Xbox Christmas Showcase Event
Well, we’ve come back from the Xbox Christmas Showcase Event with a warm fuzzy feeling and a whole bucketload of anticipation for the fantastic array of titles Microsoft and their third party developers are throwing our way up to this Christmas and beyond.
One of the obvious titles was Halo 3 which is hitting stores in just a few days, we experienced the jaw-droppingness which is Forge; it brings back fond memories of the insane things one could do in Half Life 2 with a little explosives. A quick word on the Gravity Hammer: LOVE IT! Halo finally has a weapon designed specifically for me… suffice to say I beat down my enemies in a gravity hammer match and lead by some 10 kills… alas a couple of rocket matches later I was toast.
I picked up Mass Effect for a tinker and it’s shaping up beautifully, after navigating a rather lengthy dialogue that a previous player must have got bored of before me I was off for a brief stint in a mission- I didn’t pay much attention to the dialogue or the situation I was in, but it played out beautifully and lead me through a dynamic, story driven mission with plenty of FPS action to hook me on the game. On the big screen, up close and personal the graphics aren’t nearly as impressive as most of the videos on the web would suggest but they’re still fantastic with Mass Effect boasting perhaps the best looking characters I’ve yet seen in a game.
I was beaten at Guitar Hero 3, which is Guitar Hero 2 with multiplayer and more songs; need I say more?
Assassins Creed was another one of my favorites and a must buy for anyone who is remotely interested in the title. I just had time to do a little free running and pick random fights with guards before we were moved on.
Last but not least I gave Orange Box a try and had a lot of fun piddling with the gravity gun in what I presume to be one of Half Life 2s episodic content addons; this is another intriguing title that I might pick up despite having Half Life 2 on the PC.
Other titles making the event included PGR4, NFS: Pro Street, Kingdom of Fire: Circle of Doom, CoD4, Naruto, the Viva Pinata Party Game and even a few live arcade titles.
Viva Pinata was surprisingly fun and it was made quite clear that Microsoft are making a big push toward the casual gaming/kids market that the Wii could be said to dominate. With more emphasis on live arcade and titles in the vein of PS2s Buzz coming our way I would say Nintendo are in for a run for their money.