Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the largest media launch of all time, say the numbers from Amazon, Activision and Gamestop but is it the best game of all time?  Short answer no, long answer, it comes pretty close.

        People around the world have been talking about it, people in this country have been pre-ordering it by the millions and people at J-town even camped out for the midnight launch, but is it worth the hype?

        Let’s first start with single player, which somehow feels broken compared at the last game. For one, you can beat it before you can finish heating a Lunchable, clocking it at a measly four hours on the Harden difficulty. It feels empty… no character motivation is explained and when major revelations occur, the game tries so hard to make you care, but in the end the only way to understand the storyline is the watch the load screens… yes, the load screen. Oh and lastly, this wouldn’t be a review if I didn’t mention the controversial airport scene. Remember how the Mass Effect scene was over exaggerated by the media? Believe me, this scene is as bad as it sounds. You take the point of view of a terrorist, massacring everyone in an airport that isn’t Russian and let me tell you, this has to be the most brutal scene in video game history. I don’t think it should be banned by any means, but be warned, it will press the buttons on some, no pun intended.

            But in reality, most people are buying this game for multiplayer and even though it isn’t a radical departure rather than a refinement of what already worked, it still feels new and fresh. The big selling point in the customizability and my biggest concern about this before the game came out is that it would it be unbalanced, but I’m glad to say no, it isn’t. There are tons of perks and weapons that all cancel out each other, allowing experimentation to play a big role. And because of this, I guarantee you will be playing this game well into next year or at least until Halo: Reach comes out.

        Last but not least, there’s Spec Ops mode, which is a cut and paste of levels you can play cooperatively. I wouldn’t call this a “horde mode clone” because it does everything I wish “horde mode” did. It offers multiple objectives while occasionally assigning different jobs to both players to make them really feel like they are  part of a unit instead of a bunch gamers eating pizza and soda. It’s fun and I suggest getting or kidnapping a friend to play with you… you both won’t regret it.   

           All in all, Modern Warfare 2 is worth the hype but because of the shortness of the single player, I will only recommend this to people who have access to online services. If you don’t, this game may not be worth sixty dollars.

Sierra clutches the ball while running for her next touchdown.

                The heat was turned up during the Powder Puff “entertainment” on Tuesday night, October 20. The first game was intense with the seniors and the sophomores. During the first half, the sophomores completely trampled the seniors by making two touchdowns. However, during the start of the second half, the seniors had an eager attempt at a comeback. Cami Calderon grabbed the ball after a toss off and dashed down the field within a mere thirty seconds, managing to push her way through the sophomores,  receiving the first touchdown. The entire game was extreme and a few girls managed to occasionally change it into tackle football rather than the usual flag tugging. This led to anger and girls wanting to beat each other to the ground, especially with comments made throughout the match.  The game was finished with a score of seniors 12 - sophomores 30. What happened seniors??

            The second game consisted of the juniors and freshmen. Christina Calderon showed everyone how someone as small as she is can do just as much as someone twice her size. She successfully led her freshmen team with five touchdowns. Their game happened to be just as intense with a few tackles here and there. Mr. Gambert seemed excited as well, walking up and down the field congratulating his freshmen girls and explaining their next play for defeat. The ending score was freshmen 27 -  juniors 20.

            There was a change in the way the teams were coached this year. Instead of the football players from

Ms. Deneen is ready to "fight."

each class coaching, teachers were asked to step in and fill those positions. The freshmen coach was Mr. Gambert, sophomores learned from Mr. Burke, juniors were advised by Mr. Moseley and Mr. McKeenan and seniors had the security guards Mr. Minkins and Mr. Curtis.

            Not only was the field full of excitement, Ms. Schneidau kept the fans rolling in their seats. She was a hilarious announcer. “Omg!! She actually got dirty,” was one of her several remarks. She also pointed out that each team wore the same number on their shirts “their class number.”

            Thursday, October 22, during the fall festival, the sophomores and freshmen had their playoff for the championship. Sierra Robinson tore down the field making touchdown after touchdown for her team. It was a powerful competition and fire seemed to be coming off the bottom of these girls’ shoes. Freshmen did an amazing job but weren’t quite prepared enough to face the sophomores who took the victory and became the ultimate powder puff team of 2009. However, beating each class was not an ample amount of defeat for the sophomore class.  They chose to take on the teachers and staff afterwards. Again they crushed their opposing team into the ground and won by way too many points to count! Overall, the powder puff challenge was one to remember, although many seniors wish to forget. There were several changes in the game itself this year, including the ending results.

Mad World: The most brutal game ever made.  A world of death and destruction is only half of story. There are not just hundreds of ways to die, there thousands and this game will show you all of them. While the world is going though a test of battles to the death, you are the boss keeping the fighters in line. It’s out on Wii only. Rating: 9 out of 10

Street Fighter 4: Yes, for real; there is another one. The old and new games were combined to make this “masterpiece” for us. And no, it wasn’t made just because they had a movie coming out. It’s for one or two players, and the graphics have greatly improved since the original arcade game. Out on Playstation 3 and X-Box 360.  Rating: 9.25 out of 10

Halo Wars: Don’t lose hope because of last year’s devastation. It’s way better than Halo III. There’s way more gunplay and it just looks far better so you shouldn’t have much to complain about. It’s one player and two player split screen. Out on X-Box 360. Rating: 9 out of 10

Kill Zone 2: Best looking shooting game for the PS3. The name says it all.G4 says, “Best shooting game ever.” Should we test it? Uh yeah, without hestitaion. One player only. Only out on Playstation 3. Rating: 8.75 out of 10.

House of the Dead: Overkill: Finally the Wii can make my kinda game. “KILL THE ZOMBIES!” Always my favorite. Blood and gore is all this game is made for. It tells us that Wii isn’t just a kids’ console - it’s for teens too. One player. Out for Wii only. Rating: 8.5 out of 10