It's been a good seven years since the last Red Faction title and the appearance of Volition's own GeoMod technology. Allowing players to drastically alter their surroundings in their efforts to liberate oppressed Martian miners from the clutches of the evil Ultor Corporation, the engine promised players the freedom to explore areas anyway they wanted and to defeat enemies in unique and dynamic ways. However, the technology was sadly underused and not quite as revolutionary as we were lead to believe.
What a difference a year makes. 2008 has heralded a sea change for the Xbox 360, thanks in no small part to the NXE dashboard update. When Microsoft unveiled the update earlier this year, critics were confused by the new artistic direction, which resembles the Playstation 3 icon system, but uses custom avatars similar to Nintendo's Mii format.
It may seem a little strange now, but once upon a time all that your games consoles would be able to do was play games. However in these days of mass-multi-media-tech-conglomeration-with-internet-access, anything modestly calling itself a games console is really an entertainment powerhouse striving to be your one-stop portal for all your time spent in front of your television.
Say goodbye to your irises: the original Xbox Live Arcade dual-stick shoot-‘em-up/acid-freak-out has returned.
With the legendary Castlevania series fast reaching around thirty titles, it should be hard to pick out the best of the bunch — but it's not. This is the daddy of them all. Once again, some nutter is trying to resurrect the dark lord Dracula and this time it's up to his own son Alucard to take them down. So grab your crucifix, take a deep breath and step into the castle once again.
Xbox 360
