This summer we will be seeing the first major update to the New Xbox Experience. Those who took part in a survey for Microsoft were given a sneak peek into what all Xbox Live members can expect, and after looking under the hood for a couple of days I have to say it’s definitely a step in the right direction. It doesn’t solve every problem, but it does solve a lot of them. I’ll breakdown the major improvements and give you my thoughts on them.

Netflix

The whole Netflix experience has been overhauled. The previously promised Netflix Party has been added. Now you will be able to party up with friends and watch movies together. To add to the experience Microsoft even plays the movie in an Avatar theatre where you and your friends can be seen eating popcorn and interacting in the theatre. While the concept sounds like fun, it’s actually not all that great and for a couple of reasons. Being partied with other friends almost makes you feel obligated to talk. After all, why party up if you are just going to sit there, be quiet and watch a movie? If you are interested in the movie and it’s good, you won’t want others speaking up and ruining it for you. However, it does make it easier to discuss what you’ve just watched as a group. Especially if it was a movie that the group as a whole enjoyed. It could heighten the experience in that manner.

The ability to add movies to your Instant Queue directly from the Dashboard has been added. It’s a functionality that the service desperately needed. You no longer have to sign on to your Netflix account on a PC, add movies to your queue and then sign onto Xbox live to view them. All Instant Queue movies can now be browsed and added to your Queue via Netflix on your Dashboard. It cuts down on a lot of hassle and makes adding movies a breeze. However sifting through all of the selections can take awhile as you can’t just search for a specific movie or show like you can on a PC. But there are different browsing options to help sort things out for you.

Also, you now have the ability to let your friends know what you’re viewing  instead of showing the standard “Netflix – Watching a movie” for your status it will let your friends know exactly what movie you are watching like “Netflix – Watching The Dark Knight”. Those of you who are paranoid and like your privacy, or if you’re viewing a skin flick and you don’t want your friends to know, you can change the settings back to the standard status. Perv.

Overall the changes made to the Netflix dash are a big improvement. Just a warning for those of you who connect your Xbox 360 to the internet wirelessly, if you have a not-so-great signal some of the functionality will be hampered. You won’t be able to add movies to your instant queue for example. So before you freak out make sure you have a good wireless connection.

Avatar Marketplace

Another new addition to the Dashboard is the Avatar Marketplace. This is your one stop shop for buying new clothes, accessories and even props for you avatar. If you are willing to shell out actual cash for fake clothes that is.

The new clothing options range in price from 80 Microsoft Points for accessories or hats all the way to 320 Microsoft Points for props and other wardrobe additions. I have to admit that at first I thought the idea of buying fake clothes was silly. But I soon found myself buying a Halo 3 shirt and eye patch, mostly to get rid of the generic look my avatar previously flaunted.

Right now options are limited as to what new accessories and clothing options you can purchase. As the date for the update to go live gets closer I imagine more selections will be made available. But as of now you can only buy clothing options from five different themed genres: Halo, Fable II, The Secret of Monkey Island, Steampunk and Recessionista. All will help add that extra flare to your avatar and help it stand out. At least until everyone else starts purchasing the same thing…

Game On Demand

Besides the new Netflix integration this is the other feature I was most looking forward to. The Games On Demand service will let you purchase and download games directly to your Xbox 360 hard drive. Games are organized in to sub categories like New Arrivals, Top Downloads, Top Rated (which I’ll detail later in this post) and so on. You can even browse all of the titles and organize them alphabetically or by genre. Right now Games On Demand is mostly stocked with games previously relegated to the Xbox Originals category from the Games Marketplace. I’d like to see more content made available soon.

Also just like with other game downloads if you purchase anything on the Marketplace and deleted later, you always have the option of downloading it again later on at no charge. This is great if hard drive space on your console is becoming hard to come by. you can delete games you’ve grown tired of and replace them with newer games and vice verse.

Xbox also promises that you’ll be able to download and view game manuals through this service. Helping ensure you have game documentation you can go back to for reference. This will be a helpful feature in the future for sure.

