The 360 thread!

[chub]

It's been ages since I played a space combat/trading game, so I've just ordered DarkStar One, which has just been released for the 360. I haven't played the PC version from a few years ago, but apparently it has similarities to Freelancer and Elite.

It's had pretty much zero marketing, but looks pretty good to me, and currently only costs £17.93 from TheHut, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

[The Captain]

Report back as soon as you can! I read the review on Eurogamer and am intrigued....

[RageMatrix]

I saw that review too. I really wish there were more space combat simulators on the 360.

[PVB]

I doubt Yak's realised, but fantasy pets are now available on the Avatar Marketplace, including a Minotaur and Unicorn.

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/avata ... 7&sb=1&p=1

[merman]

Really enjoying the Tackle Alley mode in Backbreaker right now, a real challenge to evade defenders and make it to the endzone

[chub]

I'm now addicted to Puzzle Quest all over again, after I thought I'd kicked the habit before. By making this new game a dungeon-crawler, with the typical monster-battling and loot-gathering, it's a little bit different from the first game, but the developers have tapped into some strange need I have to match gems and accumulate treasure.

The main and sub quests are the usual 'go here, kill monster' type ones, but that's to be expected I guess. On the way, there are various mandatory and optional battles, sometimes with the monster guarding a treasure chest. Most of these ones are optional, but I find I can't leave a treasure chest lying there unopened, so always have to fight the creature guarding it. There's a mini-game afterwards to determine how much treasure you get, and you can get some good stuff if it goes well. I do nip back into the 'hub' town now and again to sell the stuff I don't need anymore, and check the shops to see if they have any useful equipment (sometimes they do). There are teleporters around to make going back and forth from the dungeon pretty easy.

I'm not quite sure this is as good as the first game though. Somewhere along the line they've lost the sense of humour that there was before, and there is virtually no plot to speak of. I miss certain things like learning creatures spells and riding mounts, unless they come in later in the game. Also there is no 'that was a heroic effort' voice this time (a small thing, but I liked it).

It's good in other ways though. I like the new 'action' gems, which you can match up and use your weapons with, especially handy after a mana drain if the board is wiped, since the action points stay as they are. It gives something additional to think about when battling.

So yeah, still addictive, but lacking a little something so far.

[Bod]

Singularity is out this Friday, but I can't find any reviews for it (which sets the danger bells ringing!).
It looks like a cross between Wolfenstein & Bio-shock ...

I've been playing this for the past few days (when my puppy is asleep!), and it is pretty good so far (I'm up to level 4 of 6).

[Mark]

If you fancy some Indie shooty-goodness, RadianGames Crossfire is now on the Indie Marketplace. I've just had a quick play, and like it a lot so far:

[disciple]

Nice, that's well worth 240 points.

[KidQuaalude]

i'm reminded of jeffs games hellgate, lazer zone and voidrunner...will definately check that one out.

[The Captain]

Yes, there's an undertone of Voidrunner, deffo. This is a really polished, stylish game, worth of a Live Arcade release I reckon.

Has anybody tried Blacklight: Tango Down yet? Soulless bobbins.

[Jonesey]

There's a pretty good Bulletstorm video on Live with amusing Cliffy B commentary.

Can't wait to try the train/grindwheel section.

Late February, though?

[Mark]

I have to say Radiangames: Crossfire has become one of my fave Indie games after playing the main game through to completion last night (with a fair few credits, it has to be said). It felt like a proper old-school arcade game, with each new enemy type having its own behaviour that needs to be understood to allow you to progress, whilst also keeping it simple enough that you can do this without having to die a million times first. Enjoyed it a lot. I'll definitely be giving it more play time to see if I can 1cc the thing, and the Megawaves mode that unlocked looked good too.

[chub]

Microsoft has announced the launch price for Kinect - £129.99/€149.99. Ouch!

It will come bundled with Kinect Adventures, and launches around November, although the exact date isn't known yet.

I think Kinect needs something really special before I would be tempted to get one, which the launch titles just don't have, from what I've seen. I'm quite content playing normal games with the normal controller in the meantime.

[Geenius]

I have (way) more than enough to get through already and am very happy playing the old games (Christ, I'm just playing Top Spin 3 and Soul Caliber 4 now).

I'd have considered it for £40 if there was anything decent around (and bundled with it). For that price, it's an absolutely never ever ever, no matter what comes out for it, unless my numbers come up and money becomes no object.