Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

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360: 2007's Most Wanted

What will you be getting for Christmas?

Assassin's Creed

Despite flutters of concern following Ubisoft's clunky demonstration at E3 earlier this month, fears that this was all Unkle-soundtracked style over substance were dampened once we spent some time playing Assassin's Creed ourselves. For a setting Ubisoft Montreal have settled upon the cities of Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus at the time of the Third Crusade. You play as Altaïr, a member of the Hashshashin sect who is working towards eliminating the nine western figures driving the crusades.

As well as introducing some new game-speak in the form of 'social stealth' (a.k.a. walking around in crowds) the game is also championing a context sensitive control scheme. Here buttons generally map to the character's limbs and perform actions appropriate to situation and environment at any given time. While the game's themes and setting might seem a little incendiary right now, numerous clues as to a possible heavy science-fiction reveal as well as the fact Altair is, conveniently enough the son of a Christian mother and a Muslim father might seek to take any sting out of this tale.

Mass Effect

Players who fell in love with Bioware's treatment of the Star Wars mythology in the RPG Knights of the Old Republic will be pleased to see the similarities in Mass Effect. The big and pleasant surprise at E3 this month, both Bioware and Microsoft clearly have high hopes for the game billing it as the fist in a trilogy of titles of the 360 that will also enjoy episodic content over Xbox Live. Set in 2183 you assume the role of a veteran elite human soldier, Commander Shepherd, the man in charge of halting the armies of a megalomaniacal former colleague.

Featuring twelve different character classes Mass Effect will, in all likelihood, mirror the successful template of Bioware's previous form: action (invisibly based upon traditional RPG dice rolls) and intricate narrative decision making. Indeed, Bioware have stated that protagonist Shepherd, as a veteran commander has carte blanche to 'get the job done in whatever way he sees fit'. Therefore every choice and decision you make in approaching the problems thrown at you will have narrative and mechanical implications further down the line. For Western action RPG fans this is certainly a game to watch with keen interest.

Sega Rally

Ostensibly this is a long way from Tetsuya Mizuguchi's original 1995 white-knuckle arcade rally game with which it shares a name. Developed in Solihull under the watchful eye of a man named Guy (Wilday - Director of SEGA Racing Studio) the circumstances surrounding its development hardly echo those of its neon-blinking, tub-thumping Japanese ancestor. But while the game is aimed at a western audience for whom the realism and range of automotive geekery in the likes of Forza and Gran Turismo is key, Sega Rally has a lot more in common with Sega Rally than you might expect.

The emphasis is again on accessibility and fun, that combination of Sega blue skies, streaking snow capped hills and fifty metre gravelly powerslides. For gamers concerned that this will just be a paper thin, five minute arcade-a-thon there will be thirty vehicles, 6-player competitive racing online (possible between 360 and Vista players) and, more importantly, the kind of accessible but deep racing that made the original so very inspirational.