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Second coming of Xbox 360
Epic Games’ Gears of War heads the holiday assault, and needs no introduction here on Xbox.com. Its revolutionary tactical combat system serves as the beating heart of this action/horror masterpiece and with outstanding multiplayer on Xbox Live. Similarly Activision’s Call of Duty 3 on Xbox Live has been designed for exhilarating 24-player Xbox Live combat. The action continues in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Las Vegas from Ubisoft, bringing new elements to tactical squad-based missions during a siege of America’s infamous Sin City.
More family-oriented fare this holiday is represented first and foremost by the delightful Viva Piñata in which more than 60 species of wild-roaming Piñata animals inhabit the magical Piñata Island… but you’ll have to lure them there first by nurturing cosy environments. The Disney/Pixar film Cars has proven to be a big hit with younger audiences and the THQ Xbox 360 game, with its 10 playable characters and 30 race circuits, is due in November. THQ also has WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 exclusively for next generation on Xbox 360, and Sega is bringing Sonic the Hedgehog back for another spin to complete a fun-filled holiday roster. Sports fans are being catered for in a big way, not least by two football exclusives Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Konami) and FIFA 07 (EA). Ice hockey fans will be playing EA’s NHL 2007 this holiday, while basketball crowd can enjoy 2K Sports’ NBA 2K7. We guess Team Ninja’s Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2 can also qualify here as a major sporting event, albeit featuring the girls of Dead or Alive essentially holidaying on Zack Island playing beach sports. We wouldn’t want to stand in the way of Activision’s Tony Hawk’s Project 8 for its recognition as the pre-eminent extreme sports series at its best with Xbox Live features exclusively on Xbox 360. Beyond the holiday season this barrage of class acts continues with Forza Motorsport 2 and its 300 customizable cars racing real-world circuits that include the notorious Nürbugring Nordschleife and bustling streets of Rio de Janeiro. Project Gotham Racing 4 will raise performance in street racing too. Supreme mental performance will be required in World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions. When it’s time to unwind Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 offers ideal surroundings of 13 famous links, with crowds that you can see and hear as you line up each shot. The action crowd will receive the hugely anticipated Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft), from the makers of Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia; Capcom’s Lost Planet brings movie-like sci-fi presentation to its chilling storyline; 2K Games’ Bioshock will deliver its stylish take on the first-person-shooter genre. And speaking of the best in FPS, Half-Life 2 Episodes 1&2 for Xbox 360 is due to bring the long-awaited Team Fortress 2 and a new single-player game called Portal into the bargain. In case you missed the announcement elsewhere on Xbox.com today, the award-winning FPS Halo is to expand with a real-time strategy experience (RTS) dubbed Halo Wars. Yet more hard-hitting action will break new ground with titles such as Crackdown, the first next-generation game from the guys responsible for Grand Theft Auto – and even wilder than you can imagine. But fictitious worlds don’t get any more breathtaking than in BioWare’s Mass Effect in which your efforts could save an entire galaxy from destruction, and all the while serving up unpredictable outcomes. Fantasy role-playing also makes a welcome return in Lionhead Studios’ Fable 2, with the opportunity to foster your new hero or villain according to your actions. Although it is still fiction, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent is a convincing portrayal of present day covert ops, starring the iconic Sam Fisher. By the way, the follow-up to Double Agent will also be console exclusive to Xbox 360. Next year will also see the first Xbox 360-to-Windows Vista online compatible games emerge, of which Shadowrun from FASA Studio (MechWarrior, Crimson Skies) is a multiplayer experience based on the cult classic RPG. Up to 16 players will be able to compete from Xbox 360 alongside friends playing in Windows Vista PCs. Last but not least, Xbox Live Arcade will continue to offer the world’s ultimate games download service with big names that include Doom, Sensible World of Soccer, Lumines Live, Contra, Gyruss, Defender and Midway’s notorious Mortal Kombat 3 among many, many others. Millions of gamers around the world can not be wrong! | VideosRelated Links |
