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.

Plants vs Zombies (PC/Mac)

 Buy: Plants vs Zombies Only $6.99 (Bigfishgames)
 Buy: Plants vs Zombies Deluxe €29.95 (Zylom)
 Play Online For Free!



There are zombies on your lawn. What are you gonna do about it? Set out some plants, of course!
Those pesky zombies are at it again. They’re shuffling across your yard, intent on eating your brains. Luckily, nobody hates zombies more than the plants around your house. They’ve taken it upon themselves to protect your home from an endless assault of the undead.
PopCap is the undisputed king of addictive casual games. Bejeweled has been cloned more times than you can count, and other games such as Peggle and Zuma are free-time vampires. Plants vs Zombies is a fairly simple concept on the surface, but the title also has more depth than you might expect at first glance.

Plants vs Zombies is an example of a tower-defense game where you place a bunch of offensive and defensive “towers” in a limited area in order to defend your base from an onslaught of enemies of differing types. Each variety of plant has a different skill to bring to the strategic drawing board, but nothing comes for free. Each plant has an associated cost for placing it on your lawn, measured in “sunshine”. You have to continuously gather enough sun to pay for all the flora you wish to plant. In addition to the initial purchase cost, each type of plant has a set recharge time before you can place another one. In general, cheaper plants recharge much faster than more powerful, expensive plants. Your yard is divided into a grid with a limited number of spaces in which to place plants. The zombies will shuffle towards your house in one of five different lanes, and your plants will only attack zombies within their range, which usually means they must occupy the same lane.

Tower defense games are all about finding the balance between different types of defenses in order to repel differing enemies. Plants vs Zombies offers up a fairly large roster of pesky zombies to defend against. Apart from the generic type, there are zombies with bolstered defense, zombies with extra speed, zombies with excess strength, and zombies with a host of other special traits. As large as the roster of zombies is, it still pales in comparison to the list of plants that becomes available over the course of the game. There are more than enough kinds of plants to defend against every type of zombie, day or night. Some plants can only be used during the day, while others, such as mushrooms, are nocturnal.
So how can a bunch of plants stop all those zombies from entering your house and eating your brains?

Sunflowers are used to generate sunshine, which also randomly falls from the sky during the day. If you don’t take the time to gather all the sun that you can, you won’t be able to build enough defenses. You start out with a basic arsenal including Wall-nuts to stop the zombies in their tracks and Peashooters to take them down. Over time, the number of available plants becomes rather large, and you must choose which of them you will take into battle for each level. My personal favorite plant type is the Kernel-Pult that lobs kernels of corn and slabs of butter.
The zombie horde has several tricks to try and make it across your lawn. Normal zombies merely shuffle forwards, but other types are a little more devious. Pole Vaulting Zombie can jump over the first plant he comes to, and Newspaper Zombie gets really angry and charges across the yard when you destroy his paper. The Dancing Zombie, which resembles a certain pop star, is my favorite.

If this were all that Plants vs Zombies had to offer, it would be a pretty solid game. However PopCap has stuffed this thing to the gills with a goofy sense of humor and more extras than you could shake a severed limb at. Each character in the game has a cartoony feel from the way they look to the way they move. Guiding you through the game periodically is Crazy Dave who wears a pan on his head and speaks in garbled grunts (helpfully translated into speech balloons on-screen). As you encounter different plants and zombies in the game, they are added to an almanac that lists strengths, special moves, and an often hilarious brief description. There is also a shop where you can buy new plants types and a few other defenses. You also unlock a “Zen Garden” where you can grow several plants that earn you rewards when they reach maturity. Apart from the regular Adventure mode, Plants vs Zombies also includes several fun mini-games including Wall-Nut Bowling and a Slot Machine mode in which you must use a slot machine to win different types of plants to defend your lawn. Additionally, there are several puzzle modes such as one where you play things from the side of the zombies trying to fight your way through a group of plants (actually cardboard cutouts so no actual plants are harmed). Finally, you will unlock the Survival mode which ups the ante a bit, making things much more difficult for your spirited band of plants.

Plants vs Zombies is a deceptive little title. It sneaks by your defenses with a cute presentation and goofy charm. You start out by putting down a few waves of shuffling zombies, and you start to think that this might be an easy encounter to win. Soon enough the game gets its hooks into you, and you’ll find yourself neck deep in a horde of zombies with tons of flaming peas flying through the air and snorkeling zombies swimming under your defenses, muttering curses under your breath as the zombies eat yet another one of your precious plants. It’s only then that you’ll realize hours have passed you by in the blink of an eye and too many utterances of the phrase “just one more”. Plants vs Zombies wears the guise of a “casual” game, but it has just as much depth, polish, content, and thoughtful strategy as any “hardcore” game. Perhaps the term “casual-core” should be invented, if it hasn’t been already.

Plants vs. Zombies on DS

PopCap Games have announced that the charming and strategic Plants vs. Zombies is coming to Nintendo DS. Apart from the usual game modes Adventure, Survival, Puzzle and Mini Games, there will also be material exclusive to the Nintendo DS version. Exactly what that entails is unknown.
Plants vs. Zombies is set to arrive at the beginning of 2011 on Nintendo DS.

 

Download: Plants vs Zombies

Download: Plants vs Zombies