Platforms: 

Developer:  Bethesda Game Studios

Publisher:   Bethesda Softworks

Rating:  “M” for Mature

Written by Nick Cohen

Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim is probably the most talked-about game of 2011.  Amidst all of the hype for Call of Duty and Battlefield, Skyrim launched on November 11, 2011 (11-11-11, get it?) to heaps of critical praise and would go on to win numerous game of the year awards.  In my “Top 10 Games of 2011” list, however, the game only came in at #6, having been beaten by other RPGs such as Deus Ex:  Human Revolution (#4) and Dark Souls (#5).  Now that I’ve played much more of Skyrim, here are my thoughts.

The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim is a massive game.  It’s far and away the most epic game I’ve ever played in terms of size and scope.  Everything you’ve probably heard about this game’s impressive scale is true; there are literally hundreds and hundreds of hours of content in Skyrim.  I’ve put over 100 hours into the game so far, yet I feel as if I’ve barely scratched the surface of what the game has in store for me.

Besides the game’s massive scope, the main reason I believe that Skyrim took home so many game of the year awards is the huge number of “water cooler” moments.  “Water cooler” moments are those moments in a game that get people talking; think of Uncharted 2’s train sequence or Dead Space’s ending as examples of these.  Skyrim has more “water cooler” moments than perhaps any other game in history.  The first time you fight a dragon, that dungeon you stumble upon that plays host to a group of vampires, the first time you manage to barely take down a Giant; all of these moments (and many more) will get you talking/bragging to your friends.

Then again, the game’s amazing moments aren’t its only “water cooler” moments; unfortunately, Skyrim may or may not resemble a car that has seen far too many miles of hard driving.  Glitches abound in my copy of the game; I’ve experienced everything from funny bugs such as mammoths floating in midair to game-crippling things such as numerous crashes and an entire dungeon that was plagued by the worst slowdown I’ve ever experienced in a video game.  I’ve also had an interesting quest become far less interesting due to bugs that caused it to not function properly, causing numerous resets and forcing me to scour message boards for answers.  The strangest thing about all this is that numerous people I’ve talked to have had no problems with the game whatsoever.  The PS3 version is reportedly the worst in terms of bugs, but playing any version is like playing a game of Russian roulette—you don’t know whether the game is going to work properly or whether it’s going to be nearly unplayable.

Skyrim's story revolves around the reemergence of dragons, not that you'll be paying any attention to the story.

When things are working right—as they have for me approximately 80% of the time—Skyrim can be an incredibly immersive experience.  Walking around just taking in the sights is a ton of fun, as are completing quests and fighting monsters.  The game has a solid RPG foundation that is both deep and incredibly accessible—even if you’ve never played an RPG before, I think you could understand the basics of how to play this game.

The thing that still gets me is that I’m not always having fun in Skyrim; the world is huge and there’s a ton of stuff to do, but I’m not fighting for my life every second like I am in Dark Souls or getting into amazing multiplayer matches on a consistent basis like I am in Battlefield 3.  The big question to ask yourself about Skyrim is this:  Would you rather have a ton of fun every single minute you play a game for 10-40 hours (depending on the game), or would you rather have 100 hours of exciting stuff to do counterbalanced by 100 hours of boredom?  If you answered “constant fun,” then Skyrim is still worthy of a look, but probably won’t be your game of the year (as it wasn’t mine).  If you answered “epic amount of good but not great gameplay,” then you should go out and buy Skyrim right now.

I’ve now put over 100 hours into my Xbox 360 copy of The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim.  Looking back at my “Top 10 Games of 2011” list, would I change Skyrim’s position?  Nope.  It’s a great game, but in a year like 2011 that was absolutely packed with great games, Skyrim is certainly not the best.  Of course, I still have tons to do and see in the game, so maybe things will change.  Keep checking back at GamingMoments.net for my full review sometime in the future.

The star of NBC’s show Chuck, Zachary Levi, was the host of the VGAs this year.  He proved to be a decent choice; he seemed to know what he was talking about and even cracked a few funny jokes.  Sure, his opening video sketch was terrible, but these things usually are, right?  At least Spike didn’t go with some completely random host like they sometimes have in the past.  Artist Deadmau5 was on hand–complete with goofy mouse headgear–to provide some techno music (I think it’s techno?) to fade to commercials with.

