the magic of Disney is now available on an Xbox 360 console near you, there are now over 140 classic movies from The Walt Disney Company to choose from on Zune Video for Xbox LIVE in the UK. Hit films available on Xbox LIVE to rent* include the five times Oscar® nominated Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, starring Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, as well as family favourites including 101 Dalmations, The Princess Diaries, Secretariat, and You Again — all perfect for the entire family to enjoy during the forthcoming Easter holidays.

“The addition of Disney movies brings even more entertainment to Xbox LIVE, no matter if you’re a fan of action, comedy, drama, or looking for a film for the entire family,” said Stephen McGill, Director of Xbox and Entertainment for Microsoft’s Retail Sales and Marketing Division, UK & IR. “Xbox LIVE continues to be the leading online service that delivers movies, sports, social networking, gaming and chat with Video Kinect to over 30 million active subscribers worldwide.”

“We’re delighted to be offering a broad range of Disney’s movies to rent via Xbox platforms in the UK for the first time,“ added Catherine Powell, SVP/GM, Media Distribution, The Walt Disney Company EMEA. “Innovative partners, such as Xbox, offer our UK fans flexibility in when and how they can experience Disney’s much loved entertainment.”

Zune Video on Xbox LIVE lets you instantly access your favourite movies directly on your Xbox 360, PC or WP7 mobile with the touch of a button.  Rent HD films and prepare to stir the senses with entertainment delivered in eye-popping 1080p and 5.1 surround sound. Zune Video utilizes Microsoft’s Smooth Streaming technology and will automatically scale to the best possible resolution based on the speed of your connection. Want to enjoy a movie with friends? No problem. Start a LIVE viewing party and watch films with your friends even if they’re a thousand miles away. You can also play, pause and more with your voice with the power of Kinect—no controller required.

Sky and Xbox 360 have signed a product placement deal for the Kinect for Xbox 360 game Kinect Sports, the recent BAFTA Best Family Game award winner, to appear in the pre-title sequence of Sky 1 HD’s sports panel show A League of Their Own.

The Kinect Sports product placement will feature from this Friday 1st April, becoming the first product placement deal to air on Sky.

CPL Productions – the producers of A League of their Own – Sky and Xbox have worked closely together to develop the show’s pre-title sequence which features its stars preparing to go on-air while members of the studio audience gear up in the backstage holding area by playing Kinect Sports, the best-selling Kinect for Xbox 360 game, which offers a fun, controller-free selection of football, bowling, boxing, volley ball, table tennis and track and field experiences for all the family.

The Kinect Sports product placement deal complements Xbox 360’s existing sponsorship of the series. Both sponsorship and product placement deals were negotiated by Sky and the media agency UM London on behalf of Xbox.

Jason Hughes, Head of Branded Content, BSkyB, comments, “We’re delighted to be able to build on our broadcast sponsor partnership with Kinect for Xbox 360 and Kinect Sports in this way, especially as it is the first product placement deal we’ve agreed to make it on air. Both Kinect Sports and A League of Their Own are all about people having fun with sport, and we look forward to working with Xbox to innovate and develop our relationship further over time.”

Adds Stephen McGill, Director of Xbox and Entertainment for Microsoft’s Retail Sales and Marketing Division, UK & IR, “Coming hot on the heels of the Xbox sponsorship of Got to Dance 2, this product placement deal with Sky provides yet another highly innovative partnership opportunity. Kinect Sports is an ideal fit for A League of Their Own, and I’m sure viewers will be interested to see how the game has been integrated into the show.”

Phil Cresswell, Ideation Director, UM London, adds, “We’re really excited to be involved in the first ever product placement deal for Xbox in the UK. The new Ofcom regulations have opened up a great opportunity for us to work with broadcasters, partners and producers in the same way that we have been doing for a number of years across our European markets. Now we can build on our vast experience in this field and apply it more closely to home.”

The revolutionary Kinect for Xbox 360 lets consumers experience games and entertainment, no controller required. Kinect has been named by Guinness World Records as the Fastest Selling Consumer Electronics Device, by selling eight million units in its first 60 days. To date, Kinect for Xbox 360 has sold more than 10 million units worldwide. Currently there are more than 20 Kinect games available, including Kinectimals, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, and Dance Central – with more experiences coming soon.

The Sims Medieval is a brand new standalone series for the PC/Mac gives players the tools to create heroes, take them on quests, build up their kingdom and tell epic stories full of drama, romance, and comedy.

