Xbox Live DLC Roundup Review

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John Woo's Stranglehold

• Map Pack (1200 points / GBP 10.20 / GBP 14.40)

Describing Stranglehold's DLC as a "map pack" doesn't quite do it justice. Unlike Halo 3's excellent Heroic pack, which includes just three maps, Stranglehold's first chunk of DLC has ten new maps on offer - and for only 400 points more than Halo's offering. Admittedly, this map pack is one of only two pieces of DLC that come in at over a tenner (see PSU on the previous page), but surely with this many maps, it justifies the cost?

Well...sort of. The maps themselves are great, with a fairly significant level of variety in terms of setting, gameplay and size. Many of them take their inspiration from various areas in the single-player game, covering Hong Kong film-set type locations like slums, markets and harbours. Our favourite is Naval Exercise, a huge tanker-like ship whose rabbit warren interior encourages hide-and-seek gameplay - but every map in the pack is crammed with Stranglehold features like falling objects to shoot out, ropes to slide down and so on.

The 21 new "characters" which come with the pack are less impressive. Although a few characters from the game who weren't previously playable in multiplayer make an appearance, the vast majority of what you get here are just skins for Tequila himself - and frankly, they're not even necessarily any better than the skins you unlock by playing through the single-player experience. They're not awful, but they don't add much value.

Sunglasses indoors? Have at you!

What will add value in some people's eyes, however, is the addition of 250 new gamerpoints. This is something we simply don't see enough of in DLC - new challenges and Achievements that add to your Gamerscore, thus appealing to the obsessive-compulsive nature of our inner Xbox gamer. The Stranglehold Map Pack includes ten new Achievements, all of them focused on multiplayer, and many requiring you to do things on specific maps from the new pack.

The question, of course, is whether you view Stranglehold as a multiplayer game at all. We know plenty of people who enjoyed the single-player but never experimented with the multiplayer - and admittedly it's no CoD4 or Halo 3, designed instead as a loose, accessible and entertaining blast to enjoy with a few friends. In that context, it's great - and if you're into that, this DLC is a damned good way to spend a tenner.

8/10

BioShock

• Four new plasmids and tonics (Free)

Not everyone seems to be determined to squeeze every cent out of Xbox gamers with DLC - and it's worth including BioShock's effort just to contrast it with some others in this roundup. Completely free, gratis and for nothing, you get four new gene enhancements - Sonic Boom, EVE Saver, Vending Expert and Machine Buster. Sonic Boom is a rather fun new plasmid, while the three tonics should help anyone struggling through the game. In addition, the pack gives the option to disable Vita Chambers - and unlocks a 100-point Achievement for completing the game without using one. Ouch. Can't argue with that for free!

9/10

Blue Dragon

The level of inter-species nuzzling in Blue Dragon is truly obscene, anyone care to contact the mainstream press?

• New high-level dungeon (400 points / GBP 3.40 / EUR 4.80)
• Six in-game items (200 points / GBP 1.70 / EUR 2.40)

The DLC for Microsoft's rather divisive entry into the JRPG market is a rather varied selection. On the one hand, you have the Shuffle Dungeon - which, for the price of a pint in London, grants you hours of gaming for characters level 50 and over, with 30 new items and 10 new bosses. On the other, you have Six Treasures - which involves paying nearly two quid for a few in-game items, including the Master Thief manual, which increases the drop-rate of good stuff from monsters. Paying for that makes us feel a little cheated. On the plus side, you can also download new game difficulty levels from Live for free, which makes up for it a bit.

7/10

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