The first award of the night went to Batman:  Arkham City.  The game won for best action/adventure against stiff competition from the sequel to 2009′s game of the year, Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception.  Next up was a big reveal trailer for PS3 exclusive The Last of Us.  When I first heard of the game’s existence, I was praying it wasn’t just another zombie game.  Well, it is another zombie game…from developer Naughty Dog (the Uncharted series).  No actual gameplay footage or details were shown, but judging by the CG trailer, the game appears to be heavily inspired by the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.  The Last of Us seems to focus on survival in a world overrun by the undead (hence the movie similarities) and is being developed by one of the best video game developers in the world, but do we really need another zombie game?

Mass Effect 3 was announced as the winner of the viewer’s choice most anticipated game award (not BioShock Infinite?).  A new trailer was shown featuring in-game footage that focused on a Reaper–the giant alien/machine hybrids that are the main threat in the Mass Effect series–fighting a giant worm reminiscent of the sand worms from Dune.  The game looked action-packed, but Mass Effect 3 is supposed to be an RPG–where are the role-playing elements, BioWare?  BioWare also revealed its new project to be Command and Conquer Generals 2.  A very brief CG trailer was shown that revealed the game will use the Frostbite 2 engine that powers Battlefield 3 and that Generals 2 won’t be releasing until 2013.  No other details were announced.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6:  Patriots was also given a brief CG trailer with no gameplay footage.  I feel bad for anyone watching the VGAs just to see Rainbow 6 footage–what a complete letdown.  A new game that we got a much more intriguing glimpse of is Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, an upcoming downloadable Xbox Live Arcade game.  Incorrectly rumored to be named “Alan Wake:  Night Springs,” American Nightmare looks like a full-blown sequel to the underrated Xbox 360 exclusive horror/thriller Alan Wake, no matter what developer Remedy Entertainment has said.  If you haven’t played the original game, I suggest you do so; it plays like a Stephen King novel with third-person shooter gameplay.  Maybe American Nightmare won’t be as long or as in-depth as the original Alan Wake game, hence it not being called a direct sequel?  Regardless, I’m really excited about Alan Wake’s American Nightmare and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the gameplay footage shown at the VGAs.

Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto (The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, Pikmin–how’s that for a resume?) walked on-stage to induct the Legend of Zelda series into the “Video Game Hall of Fame.”  I’m fairly certain that other video game halls of fame exist, but Zelda is apparently the first inductee into the VGA Hall of Fame (?).  Despite my confusion, it was great to see Miyamoto-san on-stage, especially in light of all of the rumors concerning his position at Nintendo this past week.  A trailer for open-world movie game The Amazing Spider-Man was next.  It….looked like a Spider-Man game.

Pro wrestler Hulk Hogan was on-hand to introduce a video package showcasing a whole bunch of awards that were quickly glossed over.  Among these,  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception won for best PS3 game and best graphics–apparently, no one voting on these things has played Battlefield 3 on a decent computer yet.  In fact, Battlefield 3 also lost the coveted multiplayer game of the year award–seemingly a shoo-in for Battlefield 3–to….Portal 2?  What the…?  Rock band The Black Keys (who?) then performed a song.  The best part of the performance was the reaction shots of Miyamoto-san and actor/comedian Seth Green, who looked confused as to why a video game awards show had a rock band performing who have nothing to do with video games.

The 2011 Video Game Awards were broadcast live on Spike from 8-10 p.m. Eastern on 12/10/2011

Leggy ex-WWE Diva Stacy Keibler (I’m a big wrestling fan, so I know who these people are) was on stage next to show off a CG trailer for the upcoming game Transformers:  Fall of Cybertron.  The game is being billed as the sequel to last year’s third-person shooter Transformers:  War for Cybertron and is unrelated to the Michael Bay films.  Completing the VGA shutout of excellent first-person shooter Battlefield 3, Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3 took home the award for best shooter.  Look, I know that video game tastes are subjective, but Modern Warfare 3 is almost identical to Modern Warfare 2, whereas Battlefield 3 brings multiplayer shooters to a whole new level.  Battlefield 3 is generally considered to be the far-better game by those who’ve played it, especially the PC version; maybe it lost due to it’s polarizing campaign?