“Our community has always wanted to take their Sims to different eras and now they can with The Sims Medieval,” said Scott Evans, General Manager of The Sims Studio. “The Sims Medieval is a new standalone game that keeps the core values of The Sims at its heart, but gives fans new gameplay elements to explore and allows them to tell epic medieval tales.”

Set in the Middle Ages, players will find themselves faced with new ways to play with life like never before. As they build up their kingdom, players create Hero Sims in a range of professions including knight, bard, wizard, priest, blacksmith and spy. Playing each Hero Sim is different, as players control the Sim’s professional life as well as take on the varied adventures of the quests. Other new gameplay elements include diplomacy with neighboring territories, and of course medieval punishments.

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The gameplay is framed by quests– each quest presents a new situation and a fresh opportunity to pick which Hero Sims to control during that adventure. After choosing a quest, players will pick their approach for solving it and choose which Hero Sim will lead the quest. For example, in the quest The Witch is Back, players could choose to have their monarch marry the witch who is visiting the kingdom. If they want to kill the witch, they would choose the wizard, spy or knight. And if they just want to debilitate the witch, they would choose to play a priest, physician, or wizard.  With dozens of quests and with multiple approaches for completing them, players will find new ways to tell their favorite medieval legends and make them their own.

Everything in The Sims Medieval is crafted to create an immersive medieval world, from the quest-based gameplay, to the medieval objects such as swords and stocks and thrones, right down to the warm look of the characters and the painterly approach to the world itself.  Players can choose to customize every new Hero Sim that comes to the kingdom, including selecting their traits and their fatal flaw. Players get close to their characters, not only sending them on epic quests, but also making sure they carry out their daily responsibilities such as healing the sick, trading for exotic goods, or forging armor.

The Sims Medieval is rated 12+ by PEGI.

Kinect Sports is the Xbox 360 variation of Wii sports on Wii and Sports Champion on PS3, but how does it stack up to the competition? lets find out.

Firstly I’ll mention that the developers behind this motion based sports outing are none other than Rare the team behind many Nintendo hits back in the day, and they have never really lost their touch for hitting the nail on the head and getting it right first time.

Kinect Sports features 6 sports (10 if you count all the track and field events as singular games) so lets look at each discipline individually:

Football: Rare have taken a novel approach to arguably the greatest sport on the planet, in various modes you either block, shoot or save the ball, and are able to pass the ball pretty convincingly to your team mates [fun rating 3 out of 5]

10 Pin Bowling: It really looks the business, but unfortunately the further you get into it you start to see the failings, trying to get accurate spin on the ball will sometimes see you putting it into the gutter and you really need to over exaggerate your moves to make the sensor understand what your trying to do with the ball, a real missed opportunity [fun rating: 2 out of 5]

Boxing: I was looking forward to this the least but it was really good fun, if your going to take it too seriously then you may get annoyed by the kinect occasionally missing your best moves, but standing in your living room punching into the air like a mad man is surprising fun. [fun rating: 4 out of 5]

Volleyball: easily the stand out event of the game, amazing fun especially in competitive mode against another player, allowing you to get shoulder to shoulder and really give em a “friendly” nudge to put em off their stride [fun rating: 5 out of 5]

Table Tennis: another fun event, it can be a little tricky at times depending on the difficulty settings but get in the flow and you will be serving back spin shots in no time [fun rating: 4 out of 5]

Track and Field: this mode is by far my favourite, my daughter and I spent many hours in this mode, much of it creased up on the floor laughing at our exploits. Track and field features discus, javelin, hurdles, 100m and long jump, the later three being more about running like a nutter on the spot and timing your jumps just right, and the former a mixture of running and getting the angle and power just right to break your WR or PB [fun rating: 5 out of 5]

The game is fun in every mode available but it really excels in party mode, which enables you to pick a mascot and have two teams of players pitting themselves against the other in a serious of random events from the various disciplines, add a little alcohol into the mix and you can imagine the fun to be had.

Overall Kinect sports is easily one of the best launch titles for Kinect, a real must buy to get the most out of that sleek little sensor.

Following one of the biggest launches in consumer electronics history, Kinect for Xbox 360 continued its momentum in 2011 reaching 10 million Kinect sensors sold worldwide to date. Not only were sensor sales an overwhelming success, but Kinect drove significant game sales with more than 10 million standalone Kinect games sold worldwide to date.

Guinness World Records: Kinect for Xbox 360 is Fastest Selling Consumer Electronics Device

In a nod to the recent sales success of Kinect, Guinness World Records has officially named Kinect for Xbox 360 the fastest selling consumer electronics device, which sold an average of 133,333 units per day for a total of 8 million units in its first 60 days between 4 November 2010 and 3 January 2011. The record confirmation comes just after the latest release of the Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer’s Edition, which features dedicated sections to Kinect.

