First off, its important to note that Counter-Strike was made with multiplayer online action in mind.  Its overabundance of playing maps will bring a smile to any die-hard multiplayer gamers face and the fact that you can play as an elite counter-terrorist group or a group of highly trained terrorist gives everyone a chance to feel what its like to be fighting for two very different causes.  On the one hand you have innocent hostages to think about and on the other you have innocent lives to put in danger.  Two very opposing sides and boy does this make for some really dramatic conflicts.

This Xbox version isnt really a direct port of the original but all the ideas, concepts and weapons are all there.  The game offers a Single Player mode but if youre expecting a few levels tied in with an actual story you are in for a major disappointment.  The single player games offer the same eighteen maps (downloadable maps will be available using the Xbox Live service) but you are accompanied by three bots as you battle against the opposing team made entirely of bots themselves.  The result is a mode you will quickly get tired of after a few rounds of Hostage-Rescue and Demolition.  Yes, online is where the real action truly takes place.

Online, Counter-Strike becomes an entirely different game since now you are joined by gamers (up to sixteen in total online or through a System Link game) that can communicate with you via the Xbox Communicator headset.  This allows you to come up with strategies that you normally cant do with bots (although bots can be issued commands such as Follow or Need Backup).  The maps range from an airstrip, a chateau, a subway, a bank in Miami or even a sports stadium and they each have enough places to stage ambushes or make your final stand.  While the game suffers from the occasional stutter, it really doesnt stop the flow of the action.  Were talking a pretty smooth ride for the most part.

The scenarios, though, are only limited to those two I just mentioned.  For the counter-terrorist group, you must rescue a small number of hostages and lead them out alive by having them follow you out to a certain point in the game (usually where you started).  As the terrorist threat, your main goal is to use demolition charges somewhere in the gaming environment and then guard it from counter-terrorist intent on disarming it.  Successfully completing a round by killing all opposition or completing your task you can earn money to purchase different firearms (anything from a Mac-10 to a stylized Steyr Tactical Machine Pistol) as well as equipment such as body armor and grenades.

The games controls are very simplistic and this leaves you with the opportunity to concentrate on the action at hand rather than have you missing a beat by performing complex tasks.  You can jump, change clips and fire rounds just as easily and this makes the action pretty fast-paced.  The only problem is that the aiming reticule remains unchanged no matter what weapon youre currently using.  This is kind of annoying since you cannot make precise shots or aim for specific body parts.  Oftentimes you will be focusing the reticule over your opponent only to have the enemy focus on you first and get a shot out before you can even respond.  As a single player game, the opposing team certainly has no trouble aiming so you will get shot very often in this game. 

Unfortunately, Counter-Strike isnt a very gorgeous looking first-person shooter.  The maps, while numerous and somewhat massive in size, look decent enough until you get a closer look at walls or long hallways.  The environments can be a bit plain in some of the many maps but there is still plenty to see and interact with during a match.  The characters also look pretty decent as well, although many of them dont move very naturally . . . most especially while jumping or getting killed.  Blood does fly in the game, but it looks so pixilated that it will automatically bring early first-shooters like Doom to mind.  There are some nice effects here of gunfire and explosions but nothing that will impress.

Sound-wise, the game doesnt really showcase an impressive display of sound effects.  You might expect a game that supports Dolby Digital to offer various unique sound effects or at least any that sounds realistically like the actual firearms.  The game does allow you to use your own custom soundtrack that just happens to be burned to your Xbox Hard Drive and play it during a match.  Theres also a decent display of voice acting that is mostly heard during the single player mode when you issue commands to your team.  Other than this, there really isnt anything here that will leave a lasting impression.

Counter-Strike is the kind of game thats got a lot of addictive action to offer but you will still feel as if the game could have been a lot better.  While the game will hold your attention for a limited time as a single player experience, online the game really shines through enough that you will forget its few faults.  If you love multiplayer fun on the Xbox Live, this game certainly wont let you down.

Halo

The gaming community has been known to be harsh on long-anticipated titles, and even less forgiving to those which are delayed. Halo created quite a stir when it was first unveiled at it's first E3, but as time went on, and delays occurred - many wondered the fate of Bungie's newest venture. Then it was revealed that the game would not debut on PC, as originally planned, but on the upcoming Microsoft Xbox console. Were the odds stacked against Halo? Would a long incubation time and release on a here fore unseen next-gen console be a recipe for disaster or redemption? Halo did far more that justify to the gaming community that it was worth the wait - it became the veritable gem of the Xbox release and it launched it's own following that took the RPS genre by storm.

