Xbox Living

When you turn on your Xbox 360 today, you’ll be prompted with a familiar update message.  Once you complete that update, though, things will change forever.  You’ll see a second update screen that’s unlike the regular, clunky grey panels the Xbox 360 used to have.  You’ll then be shown a new intro video.

Microsoft today pushed out the new Xbox Live Experience to the 25 million Xbox 360 owners worldwide.  The changes effect on all aspects of the Xbox 360 user interface, and add a few new features, such as player avatars and improved party features.

It’s early yet, so I still haven’t gotten used to where everything is now, but so far I’m impressed.  There will be a learning curve, but I’m finding some aspects of the UI are easier to get to.  You also have access to more features when you press the Xbox Guide Button in-game.  Almost all of the Marketplace and Media features seem to be in there.

The avatar creation is noticably a duplication (uh, we’ll say “tribute”?) of the Mii creation on the Nintendo Wii.  Many of the hairstyles and eye designs look almost identical, and even the sound effects in the avatar editor are very Nintendo-esque.

You can change your gamer picture to match your avatar, or leave it the same.  There are even some subtle nuances of the UI, such as the ability to move your avatar’s head while browsing menus, that are a nice touch.

Like I said, I’m still not used to the changes, but it’s certainly visually appealing and at least a few menu options are obviously improved.  Let’s see how things go when I can use more of the features.

What do you think of the New Xbox Live Experience?

Last year, Xbox Live players were disheartened over the holidays when Xbox Live experienced a barrage of network troubles.  2007’s holiday season saw a slew of games being released, including Call of Duty 4, Rock Band, Guitar Hero III, Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect and, still selling from a Fall release, Halo 3.  With all of the record-setting activity on Xbox Live that resulted from these releases, things started to break down.  Microsoft says they weren’t prepared for the load.

Sales of the consoles went up and the network went down.  Microsoft later apologized for the downtime, by giving us Undertow for free.

A quick look at the Xbox 360 Release Schedule for the holidays shows us that we may be in for more of the same.  The number of people playing Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty: World at War may be enough to cause problems, but Guitar Hero: World Tour, Far Cry 2, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, and Endwar.  Even single player titles like Fable II, Fallout 3, Mirror’s Edge and The Last Remnant may put a strain on the network through co-op and other network activity.

Combine that with the fact that Microsoft admitted to network troubles yesterday (via the Major Nelson blog), and that the company will release the new Xbox Live Experience in just three days, and we’ve got a potential blueprint for trouble.

Let’s hope that they’ve learned from last year’s fiasco and are ready to meet the high demands that will come over the holidays.

Word is out from Bungie, by way of Kotaku, that Halo 3: Recon won’t be a full-length title.

Instead, Recon is more of an “expansion” to Halo 3, with a campaign of only 3-5 hours in length.  Joe Staten of Bungie is reported as saying “we do not view this as a $60 title.”

Although Halo 3: Recon is being called an ‘expansion’, it stands on its own and won’t require a copy of Halo 3 to operate.  It will use the same game engine, but won’t require a Halo 3 disc.

Recon is actually set during the events of Halo 2.  The game won’t feature Master Chief as the main character, but instead will feature a UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Trooper.  These stealth units aren’t part of the Spartan program, so their inferior physical condition and armor will require more cautious action on the part of the players.  This originally had people speculating that Recon may have gameplay similar to stealth games such as Ghost Recon, but Bungie has stated that gameplay will be closer to that in the Halo series.

The news that Recon is a shorter, budget title can’t be too surprising. I mean, really — we first heard about Recon in September, and the game is out a due later.  That’s not nearly enough time to build up incredible hype and have it crash down just in time for an anticlimactic launch.

Microsoft has reported that Gears of War 2 sold two million copies on its opening weekend.

Of the 2 million, 75% of them went online to play with their friends over Xbox Live.  The game has been breaking records all around, with the most people playing it on Xbox Live at one time, and with 19 million achievements collectively unlocked by the players.

“We were so excited to launch Gears of War 2 on the same day all around the world,” said Cliff Bleszinski, the game’s director of design.  ”We wanted our fans, no matter where they live, to have a shared experience on day one, and that’s exactly what’s happened.”

I feel a little embarassed to say that I haven’t played it yet — especially having this blog.  It’s been busy!  I was a little disappointed by the first Gears of War.  It was a fun game, but some aspects of it don’t match well with my play style.  I’ve heard that Gears 2 makes those things a little better, so I’ll have to try it out soon.

Are you a part of the 2 million?  What do you think of the game so far?

I’ve been spending the last little while playing Fable II, and not keeping up with my blogging.  This is a very immersive game, so I thought it’s about time I put together my review of it.  I’m not quite done with the game yet, but I’ve spent enough time in it to write a complete review, I think.  Once I finish the story I’ll add any comments if I think the review needs revision.  So, here’s Fable II — an action-RPG that’s loads of fun, but not without its flaws.