“The sales figures here speak for themselves,” said Gaz Deaves, Gaming Editor for Guinness World Records. “According to independent research, no other consumer electronics device sold faster within a 60-day time span, which is an incredible achievement considering the strength of the sector.”

More transformative Kinect games and entertainment experiences to come

While the accolades continue to roll in for Kinect, there is still so much more controller-free entertainment to be enjoyed for the 50 million Xbox 360 owners worldwide. Beginning this spring, get ready to play more games, watch more movies and TV shows, and enjoy more social experiences with Kinect for Xbox 360 including:

·         Avatar Kinect. Coming this year, Avatar Kinect is a new social entertainment experience on Xbox LIVE that brings your Avatar to life. Using the power of Kinect, control your Avatar’s movements and expressions – when you smile, frown, nod and speak – your Avatar will do the same. With Avatar Kinect, you can hang out with up to seven friends in a variety of creative themed environments and capture animated videos that you can share via Facebook. Whether friends getting together to socialise, social networkers looking for new ways to speak to their community or just fun reenacting your favourite movie lines, Avatar Kinect opens up a whole new world of creativity and social interactivity.

·         “Body and Brain Connection” (NAMCO BANDAI Games).  Developed under the supervision of renowned Japanese neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawahima, “Body and Brain Connection” challenges players of all ages to exercise both their minds and bodies with fun, fast-paced mini-games ranging from math, logic and memory to reflex and physical-orientation exercises using the full-motion capabilities of Kinect for Xbox 360. “Body and Brain Connection” is now available on Xbox 360.

·         “Michael Jackson The Experience” (Ubisoft).  Featuring songs from Michael Jackson’s extensive catalogue, as well as an array of his signature, awe-inspiring dance moves, “Michael Jackson The Experience” is the ultimate interactive game that enables players to be the star of the show, with no controllers or microphones required. “Michael Jackson The Experience” will be available on Xbox 360 beginning 15 April.

·         “Child of Eden” (Q Entertainment/Ubisoft) – Winner of several E3 awards, “Child of Eden” is a multi-sensory shooter from the mind of renowned game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi that will send players diving into a kaleidoscopic matrix of synchronised music and mind-blowing visuals. Since “Child of Eden” was designed with Kinect for Xbox 360 in mind, only on Xbox 360 players will experience the controller-free magic that provides a new dimension of immersion when the game launches later this year.

·          “The Gunstringer” (Twisted Pixel Games).  From the developers that brought you award-winning hits like “Splosion Man” and “The Maw” comes an all-new Kinect-exclusive title, “The Gunstringer” for Xbox LIVE Arcade. Take control of an undead marionette in an epic Wild West stage production that requires your puppeteering and quick draw shooting skills to exact revenge on the Gunstringer’s enemies – all controller-free. “The Gunstringer” will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade this spring.

·         “Kung Fu Panda® 2 video game” (THQ).  Po the Panda is back and ready for another epic, action-packed adventure in the “Kung Fu Panda 2 video game.” The kung fu action is taken to a whole new level with the addition of Kinect as players pick up where the movie sequel leaves off, helping Po and the Furious Five use full-body kung fu moves to save kung fu forever.  The “Kung Fu Panda 2 video game” will be available on Kinect for Xbox 360 this May in line with the theatrical release.

·         “Carnival Games: Monkey See, Monkey Do” (2K Play).  The “Carnival Games” series is back with exciting new ways to play! Available exclusively for Kinect for Xbox 360 on 15 April, this full-body experience features 20 new family-friendly games and attractions that bring the midway to life, including Alley Ball, Shark Tank and a Monkey Barker dance-off, as well as interactive prizes and surprises!

·         “Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster” (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment).  Available this autumn, kids and parents will embark on an uplifting and funny family adventure exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360.  Join Cookie Monster, Elmo and other Sesame Street characters as they explore a living storybook titled “Once Upon a Monster.”  Meet zany new monster friends, help them solve their problems, forge friendships, and learn important life lessons along the way.

New “Halo: Reach” Behind-the-Scenes Feature Signals the Imminent Arrival of Three New Battlefronts for the Best Shooter of 2010

Fire up your jetpacks and rally your fellow Spartans to join the fight! In just one week, the legendary battle for Reach will expand on 15 March with three action-packed new multiplayer maps for the most critically acclaimed shooter of 2010, available exclusively on Xbox LIVE.

