The NXE finally went live on Wednesday 19th November, and the sad thing is, I was actually really excited about getting home from work to download it. It took about 5 minutes to download and install the whole thing, which then led to a nice looking, (but kind of pointless) intro video, which loaded straight into the avatar creator.

You get to pick from a group of avatars as a starting point, but then change everything about it. I decided to actually do things right and make mine look like me, well as much as i could anyway, if i could get my beard that straight i’d be superhuman. The choice of clothing is actually a little limited for the time being, but there still is something for everyone there. With Microsoft now announcing that clothing packs are going to be free for the first few weeks of releases, I’m sure the avatars will get to grow more individual over time. Yet I will still probably be sad enough to pay for clothes anyway!

The dashboard itself is alot nicer to look at, easier to you, and smoother flowing than the blade system was. The ‘My Xbox’ section has everything you

need, from your profile and gamercard along to the console settings. The Marketplace is also alot better organised now, and easier to brows Demo’s/Themes/Gamerpics and the such, with a simple Ipod style cover flow design.

The friends list is alot better to use now, as it shows which friends are online by showing their avatar and a picture of which game they are playing. If they are in a party it groups all the members avatars together and makes them a little group (which stands and does mexican waves at you).

The new ‘Photo party’ application is pretty cool, as you can share photo’s between one party of friends, and even better, i could plug my phone straight into the Xbox and view them from there.

Eight way party chat is probably my favourite thing to come with the NXE, as you can talk to up to eight friends at one time, no matter what game you are playing. Which is so much better as

1. It drowns out the American kids.
2. You can help each other out in Seach and Destroys in COD after one of you has died
3. It drowns out the English kids.

There are some cons though, like with everything. Whenever I go onto my friends list and view a profile, when I try to exit it, it can freeze for up to 20 seconds, which is quite annoying. Also, when playing online, and you are in a party, it likes to throw you out of it quite alot. Although it tells me the other members have left my party, I have actually left theirs, for no reason! Hopefully these bugs will be fixed in the upcoming weeks with a patch, or a slap maybe.

Overall, the NXE is pretty sweet, and gives the Xbox another breath of fresh air (not that it needed one in the first place). It is alot easier and fun to use than the old blade system, and avatars make your profile and online experience a little more personal than just a name in a list with a gamerscore. Alot of people don’t like the new avatar system but I think it’s a great idea, especially since Microsoft are planning on releasing new games in which to use them(Kindom for Keflings) and implement them into old ones (UNO). There are a couple of annoying bugs, but hopefully they will be ironed out in the coming weeks, as I’m sure Microsoft are planning even bigger things with it

The NXE finally went live on Wednesday 19th November, and the sad thing is, I was actually really excited about getting home from work to download it. It took about 5 minutes to download and install the whole thing, which then led to a nice looking, (but kind of pointless) intro video, which loaded straight into the avatar creator.

You get to pick from a group of avatars as a starting point, but then change everything about it. I decided to actually do things right and make mine look like me, well as much as i could anyway, if i could get my beard that straight i’d be superhuman. The choice of clothing is actually a little limited for the time being, but there still is something for everyone there. With Microsoft now announcing that clothing packs are going to be free for the first few weeks of releases, I’m sure the avatars will get to grow more individual over time. Yet I will still probably be sad enough to pay for clothes anyway!

The dashboard itself is alot nicer to look at, easier to you, and smoother flowing than the blade system was. The ‘My Xbox’ section has everything you

need, from your profile and gamercard along to the console settings. The Marketplace is also alot better organised now, and easier to brows Demo’s/Themes/Gamerpics and the such, with a simple Ipod style cover flow design.

The friends list is alot better to use now, as it shows which friends are online by showing their avatar and a picture of which game they are playing. If they are in a party it groups all the members avatars together and makes them a little group (which stands and does mexican waves at you).

The new ‘Photo party’ application is pretty cool, as you can share photo’s between one party of friends, and even better, i could plug my phone straight into the Xbox and view them from there.

Eight way party chat is probably my favourite thing to come with the NXE, as you can talk to up to eight friends at one time, no matter what game you are playing. Which is so much better as

1. It drowns out the American kids.
2. You can help each other out in Seach and Destroys in COD after one of you has died
3. It drowns out the English kids.

There are some cons though, like with everything. Whenever I go onto my friends list and view a profile, when I try to exit it, it can freeze for up to 20 seconds, which is quite annoying. Also, when playing online, and you are in a party, it likes to throw you out of it quite alot. Although it tells me the other members have left my party, I have actually left theirs, for no reason! Hopefully these bugs will be fixed in the upcoming weeks with a patch, or a slap maybe.