First, the most enjoyable part about Fable II: interacting with the AI.  The characters in Fable are actually pretty impressive.  Although they may become predictable after hours of play, the game is very dynamic in the way you interact with people in town.  To communicate with them, you have a wide range of expressions at your disposal. These actions give you some control over how people feel about you.  Everyone has different views about you, whether they love or hate you, whether they find you scary or funny, and whether they find you attractive or ugly.  The impact of each of these three scales is different, and they’re independant from each other.  This makes the game more dynamic as you interact with the townsfolk.

You can get married, have children and/or hook up with anonymous strangers.  You can have a seperate spouse and family in each town, if you so desire.  You can purchase shops and houses, charge rent and collect profits.  You can become a corrupt landlord by raising rent fees, or give everyone a break by cutting them down.  The choices here effect how everyone feels about you.

You can customize your character in terms of appearance: hari styles, clothing, beards and makeup can all be chosen.  Unlike the first Fable, you can choose to be male or female.  Of course, your character changes as time goes on and you make choices.  Purity will maintain your youthful look, while evil acts will lend you a much more sinister appearance.  But even the pure may find themselves changing in appearance as they become more infused with will (magic).  Eating and drinking will also cause you to fatten up.

The game promises freedom, without an obvious line to follow.  This is misleading.  While you’re not forced to do exactly what they want at all times, the storyline is very linear.  (You can tell, because the game draws a line on the ground showing you where to go.)  Fable II is often compared to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but Oblivion has far more freedom.  Unlike Oblivion, Fable II’s world map is divided into distinct zones, more like an MMO than Oblivion’s large open environment.   Many places are blocked off early in the game, so you don’t have the ability to explore all of the towns and fields until much later in the game.

Fable II doesn’t present much difficulty.  It’s very easy to level up and learn new abilities.  You can even level up without fighting at all, by purchasing potions that give experience points, although that’s a little inefficient.  Defeat has little consequence either, as being knocked out only causes you to lose any experience orbs that are lying on the ground (think Kingdom Hearts style), and you’re revived instantly.

The load times are a little annoying, especially if you’re in a hurry, but the game has such rich environments that I’m willing to forgive it.  It’s worth the wait, we’ll say.

The magic system is a bit awkward.  You have tiers of spells, and as you charge your magic (or will, as they say) you release it at a stage of your choosing.  You can assign spells to each stage so that different spells are used depending on how long you charge for, but you can’t have more than one spell on each stage at a time.  There’s no MP/mana level to watch for, but the spell casting isn’t always quick.  In cases where your weapon is drawn, there can be a delay to put your weapon away and cast a spell.  Attacks won’t interrupt a spell, but you can take quite a bit of damage while you try and charge up a higher-level one.

Finally, co-op is nice but leaves something to be desired.  The co-op is a little like the LEGO Star Wars games — you can join your Xbox Live friends’ game and help out, but you’re very restricted in it.  It’s not the type of game you want to play entirely in co-op mode, because one guy’s going to have all the fun.

I’m a big RPG fan but the average gamer should have a good time with Fable II.  Although there’s certainly some room for improvement, the immersive and addictive gameplay will give you hours of entertainment.  If you can get over, or ignore, the game’s few bugs and difficulties, there’s plenty of fun in exploring its more charming facets.

Hopefully I can wrap this up and move on to Fallout 3, lest the Call of Duty: World at War beta distract me!  So much to play, so little time.

Score: 86%

Yesterday I gave my review of Too Human, but today let’s look at the game’s achievements.

Too Human is a fairly short game, but that doesn’t mean that all of the achievements are earned quickly.  Some of them are structured to require multiple playthroughs.  I earned 590 Gamerscore from my first playthrough.  You can earn more, and I picked up a few easy ones soon after.  But to get all of the achievements, there are at least 2 full playthroughs required and you’ll need to spend extra time leveling up and collecting items.  If you’re one to go for the 1000/1000 on Xbox 360 achievements, prepare for a time investment.

Here’s a guide to each achievement:

In the NORN’s Favor, 10 Gamerscore
Find and activate all available Cyberspace wells.  This one is fairly easy.  I got it on my first run.  Just be thorough when you play through the campaign and dilligently check each corner.  A few of them are hiding out of view but most are easy to spot.

Blooded of the Aesir, 10 Gamerscore
Achieve Novice Status (Level 5).  You’ll earn this one in the first level.

Chosen of the Aesir, 20 Gamerscore
Achieve Adept status (Level 10).  Easy enough to obtain this one.  You’ll probably get it in the Hall of Heroes (the first level), either shortly before or when you defeat the boss.

