Touting seventeen tracks, the official soundtrack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is finally on the market and can be downloaded on iTunes [Warning: opens iTunes] for $.99 a song or $9.99 for the whole album.

Written by Lorne Balf and produced by Oscar award-winning composer Hans Zimmer, who also scored the main theme, the music in CoD:MW2 creates a solid base from which the record-breaking game engulfs players into intense and emotional scenarios.

Have fun!

It took a couple of days to make sure everyone was contacted, but now I can announce the winners for the past three contests!

The winner of the Xbox 360 & Battlefield Bad Company 2 package provided by GameStop is @TheTriscuit! He was one of the several people who picked Charlie’s Angels as the winning team in the Celebrity Bracket Challenge and was randomly chosen by GameStop as the new owner a 360 system and BFBC2.

Our What’s Up With Activision contest, which gives some love to Neversoft & Infinity Ward following the insanity that’s been happening at both Activision branches, saw Risha Korrine win a copy of Modern Warfare 2 and Scott Snell win Guitar Hero 5 for leaving comments over on our Facebook group.

And finally, the winner of the God of War collection for the PS3 as well as a God of War 3 hoodie, is MSGROCKS1.

Congrats to all of our winners and make sure you stay tuned into GamingAngels for more chances to win!

First off, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package (the first DLC for the title) drops on March 30. This brings new multiplayer maps to the title. Xbox LIVE is the first to get the update, but the price wasn’t announced (if there is one).

If you’re a Silver Xbox LIVE member, there’s going to be free multiplayer for you from March 12 to 15, just so you can try it out (and of course to entice you to switch to the Gold side of things).

But hey, you’ve got other reasons to switch to Gold besides Modern Warfare 2 – our Xbox LIVE Community Arcade Night, co-hosted with The Married Gamers! (If you want me, I’ll be in the Yahtzee room, natch.)

Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 held the top of the UK Game sales Charts for longer than most any game I have seen in the last year. Two workout games push Modern Warfare 2 down to the third spot. The factor could be New Years Resolutions as working out on the Wii in the comfort of your own living room is a very attractive option than going to a gym or for a run.

Ubisoft’s Just Dance takes the number one spot with Wii Fit Plus claiming number 2. Army of Two: 40th day enters at the fourth spot with Wii Sports Resort filling out the top 5. Darksiders moves up the chart (6), followed by Bayonetta (7).

Nintendo is the top publisher for last week with their classics. New Super Mario Bros Wii is the only fairly new title. Ubisoft has three games on the list which is the most I’ve seen from them in awhile.

It’s not a huge surprise that when NPD announced it’s 2009 software sales chart for North America that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was at the head of it.

The title has Xbox sales of 4.2m and stands as the best selling game for the year-to-date ending in November.

The Playstation 3 sales are about 1.9m which makes the total 6.1m in North America alone.

Here are the top 10 selling games of the year according to NPD:
1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Xbox 360 (Activision) 4.2m
2. Wii Fit – Wii (Nintendo) 3.5m
3. Wii Sports Resort – Wii (Nintendo) 2.4m
4. Mario Kart Wii – Wii (Nintendo) 2.2m
5. Wii Play – Wii (Nintendo) 2.1m
6. Halo 3: ODST – Xbox 360 (Microsoft) 2m
7. Pokemon Platinum – DS (Nintendo) 1.9m
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – PS3 (Activision) 1.9m
9. Madden NFL 10 – Xbox 360 (EA) 1.5m
10. New Super Mario Bros Wii – Wii (Nintendo) 1.4m

[source via IndustryGamers.com]

Welcome to part two of my three part look at this year’s VGA nominations. You can read the first part here.

Best Fighting Game
Nominees: BlazBlue Calamity Trigger, SoulCalibur Broken Destiny, Street Fighter IV, Tekken 6

My Pick: Street Fighter IV
Most likely to win: Street Fighter IV

SFIV was one of the most anticipated fighting games of our time and this year fans of the fighting franchise were blessed with a new title. While the game had flaws, it was a higher profile game than any of the others in this category. Tekken 6 was only recently released, which is why I think there should be a cut off date for games included in these awards. BlazBlue was a great game, but very technical. (I should know. I have it and you can’t just button mash they way I like to with fighters).