Infamous developer Cliff “CliffyB” Bleszinski (Gears of War) took the stage to show off Epic Games’ new IP Fortnite.  In stark contrast to the gory shooters like Gears of War and Unreal that Epic is best known for, Fortnite looks cartoony and less violent.  Epic didn’t share many concrete details about the game, but CliffyB made Fortnite sound similar to PC indie sensation Minecraft.  Next up was the oddly named Gamer God award, presented to Blizzard Entertainment.  A montage video showed off the developer’s many successful franchises–World of WarCraft, StarCraft, and Diablo.  A few members of Blizzard then took the stage to show off the stunning CG opening cinematic for Diablo III.  I was never a big fan of Diablo or Blizzard’s other franchises, but the Diablo III cinematic was stunning.

Stunning female video gamer/celebrity Felicia Day next went on-stage to show off an amazing trailer for Irrational’s highly-anticipated BioShock Infinite.  The game wowed critics at E3 with its amazing demo, and it wowed the VGA audience tonight, as well.  After BioShock Infinite, the publicly voted award for character of the year went to Mark Hamill’s gleefully sadistic portrayal of The Joker in Batman:  Arkham City.  I think the absolutely hilarious robot Wheatley from Valve’s first-person puzzle game Portal 2 (voiced by British comedian Stephen Merchant) should have taken the award, but The Joker’s win video showed a teaser for Arkham City‘s possible sequel, Batman:  Arkham World.  Is this merely a joke from developer Rocksteady Studios or a hint at what’s next for Batman?

The last–and biggest–award of the night was Game of the Year.  There were five nominees, all great games:  Batman:  Arkham City,  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword, Portal 2, and Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception.  Only one game could win the award, and Bethesda’s massive open world RPG The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim was that game.  While I haven’t played it yet, Skyrim has become an addiction for millions of gamers and has even managed to best big-name FPS games Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 in a number of key areas relating to popularity.  The game is selling like hotcakes at retailers and is the talk of the gaming world right now.  I predicted that Skyrim had the greatest chance of winning game of the year, but I also thought that Batman and Uncharted had legitimate shots, as well.

The VGAs wrapped up with a new look at the renamed Metal Gear Rising:  Revengeance.  Kojima Productions’ head honcho and namesake Hideo Kojima took the stage to awkwardly introduce the trailer.  Kojima-san doesn’t speak English very well and seemed nervous, but the trailer was awesome.  Developed by Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Shadows of the Damned, Vanquish), Metal Gear Rising is an extremely violent and over-the-top action game that seems to have shades of Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden franchise.  I’m not a fan of previous Metal Gear Solid games, but Metal Gear Rising looks like a ton of fun.  It’s too bad that the Metal Gear Rising trailer leaked online hours before the VGAs started, as it was supposed to be the night’s biggest reveal.

Overall, I’d say the VGAs were a mixed bag this year.  I like Skyrim as Game of the Year, but why shut out Battlefield 3 and have celebrities that have nothing to do with gaming taking up so much air time?  A few stupid skits went on far too long, too; this time would have been better spent focusing on the smaller awards.  Some games’ reveals really disappointed, as well.  It could have been better, but the 2011 Video Game Awards also could have been much worse (as it has been in previous years).  If you haven’t seen it yet on TV, I’d say don’t bother–now that you’ve read my thoughts on the event, look up the reveal trailers online and skip all the filler stuff in-between.

*list of 2011 VGA (Video Game Awards) winners:

