Xbox 360 Metro Dashboard

Last generation ask a gamer what the term firmware meant and you would probably get a blank stare. The way pretty much everything connects to the internet means the people behind things can send updates to their things over the internet.

Games consoles are no exception and in this generation in particular we are flooded with updates for games and the consoles themselves. The Xbox 360 in particular has had two big changes to its dashboard, the hub the controls access to every part of your system.

The most recent change has been made to match the tile system of the new windows phone. It’s a bit like the PS3’s XMB system but with big square tiles giving access to various different things for each category.

In one world it is Terrible. God awful, messy, horrible, and a complete disaster all go some way in describing Microsoft’s latest monster.

It has clearly been designed by the 360’s biggest mistake, Kinect, in mind. The only positive besides speed is that Kinect is integrated rather well. Voice commands generally work and even something like Halo Waypoint is easily recognised.

But that’s where the praise ends. Let’s start with the first new “blade”, Home. This is where your system starts. First off this should be in the middle of the “blades” for reasons which I’ll explain later, instead it is far too Left. You are greeted with a huge advert that takes most of your screen. What 9 times out of 10 you will actually want, play disc, is left at the side in a much smaller tile.

Having the quickplay option, where you can pick from the last ten games/apps you’ve used is a nice touch, but again completely overshadowed by the giant ad in the middle. This dashboard is basically an advertiser’s wet dream. There is a least one ad on every blade, it’s not surprising that people have gone out of their way to block the ads, they are far too intrusive.

Going back I mentioned that the home blade was far too left. The actual problem lies with where the games blade is. I feel a bit like Woody shouting at Buzz here, the Xbox 360 is a Games Console. First and foremost its priority should be games. Yet to get to the games blade you have to skip past Social, Video/TV and even Music.

I wouldn’t criticise this so much if it didn’t have such a simple solution. Move the home blade into the middle. Then to access games go left, video/TV and other media go right (or vice versa). But it seems Microsoft want the Xbox 360 to be a media hub, which is not going to happen. If I want to watch Sky I’ll watch it the proper way, through my Sky HD box.

The Games Marketplace is even worse. Once you’ve passed four blades to the games blade and select the option each individual category now has its own blade. When the NXE came out it had a wonderful new arrivals category. This listed all new arrivals regardless of category.

They then changed it slightly in the last update by categorising them but still having a little preview. This was so the vast number of new music game tracks (i.e. Rock Band) didn’t dominate one category. It would’ve been better to separate music game stuff from the rest, but this was still OK.

Now well let me go through the buttons you need to press in order to check all new Games, Demos, Add-ons and Trailers (what I check for everyday).

Old way (2nd Dash)

Up > Select Games Marketplace > New Arrivals

(3rd Dash)

Up > Select Games Marketplace > Select Arcade games* > Back* > Right > Select Games in Demand* > Back* > Right > Right > Select Demos* > Back* > Up > Select Add ons* > Back* > Right > Select Videos*

*Only if the three in the preview tile were all new.

(4th Dash – This one)

RB > RB > RB (to games blade) > Down > Select Games Marketplace > RB (to games) > Select New Arrivals > Back > RB (to add ons) > Select New Arrivals > Back > RB (to extras) > Right > Right > Right> Select Videos > Back > RB (to Demos) > Select New Arrivals.

Way too many button presses and not a preview in sight.

Another thing they pointlessly messed up is the new Social blade. This replaces My Friends and some of My Xbox. You get three options, Friends, Social apps and I forget the third. Then your avatar and a nice summary of your last twelve achievements. Then a preview of THREE of your friends.

To access your friends list you need to go into an additional option. In the last dashboard you only needed to go to My Friends. Since 90% of the time I have more than three friends online this preview is pointless.

Also in the old Friend list system parties were displayed first and then individuals. If something was going on it was the first thing you saw when you went to My Friends. Now to see if there are any parties you have to go into another option.