Best Action Adventure Game
Nominees: Assassin’s Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Brutal Legend, Uncharted 2

My Pick: Assassin’s Creed 2
Most likely to win: Assassin’s Creed 2

A trip to Da Vinci era Italy without having to build a time machine. Ubi Montreal brought us a great sequel to the first game, improving on the graphics, expanding the environment and delving further into the Templar plot. The biggest disappointment with the game is still the controls. Not enough buttons for what they want to do makes it somewhat awkward to control Ezio, our tail-chasing avatar for Desmond in his second life in the Animus. Brutal Legend wasn’t a game for everyone, and Uncharted 2 suffered from a poor second half of the game. Batman: AA was a great game as well but I just think this is one for AC2.

Best RPG Game
Nominees: Borderlands, Demon’s Souls, Dragon Age: Origins, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

My Pick: n/a
Most likely to win: Dragon Age: Origins

Of the four titles listed here, Demon’s Souls and Dragon Age Origins are the two that grab my attention the most. Demon’s Souls is supposed to be intensely difficult. Its also an Atlus title, making it more of a niche game. Dragon Age: Origins from BioWare is a more mainstream title and people are familiar with Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic. If either of these titles had been delayed into next year, they would have had stiff competition with White Knight Chronicles and Final Fantasy XIII.

Best Multiplayer Game
Nominees: Borderlands, COD: Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3: ODST, Left 4 Dead 2

My Pick: Left 4 Dead 2
Most likely to win: Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3 still has a giant following, and with Halo Waypoint pumping some new blood into the franchise and Halo Reach on the way, I believe it will take this prize. My personal vote is for Left 4 Dead 2, a game built for multiplayer and free from the underage smart-mouths that tend to hang around Halo. Left 4 Dead 2 did suffer from unfortunate server lag at launch which may have deterred some from voting for it.

Best Individual Sports Game
Nominees: Fight Night Round 4, Tiger Woods 2010, UFC Undisputed, Wii Sports Resort

My Pick: n/a
Most likely to win: UFC Undisputed

Its been a while since there was a UFC game (trust me, I heard enough about it when I was a manager at EB) and who airs UFC fights? Spike. Fight Night Round 4 didn’t seem as amazing as FN3 did, and Tiger Woods is Tiger Woods. And why it Wii Sports Resort in here? I’m going to guess it was to fill in a slot, but then why not put Tony Hawk: Ride in this category? Fail.

Best Team Sports Game
Nominees: Fifa Soccer 2010, Madden 2010, NBA 2K10, NHL 2010

My Pick: n/a
Most likely to win: Madden 2010

Unless Europeans are able to cast votes (and once again assuming the votes actually count for something), Fifa 2010 won’t win. Basically this category alternates every year between Madden and NHL. This year would make it Madden’s turn.

Best Driving Game
Nominees: DiRT 2, Forza Motorsport 3, Gran Turismo PSP, Need for Speed SHIFT

My Pick: Forza Motorsport 3
Most likely to win: Forza Motorsport 3

In this writer’s opinion, the Need For Speed franchise died about 4 games ago. Handheld racing games are not my thing, and I have never played either DiRT title, but its an extreme sports style racer. So while I sit back and wait for a new Rallisport game to hit the market, Forza 3 will have to suffice. With 2 discs worth of content and new car packs being released on a regular basis, Forza is the stand out choice for Driving Game of the Year.

Best Music Game
Nominees: DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Lego Rock Band, The Beatles Rock Band

My Pick: The Beatles Rock Band
Most likely to win: DJ Hero

Its Hero vs Band again. Eventually we will all get past these as more and more content is released as DLC and we don’t need to buy discs anymore since we’ll all have garages full of drums and guitars. The Beatles Rock Band was a big deal and it was a lot of fun and included some of the weirdest songs that I didn’t remember from my childhood until attempting to sing them and sounding like I was an addict digging through garbage cans for food. But since we’ve all seen and done the guitar & drum based games, this is going to go to the turn-table. Because its new. Can we do something else with this game genre? Like let it go already. Thank you.

Best Soundtrack
Nominees: Brutal Legend, DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, The Beatles Rock Band

My Pick: The Beatles Rock Band
Most likely to win: The Beatles Rock Band

How can you deny one of the most popular groups of all time the Best Soundtrack award? That is like committing media suicide. Brutal Legend’s track list only appeals to fans of metal music, and Hero games, meh.

