Call of Duty: United Offensive (PC)

At E3 Activision is showing off more of Gray Matter's work on the Call of Duty expansion. Although it sounds a bit underwhelming -- you're manning a turret in a B-17 -- they've managed to work in enough of Call of Duty's trademark sound and fury to make it stand out as more than just Incoming with a World War II skin.

Because the level takes place thousands of feet in the air, the lack of geometry gives Gray Matter a much bigger polygon budget. They've spent it filling the air with a fleet of about a dozen Flying Fortresses with Messerschmitts and Spitfires weaving among streams of tracers. Their new particle system renders lush clouds, smoke, and flak bursts, all set against a richly detailed skybox.

As you shoot down enemy fighters, you'll rack up iron crosses on the side of the screen for each kill. Your performance will directly affect how many of friendly bombers live, which also determines how much machinegun cover you have. Seeing a friendly bomber go down can be a gruesome sight; although some planes go down slowly enough that the crew is able to bail out safely, a sudden explosion sends debris and bodies flying through the air.

Although you'll spend most of the mission firing the turret (complete with the screen shake and wiggling tracer effect that gives it the authentic look of wartime footage), you'll actually have to move around inside the plane as the mission progresses. You'll have to take over turrets when crew members are wounded. You'll also have to shut off the fuel flow to keep the plane from blowing up. Assuming your bomber makes it to the target, you'll have to manually override the jammed bomb bay doors, giving you a front row seat to the falling bombs.

All the while, as your plane takes damage, you'll see holes blown in the fuselage, smoke pouring from the engines, and wounded crew members slumped at their stations. The mission ends in a spectacular sequence in which the rear of the plane is blown off. The last thing you'll see is the tail section of your B-17 receding into the distance as the plane noses down into a fatal dive. Activision won't say what happens next, but we're guessing it involves a parachute.

Activision also announced a few details about the expansion's multiplayer support. The new drivable vehicles include tanks and jeeps, which can be trumped by bazookas, satchel charges, and the infamous 88mm flak cannon. These will be a big part of the new assault multiplayer games, which are built around battling vehicles. However, vehicles can also be used in the new capture the flag mode (finally!) and the new domination mode, in which each team tries to grab control points on the map.