So it’s Friday night, after 9pm and in the past you have got into a party with your mates and played something online, probably Call of duty. Check out your friends list, see a party is going, you join and in the next game they invite you in. Simple.

Now you have to select the social blade, select friends, and then select parties to see if anything is going on. Needless additional steps that add nothing and take away so much. Considering the Xbox’s strength is Online and Party chat this is a step backwards.

I said in my prediction for the next generation that we would see apps becoming a big part of console gaming. I didn’t realise how soon as Microsoft have a new apps section. So far though they have all been centred on streaming video. You can now use Youtube (only if you’re gold though apparently, so paying for something which is free on PC), and Lovefilm.

Lovefilm isn’t anywhere near as good as it should be. Even though you can sign in to your account you can’t access your rental list, add titles to your rental list or select titles from the list to watch online. There’s no reason for this. You’ve signed into your account you should have access to your rental list and chose films to watch online from there.

So while there is a nice selection of movies you can watch, and you’ve already picked out your favourites, you can’t then use your list of favourites to choose what to watch. This is pointless and hopefully just an early teething problem with the new app.

So overall the dashboard brings with it very few benefits in exchange for making all the things that make the Xbox so good, Games, Friend List, Party chat and Marketplace all that little more awkward for no good reason. It’s a case of one step forward but five steps back.

Mind you I have yet to try the new Bing Search and Cloud save feature but I doubt I’ll use them that much.

If this wasn’t a mandatory update I’ll tell you all to avoid it like the plague but alas we’re all stuck with this mess.

Sonic Generations (3DS)

The HD version of Sonic Generations is a very good celebration of the last 20 years of Sonic. The combination of beautifully detailed scenery, kickass soundtrack, and two contrasting but highly polished styles of play led to a fun, if short-lived, gaming experience.

SEGA definitely have a history of jumping straight into new technology so it isn’t all that surprising to see them being one of the first third party developers to support the 3DS, bringing a whole new version of Sonic Generations.

In some ways the 3DS version fixes some of the faults of the HD version. The bosses in particular are much better, each taking the traditional 8 hits instead of 4, and staying true to the original versions but with their own unique twist. The last boss in particular is a huge improvement on its HD counterpart.

There are only seven levels instead of nine this time but only Green hill is the same, making this a good compliment to the HD version. Each looks and sound superb however both styles are entirely 2D which leads to the biggest problem of the 3DS version, both styles are too similar.

In the HD versions classic Sonic stayed true to his roots, sticking with just the standard spin attack and spin dash. Modern Sonic meanwhile had all the moves, being able to stomp, homing attack, boost, light speed dash, slide, quickstep, etc. Mastering all these moves was the key to getting the really fast times.

Each style was unique whereas in the 3DS version very little is different. Modern Sonic still has slide, boost and stomp but halfway through classic Sonic learns Homing attacks. Being entirely in 2D doesn’t help either, leading to the two styles being more or less the same.

It also suffers from the same short length issue the HD version had. Getting all S ranks for an experienced player will only take you a couple of days, and that’s only playing a couple of hours at a time.

It does make good use of the street pass feature. You can only unlock so many missions on your copy without streetpass or spending lots of playcoins. By passing people with the game you unlock more missions, which you complete to access more rewards. The addition of online multiplayer is a nice but expected bonus.

Much like the HD version it still relies on beating high scores and times to prolong its life. Getting S ranks is a little harder this time around, it felt a little too easy in the HD version, here it feels just right.

Sonic Generations 3DS address some of the problems with the HD version but ultimately create some of its own. The bosses are better and it is harder to get S ranks, but the two styles become too similar halfway through and it is just as short as its HD brethren.

A nice compliment to the HD version but only really necessary if you are a fan of the series and/or you can get it cheap.

6/10

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

In some ways this has been a strange generation. Normally you judge a system’s strength by its exclusives. This time though besides the Wii neither has had a long list of exclusives even though they have been out for almost five years each.

