Going Live
How to get your Xbox 360 online - and why you should.
Play The World
We've talked in some depth about what you can do with Xbox Live on 360, but if you're going to get connected, you're going to want to know what games are worth playing on the service. Obviously, Eurogamer has been covering every Xbox 360 game since launch, so we've got quite a body of information on the site about all of them - so here's our shortlist of what's worth playing on Live at the moment, along with a link through to the game information page so you can find out more.
Racing
Project Gotham Racing 3
The most popular of the Xbox 360 launch games in the UK, and it's not hard to see why. Bizarre Creations' stunning racing game is a petrolhead's dream, letting you take out the world's finest supercars on the streets of London, Tokyo and New York and burn up stunning amounts of rubber. It may be a clear evolution of what's come before in the Project Gotham series, but that doesn't stop it being great - and once you've got to grips with your car, you'll obviously want to take it online and tear up some city streets against real world opposition. [Project Gotham Racing 3 Game Page]
Ridge Racer 6
Where PGR is pitch-perfect simulation, Ridge Racer is the arcade racing fantasist's dream. There's not a real brand or a real track in sight, and every car handles like nothing in the real world ever could - but in its own way, that's a huge part of the game's considerable charm. It's not without its weaknesses - the drift system could do with being a little less blatantly artificial, for example - but it's still great fun to throw these steel beasts around the finely tuned tracks in races against other humans rather than somewhat dumb AI cars. [Ridge Racer 6 Game Page]
Shoot 'em Up
Call of Duty 2
First-person shooters aren't a genre that's exactly thin on the ground on the Xbox 360, but Call of Duty 2 stands head and shoulders over the competition - for now, at least. One of the best examples of the WW2 action game ever made, COD2 is unsurprisingly pretty damn good in multiplayer, although some issues with the game modes on offer and the matchmaking do hold it back and can be frustrating. Still, it's worth the price of entry just for the singleplayer, and multiplayer is definitely good enough to hold your attention. [Call of Duty 2 Game Page]
Perfect Dark Zero
Rare's long-awaited return to the Perfect Dark series could justifiably be described as somewhat disappointing in singleplayer - and it's only when you take the game online that you realise that Rare weren't even really thinking about offline play when they created this game. PDZ is all about getting onto Live and dealing some death, and it makes no apology for being a great multiplayer game with a weak singleplayer attached. If you're not going to try your skills online with this game, there really is no point. [Perfect Dark Zero Game Page]
Quake 4
Id Software are the masters of the PC first-person shooter genre, and while this continuation of their seminal Quake series was actually developed by Raven under their watchful eye, it's still a damn fine if very, very traditional FPS. The conversion from the PC isn't particularly inspired, but it's still hard to find fault with the frenetic, finely balanced multiplayer game on offer here. [Quake 4 Game Page]
Halo 2
Yes, we know - it's not actually an Xbox 360 game, but any discussion about games worth playing on Xbox Live wouldn't be complete without talking about Halo 2, the brilliant first-person shooter that was far and away the most popular game on Live for the original Xbox. Halo 2 plays like a dream on the Xbox 360, thanks to an update patch (available on Xbox Live for free, of course) which enhances the graphics of the game significantly; and no console game has yet come close for the range of online modes or sheer balls-out intensity of gameplay. [Halo 2 Game Page]
Beat 'em Up
Dead or Alive 4
Of all the games we mention here, Dead or Alive 4 has the toughest job - namely bringing the incredibly fast-paced gameplay of the beat 'em up genre to Xbox Live, which is a service that's pretty damn good at providing lag-free gameplay, but which is still bound by the reality of the situation - namely, that the Internet isn't perfect. DOA4 has a fair stab at making beat 'em up gameplay work online, and many players have reported having some fantastic fun with the game, but many others report horrific lag and games that are simply unplayable. Caveat emptor, then, but beat 'em up fanatics should definitely give it a shot, at least. [Dead or Alive 4 Game Page]
In The Pipeline
That's not a bad line-up of top Xbox Live titles for a console whose life to date is more often measured in weeks rather than months, but it's growing at a truly tremendous rate nonetheless. Here's a quick look at the titles you'll be wanting to go Live with over the coming months...