Best Original Score
Nominees: Assassin’s Creed 2, COD: Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3: ODST, Uncharted 2

My Pick: Assassin’s Creed 2
Most likely to win: COD: Modern Warfare 2

For some reason, people seem to love the patriotic sounds of music created for war games and movies, giving the edge to COD and Halo. I loved the score for AC2, as it doesn’t overpower the game itself. Since I haven’t played Uncharted 2, I can’t comment on the score.

Best Graphics
Nominees: Batman: Arkham Asylum, COD: Modern Warfare 2, Killzone 2, Uncharted 2

My Pick: n/a
Most likely to win: Uncharted 2

And here’s where the fanboys and girls get picky. Do we really need an award for graphics anymore? Maybe we should give an award of shame to the studios who clearly don’t make an effort to provide us with stunning graphics. In this day and age, high quality graphics are a necessity and are expected of studios. That said, since everyone was oo-ing and ah-ing over Uncharted 2, it seems safe to assume it will take this one.

Best Game Based on TV Show/Movie
Nominees: Ghostbusters, South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition

My Pick: Ghostbusters
Most likely to win: Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters was the coolest thing in the early 80s. We all had Slimer lunch boxes, dressed up as them for Halloween and woke up at the crack of dawn on Saturday mornings to watch the cartoon. Plus, they got the cast back together and its an original story. For an Arcade game to take this one would be wrong, even if it is South Park. X-Men and Riddick were probably pretty decent games, but you can’t argue with the nostalgia of Ghostbusters. Who ya gonna call?

Check back tomorrow for Part 3, where I wrap up my award picks and give some final snarky comments and hopefully helpful suggestions that will most likely be ignored by the people who run the giant commercial.

The atrocity known as the Spike Video Game Awards (VGAs) is happening this weekend and I won’t be watching. Its a joke and in my opinion nothing but a 2 hour long string of commercials, ridiculous skits that aren’t in the least bit funny, and scantily clad models who fumble over lines. They show 10-30 second video teasers for games most of us already know are coming out and bombard us with actors who apparently know everything about video games because they did a voice over for a character or played 15 minutes of a game at a press event.

This year they are claiming that the voters will be the ones making the call on who takes home whatever god awful trophy they design this time around. So I have made a list of my votes for each category and today I share with you my picks for the first nine awards as listed on the official Spike VGA site.

Game of the Year
Nominees: Assassin’s Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, COD: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Uncharted 2

My Pick: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Most likely to win: COD: Modern Warfare 2

In a list of sequels, Batman stands out as an original concept. Sure, I enjoyed AC2 and L4D2, but the improvements in game-play from their predecessors don’t stand out enough to make them a Game of the Year. The voice acting was amazing, the score and graphics beautiful. It was original, and in this age of gaming, original should stand for something. But, money dictates where the votes will end up, which means that Modern Warfare 2 will take home the honour, based on the combination of public votes and how MW2 made sales records. I am not anti-MW2. I do eventually want to give the game a go, but I didn’t see it being as ground breaking as the original title.

Studio of the Year
Nominees: Infinity Ward, Naughty Dog, Rocksteady, Valve

My Pick: Rocksteady
Most likely to win: Infinity Ward

For the same reasons as my Game of the Year pick, Rocksteady brought something new to the table, while the other studios brought follow-ups.

Best Independent Game
Nominees: ‘Spolsion Man, flOwer, Osmos, Trials HD

My Pick: flOwer
Most likely to win: n/a

Seeing as I only played flOwer and ‘Spolsion Man, I could only make my choice between the two. I much preferred flOwer. The motion controls, sound and overall calming nature of the game proved to be a unique experience, one that I still believe all gamers need to have. ‘Spolsion Man just cannot hold a candle to that, in my humble opinion.

Best Xbox 360 Game
Nominees: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Halo 3: ODST, Forza Motorsport 3, Left 4 Dead 2

My Pick: n/a  
Most likely to win: Halo 3: ODST

I have played 3 of the 4 games in this category, and I cannot pick a winner. Three of these are sequels and the other is a multiplatform title. I believe that if you are going to have an annual awards program for games that multiplatform games are in their own category. Halo 3: ODST will most likely win this category as it did have strong launch day numbers. Forza 3 has sold well over the course of the one month its been on the market, but I personally don’t think its a 360 Game of the Year contender.