Most judge the systems by its features. Whether you prefer the additional features Xbox live offers over the free service PSN does, whether you prefer trophies or achievements, etc. I definitely in the Xbox camp but there is one Playstation series which excites me and validates my PS3 as a game machine. That is the Uncharted series.

Gorgeous visuals, brilliant voice acting and cutscenes, likeable characters, solid platforming, intelligent puzzles and fantastic set pieces are all what makes the series great.

Uncharted 3 has all this and that alone deserves your attention. However it is stuck in the middle of one of the busiest Christmas rushes to date. Uncharted 3 holds its own but only just.

What lets Uncharted 3 down is the series’ weak point, the gunplay. It just isn’t as satisfying as other third person cover based shooters. Your bullets never seem to hit your crosshairs right and there is terribly inconsistent hit detection. Sometimes a single bullet will bring down an enemy, other times it takes an entire clip. They may fix this in a patch but surely after 3 games Naughty Dog would have this right first time.

But what they can’t fix is the repetition. Your enemies lack variation. Armoured brutes are your only other target than the same generic enemies. And the AI is ridiculous. Often in the middle of a fire fight enemies will charge straight at you and try to punch you to death, rather than shoot a machine gun at you.

Instead of the player having the power to choose how to beat an opponent, the option is usually forced upon you. This can get really annoying when you are trying to get the “defeat a certain number of enemies in a row by shooting” trophies and you keep getting engaged in fist fights. Or say a group of enemies are shooting at you and you can’t get free of a fight to save yourself.

And there is so much of it. The game has some nice puzzles to break up the monotony of the gunplay but there aren’t enough of them. There is a lovely puzzle involving casting shadows on a wall to create a shape, there should have been more of this kind of stuff instead of constant gunplay, particularly towards the end.

Speaking of the end it feels a little rushed and it just happens. The story starts of well, delving into the history of Drake and his relationship with Sully. There is a nice reveal about Drake’s past and then after that nothing. Perhaps Uncharted 4 will flesh that out a bit, but I was disappointed that it didn’t go anywhere.

Uncharted 3 starts off rather well. There are some exciting set pieces and pretty smart puzzles. It feels like it is going somewhere but in the end it doesn’t. By focusing on the not so great gunplay what you get is a disappointing game by the series already pretty high standards.

Given the number of quality titles out around the same time you’d be forgiven for waiting a while and seeing if the price drops. However you should still give this a go when you have the time for it.

8/10

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Ask any non gamer to name a video game and they might mention old classics like Pong, Space Invaders, Pacman, or Tetris. They might mention controversial titles like Grand Theft Auto or Manhunt. They may mention Mario, Sonic or Pokemon the big well known brands. But most likely if they don’t mention Fifa then it will probably be Call of Duty.

Initially set around World War 2 the Call of Duty franchise has spawned an impressive 8 different titles and has spread out into the Vietnam War and a war based in modern times. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the first of the series to be set in present times. Widely regarded as one of the greatest FPS’ ever made it quickly made a name for itself amongst the casual and the hardcore alike.

The combination of high speed action, easy kills and a nice blend of solid gunplay with decent stealth, all with a hint of realism, set the series apart for it’s rivals to the point where it became more than just a game, it became one of the most popular gaming franchises of all time.

The single player was fun but it was the multiplayer where the game really shone. Fast, fluid with easy kills (but conversely you died easier than in other FPS’) obtaining long killstreaks became addictive. Overall it was a unique experience that won a lot of people over, particularly non-gamers.

The sequel expanded on COD4, giving more killstreaks, including the game breaking Tactical Nuke. COD’s popularity rose. Since everything is a trilogy now Modern Warfare 3 has been released. COD’s popularity has led to a lot of copycats, some successful, some not. COD no longer feels unique, more that one to beat.

Recently EA and DICE have brought the Battlefield series into the fray which has drawn a lot of attention away from COD, attempting to steal some of its userbase. Can COD still compete? Well to do that it needs to evolve, which sadly it doesn’t really.