User Ratings

User submitting ratings is something that Xbox Live has been sorely lacking previously. But worry no more. Included in the new update will be the ability for users to rate games on a five star scale. One star being the lowest and five being the highest. You will be able to rate any game played on your Xbox 360 and you’ll also be able to see it’s average rating given to it by other users. It will even show the number of users who rated it before you. The Games Marketplace as well as the Games On Demand service can organize games by their rating. Helping you browse not just the most downloaded games, but those who fared the best with other users. Just another helpful guide when deciding if a game is worth your hard earned money or not.

While user submitted ratings are a plus, it would be nice to see Microsoft do more with them. Sure it’s nice to see what other people thought of the game and browse games by best ratings, but it would be great if Microsoft did something with your ratings. Like recommending games you might like because of ratings you gave other games in the same genre. If I gave Call of Duty 4 five stars then it should recommend that I try Call of Duty: World at War and so on. Help users find games they may like but didn’t know about. Just a thought.

Well there it is. My thoughts on that major new features made available with the Dashboard update. Of course that’s not everything that will be changing. A new Party reconnect feature will help make it easier to reconnect to your party should you get dropped. They finally reorganized the Achievement Browser to make it easier to read and navigate and also made improvements to Achievement Tracking. And you’ll also be able to sort your Friends List how you see fit. Either by online status, gamertag, and by activity. Something you weren’t able to do before. All great improvements.

To get the full list of what’s changing check out this post. I outlined all of the minor changes as well as the major. And mark your calendars for August 11!

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Red Faction: Guerrilla puts you in the shoes of protagonist Alec Mason. After receiving word from his brother about employment opportunities he makes the trek from Earth to the red planet. Unfortunately for Alec his brother wasn’t total honest with him and he lands smack in the middle of a Mars uprising. Oh, and then his brother gets gunned down, within the first five minutes.

That’s how you’re thrown into the story of RF:Guerrilla. Your brother has just been killed and you are tossed head first into a Martian civil war that you never even knew existed.

From there it’s onto the explosions, demolition and all around carnage. The feature highlighted the most in this game is the ability to destroy almost anything in your environment. After all, it’s the whole reason Volition Inc. moved from a first-person view to a third-person perspective.A decision that was made so that the player could see more of what was happening around them. Which usually involved balls of fire and buildings crumbling.

Click the jump to keep reading.

The Martian landscape is sometimes drab and desolate. Your only real enemies and the EDF (Earth Defense Force) who was responsible for the murder of your brother, and the marauders. A band of thieves who pillage and harass anyone who gets in their way.

As Alec Mason you travel to each of of the Martian sectors to free them of EDF rule. With plenty of side missions to accent the main objectives there is plenty for you to see and do. With generic steal this car and bring it from point A to point B missions, to demolishing buildings in a certain amount of time and the more important Guerrilla objectives which help progress the story.

As you complete the side and main missions you’ll collect salvage. Which is your currency in this game. Salvage can also be found by destroying EDF buildings and picking up the scrap, as well as from mining ore that is scattered throughout the open world environment.

With your salvage in had you are able to upgrade your weapons as well as unlock new ones. Anything from new and improved sledgehammers to rocket launcher and jet packs. The wide array of weapons was one of this games finer points. They really allowed the player to be creative in the way they used the tools they were given.

As you progress through the story you’ll find fun new toys ready for you to confiscate if you see fit. From the mech-like walkers to tanks and other vehicles. Although it isn’t until much further in the story that you can really take advantage of these fun gadgets. It would have been nice to see more variety in the vehicles department. But overall there is enough of a variety to keep you busy.

The gameplay as a whole is fun. But nothing about this game really stood out as memorable to me. There are some “wow” moments as you take down huge structures and watch them crumble, but the rest of the game seemed lack-luster to me. You never really connect or even care about the characters around you.

The most fun to be had with this game is in it’s multiplayer modes. The online experience was far more addicting then the drab single player storyline. It features your standard deathmatch (called Team Anarchy) and capture the flag type modes. As well attack and defend (Siege) and Damage Control mode. Where teams try to capture or destroy points on a map. There are six modes altogether. All of which were a blast to play. The learning curve isn’t steep and almost all of the modes are inviting to a fun run and gun style of play.