In preparation for the epic battle ahead, 343 Industries is calling aspiring Spartans to take up arms against the Covenant with a riveting look at the making of the “Halo: Reach” Defiant Map Pack. Available for download today in Halo Waypoint on Xbox LIVE, HaloWaypoint.com and Waypoint on Windows Phone 7, the new video features interviews with the development team on the design inspirations behind the stunning new maps, and a preview of the explosive multiplayer action that awaits fans in just a few short days.

The “Halo: Reach” Defiant Map Pack introduces a total of three new battlefields – Condemned, Highlands and Unearthed – for epic competitive multiplayer and for the first time, a brand new Firefight level. Created in partnership with Certain Affinity, the Defiant Map Pack will be available for 800 Microsoft Points and will feature all new Achievements worth a total of 150 Gamerscore.

Players who have yet to experience the blockbuster prequel to the bestselling Xbox franchise of all time can download “Halo: Reach” on Games on Demand the same day (15 March) to experience the epic story from the beginning and join the multiplayer fun.

To celebrate the launch of the new map pack, renowned machinima pioneers Red vs. Blue are partnering with 343 Industries to create a walkthrough video of the new maps, set to debut on 14 March. Be sure to check Halo Waypoint on Xbox LIVE, HaloWaypoint.com, Waypoint on Windows Phone 7 or www.redvsblue.com the day before the map pack arrives to catch the exciting walkthrough, laced with explosive gameplay and RvB’s trademark humorous commentary.

The masterminds behind “Fable III: Kingmaker” celebrate Christmas with a golden gift for every player! Christmas bonuses are coming to fans of “Fable III: Kingmaker” as players of the mobile game are rewarded with a special seasonal gift courtesy of the King.  To celebrate Christmas, every player will receive a huge bounty of 50,000 gold coins† to ensure they truly have the Midas touch as they battle to rule over Albion in the full Fable III game.  

Bells are already ringing in Albion after Fable fans recently received a free “Santa hat” to help them get into the Christmas spirit.  Players can don their hat as they strive for the ultimate power as King or Queen of Albion in the “must have” game which features jaw-dropping action sequences and fully immersive storytelling.

“Fable III: Kingmaker” has taken Europe by storm since it was released on 1st October 2010.  The free geo-location based game enables fans to pledge their allegiance for the Royals or Rebels by planting virtual flags for their faction using the GPS facility on their mobile phone.

Players can stake a claim to unclaimed land or opposing team territory, earning themselves in-game gold* to use in “Fable III” on Xbox 360. Over 3.7 million virtual flags have already been planted across Europe, earning players a total of over 5.5 billion gold coins.

Almost 90,000 people are already embroiled in the action and with “Fable III: Kingmaker” now running until 1st January 2011, fans of the Fable franchise still have time to build a nest egg and transfer it into the realm of Albion in the full game.

To signal the end of the battle, “Fable III: Kingmaker” players on the winning team in their country will each receive a 50,000 gold coin bonus†.  The gold rush continues as those on the winning team for the battle of Europa will be gifted a further 100,000 gold coins† per player.

More astute monarchs will also be able to discover even more riches by finding a variety of treasure chests hidden in the game, each of which holds up to 5,000 pieces of gold.  So far, over 37,000 chests full to the brim with bounty have been found with thousands more awaiting discovery.

“Fable III: Kingmaker” is available for download on a number of operating platforms on over 60 devices**.  Those wanting to join the fight should visit www.Fable3Kingmaker.com for more information.

Codemasters the team behind Race Driver Grid and Colin McRae Dirt have turned their hands to the pinnacle of motor sport – Formula One, obtaining a full licence to recreate the sport in all its brilliance and as you would expect they have crammed in the full driver line up and all 19 tracks from the 2010 F1 campaign.

For me as a massive F1 fan the game is a bit of a mixed bag, the campaign mode is the games main mode, and you can see this from the amount of effort that the codies team have put into making it look just right, (fans of Grid will notice certain similarities between the floating menus in both games) from the moment the disc boots up your are thrust into the campaign, and get to choose how many seasons you want to do, what difficulty and team selection, but they are done in the form of a press conference like you would see at the end of a real F1 race which is a nice addition, throughout the campaign you will be interviewed in the paddock and also after races (if you are good enough to reach the podium) but after the tenth time of asking you the same question it can become a bit boring and you feel like you are going through the motions to get to the next race.