Let me first say that Halo is not an FPS of the most mudane degree. You're not going to be able to just run around and shoot willy-nilly all over the place  and think you're going to get anywhere. Instead, you are limited to two weapons at any time, and if run out of ammo - you better find some more right quick or consider a weapons change. Speaking of weapons, I doubt I have seen a game so intelligently well balanced when it comes to your array of weapons. Instead of having weapons climb in usefulness as your progress, leaving you with ultimately one weapons that far exceeds all previous ones, Halo forces you to choose your weapons wisely. Certain weapons that have more sniping rifle effects are fine when you need to pick off those annoying enemies who keep pummeling your from the flow above you - but if you've got that in your hands when you've got a force of shield carrying Jackals coming at you - you might as well be using a pea shooter. 

Surprisingly, even though your enemy types fall into four main categories - this is not going to in any way make you feel that the gameplay is repetitive. Same enemy types do anything but clone each other's actions - in the same way your own team will act independently around you as you do your job. The classes in a summation: Grunts (pretty self-explanatory in name) are the less bright crayons in the box who depend more on sheer numbers and kamikaze runs at you to wear you down. The next level are the Jackals who behave with a little more reserve and tend to use shields to block your attacks. The Elites get all the firepower and tech-goodies - complete with super-powered weapons and personal cloaking devices. Hunters are the  "techno-Barbarians" of the group - supplied with integrated weaponry and a pretty serious tank-like shielding capability. 

But it's the enemy AI that makes this game the most impressive, and addictively challenging. Overall, you get the impression that the more sophisticated enemies are like a well trained SWAT team (and not those lame teams you see in the movies who, despite all their training, seem to get wiped out easily by the bad guys) - and the realism is really going to take you off guard. Make good use of strafing behind those corners and barriers like that action fanatic you are - Halo is the closest thing to living it I've seen on any console.

There's also a rightly touted selection of vehicles that are more fun (and more complex) than you might think. Everything from the simple Warthog with mounted Gatlin type gun, to the much more intimidating enemy machines - you're going to enjoy using and mastering them. What's really cool is when you're in cooperative mode and, for instance with the Warthog, you can have one gunner and one navigator. You can slide your way up to a pack of enemies and one player can stay on the gun while the driver can exit to do a little more personal visit. This independent action kept us busy - and it was a lot more fun that having to wait for the other player to keep up with you.

There are just so many added touches of realism in Halo that make it an exceptional experience that I almost don't know where to start! First of all, you've got this exceptionally helpful assistant known as Cortana, who can keep you updated on missions and the status of your team and of the known Covenant activities. Along with this you've got realistic sounding radio activity from the team and team leaders. With that and your handy visual navigation menus to help you locate enemies - it's got a multitude of people to hear and keep track of.

The graphics themselves contain an immense amount of detail, and if you're familiar with the trials and tribulations of heavy computer-graphics work, you'll know that amongst the most challenging aspects of creating realistic graphics is completing the most intimate details of objects. The textures, lighting effects, smoke, and fire visuals are spectacular and they really silence the nay-sayers that didn't have faith in the Xbox capabilities. And when it comes to the Dolby 5.1 availability - this just blows away anything you've heard before. Even with two standard speakers, you get the surround sound type effect of your team members' voices coming from different directions. It's also comforting to know that Bungie retains some of their greatest score talent, and you can be assured that the awe-inspiring opening theme is the same work of Marty O'Donnell, whose pieces have been praised (and more than regularly downloaded) for his feature work the Myth series and the dramatic accents of the Oni score.

There's just simply so much more to say about Halo, but I can't give it all away! What I can tell you is that Halo could very well be the ultimate launch title in all of gaming history - shocking, awing, and ensnaring fans of the genre and gathering a new group of addicts into it's grasp. Bungie has done above par work in creating sound gameplay, immaculate audio/visual, and a game that has such excellent AI that your replay value is almost infinite. I'm telling you, if you bought an Xbox, and you don't have this game - you just have no idea what this puppy can do! Thanks Bungie and thanks Microsoft for reaffirming the old adage that sometimes the best things do come to those who wait!