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
The latest in the hugely successful series of games based on the tortuously long novels of Tom Clancy is definitely one of the most anticipated games on the Xbox 360, boasting stunning graphics and gritty, realistic gameplay. Playing soldiers from the comfort of your sofa against other military nuts around the world has never felt quite so real. [Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter Game Page]
Burnout Revenge
Criterion's ludicrously frantic racer comes to the Xbox 360 in a high-definition update of last year's well-received crash 'em up frenzy. The core gameplay is very familiar, but the updated graphics mean this is another racer to add to the 360's growing list of worthwhile Live titles for the petrolheads. [Burnout Revenge Game Page]
Fight Night Round 3
Electronic Arts is doing a sterling job with many of its Xbox 360 titles, and none more notably than Fight Night Round 3 - a graphically stunning new version of the firm's popular boxing series, which looks set to be the single best way of punching your friends' lamps out without even having to load up on beer and curry and stand at a taxi rank at two in the morning beforehand. [Fight Night Round 3 Game Page]
And then some...
Those are just three of the titles that are turning up in the coming weeks and promise amazing Xbox Live gameplay - there are countless others floating around on release schedules out there. Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Far Cry both spring to mind, while for the sports fans, online versions of FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer are a dead cert for the system. Motorbike fans will no doubt already be aware of the imminent arrival of MotoGP - and then there are the likes of Gears of War, Too Human and, of course, Halo 3. Multiplayer modes for many games are yet to be confirmed - but given Microsoft's focus on Live, it's safe to assume that many of the system's big hitters will also let you go online and demonstrate your prowess on the world's biggest stage.
Arcade Passions
We've talked about Xbox Live Arcade plenty, but when you first log in to the service, you'll see a bewildering array of games available - a list which grows on a regular basis as new content is added to Xbox Live Arcade. Luckily, we've spent a while trying out many of the Xbox Live Arcade games here at Eurogamer, so we can give you a fair idea of where you should turn first once you're ready to start exploring the Marketplace. Of course, one of the nice things about the service is that you don't actually have to take our word for it - every Xbox Live Arcade game comes with a free demo which you can download to try the game out before ever spending a single credit on it.
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Perhaps the ultimate example of simple, frantic gameplay, Geometry Wars was actually played more than pretty much any other Xbox 360 game around here in the early weeks of the console's life. Seemingly infantile graphics actually combine into a beautiful, psychedelic action landscape, and beating your friends' high scores will become a life-consuming challenge for many. For the record, Tom is better at this than anyone else at Eurogamer, but we're all a bit rubbish actually - our readers put us to shame, and have their own Geometry Wars tournament running on the Eurogamer Forum, a testament to just how brilliant this game is. [Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved Game Page]
Mutant Storm Reloaded
We're not sure what exactly a "mutant storm" would comprise - a strangely shaped hurricane, perhaps? - but this souped up version of developer PomPom's PC and Xbox arcade title is still a welcome addition to Xbox Live Arcade. The basic gameplay is similar to Geometry Wars, but the overall experience is far more tactical and focuses on discreet levels and waves of enemies rather than constant, frantic action. A worthy addition to any collection, especially when you factor in the co-op play modes. [Mutant Storm Reloaded Game Page]
Bejeweled 2
The PC version of Bejeweled has consumed more lunchtimes than we care to remember, and the DS version, dubbed Zoo Keeper, destroyed what was shaping up to be a very decent house party one weekend and prevented us from doing any work on long-haul flights for months. Bejeweled 2 isn't, we confess, quite up to those standards - the game just isn't as much fun with a controller - but it's still a perfectly pitched puzzle game that's remarkably cheap to pick up. If you don't own a DS, the demo for this is a must-try, but we warn you - it can become an obsession. [Bejeweled 2 Game Page]
Zuma Deluxe
Another game from the puzzle camp rather than the action camp, Zuma is a peculiar take on the Bust-A-Move concept, which sees you firing coloured balls into a clump of other coloured balls in an attempt to match them up and make them disappear. In this instance, however, the targets are a stream of balls moving along a spiral (or even twisting) path towards the centre of the screen, and you must destroy them in order to prevent them from reaching the goal. It's an incredibly simple concept which works beautifully, and honing your skills on it is a compelling challenge - albeit, we confess, one that might not last too long. [Zuma Deluxe Game Page]
Marble Blast Ultra
A shameless homage to ancient arcade hit Marble Madness, Marble Blast Ultra is another beautifully simple concept - guide your marble across suspended playing areas, navigating ramps and traps spread across 60 levels. It's not the longest game ever, but the addition of a time attack mode definitely improves matters, and there's even a mildly distracting eight-player multiplayer mode. [Marble Blast Ultra Game Page]