Sarah Michelle Gellar, George Romero and More Star In The New Zombie Map ‘Call of the Dead’ In Call of Duty: Black Ops

Well now we know why the new zombie map was kept so hush, hush when it came to promoting the new Map Pack, Escalation for Call of Duty: Black Ops.  Apparently Director, George Romero, Robert Englund, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michael Rooker and Danny Trejo are all slated to star in the new zombie map entitled ‘Call of the Dead’. It is part of the next map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops along with four other maps with the pack being called ‘Escalation’. The level is a tribute from developers Treyarch to George A. Romero who brought us Zombies for possibly one of the very first times with the classic films such as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.  Even Michelle Gellar is lending her talent to the level with the past TV hit vampire series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Freddy Kruger himself, Robert Englund is even a part of the project as well as more. The Black Ops Map Pack ‘Escalation’ Releases on May 3rd, 2011 exclusively for the Xbox 360 for one month.  There will be four multiplayer maps including Zoo, Stockpile, Convoy, Hotel and of course the now fifth infamous Zombie map Call of the Dead.  View the full Press Release below.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) and Treyarch revealed today that famed horror and action stars Robert Englund, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michael Rooker and Danny Trejo have joined the cast of Call of Duty®: Black Ops Escalation’s zombie level, Call of the Dead. The Call of the Dead zombie level and four all new multiplayer maps make up the second content pack, Escalation, for the record-setting game Call of Duty: Black Ops, launching first on Xbox LIVE® on May 3rd.  Dedicated to creating a Zombie experience like never before, the Call of the Dead storyline is inspired by none other than legendary horror writer and director, George A. Romero, who also stars as himself in the new level.
“Our latest zombie creation, Call of the Dead, is unreal!” says Mark Lamia, Studio Head of Treyarch. “We set out to create an exciting new zombie experience for fans of the genre that takes Zombies to an insane new level.”
“This is Treyarch’s tribute to the legendary George Romero, who truly defined the zombie genre and whose incredible work has been such an inspiration to our team,” says Dave Anthony, Call of Duty: Black Ops Director.  ”It was an absolute honor to work with such an amazing and talented cast whose passion and energy brought their characters instantly to life.  Fans are going to love this.”
In addition to George A. Romero, whose credits include Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Land of the Dead, he is joined by Sarah Michelle Gellar, whose credits include the hit TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Cruel Intentions; Robert Englund, best known for originating the role of Freddy Krueger in the successful Nightmare on Elm Street franchise; Michael Rooker, most recently acclaimed for his work on AMC’s horror drama The Walking Dead; and Danny Trejo, who starred in 2010′s action-thriller Machete.
Published by Activision and developed by Treyarch, Call of Duty: Black Ops is rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence and Strong Language.  Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation content pack will launch first on Xbox LIVE on May 3rd.  For additional Call of Duty updates and information, visit us on the web at www.callofduty.com/blackops, www.facebook.com/codblackops, and also via Twitter @Treyarch.
About Activision Publishing, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.
Call of Duty and Activision are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.
SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.

Call of Duty Black Ops Perks, Emblem Editor, Character Customization, Equipment, Guns, and Much More

A Call of Duty Black Ops News Video that goes over :

• Black Ops Perks,
• Black Ops Emblem Editor
• Black Ops Character Customization
• Black Ops Equipment,
• Black Ops Guns & more!

Call of Duty: Black Ops Getting a Mod Tool Set

Treyarch is aiming to bring a set of mod tools to create your own maps and more soon.  This will obviously only be for the PC version of the and is most likely in response to the fact the Modern Warfare 2 never received that kind of support that PC gamers love.  It is roughly set to get here this May says a Treyarch developer.

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Official “Call of the Dead” Black Ops Movie Poster

There’s a zombie killer in all of us.
To honor the Hollywood Style that has attached itself to the “Call of the Dead” zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation, Treyarch has released a movie themed poster for the map pack. The DLC is set to launch on May 3rd on the Xbox 360 and will run you the standard 1200 Microsoft points to access the content.
Have a look.

 

Our First Look at Escalation's Multiplayer Maps

Treyarch released our first look into the multiplayer maps that are set to launch in the Escalation map pack on May 3rd, first on Xbox Live.

The video shows us what to expect from Zoo, Convoy, Hotel and Stockpile along with some really great insight from a wider array of Treyarch personnel. Traditionally, we hear from the same couple people in Treyarch released videos but this time around we get to see a few unfamiliar faces which is nice.

Take a look below:


We'll have coverage and more info as we move closer to May 3rd so be sure to stick around! We're expecting a separate reveal for the new Zombies map, Call of the Dead, since we didn't get a chance to see anything in this preview.

Will Black Ops Ever Get an MLG Playlist?

Major League Gaming is increasing in popularity and user base rapidly, particularly in the Call of Duty universe. Something that the MLG communitiy has been asking for is a dedicated MLG playlist that accommodates the League rules and requirements.
David Vonderhaar, more commonly known as Vahn, is Black Ops' Design Director for multiplayer. Vahn recently had a beautifully detailed post on the official Call of Duty message board, discussing what an MLG playlist requires from a designers perspective and what Treyarch can and cannot do.
Take a look at some snippets from the lengthy post and hit the source link at the bottom to read the full post.
Last weekend I attended my first MLG Pro Series event in Dallas, Texas. At that event, and via Twitter, many MLG players asked me about the possibility of an MLG playlist. I've been thinking about what this means at a design and technical level.
Not everything the MLG has in its rules are enforceable at a playlist level. In fact, most are not.
Some fans of the game assume "anything" is possible in a playlist. This isn't accurate. While many things are possible, many more are not. At least they are not without some significant engineering work. The more engineering (coding) required the more risky the change is. The more risky the change is the less likely we are to want to do it.
Settings - All Games
• Hardcore Mode = Disabled
• Allow Killcam = Enabled
• Headshots Only = Disabled
• Allow Sprint = Enabled
• Force Respawn = Enabled
• Wave Spawn Delay = None
• Max Health = Normal
• Health Regen = Normal
• Spectating = Team Only
• Friendly Fire = Enabled
• Class Editor = Allow Player Classes
• Killstreak Editor = Don't Allow Killstreaks
• Perk Editor = Allow Perks
• Game Recording = Enabled
• Party Privacy = Closed
Most of these can be enforced at a playlist level, but not all. It's not technically prudent to build a full "MLG Playlist" that echoes a changing set of rules for a specific league. The MLG isn't the only competitive league. It's just the one I have some (limited) firsthand experience with. MLG players are a micro fraction of our audience. Any MLG playlist would have lower user counts. I don't care about that all that much. Bringing exposure to professional competitive gaming and growing the Black Ops participating in it is my motivation.
For the full post, including a rule-by-rule breakdown of what a Black Ops playlist can and cannot do to support MLG, head to the source link below.

Inside Xbox: Call of Duty Black Ops Escalation Map Pack, Call of the Dead

The team over at Inside Xbox had a chance to put together an insiders look at Call of the Dead, the hotly anticipated new Zombies map in Black Ops' upcoming DLC, Escalation.



Escalation features four new multiplayer maps and of course, the new Zombies experience Call of the Dead.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation Map Pack Screenshots Revealed

Treyarch, today, released a nice batch of screenshots from the upcoming map pack, Escalation. We're really looking forward to spending some time with these maps, but in the mean time, it's nice to be able to see some high resolution screenshots.
Take a look at a few below, and hit the source link at the bottom for the full batch from Treyarch.

Convoy

Hotel 

Zoo

Stockpile