Best PS3 Game
Nominees: inFAMOUS, Killzone 2, Ratchet & Clank Future: Crack in Time, Uncharted 2

My Pick: n/a  
Most likely to win: Uncharted 2

I have not played any of these titles on the PS3, even though I do want to try out Ratchet & Clank and eventually play the first Uncharted title. My guess that Uncharted 2 will take this category is based on speaking to people who have also played either inFAMOUS or Killzone 2.

Best Wii Game
Nominees: Mad World, New Super Mario Bros, Punch Out, Wii Sports Resort

My Pick: n/a  
Most likely to win: Nintendo

I guess when 60% of the titles out on the system are fitness games and you are making a show targeted towards a male audience, you aren’t going to select any of those for Best Wii Game. Granted those games are just a more interactive version of a workout DVD. Take out all the shovelware that makes up another 25% of the Wii library, you have to pick from the remaining 15% which would be seen as the highlight titles. But why the hell is Wii Sports Resort in there and Muramasa isn’t? No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem likely that Mad World will win, which means the remaining titles are all Nintendo first party software. My guess is a toss up between Punch Out which I know a lot of people did enjoy and New Super Mario Bros, a game I really want to play for the nostalgia factor but I heard was not as much fun as first expected.

Best PC Games
Nominees: Dragon Age: Origins, Left 4 Dead 2, Plants vs Zombies, Sims 3

My Pick: Plants vs Zombies
Most likely to win: Sims 3

PvZ! PvZ! I cannot deny my love of Plants vs Zombies. I have obtained the Golden Sunflower award, my Tree of Wisdom is over 100 feet tall and I constantly find myself drawn to play it even when I have a stack of new games waiting for me to touch. But since this is considered more of a casual game, the hardcore PC gamers who will actually place votes are more likely to go for L4D2 or Sims 3, and I believe Sims 3 will manage to pull of more votes.

Best Handheld Game
Nominees: GTA: Chinatown Wars, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Prof. Layton & the Diabolical Box, Scribblenauts

My Pick: Prof. Layton & the Diabolical Box
Most likely to win: Scribblenauts

Here is where I look like a hypocrite for saying that I think an original game should win. But Diabolical Box is a sequel!! *le gasp* So why do I think it should win over Scribblenauts? While I do still intend on one day trying out Scribblenauts, the game’s original concept was hampered by the fact that it was too easy to play through. Granted most people who found it too easy could technically be called cheaters, shouldn’t the creators of the game foreseen that some people would find a loophole that allowed them to use the same words over and over again? It does boast an impressive library of words for gamers to play with. And if you were lucky enough, you even got a rockin’ rooster hat. My pick goes to Diabolical Box for creating a brand new storyline, bringing new puzzles and once again proving that the DS cartridge is a powerful little guy. The amount of cutscenes and voice overs Level-5 manages to fit still amaze me. Plus, it was the first handheld game in a long while that had me completely absorbed in it from the moment I peeled off the plastic until I found the last tea recipe.

Best Shooter Game
Nominees: COD: Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3: ODST, Killzone 2, Left 4 Dead 2

My Pick: Left 4 Dead 2
Most likely to win: COD: Modern Warfare 2

Simply put, of the four shooters listed the only one I felt compelled to purchase on launch was Left 4 Dead 2. I think its because no matter what, I knew that playing alone or in a group I would have the most fun killing zombies by either shooting or beating them to death with a baseball bat. My feeling that the Best Shooter title ends up with MW2 is that the millions of gamers who purchased it across all platforms will band together for this one.

In Part 2, I will look at Best Fighter, Action/Adventure, RPG, Multiplayer, Individual Sport, Team Sport, Driving, Music Games as well as Best Soundtrack.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 continues to dominate in December over in the UK. Activision’s title is keeping Assassin’s Creed II (3), FIFA 10 (2), New Super Mario Bros. Wii (4), and Wii Sports Resort (5) at bay. But talk about Nintendo pressure as 3 Nintendo titles all moved closer to the top 5.

The top publisher this week is Nintendo with six titles in the top 20. We’ll see what happens when Zelda: Spirit Tracks comes out. FIFA 10 is trying to battle Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, but we’ll see if it can accomplish that goal next week.

Rating: M for Mature
Genre: FPS (First Person Shooter)
Publisher: Activision/Infinity Ward
Release Date: November, 2009

BUY

*Review does contain some spoilers*

Infinity Ward is a class act and because of that it’s no surprise that gamers have high expectations when the studio releases a title. Moving away from their World War II focus, Infinity Ward choose to bring the battle home in Modern Warfare 2. It has sold incredibly well, but the game is definitely not perfect. Is this an example of hype or does Modern Warfare 2 really live up to the praise?

