We’re inside the two months until Halo 3 arrives. That’s much better than waiting three years, right? I know I’m not the only one looking forward to its arrival since completing Halo 2. Anyway, 26 September 2007, and Halo 3 will be here just as assuredly as the date on the calendar. Believe!

Luckily there have been some major distractions to take my mind off Master Chief’s ultimate mission. I had the pleasure of seeing Call of Duty 4 in action recently and this game is shockingly impressive – almost another generation leap in performance from COD2 and COD3. I was particularly impressed by the ability to build your own barricades out of furniture and debris. Shooting through thin walls with high-calibre modern weaponry is also hugely gratifying. So, a real treat for the autumn.

At the tail end of summer we have a Blue Dragon making our acquaintance in this very original and honestly beautiful RPG. Blue Dragon soars on the story-telling genius of Hironobu Sakaguchi, the Father of Final Fantasy. Although respectful of all the finest RPG traditions there are some ingenious ideas at play especially in the Shadow creature battle system. That same week we’ll also make our bid to escape the undersea world of Rapture in 2K Games’ BioShock. Experience this for yourself and thank me for the recommendation later.

Meantime I hope you’ve been enjoying at least one of our summer blockbusters? Let’s see now: Harry Potter, Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Spider-Man 3 and Transformers… the action hasn’t let up all year!

I think I need to get some air. Catch you next week.

By Mark Eveleigh, Xbox.com Editor, Gamertag: Making Sparks