Last month I had a chance to sample many of Microsoft's Holiday titles at X08, their annual Canadian post-E3 media briefing thing-a-ma-jig. On hand was a large array of first party and third party titles, as well as Cliff (don't call me Cliffy B) Blezinski, who was flown in to talk about Gears of War 2 (I'll post a transcript of my interview with him in the coming days). X08 also reaffirms my notion that it's hard to not look like a Microsoft fanboy when coming back from one of these events. In one month I attended two media briefs; one by Microsoft, the other by Nintendo. And, while I appreciate the Big N's one-on-one approach to showcasing their titles, the truth is their fall/winter line-up doesn't hold a candle to what the 360 has in store this year - even if Wii Music alone will outsell everything on the Xbox. The simple fact is, if you're a gamer, Microsoft has no shortage of games in the coming months.
But I digress; let's move on to the impressions:

GEARS OF WAR 2 (Multiplayer Only):
Let me get this out of the way first - I'm a huge Gears fan. I love the first game; it's probably one of my favorite titles on the 360. That being said, I don't get the title's multiplayer mode. Halo multiplayer I love - Call of Duty multiplayer I love - but something about Gears third person, overly strategic based multiplayer turns me off. Call me a purist, but I love straightforward fragging with no added complications.

Still, Gear's multiplayer mode has it's fanbase and they won't be let down by GoW2's offering. I won't pretend to tell you how the new multiplayer modes are.  To be honest, I can't even say if I played one of them, but everyone around me was thoroughly impressed. The controls remain essentially untouched - a good move, given the game controlled very well the first time around. As promised, when injured you can crawl for better cover. Also, as promised, opponents now have more way of killing you when you're knocked down.  I should know - I was killed a lot. And yes, locking chainsaws when dueling is very fun. From the looks of things, those who love Gear's multiplayer mode will have a lot more too look forward to.

For the rest of us Gears fans, we have much nicer visuals to look forward too. The game looks a lot better, which is again, saying a lot given how good the first title looked. Environments have tons of textural details; from foliage growing everywhere to extra bits of debris littering the world. A nice touch is how sheets of newspaper blow around the map. Overall, there is a lot more atmosphere here and it's welcomed. I couldn't find any chunks of destructible environment as promised in the early demonstration videos. I'm sure it's there - it's just kinda hard to survey a map when you're being killed all the time.
In summary, November can't get here soon enough. Unless you're a PC gamer - looks like you'll be sitting this sequel out. Sorry guys.

FABLE II:
I have a love hate relationship with Peter Molyneux (or Uncle Pete as I call him). He's responsible for one of my favorite God games, the highly recommended Dungeon Keeper for the PC.  Unfortunately, he's also responsible for one of the most overrated games ever, Black and White, which features one of the most confusing interfaces ever included in a video game. The space shuttle is easier to control. The man is ambitious; there is no denying that. However, his games tend to be crushed under said ambition.

Take for example the original Fable. It was well received. However, the final build of the game omitted many of the features originally promised, such as your characters ability to have children. Molyneux later apologized for these oversights.

So, it would seem that Fable II is an earnest attempt to right some of the wrongs of its predecessor, while expanding on the original concept of choosing between good and evil.

During my demo I was told a couple of things: Firstly, you can have children in the game (although you can't continue their story). 
Secondly, the struggle between good and evil isn't as clear-cut as it once was. There are a lot of grey areas, meaning your decisions can affect both sides. This actually excites me quite a bit. As much as I like Mass Effect, I found the whole you're either good or evil narrative rather stale. It is 2008 after all, lets start pretending that some of our decisions have consequences that don't only fall on one end of the spectrum. Although it remains to be seen exactly how well this is utilized in Fable II.

My demo of Fable didn't include a lot of the above - it's a big game and given my short amount of time I was thrust right into a quest. The controls are, thankfully, easy and intuitive. Fighting controls are mapped to the face buttons; press X for a melee attack, B for magic and your character figures out the rest. Guns now join your arsenal of potential ranged weapons and are a very welcome fit. Another big addition comes in the form of a dog that aids you on your journey. In my demo he assisted in everything from fighting to pointing where treasure was. Kudos should be given to the animation team on this one; the dog acts and moves extremely life-like. It's very cool to see in motion. 

My quest ended with the discovery of the treasure I was apparently seeking, the contents of which was a rubber ball for my dog. Not exactly a worthy haul and I can only hope this isn't indicative of the missions offered by this game. 

Coming in, I had no expectations for Fable II - but, after my short demo, I'm pretty interested in this title. It looks and feels great - and the features promised from Uncle Pete could make it a pretty great experience. Let's hope he doesn't have to issue any apologies this time around.

CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR:
Here's a quick note, don't refer to this game as Call of Duty 5 unless you want your ear screamed off by an Activision rep. Apparently, World at War is its own game - one that, by some coincidence, just happens to follow the most successful entry in the Call of Duty franchise. Gone is developer Infinity Ward and their modern warfare approach.  Instead the game is developed by Treyarch, who had been previously responsible for the third installment of the franchise. The game returns the series to the World War Two era, this time focusing on the American's campaign against the Japanese and the Soviet's front in Eastern Europe.


The problem with Call of Duty 2 and 3 is that they very quickly fell into old habits. From their covers alone you can assume that at some point you will play an Allied solider, once again, storming the shores of Normandy - pretty standard stuff. Clearly, Infinity Ward felt the same, thus they shook up the formula with Call of Duty 4, bringing the game play into the present and reinvigorating the franchise. Playing World at War almost feels like a step back. If a bad analogy were to be made, it's like going back to regular Coke once you've tasted the splendor of Vanilla Coke.

This isn't to say the game looks bad (it's powered by a modified version of the CoD4 engine), nor does it play bad; the demo was entertaining enough, with all the usual cinematic enemy encounters and shoot outs you'd except from the franchise. Yet, it just doesn't feel fresh. I've played this before, in fact three previous times. That being said, the final product could complete change my mind - it remains to be seen.

So what did my demo consist of? Lots of running around lush jungles being ambushed by camouflaged Japanese soldiers. To shake things up you will occasionally be required to maneuver through water, which slows down your movement and makes you a sitting duck (of sorts) for enemy attacks. Eventually I came to a village where I was ambushed by, you guessed it, more Japanese soldiers. The violence is certainly grittier, including many deaths due to a flame-thrower. I was told by the rep that Treyarch has done a lot of research into this time period, ensuring players get a brutally accurate portrayal of campaigns in the game. I was pleased to find a lack of giant enemy crabs on the battlefield - generally a good sign of authenticity. Also absent from the demo were the voices of Keifer Sutherland and Gary Oldman, who will be featured in the final product.

All in all there's nothing wrong with World at War from what I've seen. But I won't deny my interest level is a little diminished given the familiar looking territory, even if the Pacific campaign is a first for the series. Call of Duty fans will no doubt find plenty to like here, particularly if you're previous exposure to the series consists primarily of COD4. Seasoned veterans, however, might consider going AWOL on this one.

BANJO-KAZOOIE: NUTS & BOLTS:
Remember when Microsoft's acquisition of Rare seemed like a multimillion-dollar bust? The company jumped ship from Nintendo in 2002 only to sit idly  for several years releasing a scant few titles on the Gameboy Advanced, leaving Xbox owners scratching their head's about when the golden goose would finally lay its egg. Thankfully, the launch of the Xbox 360 saw the company return to active duty, developing the well received Kameo and Viva Piniata, prompting many to have restored faith in the reclusive British developer.

Their latest title is a sequel to their popular series which premiered all the way back on the Nintendo 64. And yet, Nuts and Bolts doesn't tread on old water. In addition to its platforming roots, the game has embraced a new vehicle construction system. Throughout a level you'll see a series of races and puzzles to solve, many of which will require the use of vehicles that are constructed by you, within the game. Sadly, I wasn't privy to the construction interface in my demo - instead I had to choose from a series of pre-made cars. Still, it's this feature alone that's really piquing my interest in the game.
Visually, Rare is continuing with their usual bright canvas of colors and large assortment of textured environments. Particularly neat is the choice to design the world as if it's been stitched together from various pieces of fabric. It's oddly reminiscent of Sony's forthcoming Little Big Planet.  In fact, both games share similar gameplay aesthetics - although Nuts and Bolts does feature a heavier emphasis on platforming.

Again, my time with the game was short, but I won't deny it looks like a lot of fun. It does, however, seem a tad bit on the easy side. At one point during a race I veered heavily off course, and when I finally rejoined the race I didn't find myself too far away from the other competitors. It's possible I was playing an early stage of the game - or, more likely, the game's family friendly atmosphere may skew the game play to the more accessible side. Either way, it wasn't a major issue for a demo.

Casual gamers should get a kick out of Banjo-Kazooi: Nuts & Bolts, where the more hardcore gamer might be intrigued by the possibilities in building a series of custom vehicles from over 1600 different components. So long as it keeps Rare from creating a sequel to Perfect Dark Zero, it should be a welcome addition to the Holiday season.

For more of my thoughts on the 360, check out my post-mortem on Microsoft's E3 media brief from earlier this year: http://gamingismyradar.blogspot.com/2008/07/e3-2008-microsoft-press-conference-post.html