Last week, Activision Blizzard held their annual media and retail buyer get together in Auckland and gave a select handful of folks a look and play with their biggest games for holiday season 2008. GameSpot AU was there in the midst of the action and got extensive hands-on with Guitar Hero: World Tour, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Call of Duty: World at War, James Bond: Quantum of Solace, and many more games.

　　While most of these titles have been covered at length throughout their development lifecycle--including showings at E3 and during last months Leipzig Games Convention--we wanted to give you our take on what rocked and how they feel to play as we head into the busiest time of the gaming year.

　　We'll kick things off with a look at Guitar Hero: World Tour, the fourth proper release in the hugely popular rhythm game series. Moving away from the solo and two-player riffing we've seen previously, World Tour sees not only another fresh iteration of the guitar controller, but also the introduction of a wireless drum kit and a microphone you can use to belt out the words as they appear on screen. It's a hardware combination we've seen in rival product Rock Band, but since there's still no estimate on when (or even if) that will land on Aussie shores, Guitar Hero: World Tour looks to be the first pseudo band experience to market down under. If you were one of the Australian gamers who jumped the queue and bought Rock Band through the US over the last year you'll be familiar with the group ethos--survival at all costs. Star Power (or Overdrive as Rock Band calls it) may be the trick pony you pull out at parties to embarrass your competition with your massive score in guitar-only games, but here you'll need to use it to save individuals who can't handle the pace or bring up multiple stragglers with a single graceful lift of the guitar's neck.

　　Billy Corgan looking as dapper as ever in GH World Tour.

　　The game will ship with 85 master tracks, so there's no risk of dodgy covers here. During the event we shuffled our way through a cut back build which included Foo Fighters, Michael Jackson, Coldplay, Interpol, Lenny Kravitz, and No Doubt. Drums were the most requested instrument, and having been able to jump on the kit on a couple of occasions now they still impress us with their build quality and feel. Even if you've never picked up a set of drum sticks in your life, crossing your arms over to hit the split level snare and high hat cymbal set up is natural. More importantly, it makes you look and feel like a total rock star. The World Tour guitars are slightly heavier than their Guitar Hero III counterparts, and in addition to a slightly longer strum and whammy bar, the redesign also includes a brand new touch sensitive strip. This strip can be used to catch notes by sliding your finger along it when notes on screen are connected by a purple line or can be used to tap out solos rather than using the physical button frets. The microphone is a standard Logitech wired model like that in the Rock Band and Boogie kits, but has had a couple of weights added to give it a better feel. It's a hell of a lot of fun to play and a brilliant icebreaker with a couple of beers and a group of strangers. Start planning your parties now for when it takes the stage on November 12 in Australia.

　　World at War looks set to be a gritty shooter.

　　Guitar Hero: World Tour held a lot of attendee attention, but it certainly wasn't the only AAA title on show. We got our grubby mitts on Call of Duty: World at War, and had a chance to give four-player co-op play a thrash. While CoD 4 introduced the series to the modern era, the fifth game will revisit the established World War II themes with a new twist. World at War has a distinctive artistic look about it despite the locale change thanks to the recycled proprietary game engine from last year's smash hit. That's not at all to say it's CoD 4 2.0: on the contrary it features verdant dense jungle, sandy dried out creek beds, and indoor corridor action in realistically grimy bombed out buildings. While we started as American forces in the Pacific battling the proud and determined Japanese forces, the biggest battle seemed to be friendly fire. During our demo we had to restart no fewer than six times at the opening ambush due to stray bullets from overzealous weapon spray. CoD fans and newcomers alike won't be thrown any curve balls here in terms of weapons or gameplay, but coloured indicators on screen will tell you when a friendly player is down. To revive them, simply hold the X button until the bar fills. You'll want to take care of your buddies as leaving them alone to bleed out will cause the entire team to fail the mission and you'll need to restart it from the last check point.

　　Spidey goes for a ride in Web of Shadows.

　　Everyone's favourite neighbourhood superhero Spidey is back in a new adventure--Web of Shadows--and we got to swing around New York City in our play session. In a nutshell, you'll take control of Spider-Man as he battles a symbiote infestation. Along the way you'll stop crime, run into old friends, and go toe-to-toe with a classic Spidey nemesis or two. Check out our full thoughts on the game here.

　　More dragon action in the latest Spyro.

　　Spyro is about to make his next-gen console debut in The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. In addition to partnering with long-term girl dragon enemy Cynder, this game will also finally give players the chance to do something they've always wanted to do with their dragon character--fly. The two of you will team up to help rid the world of a spreading disease by taking control of nature, fire, ice, and shadow powers and unleash devastating combo attacks. While we didn't get a chance to play it, the hands-off gameplay footage looked good, and the inclusion of a drop-in/out co-op mode is a nice addition for multiplayer.

　　Bond, James Bond.

　　The term "movie tie-in game" never fills us with confidence since to be honest, most of them tend to be low budget, rushed attempts at grabbing a little more of your cash after you've already paid to see the film. So it's with absolute pleasure that we can say that after playing James Bond: Quantum of Solace, the game is looking like it might be the exception to the rule. Developer Treyarch is working closely with both the game's official licensers Danjak and the cast from the film to provide (gasp) character models that look like their respective live action counterparts. Gameplay is a mix of third- and first-person shooting and when used with the cover mechanic has a bit of a Time Crisis feel to it. Bond has been developed using the Call of Duty 4 engine is looking great. Our hands-on time consisted of a look at one of the game's Italy levels, which sees you scampering across rooftops as you pursue a person of interest. The gunplay is fun with plenty to shoot at (including a swag of exploding gas canisters) but in typical spy fashion you'll also need to hack computers and bust up the place. Bond will be swinging and shooting his way onto store shelves at the same as it hits the big screen.

　　Stay tuned to GameSpot for full reviews of all the big releases.