So it turns out the CoD4 Variety Map Pack is coming out this week, after all. Despite the official COD4 Game of the Year website decreeing an April 10 release date for the downloadable content, Infinity Ward's blogger extraordinaire fourzerotwo posted reassurances today that the map pack is "NOT delayed" and that there's a good chance the maps will be available tomorrow night or early Friday. "For those of you asking when you should take off work, I'd take off Friday,"
In a brief email today, publisher Activision gave a revised release date of April 10 for the Xbox 360 version of its upcoming Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack. The release of the map pack was originally scheduled for April 3.
Infinity Ward has revealed that its Xbox Live-topping shooter Call of Duty 4 is attracting "between 1.2 and 1.3 million users every day" just on Microsoft's service – with PS3 numbers "monstrously huge".
A new site appeared on Xbox.com announcing the Call of Duty 4 map pack that will arrive Thursday, April 3 for 800 MS points (US$10). The pack includes four new maps: Creek, Broadcast, Chinatown and Killhouse. Since this news came from an Xbox 360 page, no word yet on the equivalent PS3 release.
Ordinarily, multiplayer map packs aren't the most exciting things. But this is Call of Duty 4 we're talking about, the biggest multiplayer phenomenon since Halo. Players who've been playing for months may have advanced past the prestige level, but have played every single map in every single mode many times over, most likely. It's time for some new stuff.
Activision has announced Call of Duty 4: Game of the Year Edition, which will be released in April.
The new game will feature the full COD4 game, as well as a token for use on Xbox Live, which will allow gamers to download the upcoming map pack. Call of Duty 4: Game of the Year edition will also feature new packaging, that will detail the various awards the game has won.
The map pack will be available to download in April, and will cost 800 Live points.
Expect host migration (even when a host drops teams stay together), better accuracy for snipers and ACOG scope users, an expanded Kill Cam that includes claymores, airstrikes and grenades, nine new spawn points on each map, quick mute and some other tweaks.
Again I can see no rationale for this game to trade so highly. COD4 is game of the year, but the FPS market is much smaller than people tend to imagine.
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