In Modern Warfare 2, the player controls a few different characters. Gamers will play as Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson, for most of the title. Modern Warfare 2 is set five years after the events in Call of Duty 4. Vladimir Makarov, a Russian Terrorist, begins a campaign against Europe and creates a situation where the Russian government believe that American Terrorists are to blame. Making a situation where Russia attacks America on their soil. Throughout the title, you switch between fighting on American soil and hunting down Makarov.

Modern Warfare 2 is made up of three different modes: a single player campaign, multiplayer and spec-ops. From what I can tell, most gamers feel so strongly about one of these three areas to excuse the other areas for being weak. Many gamers have jumped right into multiplayer and have not touched the single player campaign. The Single Player campaign is shorter than most. Multiplayer uses the unlockable reward system and builds on experience points. Spec-Ops is a co-op mode that consists of independent missions that take place in similar locations to the single player story but are completely new missions.

For this review you have to learn a little bit about me. I am not the strongest shooter gamer in general. But I have always had a fondness for Call of Duty titles. I play them even though I may struggle.  I believe that if you are a hard core multiplayer FPS gamer, then you are going to purchase MW2 and love it. There are some glitches in multiplayer, but FourZeroTwo states that they are working on them. This is a review may be more for people that may not be completely into mutliplayer and want to know if this is a title they should look into.

The first thing I did with MW2 was to jump right into multiplayer. It could be the time of day I was playing, but the matchmaking was way off. I was proud of my few kills, but I definitely got my booty handed to me. There was a huge learning curve for me and not being able to play with other new players was a huge disadvantage and ultimately a turn-off to multiplayer. Even though I am not the best, I do enjoy playing multiplayer. But practicing in order to get better is almost impossible when put with people that are higher ranked than you. I am curious to know what you think of the reward system. It seems that once a player gets a reward for an air-strike (for example) it is easier for that person to stay at the top and continue to earn rewards. Which provides another discouraging slant to multiplayer.

From there, I started playing the single player story. Here’s what I didn’t like about the single player story: I didn’t really understand that the story was following a path until halfway through. Then the story seems to really be about a focal plot point. The weird thing is, when I look back, I realize that the story is carried throughout the game, but in the first half of the title, I was extremely confused. Infinity Ward is known for it’s strong story with strong gameplay, but I felt disappointed that the single player seemed to be so fragmented. Maybe it’s the constant switching from a main player to the point of view of other characters. That’s a novelty the first or second time, after that it seems to create confusion. I do have to say that I LOVED the last half of the story.

The last thing I didn’t like was the airport scene or “No Russian” mission. Maybe it’s all the hype built around it, but I expected to have an emotional reaction to this mission. Everyone on my Twitter seemed to be affected by this mission. Was I emotionally cold? Did I loose my heart somewhere in gaming? While many discussed a choice in participating or not, there really is no choice. You can choose when starting the title to skip that content. But if you go through the content you can either shoot or walk and watch. I tried attacking the Russians and died very quickly. Moral choices in games is something many developers discuss, but to me this mission had no moral choice. I chose not to shoot at the airport visitors, but I couldn’t keep them from getting shot. It just felt very removed for me. Would I have a different reaction if the level was more of a secret? Maybe.

What did I love about MW2?
I loved the second half of the single player story. It really was quite amazing to play a shooter that takes place in a destroyed White House. At one point the shooting takes place in front of a fast food joint. It’s just amazing to think of what a war would be like on our land.

I loved Spec-Ops. Being in a gamer relationship, the more co-op we can play, the more a title will be played. We loved playing the Spec-Ops together and got very competitive. Gamers can pick level of difficulty and earn up to three stars based on how they complete the mission. Once enough stars are earned more missions will unlock. In total there are 23 missions, and 69 stars available for unlock. Spec-ops is something you can play alone, but the fun is definitely in the co-op.

The single player is shorter and doesn’t seem as strong as what I expect from Infinity Ward but it is an enjoyable experience. I believe there is something for all types of gamers in Modern Warfare 2. The amount of replay may vary based on what type of gamer you are, but this is one 2009 title that you can’t miss out on.

**Review copy provided by Activision and does not effect the outcome of this review.**