Overall, the NXE is pretty sweet, and gives the Xbox another breath of fresh air (not that it needed one in the first place). It is alot easier and fun to use than the old blade system, and avatars make your profile and online experience a little more personal than just a name in a list with a gamerscore. Alot of people don’t like the new avatar system but I think it’s a great idea, especially since Microsoft are planning on releasing new games in which to use them(Kindom for Keflings) and implement them into old ones (UNO). There are a couple of annoying bugs, but hopefully they will be ironed out in the coming weeks, as I’m sure Microsoft are planning even bigger things with it

I’ll admit first and foremost, I was sceptical about buying this game. After playing Gears of war (1) on Insane, I was left scarred. It took me two years (yep!) to complete it, and even then I still only completed it on hardcore with a friend through co-op on Xbox Live. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t love the game though, Gears 1 is one of the best games on current generation consoles in my opinion, although I have honestly never been a huge fan of it’s online multiplayer, mainly because i suck at it. I finally decided to order Gears 2 on the Wednesday before it was released, just because I was looking forward to the campaign, and the new “Horde” game mode.

Starting the game, I whacked it on Normal difficulty and decided to “train the rook” seeing as I’m such an achievement whore and wanted the extra 10 points, and even in the intro and the training mode the development of character from the rookie Carmine (Carmine from Gears 1’s younger brother) is amazing, and the relationship that opens up between him and Marcus. Also at this point we find out about Dom’s emotional side with the introduction to his missing wife, Maria, who he is determined to find.

I won’t go into every single aspect and cutscene that the Campaign mode has to offer, but it includes some amazing cutscenes, and even a quite moving story, not only from Dom’s point of view, but Marcus’ aswell. There were some scenes in the game which did actually shock me; after being introduced to new character Tai, and actually believing he was “invincible”, as Carmine put it, seeing his self inflicted demise after being kidnapped and mentally and physically tortured by the Locust actually left me speechless. The same goes for the conclusion of the Dom and Maria sotry aswell, but I won’t go into that for the people reading who have not played the game yet.

The controls are very fluent in the game, and still exactly the same as they were in the first. You no longer get the annoying glitch that would not let you switch guns, which I’m very happy was fixed as it caused me to get chainsawed/beaten/crushed many times.

Level design of the game is pretty amazing aswell, ranging from the inside of a giant worm and having to chainsaw the arteries connected to it’s heart to kill it (before drowning in it’s blood), to the sinking of the city of Jacinto and riding a Brumak into the undeground Locust tunnels, whilst blowing shit up left right and center.

The new enemies introduced in the game are sweet, but can also be terrifying at the same time. The first time I heard a Ticker confused the hell out of me, and before I knew it i had been blown up by what looked like alightbulb/spider creature that was on fire. Also another character worth mentioning, mainly the last main boss fight in the game, is Skorge. I’ve got to say, he is much more awesome than RAAM ever was, he even has dreadlocks (kinda reminiscent of Predator).

The whole campaign took me about 8 hours to complete on normal difficulty, without conciously collecting all of the 41 collectable items. It was an amazing experience even it was on the second from easiest difficulty setting, but I am planning on going back and playing through it again on Insane on Xbox Live with a friend, which in my opinion, is a main part of the whole experience of this game, teamwork and experiencing it together.

The new Horde game mode is definately worth a mention, as this is what will really help build you up to get that Seriously 2.0 achievement (100,000 kills). It is a very fun game mode, which has wave upon wave of different Locust enemies attacking you, on the map of your choice. It is great to play with a friend online, but nearly impossible to complete by yourself. But always worth a try eh?

A new feature I didn’t want to mention until now, is the Chainsaw Battles. To be honest, I used it no more than two times in the Campaign, because i knew that it would only really have an impact in the online multiplayer, anyone can beat AI by repeatedly tapping B, but going up against hardcore Gears gamers is another thing, and actually leaves you feeling satisfied once you’ve cut a real human in half
All editions of the game came with a code to download the “Flashback” map pack (and a Golden Lancer for the special people who buy the special edition), which is a collection of maps from the original Gears, which is a great addition to the game, so you don’t actually have to get used to the new maps straight away. The online games modes are “Guardian”, which sets one player as the teams leader, and once he/she has been killed by the opposing side, your team loses the chance to respawn once they have died. There is a “Submission” game mode which puts players against each other trying to capture a “downed” character controlled by the games AI, and using it as a meat shield whilst transporting it to a certain point on the map. Other game types include Wingman, Warzone, King of the Hill, and Annex. It even includes an option for players to take screenshots of the online action while they are spectating, which is a great idea, although quite Halo like, not that that’s a bad thing.

Overall i give Gears 2 a 9/10, it delivers everything you expect and more. It’s not exactly a game you can just pick up and play for half an hour before you go to work, because you would not get anything out of it. It needs sessions of between one and three hours, because otherwise the experience is not the same.It has an amazing, yet rather short Story, but definately has replay value through Campaign co-op, Horde, and the online multiplayer. Even the achievements in this game are addictive, and will make anyone who plays it aim to get the full 1000. (I WILL get seriously 2.0 ).