First the single player. Unusually this is probably the highlight of the game now. Completely abandoning any sense of realism, Modern Warfare 3’s campaign is a wild thrill ride, highly polished and a worthy end for such a successful series. Once again you travel around the world attempting to stop a terrorist but now he’s practically won. The whole world is at war and one of four characters you’ll travel all around the world, shooting enough soldiers to fill a continent.

It all works really well and the veteran difficulty level is just right providing a very challenging experience that never feels too impossible.

Spec ops returns with some enhancements. These are carefully reused segments of the game to offer quick challenges detached from the game itself. The second of these is a wonderful twist on the classic Mile High Club challenge from COD4. This time you’re the last terrorist of a group that has just hijacked a plane, who has to kidnap the Russian President.

In addition to this they have also added a Gears of War Horde / Halo Firefight style Survival mode. Here you fight wave after wave of enemies that get steadily more difficult as you proceed through the waves.

All of Spec ops can be done alone or with a friend and with scores/times to beat including global and friend leaderboards they have plenty of replay value.

What will take your hours though is the multiplayer mode. After 8 games the multiplayer has changed ever so slightly to meet the criticisms of previous titles. This is more a case of polishing what you have got that completely evolving the game however there are a couple of interesting new features.

It seems Infinity Ward have attempted to address one of the main problems with COD, which isn’t even a problem with the game but the people who play it. They seem to have focused on getting people to stop camping, a defensive technique where players stay out of fights, find an area they can secure easy and get kills from distant vantage points. This is all in an effort to keep their kill to death ratio high.

This has always been an effective way of keeping your Kill to Death Ratio high but doesn’t help when it comes to securing objectives. Typically what you find is players will place their scope on an objective and kill anyone who comes near it. Frustrating for players that actually want to play the game.

For example, Sabotage is a game where you have to collect and plant and neutral bomb at your opponents bomb site. When you have the bomb a huge marker appears above your head displaying Kill for the defending team. What you tend to find is that opposing teams never go for the bomb and set up camp around their bomb site. You can’t win if you don’t plant the bomb and matches can last the full 20 minutes.

Well you couldn’t win that way unless you got a tactical nuke after a 25 kill streak. Thank god they removed it after Modern Warfare 2.

So how have they addressed camping. Well first they have introduced a new mode called Kill Confirmed. This is like team deathmatch however when you get a kill you don’t score the points until you collect the dog tags they drop. If your opponent collects the tags before you do they can deny you the point which gives campers a dilemma, Do they leave their secure area to score the points and risk death, or do they rely on their teammates to collect the tags for them and risk their kills being denied?

Next is the addition of strike packages, in particular the support package. Previously rewards were given to players who could maintain a streak of kills without dying. Those that wish to play this way can chose the Assault package that offers rewards that hinder the enemy team. These are your predator missiles, helicopters and airstrikes.

Support meanwhile gives rewards based on points and does not reset on death. Capturing flags, planting bombs, generally helping your team achieve the objective with get you rewards that help your team. These include Advanced UAV’s, Sam Turrets, Armour vests, etc. This means that those who would throw themselves on a grenade to help their team win will get the same kind of rewards as those who can maintain a high Killstreak.

If you want something different you could try the specialist package which gives you additional perks the longer your Killstreak continues, to the point where you become an incredible powerhouse ready to rape all that dare challenge you.

Ultimately it still plays like COD4 did but with a little polish which seems to be putting off players who want to play something new. The look and feel of the game is all too familiar and this is probably the biggest criticism of the game. There are also some initial teething problems with some guns being overpowered but I’d expect that to be patched soon.

Overall MW3 is very much a case of if it aint broke don’t fix it. Some slight improvements have been made to the multiplayer but it feels all too familiar. The Campaign is a lot of fun and Spec ops is likely to keep you going for a while.

The perfect end to a fantastic trilogy but perhaps now we’re due a more dramatic overhaul for the series, so that COD9 will be a totally new experience.

8/10