longer.
Steady Aim – Increased hip-fire accuracy.
Sleight of Hand – Faster reloads.
Warlord – Equip two attachments to your primary weapon.
Tier 3
Marathon – Longer sprint.
Ninja – Silent movement.
Second Chance – Pull out your pistol before dying.
Hacker – Ability to detect enemy equipment and explosives.
Tactical Mask – Reduces the effect of flash and concussion grenades.
You’ll notice a few things are different; most notably the absence of “Commando“, “One Man Army“, “Stopping Power” and “Juggernaut“. The first two were the foundation of exploitation and abuse while the latter two were known to stagnate the meta game. A lot of people relied heavily on Stopping Power or Juggernaut — I’m guilty of the former. Hopefully this change will shake things up a bit.
I still think Marathon should be a Tier 1 perk alongside Lightweight, but at least it’s not unlimited sprinting like it was in Modern Warfare 2.
Look what we have here. An open source version of that PSJailbreak hack is now available. All you need is a compatible programmable USB microcontroller, a bit of know-how and you’re on your way to enabling unsigned code to run on your PlayStation 3 — all without coughing up $130+
The folks who released this open source version of the hack disabled the ability to play backups, but people have already re-enabled it. However, on the plus side, it looks like the dongle requirement was arbitrary and a pathetic attempt to extract more money from people with multiple PS3s.
If you don’t want to buy a USB microcontroller, according mathieulh (well known PSP hacker) there is a possibility of a PSP version of this hack.
So what’s my opinion on all of this? It’s still too early. First of all, since there hasn’t been any worthwhile homebrew applications released yet, there’s no compelling reason to jump on board yet. In addition, we don’t know how Sony will respond to this. Will they be able to plug it? Will I be instantly banned from PSN? Still too early to tell.
Also, I’m not sure who to feel sorry for with this one. Sony? The original PSJailbreak hackers? Or maybe all those retailers which bought all those overpriced PSJailbreak dongles?
Update: The hack was reverse engineered. It turns out that it uses an legitimate exploit to get the ball rolling. Folks have also discovered that this PSJailbreak cannot be updated which means that $129.95 CAD hack could be worthless if future games require new firmware.
Is it really hacked? Yes, if you count using a $100+ USB dongle to install a piece of code to boot into “debug/service mode” in order to run unsigned code “a hack”. Some folks are suspecting that this was developed using a leaked PlayStation 3 SDK. This USB dongle enables homebrew possibilities and, of course, playing backups. And most importantly, it works across all hardware revisions.
As impressive as this is, there are some caveats:
According to these early impressions, you currently cannot remove this little hack.
Sony can potentially block this in future firmwares which could mean that you will need two PS3s; one for online use and the other for back ups. (Just like hacked 360 owners do)
It currently costs $100+ for what could end up being a temporary hack.
Running games with mandatory installs may yield poor results like with Halo 3.
Those issues aside, there are so many possibilities for this. I’d love to be able to load up my entire PS2 and PS3 library onto the HDD and just play games without switching a disc. I may have to get up at the moment, but if this hack pans out, we may not even have to do any of the disc ejecting in the future.
I’m not going to fight anymore. It’s another day of videos.
Today we have Halo: Reach’s live action advertisement.
Brilliantly executed. And for the first time, I think the tone of the advertising campaign will actually be representative of the game. (To me at least, others may disagree.)
There’s also a live action short which takes place a day prior to the invasion of Reach. (more…)
I don’t mean to do this. Really, I don’t. But, I’m going to dedicated today’s post to two more trailers. Two awesome trailers for two 2011 games I’m looking forward to.
Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Character Trailer
Or should I ask, who is this sultry blonde named ‘Catherine’? It’s an adult oriented action adventure game from the guys who brought us the much beloved Persona 4, Atlus.
There’s a trailer out. It’s weird and, as expected, very stylish.
A thorough translated first look can be found over at Andriasang’s (cleavage warning). ‘Catherine’ is coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Winter 2010 for Japan.
Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL handhelds are getting price cuts!