• Game of the Year:  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim
• Studio of the Year:  Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim)
• Best Xbox 360 Game:  Batman:  Arkham City
• Best PS3 Game:  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception
• Best Wii Game:  The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword
• Best PC Game:  Portal 2
• Best Handheld/Mobile Game:  Super Mario 3D Land
• Best Shooter:  Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3
• Best Action/Adventure Game:  Batman:  Arkham City
• Best RPG:  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim
• Best Multiplayer:  Portal 2
• Best Individual Sports Game:  Fight Night Champion
• Best Team Sports Game:  NBA 2K12
• Best Driving Game:  Forza Motorsport 4
• Best Fighting Game:  Mortal Kombat
• Best Motion Game:  The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword
• Best Independent Game:  Minecraft
• Best Adapted Video Game:  Batman:  Arkham City
• Best Song in a Game:  “Build that Wall (Zia’s Theme)” from Bastion
• Best Original Score:  Bastion
• Best Graphics:  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception
• Best Performance by a Human Male:  Stephen Merchant as Wheatley in Portal 2
• Best Performance by a Human Female:  Ellen McLain as GlaDOS in Portal 2
• Best Downloadable Game:  Bastion
• Best DLC:  “Peer Review” for Portal 2
• Cover Athlete for EA Sports’ NFL Blitz:  Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens (public vote)
• Character of the Year:  The Joker in Batman:  Arkham City (public vote)
• Most Anticipated Game:  Mass Effect 3 (public vote)
• GameTrailers.com’s Trailer of the Year:  Assassin’s Creed:  Revelations E3 2011 Trailer

Be prepared to die… a lot.

Limbo isn’t a particularly long game, the first time I played it I ended up beating it in a single session, but every second of this puzzle based platformer radiates pure joy (Despite the overall gloomy atmosphere of the entire game) and really deserves to be shared with every gamer possible, so I’m glad that PS3 and PC gamers will have the opportunity to enjoy the wonder and frustration that is Limbo.

Ratings systems frequently give away upcoming game announcements, as it did with Limbo for the PS3. In this case Sony Computer Entertainment Korea submitted a rating and it was quickly picked up by gaming news.

“Limbo is production for Steam and PSN, and is coming very soon,” Playdead CEO and co-founder Dino Patti told Edge. “I can’t elaborate more at this moment, but we will have more details soon.”

Keep a weather eye on the horizon PS3 and PC owners, Limbo will be heading your way shortly.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

With the continued increase of Xbox Live Arcade title sales, it’s no surprise that Microsoft is bringing out constant deals to entice players into spending as many Microsoft Points as possible. This Summer being no exception, we are once again given the opportunity invest a ton of MS points to get a free game… woohoo!

The list of games is actually rather decent this year, with titles like the stunning, sidescrolling/puzzle/platformer Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (Which really reminds me of LIMBO and for some reason Oddworld…) and the sequel to one of XBLA’s best sellers; Toy Soldiers, Toy Soldiers: Cold War.

From Dust

Check out the complete list:

• July 20 – Bastion (1200 Microsoft Points)
• July 27 – From Dust (1200 Microsoft Points)
• August 3 – Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (1200 Microsoft Points)
• August 10 – Fruit Ninja Kinect (800 Microsoft Points)
• August 17 – Toy Soldiers: Cold War (1200 Microsoft Points)

With the purchase of all five of these titles, you get the Xbox 360 exclusive Crimson Alliance for free. Buying all five of these titles will run you a cool 5600 Microsoft Points.

Quite a few people are crying foul at the fact that a Kinect game is a required purchase for the full deal, there are still lots of folks out there who don’t have a Kinect (or even want one). Buying the 5 games (Including Fruit Ninja Kinect) and getting Crimson Alliance free will cost you 5600 MS points, but if you don’t buy Fruit Ninja Kinect and instead buy Crimson Alliance it costs you 6000… a difference of 400 MS points.

If you plan on taking advantage of this deal, my advice to you is this: Even if you don’t have a Kinect, buy Fruit Ninja Kinect get Crimson Alliance free and then spend those extra 400 MS points on a decent arcade title.

—————

Gaming had its day in court today as the State of California took on the Video Games Industry. From now on, gaming has all the rights and freedoms in relation to free speech as any book, movie, or song. For a full recap of the case, head over to Kotaku for a fantastic article and rundown of the proceedings.

A new detail has emerged that should add more fuel to the argument. Battlefield 3 will only run at 30 frames per second  and 720p on consoles. While it’s not a major upset, considering games like Crysis 2 only run at 30 fps, it’s still something that Modern Warfare fans can brag about since their games run at 60 fps.

While the difference is negligible, there is a noticeable shift in the smoothness of gameplay from 30 fps to 60 fps.  The game running in 720p instead of 1080p really isn’t that much of a shock, it’s rare to find a first person shooter that can run at that level.

The difference isn’t massive, but clearly PC gamers with the right hardware are getting the better end of this deal.