As I was preparing to write this article I scoured the web and read reviews from other gaming sites. And I had to ask myself if I even played the same game these folks were talking about. Although the game has it’s fun moments, there wasn’t really anything new or exciting for it to offer. Sure the game isn’t bad by any means but it’s not excellent either. I’d recommend it as a rent. Unless you are someone who is obsessed with repeating the same missions over and over again you may tire of the single player campaign too soon. It’s the online multiplayer that’s the saving grace here.

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

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A quick look at the game and you might think that the cartoonish styling is a rip off of Team Fortress 2. But that’s not really accurate at all. It’s not a Team Fortress 2 clone by any means.

I won’t delve too much into the back story of the game because it’s a silly premise and it has no impact on the game whatsoever. You can head to the official website for all of the zany details if you are an information junkie.

First off, launching the game is a breeze. After a little downloading the first time you log-in there will be nothing standing between you and the game other than signing onto the website. No apps whatsoever. And when you do connect you can customize your character, pick a class, do a little outfitting and your off and running. If you want to keep the game free that is. EA also allows you to buy points towards upgraded weapons and more custom clothing, if you’re into that.

It takes very little time at all to find a server, and when you do there are very few issues to speak of for the most part. I’ve been playing it at least once a day since it’s release and have only been disconnected due to a connection problem only twice. Not bad. And once you are connected the games are moderated quite well. Idle players will be kicked as well as those who are doing things they shouldn’t be doing (i.e. possibly cheating).

The gameplay is stylish and fun. Nothing in this game is taken seriously. Which is a change for the Battlefield series. But that doesn’t mean the experience is any worse for it. The quick and easy sign on and server connection process makes this game extremely easy to just start up and play whenever you feel like it. And when you’re done, you’re done. Disconnecting is hassle free as well.

If you’re looking for headshot kills this probably isn’t the game for you. In fact the only way to kill enemies immediately is to run them over with a vehicle. Period. All other weapons take a few rounds to take your foes down. Which is great when they are shooting at you, not so great when you are shooting at them. And if you do find yourself looking down the business end of a machine gun it’s OK. Spawn times are quick. At the longest around six seconds and sometimes even half that.

Vehicles handle pretty well. From Jeeps, tanks and even planes. All have quick and responsive controls.

After a quick learning curve flying the planes with the mouse isn’t complicated at all. For some extra fire power two of your teammates can ever park their butts on the wings. And if you’re skilled enough you can even hit and kill enemies on strafing runs. I’ve done it a few times. Maverick is my hero, what do you expect?!

The tank is fun to take for a spin. Pretty peppy for it’s size, although it does lack some accuracy and fire power. But they are still extremely effective if used correctly.

Jeeps are also fast. Making them great for vehicle ambushes. Chasing foes and running them down when they least expect it. Other than that they are just a faster way to get from point A to point B.

Like other Battlefield titles the game is all about capturing flags on the map and holding them. The more flags you capture and keep, the quicker the other team loses. It makes for faced paced matches and can lead to great back and forth battles.

Now it’s time to get into the game’s few snags.

First, there is no in-game voice chat. Everything has to be typed. It would be nice to have an easier way to communicate with other players.

Second, the playing field isn’t always that level. I often found myself in fire fights with people who were the same rank as me, but had spent a ridiculous amount of money on weapon upgrades. Overall the servers do a great job at match-making and grouping players together by skill level, but from time to time you’ll come up against someone who way out classes you.

Finally, when it comes to match-making there is no way to set any preferences. If you’re into maps that don’t have vehicles too bad. You get what you get. Same rules apply to those who like to play the maps that are vehicle intensive. There’s just no way to set preferred maps. You can bookmark your favorite servers but that still doesn’t mean you’ll get what you’re looking for.

Other than those few negative points the overall experience is terrific. Remember this game is FREE. For a no cost game the above gripes aren’t all that bad. It’s quick to get started and fun to play. A very easy game to just jump in and jump out of.

Most fans of the Battlefield franchise will appreciate the game and I think EA will find that a lot of people who haven’t tried the franchise before will take this game for a spin. Some hardcore players might shy away from this game because of it’s silliness and arcade feel, but they’ll be missing out. Sucks for them.