NFL Street

4th and goal from the trash can, McNabb's your man behind center, Vick's out wide, and The Fridge isn't just in the backfield, he is the backfield. As you scroll through your playbook, you can run a double reverse to Must-See Mike, call an option with Donovan and the big man from the Midway, or maybe even a running back pass to show off the Fridge's arm. These are the types of decisions that make NFL Street so fun, and to make things better, no matter what play you draw up in the sand, the game is so much about improvisation, laterals, flea flickers, and Gamebreakers, the play you pick in the huddle is never quite run to design, and that's a good thing, a very good thing.

The particle effects for smoke, water, rocks and other tidbits you'll be kicking up wouldn't be as impressive if McRae 04 didn't have that famous physics system that has your vehicle rocking, powersliding and ricocheting around tracks so believably. The sense of speed and feeling that you're barely in control of your ride are crucial parts of a rally game and this is the series that taught us that standard.

When you get into the game's outstanding Championship Mode where you can tweak the tuning of your car to match the terrain and driving conditions, you'll actually appreciate the slight differences in tire types, suspension stiffness and gear ratios should you change them. And you certainly should. In Championship Mode you have to plan ahead as you progress through the eight rally locations around the world. Each race has multiple stages, each with unique terrain features and dangers. Tuning your car becomes more than just tinkering since you don't want to handicap yourself on one stage just to give yourself and advantage on the next one. Utilizing the Shakedown option to give your ride a test run under similar racing conditions is far more valuable here than it is in most other racing games that encourage you to take a practice lap or two. You'll be kicking yourself if you make your suspension too stiff so that you're always oversteering and trying to correct yourself. Or taking things a step further you can try to stiffen up the suspension so you're fast on the straightaways on Stage 1, but you may want to adjust your steering so you get the response you want when you hit the second stage. Managing your vehicle settings beyond just the next race and keeping your car in good working order help bring novices into the world of rally racing.

The box for McRae 04 has the familiar orange stripe across the top hyping its Xbox Live functionality but you won't be competing against other rally fans around the world in this one, at least not directly. You can post your racing times onto Xbox Live scoreboards, but that's about as far as the online competition will go.

Roughly a year later, we finally get what we begged for: multiplayer. Steel Battalion: Line of Contact is an online-only version of Steel Battalion, plain and simple. You must have the controller to play it, but if you don't already have it, you'll have to buy the original package (new shipments have been made), as well as Line of Contact, as it's not offered in a bundle with the controller. That makes your total purchase $250. The question is, is the game worth it?

The Suffering

As if prison weren't bad enough, with hazing in the yard, shanking on the row and brutality in the shower room, imagine having to put down a horde of monsters from the bowels of hell in your spare time. That's exactly what you're charged with doing in The Suffering, a brand new title from Surreal Software and Midway Games.

Touted as an action horror game, The Suffering is the story of Torque, a man sentenced to death for slaughtering his family. The moment he arrives in the prison, as the tagline says, "all hell breaks loose." Torque must fight to stay alive in a pitch black penitentiary crawling with grotesqueries, the whole time exploring the events that led to his incarceration.

When The Suffering was announced, those of little faith were already preparing headlines that equated the name of the game with the experience of playing it. But those premature thoughts are far from being true of the final product. In short, The Suffering is a great game, not just a great horror game. It does effectively what all story-based games seek to dot o suspend your disbelief and transport you into the realm of the game. There are jump moments and creepy thrills here that will affect most gamers on a physiological level, and tons more to chew on psychologically.

Furthermore, The Suffering proves that games can be made with thick atmosphere, creepy events and tons of gore without having to cinematically focus your attention on each and every detail. You are able to look around at almost any time (there are only a handful of cut scenes, as most of the story unfolds real time). The game does a good job of leading you where it wants you to look, but if you do happen to miss actually seeing an event, you will certainly hear it, and that makes the experience more realistic, and sometimes even scarier.

The game is not without its problems, voice acting is spotty, textures are sometimes weak and the frame rate can be suspect at timesbut overall The Suffering succeeds as both a horrific thrill ride and fun action experience.

Tenchu: Return from Darkness

The Xbox loves ports. That's often seen as a negative thing because oftentimes games aren't optimized for the console, and sometimes turn out worse than the original. But on a brighter note, sometimes the ports feature upgraded graphics, features, etc. Such is the case with Tenchu: Return From Darkness.