Just got out of my appointment with Activision and the line-up is looking pretty solid. I’ll have more game specific previews later but here’s a quick sampling...

Guitar Hero III [PS3]

First up was Guitar Hero III which should definitely not be overlooked by fans of the series simply because Harmonix is doing Rock Band.  With GH3 the team at Neversoft has worked hard to avoid the ‘is it just going to be more of the same’ line of questioning by bringing in the Legends of Rock whom you will compete against in your career mode to unlock some monster titles like Guns & Roses ‘Welcome to the Jungle’.   You’ll have to beat Slash though to get to the goods - but if you can take him down – he’ll reward you by jamming onstage with you.  Two more famous rock legends will be making an appearance in the game but they aren’t saying who just yet.

The biggest change comes in the addition of the Battle Mode.  Instead of competing head to head to see who can nail the best score – you’re objective is much more malicious - you’re going to use every last trick in the bag to throw your opponent ‘off the stage.’  Instead of earning Star Power you’ll earn power-ups in the form of various attacks such as Broken String – which requires your opponent to mash a particular button repeatedly to bring the ‘string’ back in line.  Or Amp Overload which causes your frets to flicker on and off making it difficult to see the incoming notes.  Deploy your attacks by utilizing the same method you use for Star Power.  If you’re smart - you’ll wait until you’ve stacked up a couple – and then unleash them right in the middle of the solo for Welcome to the Jungle.

Downloadable content will be available so your song list won’t be fixed and the team promises much more support for new songs than we saw in GH2.  Add to that the hot new wireless Gibson Les Paul controller and you’re ready to rock.

Call of Duty 4 [PC, X360]

OK – I just want to say – to Grant Collier and the team and Infinity Ward – THANK YOU for bringing back my Call of Duty!  After CoD3 I was disappointed on two levels – one, the game just didn’t feel as fresh as its predecessors; two, the game was glaringly absent from my PC.  Of course – Infinity Ward wasn’t involved in any way with CoD3 so they get a pass   You’ve probably already seen the trailers and or the press conference – and I’ll have more details later; suffice it to say – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare brings back the series with a vengeance and rips the storyline out of the mire of WWII and into future present with threats that frighteningly mirror today’s headlines.

Tony Hawk Proving Ground [Numerous]

Honestly I’ve never been a huge fan of the series – possibly it’s due to my terrible skateboarding skills – but I can appreciate the work the team is putting into this latest Hawk endeavor.  Proving Ground strives to capture the essence of the skater lifestyle and allow you to live within its fantasy or rather – create your own.  The addition of two new gameplay mechanics allowing control over your arms or distribution of weight on the board serve to allow players to pull off some wicked classic tricks – or even create brand new ones.  Add to this an impressive array of online integrated functionality including your personal Skate Studio as well as an in-depth video editor and Proving Grounds looks to be quite the package for skate fans.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars [PC, X360]

I was a huge fan of the original free download that was an add-on to Return to Castle Wolfenstein and this revamp of the series set within the Quake milieu seems ready to please.  At its core ET was always about team-play and stressed using the various classes at your disposal to overcome the opposing team’s defenses to win the various campaigns made up of a series of three online maps.

Quake Wars continues on this theme but takes it a step further by playing up this role-based approach to play.  Often these class or role-based multiplayer titles devolve into groups of players roaming the maps solo or flying jets around in circles as opposed to contributing to the team objectives.  Many times this is attributed to the fact that players are overwhelmed by the depth of the game, it’s various roles and just how those play into the overall team hierarchy.  Splash Damage has gone to great length to include a mission system – which I’ll detail further in my preview later- that serves to guide new, and experienced players, to the maps fixed objectives as well as dynamic missions generated based on the current status of the battlefield.  Add to this the fact that solo players will not be rewarded for simply blasting troops on the front line and one can only hope this may urge more players to take part in the games objectives.

More detailed previews to follow.