Oh and just a word of caution: Watch out for the theme song. Listen to it too many times and you’ll find yourself whistling along!

OVERALL SCORE: 8/10

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X-men Origins:Wolverine has a fetish for blood. Not a drop here and a smudge there, but buckets of the stuff. The intro cinematic alone would be enough to make the Red Cross jealous. But it’s the over-the-top gore and action that makes the game fun to play. Although it may be a little repetitive at times, and there are a few bugs along the way, it really doesn’t detract from the overall experience. The game is fun to just pick up and play, period.

The game is very well rounded. Bringing fun third person action, some puzzles (though not too tough), some platforming and hectic boss battles. While X-men Origins:Wolverine doesn’t reinvent the wheel in any of these aspects, it does do a great job of making you want more. Whether you are taking on large groups of soldiers or duking it out with one of the massive bosses, you will almost always be entertained. And the game is easy enough so you don’t get too frustrated and challenging enough to leave you feeling satisfied.

Vaulting out of a chopper that has been damaged by an RPG Wolverine plummets to the Earth from thousands of feet in the air. Falling to the ground at hundreds of feet per second as you dive onto an unlucky soldier claw first obliterating the soldier and the ground he was standing on. When the dust settles you get your first look at Logan. A little worse for wear but still alive, it’s amazing Logan survivied at all. A theme that you’ll see throughout the game. Wolverine is a bad ass clawing machine that can’t be stopped.

And that’s where the bar is set for the rest of the game. Action, action and more action.

Featured in the game is Wolverine’s ability to leap at his enemies. Leaping across the screen from one bad guy to the next is a blast. You would think doing this so often in the game would feel repetitive after a while but surprisingly enough it doesn’t. Jumping in the air and decapitating people just didn’t get old. And it’s a nice way to even the playing field. At some points in the game you are taking on a dozen or so guys all by your lonesome.

And then there are the combos. String together some well orchestrated attacks and you get rewarded with fantastic combos and finishing moves. Along with the combos you have the always enjoyable throw mechanic. This gives you even more options for dispatching your foes. Finish a combo by throwing them against a wall, heave them into a spinning fan, impale them on objects in your surroundings, or just toss them off a balcony. There are plenty of flavors to choose from.

There is some character customization to be had as well. Killing opponents and finding dog tags on dead soldiers or other hidden items all earn you experience points. Build up enough XP and you’ll unlock other abilities. How you use those points and abilities to make Logan even more of a blood thirsty maniac is all up to you.

There is a lot of fast paced action in the game, and it’s mostly entertaining. However, that’s not to say that other aspects of the game don’t get old. Fighting the bosses for example. They were pretty fun the first time you take them on, but taking on the same bosses several times throughout the game got tiresome. Having to figure out each boss’s weaknesses and exploiting them is challenging. But after you know what you have to do to beat them, and then having to do it again and again just becomes a chore. It would have been nice to see the folks at Raven Software be a little more creative in this department.

And the story got a little flaky at some points. With flashbacks and flash-forwards things got a little redundant and sometimes confusing. It would have been more enjoyable to watch the story play out in a more linear fashion. It seemed like just as you were getting in a rhythm at one point in the story you were either flashing back or going forward to a different different point, breaking up the continuity.

Also the game does not have any multiplayer whatsoever. A real downer. It feels like half of the game is missing. Online matches could have been fun to play. Having “Michael Myers” type matches where one player is Wolverine and the others play as the soldiers would have been a great idea. Or having a “Horde” type match, where a small group of players play as  Logan, fighting wave after wave of enemies to see how long they could last while smashing away at the buttons on their controllers. There is some potential for more entertainment there for sure.

But overall the experience is a fun one. It’s an easy game to take out of the box and just get right into that action. None of the game’s downfalls are huge by any measure. They are just enough to be noticeable and detract very little from the rest of an otherwise fun and action packed experience. It’s a game you won’t regret playing either as a rent or a purchase. I would personally lean more towards renting it rather than buying it but only because of the lack of multiplayer.

OVERALL SCORE: 8/10

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