Elite Warrior of the Aesir, 25 Gamerscore
Achieve Skilled status (Level 20).  This one will be earned sometime during your second playthrough, probably early in the third level.

Hero of the Aesir, 30 Gamerscore
Achieve Hero status (Level 30).  You might get this in your first playthrough, but I did not.  I actually got this after beating Grendel the second time, completing Hall of Heroes in a new campaign.

Legend of the Aesir, 30 Gamerscore
Achieve Legend status (Level 40).

True Son of Odin, 40 Gamerscore
Achieve God status (Level 50).  This is the highest level in the game.

Jack of All Trades, 10 Gamerscore
Achieve Adept status or greater for all classes.  Essentially this involves creating a new character of each class and playing through the first map to reach Level 10.

A note on gaining experience:  Although you don’t have much choice on how many enemies you face (unless you try to avoid hidden areas), you can gain experience faster by keeping your combo meter high.  This assigns a multiplier to your experience.  There are also Runes (and therefore equipment) that increase the experience you gain.

First Step Toward Destiny, 5 Gamerscore
Assign your first skill point.  You’ll get this the first time you level up and assign a point to your skill tree.  An on-screen indicator will inform you when you have unused skill points.

Path of Ruin, 25 Gamerscore
Defeat 100 total enemies using ruiners.  A ruiner is unleashed by pressing the “RB” button.  Fairly easy to get this one as you play through the game, as long as you don’t forget ruiners.  Ruiners are most effective in large groups of enemies.  Their range can be widened through the skill tree.

Unrelenting Rage, 10 Gamerscore
Hit 100 enemies without losing your combo.  To get this one, just keep the combo meter going in large groups of enemies.  There are a few places to get this one so just keep at it and you should get it in your first playthrough.

Show No Mercy, 10 Gamerscore
Defeat 25 enemies with a single battle cry.  Battle cries are the abilities mapped to your blue ‘X’ button.  You’ll unlock them through the skill tree, so you don’t have them at first.  Once you get them, activate a battle cry and start hacking & slashing.  If you do this in a group of enemies you should be able to get this one fairly easily.

Rune Lore, 10 Gamerscore
Collect 1000 Runes.  This is a simple achievement, albeit a long one.  Simply pick up 1000 runes over the course of your Too Human career.  This can be done with multiple characters.  Remember to activate spires throughout the campaign and explore the life tree, where many runes will drop.

Relics of a Forgotten Past, 5 Gamerscore
Complete a 7-piece Elite armour suit.  Elite equipment is marked in red, as being the rarest.  Get your six armour pieces and one weapon to obtain this one.  It may take a while.

I’m Rich…, 10 Gamerscore
Collect 1,000,000 in bounty.  This can be earned over multiple characters.  Opening many containers and salvaging items will get you there faster, as will salvage-improving runes/equipment.

Artisan to the Aesir, 10 Gamerscore
Collect and build 100 Blueprints. This can be done with multiple characters.  Expensive and time-consuming but achievable.

Aesir Ascendant, 10 Gamerscore
Complete a tier-three charm.  This one will take a while as well.  To complete a tier-one charm, you must complete its quest and insert the indicated runes into it (while it is equipped).  To complete a tier-two charm, you must also complete its quest and then insert specific completed tier-one runes into it.  Then, for tier-three you must complete its quest and insert completed tier-two runes.  I’m on my second playthrough now, and although I’ve completed some tier two runes I haven’t seen a tier three yet.

Fenrir’s Bite, 10 Gamerscore
Assign a skill point to a sentient ability.  This is earned through unlocking the ability at the bottom of your main skill tree.  It’s also one of the most useful abilities in the game, so it’s worth going after it quickly.

Display of Power, 5 Gamerscore
Execute either a 2 in 1 Juggle, Ruiner, Finisher, Slide, or Gunfire move.  I got this one pretty quickly in the first level without knowing what these moves were.  You’ll probably earn it quickly as well, but essentially you can just use a finisher after a slide, or juggle an enemy and shoot it down, or any other combination of those moves.

The Final Strike, 10 Gamerscore
Kill 100 enemies with finishers.  Finishers are done by moving both sticks towards an enemy when you’re right next to them.  Your character will make an obviously different move.  (If a projectile is launched, you’re not close enough to/aiming at the enemy, as this is a ranged fierce attack.)  Just keep using finishers until you get it.

Death from Above, 10 Gamerscore
Kill 100 enemies with air combat.  Jump often while you fight — it should come easily.

A Valorous Deed, 5 Gamerscore
Defeat a polarity enemy.  This one will be earned in the Hall of Heroes.  Polarity enemies are glowing, and when you hit them close-range, they’ll explode, freeze you, or slow you down.

Without Equal, 10 Gamerscore
Defeat 1000 polarity enemies.  Just kill 1000 of them over your Too Human career.  The stats screen will show how close you are to this achievement.

