Modern Warfare 3 Release Date Leaked!

As of today (16.05.2011), I Clare McKenna am now a Christian. There is a god out there and s/he just made my Monday morning that little bit easier. 

Today as i checked my twitter feed the best piece of gaming news I've heard in a little while, reared its little head up. 

IGN have now confirmed the released the official release date for the next CoD game, Modern Warfare 3 as 08.11.11 as this leaked picture of the promotional photo shows. 

After seeing this photo I think I died a little knowing that it would be released two days before The new Elder Scrolls game, Skyrim is also released .Which means I wont actually get to play Skyrim for a few weeks.because Craig will still be addicted to Multi player . (JOY!). 

But still the good news which I'm focussing on is the fact the release date has been confirmed.

HTC HD7,

 Hi I'm Clare McKenna...

And Windows 7 was my idea! 

I wish...

I've had my new shiny phone for two weeks now I think? so i think it's time to review..

My last phone was the LG GW300, the blackberry look-a-like, I've never owned a smart phone before so i was pretty stoked about this one. HTC HD7. It's a 4.3" touchscreen smartphone with windows phone 7 operating system. And its a pretty exciting phone to own. The phone is from the new range of windows phones being released by HTC. Of this Range you have; The Trophy released on Vodafone, aiming more at a mobile gamer, same processor and OS but a slightly smaller screen (3.8")  weigh's slightly less and an improved battery life. The Mozart on Orange, based around music, even smaller than the other two (3.7" screen) a better Camera, 8MP, compared with the HD7 and Trophy's 5MP. The HD7 comes across as the all rounder out of the three, Slightly larger screen than the other two for gaming and pictures and videos,  SRS and dolby Digital enhancements for music. a 16GB Internal Memory and a 720p HD Video recorder

The 1GHz Snapdragon Processor that is in all three of these phones is AMAZING and with new most recent software updates (v7.0.7392) , applications load up and close quicker than you can blink. 

Integrated Windows Live and Facebook meant I never had the fuss with switching all my contacts from my old phone into the new one. everyone's in one place.

My only two complaints about this phone is the lack of ringtones and Video quality once the video is taken off the small screen..

Firstly the issue with the ringtone is the same one the iPhone had when it first came out, you cant use an MP3 track that you have put on the phones memory as your ringtone, its just not possible, well unless your willing to "jailbreak" your phone. and make your warranty and insurance null and void. Have fun coughing up £500 to replace your phone if you break it!  

Secondly the video quality after I had taken the videos recorded on the phone on to my laptop. the quality of the videos were very jumpy, and blurred. not really what i was expecting, especially as the phone is called the "HD"7 . 

But Overall the phone its self and its OS is a treat.

Escalation, it's finally here...

So, yeah the second DLC pack from Treyarch and the Call of Duty franchise is finally here, Escalation, similar to the First Strike map pack, available on Xbox Live first, Costing 1200 Microsoft points. you get 4 new multi-player maps, (Zoo, Convoy, Hotel and Stockpile) and one new zombie map called Call Of The Dead (Which I haven't played yet, but will post when I have!) where you can play as Sarah Michelle Gellar, Danny Trejo, Robert Englund and Michael Rooker... impressed? Don't be.


 I must say at first the multi-player maps are not that great and the price personally a bit steep. I bought them today, (the 6th May) three days after the release and what-do-you-know, the first thing i come across? CAMPERS! seriously WTF?! why spend 1200 MSP (£12 to you PSN'ers) if your just going to stay in one spot, that's not really the point of the game, and to be honest? a waste of money.


First map is Convoy, a medium size map. It comes across as war torn suburban area, lots of destroyed vehicles, ruined buildings, and very samey?(is that even a word) FPS surroundings. A Large motorway style bridge takes the centre of the map with two adjacent catwalks, perfect for you snipers out there. Personally I feel this map is out of place in the Black Ops series and belongs in a Modern Warfare DLC, perhaps it's just the whole Diner, ruined bridge and petrol station. i just feel like I've seen it all before...


Second is Hotel, pretty much describes itself. Set in a, well, how do I say this with out pointing out the obvious? HOTEL. two opposing buildings, similar to the old Nuketown map however in it's own way entirely different. This map is the highlight of the map pack for myself. One side there is a casino the other a bar, with a second floor sniper perches, but don't think about taking the stairs if you plan on sniping, there 3 available lifts on this map. the main area of the map is the giant swimming pool that takes centre stage for those close encounters, an assault rifle or LMG is a must! Commando with Reflex sights and suppressor is my preference.


Third up, Stockpile. Back to the more Cold War settings, not really original, (come on Treyarch, develop something new!) and I dont really have much to write on this map. It's set in a weapons factory. Only interesting point of this map is the main control room, an ideal place for those campers, can lock themselves in by using two switches. take a rocket launcher to this map. it penetrates through those lockable doors. HA TAKE THAT CAMPERS! :D


Lastly, Zoo.. Like hotel, it's obvious the where its set. An Abandoned Zoo. Lots of secret paths and hidden stairs,if you've got the time to take to actually explore the map you should. Keep an eye out at every second possible. Enemies will constantly be flanking you, and you wont even notice your doing it. Make sure you get up to the monorail that runs throughout the map. Sweet sniper points run all the way through the track, and you have the advantage of height to see where enemies are despite the amount of animal enclosure that are roofed..but all in alll the map is decent. 


Overall my Opinion of the DLC, is over priced and rather bland and nothing extraordinary. Had I not been such a big fan of the CoD franchise, I probably wouldn't have bought these maps!