Xbox Living

I sat down today to take a run through the brief demo of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, a first-person shooter from Codemasters. The demo popped up on Xbox Live yesterday.

The game is a ‘what-if’ scenario — taking place in a world where would-have-been British prime minister Winston Churchill was killed in New York City when he was hit by a car. (The accident did actually occur, but it only left Churchill injured.) In the game’s timeline, the Nazis successfully invaded the United States and took over. It’s a pretty good concept that puts a new spin on the otherwise tired WWII shooter genre.

Enter you — some random construction worker who’s atop a skyscraper that’s being built when the Nazi air assault hits New York City. The demo starts off here, and has you running along the iron beams of the tower in an attempt to make it to the bottom safely. Along the way, a parachuting Nazi is found, allowing you to take him out and steal his gun.

The rest of the demo plays out very much like Call of Duty 2. Although the controls are much less intuitive (it takes a few minutes to figure out which buttons do which, especially if you’re accustomed to a more logical pattern like in Halo or Call of Duty). You proceed down a linear path fending off Nazis as you go. At a couple of points you can shoot them as they hang from parachutes or jump out of some fancy-looking blimps.

That’s right: if Winston Churchill had been killed, the Nazis would develop superior blimp technology. Actually, the weapons in the game are also enhanced versions of the real weapons used by the Axis in World War II — as well as some that were developed later but never used in combat.

The graphics in this game are nothing to get excited about. They’re decent, I suppose, but they don’t do justice to the Unreal Engine 3 on which the game runs. I was more impressed by Medal of Honor: Airborne than this one. Objects are a bit rough and the smoke you see in the sky at the end of demo is very pixelated. If you’re on a standard-definition TV this might not be so noticeable, but in HD it feels like a game from the previous generation.

I’ll admit the story concept is interesting, but you see so little of it in the demo that it hardly encourages you to buy the game. Still, it would be neat to see how you presumably drive the Axis forces out of America. It would also be interesting to see a non-military character in a war game like this one… but as far as the demo shows, this character is just like any other soldier from the first-person perspective. Perhaps the game does a little more character development?

In short, the gameplay and graphics are nothing special, but if the idea of fighting Nazis on American soil peaks your interest, give this one a rent or try out the demo on Xbox Live.

The demo for NHL 08 from EA Sports has been released on Xbox Live. The game itself will debut on September 11, just before the 2007-08 hockey season gets underway. I took the demo for a spin — here’s the scoop:

It’s just like NHL 07.

I’m going to win awards for that stellar review, I know it. But from what can be seen in this demo, there’s not much that’s changed. Aside from updated lines and some new music and commentary, it looks and plays like it’s the same game.

But, the demo only lets you play a single period of Ducks vs. Senators. NHL 07’s claim to fame — the new ’skill stick’ controls — returns in NHL 08, so there are no surprises here. Supposedly the controls were updated to give you a little more control than in NHL 07, but I didn’t notice. Perhaps some more play time will open my eyes to this one.

A few graphical tweaks can be seen, but again, it’s pretty much on-par with last year. EA Sports has made some additional promises, though. Here’s what the full game should have in store:

• Addition of the AHL: All 29 American Hockey League teams have been added, and are playable in Dynasty Mode.
• Improved likeness of players and gear: Supposedly the players faces have been carefully customized and equipment now looks more authentic. Again, hard to really notice in the demo.
• Updated Dynasty Mode: A collection of fairly minor usability features have been added, which nevertheless make team management easier.
• Advanced Player Customization: The player creation mode has been expanded giving you more control over your custom player’s looks, stats and gear.
• Expanded Commentary: You don’t get much of a taste of it in the demo, but NHL 08 supposedly contains a larger library of play-by-play commentary to add more diversity to the game.
• Custom Plays: You can now create your own plays and train your team to follow them — a pretty cool feature if done right.
• Online Leagues: Reportedly, the Xbox Live component features online leagues and full player stat tracking. We’ll have to wait and see this one.

It looks like EA’s NHL 08 could be a worthwhile upgrade, but unfortunately the demo just doesn’t live up to the hype. If you’re a big fan of hockey and spent a lot of time with NHL 07, you’re probably picking this up (or even pre-ordering online or in-store). NHL 07 was an excellent hockey sim, so at the very least it carries that with it — and the new commentary and lineups are enough for the hardcore fans. I’m sure I’ll grab a copy.

Otherwise, give this one a rent and see if you like the new features. They sound promising, but you might want to see if it lives up to the hype.

A preview of the upcoming real-time strategy game Halo Wars has emerged on Xbox Live. This 10-minute video was originally shown at E3 this year. It introduces the control basics used in the game, and shows off some of the units and effects. You can see it here, but definitely download it on your own Xbox 360 if you get a chance… it looks much nicer there.