Relics of Ascendence, 10 Gamerscore
Complete 20 charm quests. Simple enough — equip charms into the active slots and complete the indicated quests, whether it’s killing enemies, activating wells, collecting blueprints, etc.

Archivist to the Aesir, 10 Gamerscore
Acquire 7,500 item drops. Collect items, plain and simple.  The world tree is a good place to collect items.  This achievement can be done over multiple characters.

One God Enters, One God Leaves…, 20 Gamerscore
Complete three secret arena battles.  These are the areas that have the white fog in the door.  You can earn this one in the first level.

Serve Em Up, 10 Gamerscore
Juggle an enemy to be killed in air combat by a teammate.  An easy one - just juggle an enemy and one of the NPCs (or a co-op friend) will kill it.

Teamwork Takedown, 10 Gamerscore
One player must destroy the troll’s chest armor and the other must mount kill.  This is the only achievement that can only be done in co-op mode.

Hate for the Machine, 15 Gamerscore
Kill 20,000 enemies.  This can be done over multiple characters.  To see your stats for your gamertag across all characters, check the Xbox Live leaderboards.

Secret Achievements

Through the Halls, 80 Gamerscore
Hall of Heroes has been completed (all tokens collected) in Single Player or Online Coop Play.  Earned after completing the first level.

Frozen Vengeance, 80 Gamerscore
Ice Forest has been completed (all tokens collected) in Single Player or Online Coop Play.  Earned after completing the second level.

The One That Got Away…, 80 Gamerscore
World Serpent has been completed (all tokens collected) in Single Player or Online Coop Play.  Earned after completing the third level.

To Hel and Back, 80 Gamerscore
Helheim has been completed (all tokens collected) in Single Player or Online Coop Play. Earned after completing campaign mode.

Unstoppable: Hall of Heroes, 10 Gamerscore
Hall of Heroes has been completed without dying.  To earn this you need to complete the first level without dying, all in one run (no quitting).

Unstoppable: Ice Forest, 15 Gamerscore
Hall of Heroes has been completed without dying.  To earn this you need to complete the second level without dying, all in one run (no quitting).

Unstoppable: World Serpent, 15 Gamerscore
Hall of Heroes has been completed without dying.  To earn this you need to complete the third level without dying, all in one run (no quitting).

Unstoppable: Helheim, 20 Gamerscore
Hall of Heroes has been completed without dying.  To earn this you need to complete the last level without dying, all in one run (no quitting).

Exultation of Steel, 30 Gamerscore.
Hel has been defeated by the Cybernetic Baldur.  One of the two alignment achivements, earned when you complete the game with a cybernetically aligned character.

Triumph of Humanity, 30 Gamerscore
Hel has been defeated by the Human Baldur.  One of the two alignment achivements, earned when you complete the game with a cybernetically aligned character.

NORN Novice, 5 Gamerscore
First Cyberspace Well has been activated.  Since the first well is mandatory, you’ll get this early in the Hall of Heroes level.

Trial of Ascendance, 5 Gamerscore
Complete a level 1 charm.  To complete the charm, do what the quest asks (killing enemies, collecting items, etc.) and insert the runes indicated on the charm.  You can only complete quests and insert runes for charms in the two active slots.

The Call of Battle, 5 Gamerscore
First Battle Cry unlocked.  Assign a skill point to a battle cry — the blue abilities on the skill tree, mapped to the X button.

Bane to Goblins, 30 Gamerscore
2,500 Goblins defeated.  Goblins are common and most prominent in the first level.  You can check your stats to see how many you have killed.

Hunter of Elfkin, 30 Gamerscore
500 Dark Elves defeated.  Dark Elves are green enemies and are found in the second and third levels.  Check your stats to see how many you’ve killed.

Avenger of the Slain, 30 Gamerscore
1,000 Undead slain. The Undead are the enemies in Helheim, the last level. You can earn this in one playthrough.

Slayer of Trollkind, 30 Gamerscore
50 Trolls destroyed by mounting.  This can be done over multiple characters, but must be done by performing mount kills.

Force to be Reckoned with, 5 Gamerscore
100 Elite enemies annihilated.  Elite enemies are named as such.  You can earn this one in a single playthrough.

The Blood of Heralds, 10 Gamerscore
100 enemy leaders conquered.

Feeder of Ravens, 10 Gamerscore
Kill 10,000 enemies.  The Hate for the Machine achievement is earned after 20,000, but this secret achievement shows that you’re half way.  Can be done over multiple characters.  As with the 20k one, you can check the leaderboards to see your total progress.

Valkyrie’s Folly, 5 Gamerscore
Die 100 Times.  Pretty simple.  I got this on my first playthrough, which is a bit disheartening.

Best of luck!