Kinect

As predicted, Microsoft was in full Kinect mode this year, laying out an amazing selection of games and features to improve the Kinect and make it more relevant to a hardcore audience.  It was actually quite a nice surprise to see so many games and developers coming forward with uses and pledges to make Kinect games. In a not altogether shocking turn of events, Mass Effect 3 will make use of the Kinect in a variety of ways (we were really only shown the voice control) but the star of the Kinect show had to be Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s Gunsmith Mode, it wowed and amazed everyone who saw it.

While there were games targeted towards a younger audience like Disneyland Adventure or Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster (Funnily enough they were the worst looking games for the Kinect, actors clearly faking the performance, much like the Star Wars game last year.) Kinect really did shine when it came to the more hardcore element, reaching behind you in Ghost Recon: FS to reload your weapon, or yelling for Liara and Garrus to move up in Mass Effect… this is exactly what the Kinect needed, exploring it to its full potential and making it relevant to hardcore gamers.

Xbox Media

One of the biggest announcements of the conference was that Bing, Youtube, and Xbox TV will be coming to 360 owners in the coming year. Bing will allow users to search for any and all media and content available on the 360 or the media networks its already associated with. An example of Bing’s search on Xbox 360: Just finished playing LEGO: Pirates of the Caribbean and want more? Search Pirates and have all of the movies and games  available at your fingertips.

Accompanying these additions will be a dashboard overhaul, giving the 360 a much cleaner and organized look. The new dashboard is broken up into nine tabs, Bing,  Home, Social, Live TV, Video, Games, Music, Apps, and Settings. This new look really does improve the overall feel of the system, I was getting tired of the dashboard anyway so this is a marked improvement.

Of course, all of these components and additions are Kinect compatible, like voice searches for Bing.

Halo

It’s back! Not only are we getting an HD updated version of Halo: Combat Evolved, but Halo 4 is up for release next year. The anniversary edition looks great, but it was completely forgotten the moment the Halo 4 trailer came up on screen. At the very end of the conference, Don Mattrick came back on stage to announce a new trilogy, the lights dimmed, the trailer appeared on the screen, and gamers faces slowly went from casual boredom to utter disbelief and excitement.  Halo 4 will be the first real Halo title not to be made by Bungie, so clearly all eyes are on 343 studios to make something amazing out of this trilogy.

Sony

PSN Outage

As expected, Jack Tretton took the stage and spent a good deal of time apologizing to consumers, partners, and retailers alike for the inconvenience brought on by the PlayStation Network outage. While you may not realize it, Sony’s PSN going down was far more of a problem for the many companies that sell via the PlayStation Store, this outage cost them millions, so I can understand Tretton giving them a serious apology on stage. According to Sony, 80 titles are currently being developed for the Vita and are scheduled for release.

PS Vita

Fans of the PSP rejoice, Sony’s newly unveiled Vita (Previously codenamed the NGP) is truly a thing of beauty. The only real description of the Vita that needs to be made is how well it runs Uncharted: Golden Abyss, this game blew minds. Graphics were just out of this world for a handheld, and the functionality of the front and back touch screens allowed for some seriously cool actions. Possibly the best thing about the Vita? The price. At only $249 for the standard model, and $299 for the model with 3g coverage, this new system is both extremely powerful and perfectly affordable.

Nintendo

All Things Zelda

With its 25th anniversary just around the corner, half of today’s show was Zelda related.  Zelda: Links Awakening is the first title available on the 3DS Virtual Console, and is now ready to download. Ocarina of Time 3D will launch next week, sure to amaze fans like myself.  Zelda: Skyward Sword will launch this holiday for the Wii, and will come with a gold Wii remote to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Zelda: 4 Swords will be available to download for free this September. Not to mention the exciting series of 25th Zelda Anniversary Symphony Concerts that will be going in on around the world.

Wii U

Turns out the rumors were true. Nintendo dazzled the crown with the unveiling of their new console, the Wii U (and its remote). The first console of the Next Gen series, the Wii U boasts some fairly impressive hardware for a Nintendo system, this hardware will allow Nintendo fans to play games like:

• Arkham City
• Darksiders 2
• Tekken
• Assassin’s Creed
• Ninja Gaiden 3
• Dirt
• Ghost Recon Online
• Metro: Last Light
• Aliens Colonial Marines

All of the games above were shown and look amazing, even Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Nintendo released a spec list shortly after the conference, so here you go, drool over the wonder.

