Christmas comes early on Xbox LIVE!

Somebody should’ve declared this week a national holiday. Why? Because of the “Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack”! Three all-new multiplayer maps to download from Xbox LIVE Marketplace, that’ll really test your mettle as a Spartan soldier. It’s the first of plenty DLC coming our way from Bungie in the months ahead. Rat’s Nest is currently my fave because I love making a nuisance of myself driving vehicles. I’ve yet to unveil my edited version of Foundry but it’s a work of art, I’m telling you!

Although I could happily lose myself in multiplayer Halo 3 for another solid month with my mates, it won’t be the only game vying for attention. I love football, and the daddy of console football will be available next week from LIVE Arcade – Sensible World of Soccer. One word: genius. If you’re as crazy about the beautiful game as I am, and maybe even roughly as old as I am too, you’ll know all about ‘Sensi’. One button does it all for you, but I still can’t believe how effective and overall enjoyable this is. Honestly, PES and FIFA could find themselves on the bench this Holiday.

And at last I’m glad that Square-Enix finally put Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess out there. Been a while since I last explored Vana’diel but the storyline (set 20 years prior to the Crystal War itself) has piqued my curiosity. Okay, who am I kidding! I just couldn’t wait to try my hand in the large-scale battles! Don’t believe anyone who tells you that I renewed my subscription just to become a Dancer either. Seriously though, FFXI is still magnificent.

So I guess that’s it until just before the big break. See you next week, if not before in Halo 3, SWOS or FFXI.

Graeme Boyd, Xbox.com Community Manager, Gamertag: AceyBongos