Release: 2012

Height of about a width of about 46mm × 172mm × Depth 268.5mm (excluding protrusions)

The new controller is 6.2 inches, 16:9 button controller that combines what is familiar and the touch screen, slide the two pads is attached.

This rechargeable controller power button, HOME button, arrow pad, A / B / X / Y Buttons, L / R buttons, ZL / ZR is attached to the button. In addition, accelerometers, gyroscopes, vibration function, camera, microphone, speakers, sensor unit is equipped with a stylus.

Wii Remote (or Wii Remote +) can simultaneously connect up to 4. Classic Controller and Nunchuk, Classic Controller PRO, and Wii Balance Board, or any input device that corresponds to the Wii controller.

New hardware for high-density optical and 12cm, Wii can play for a 12cm self-loading optical disc (disc type will automatically draw) with a single drive.

1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i compatible. HDMI, Component, D terminal, S-terminal, corresponding to each of the composite cable.

AV Multi-output and output from the HDMI output terminal supports 6CH PCM linear.

In addition to the internal flash memory, SD memory card or external USB can be extended by using the hard drive capacity.

Multicore-based IBM Power ®

4 USB 2.0 has a single pin.

The new hardware backwards compatible Wii games.

The unlocked video will  contain developer commentary, which will hopefully give us insight into the mission itself as well as the process of creating it using the Frostbite 2 engine.

The game is absolutely stunning, really, there’s no other word for it. Gameplay looks tense and exciting, and the variety of gameplay elements on display in this short video are nothing short of amazing. In the span of 12 minutes you’ll see an all out gunfight in a parking lot, the disarming of a bomb, some close quarters unarmed combat, killing a sniper with an AT rocket, defending a position with an LMG, and the utter destruction a .50 cal is capable of… and the ending? Just wow.

Take a gander and then head over to Facebook to help unlock the full video with commentary.

Pirates of the Caribbean and it’s two sequels have to date made over $2,500,000,000, Ya that’s Billion folks. With a fanbase that large it’s easy to see why the video game market is perfect for them. Unfortunately, Pirates games have been quite shoddy, and their reception rather lackluster.

Luckily (not really, its not like they need the money.) they can follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter and redeem their awful video game history through the digitless yet capable hands of LEGO.

Lego video games such as, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Indiana Jones, and most notably LEGO Star Wars have made quite the impact on the market recently. Appealing to children, families, and casual gamers, the LEGO series of games is becoming the refuge of franchises with poor gaming track records (I love Star Wars, but they haven’t made a fantastic game in quite a while.)

The Traveler’s Tales developed game will span the stories of all four of the films, including the soon to be released ‘On Stranger Tides’, of course the game will be released in May of 2011 to coincide with the film’s release.

I’m admittedly not the biggest Pirates fan out there, but even I can see myself having fun with this game.

But gamers are a distrustful bunch when it comes to the thing we love, and in keeping with that Geoff Keighley (gaming journalist extraordinaire, and host of GameTrailersTV on Spike) decided to do some digging. His research (and by research I mean he called up Activision and asked them. Being a legitimate video game journalist has its perks.) netted this response from an Activision spokesperson,

“Let me be clear we are not revealing yet. Anything indicating otherwise is a hoax.”

Further digging by Mr. Keighley revealed that the website was created by We Can Pretend, a Toronto based production company, working on a “Modern Warfare inspired project.”

The following teaser still was sent to Joystick by the creators of the project:

Best guess at this point is that this unnamed project is in fact a short film, but then again we could be wrong… and we usually are.

We’ll just have to wait and see, so check back  in a couple of days to find out.

Zombies have always resonated with audiences, at one time or another they were sons, daughters, fathers, and wives… the idea that they are now soulless monsters out for your blood is hard for some people to grasp. The visuals of a little girl being bitten and then turning on her own family are haunting, especially when combined with the chilling theme composed by Giles Lamb.

Response to this trailer has been mixed, some falling on the “This is outrageous!” bandwagon, while a great many are calling it a stunning work of art.

For me? This is without doubt one of the best game trailers I have ever seen.