The racing itself is very enjoyable and because of the career mode you do feel a real sense of achievement when you overtake another car, or get yourself into the points with your pit crew radioing in to let you know how you are doing, that said the game also has a considerable amount of bugs some of which can really destroy the racing for instance in modern F1 in a dry race you have to do one mandatory stop to change tires during a race, and whilst you must obey the rules I have seen AI cars go on to win a race against me because the computer never made them stop, also on some tracks you will really get dialled in and understand the best way to drive the circuit being able to put out a few seconds on the cars behind, but they seem to catch up to you whenever they want to even though your laps times are considerably quicker and if they hit you whilst they try to clumsily overtake then you will receive a penalty!, that said though most of these things I can overlook as the game itself is fantastic and is easily the best use of the franchise since the original Playstation titles back in the day from Psygnosis

One thing I can’t overlook is the worst bug in the game; as you are doing practice the team offers you the chance to do some R&D work on the car to obtain extra down force, more power etc but if you take part in the R&D, finish practice, save and turn off then the next time you fire up your trusty PS3, Xbox or PC the game save will be corrupt meaning the only thing you can do is restart the game,  I can understand why the bugs appear in the game, mainly because it was rushed to get the game out before the season finished but someone should be getting the game patched asap and as it stands at the moment, no patch exists which is very poor, even worse for any unsuspecting console owners who don’t take their machines online because they will always be stuck with a buggy version of the game with a ticking time bomb waiting to destroy their game save at any moment.

Online:
I personally found online very fun, the multiplayer modes offered allow you to race up to 12 friends at any of the chosen GP’s, getting into the games was relatively quick and pain free although I did occasionally drop out of sessions for no reason, and I have been unable to join any ranked grand prix to date.

To sum up, as I said in my opening paragraph F1 2010 is a real mixed bag, and for me a real missed opportunity, I’m glad that Codemasters picked up the licence and I think that their future efforts will be much better than ’10 simply because they will be evolutions of the same game, much as Fifa is every year, the game plays brilliantly (when it is working nicely) and for the most part if you are aware of the bugs before you start playing you should be ok, that said should you be paying £40 for a game that is unfinished?

With all the downsides that the game has to offer F1 2010 is still my favourite Formula One game ever, and to date I have racked up almost 30 hours playing career mode, not to mention getting to level 10 online, the challenge is well balanced and can be tweaked to your own level; either very easy or ridiculously hard and the appeal of impressing the other teams with your skills and planning a future move to get into one of the big three really gives the game some purpose, if you are a big F1 fan and love racing, pick up the game now, you won’t be disappointed even with the issues the game has, if however you just like racing games wait until the game is patched or you will be disappointed.

F1 2010 is available now, as of 15th October 2010 the game remains un patched, we played the game through on an Xbox 360 and completed one and a half seasons of career mode attaining 545 gamer score.

Alan Wake is one of the most eagerly anticipated games of 2010, the developers (Remedy – The creators of Max Payne) have been creating this Xbox exclusive since 2001, but has all the hard work paid off?

Alan Wake has a lot to live up to, the creators have been talking about a new style of storytelling in games, with complex character interactions all wrapped up in the guise of a psychological thriller, now usually when a developer makes such elaborate claims they tend to miss the point, but Alan Wake is the exception to that rule, delivering a riveting tale all set around the foggy mountains of Bright Falls.

Alan’s tale could be straight out of a Stephen King novella (and there are some nice nods toward the fiction master along the way) the plot follows the suspense-thriller writer in uncovering the mystery behind his wife’s disappearance shortly after arriving in the small town of Bright Falls and why pages from his latest novel which he hasn’t written yet are coming to life.

Plus Points
Batteries & Ammo
The concept of having to first illuminate the “taken” before despatching them is a new one meaning you not only have to keep an eye out for ammo, but also for batteries and upgrades to your torch, it really adds a whole new dimension to the game, with Alan occasionally being able to use searchlights, flash bangs and flares to despatch with some troubling bad guys.

Toward The Light
light isn’t only used as a means of attack it is also your only means of salvation, various lights, generators and petrol stations scatter the darkened landscape and give you a point to run towards when being chased by the countless taken.

Having An Episode
Alan Wake is set up like a TV show and features six bite size episodes complete with there own “previously” recaps each of which gives you a brief rest from the action and a chance to catch up on something you might have forgotten along the way.

Scary
Alan Wake is a scary game, play it in a dark room with the surround sound on and you will know what I mean – the “taken” (towns folk ensnared by the darkness) appear from nowhere, one minute you are walking through a forest clearing the next four men surround you armed with axes ready to throw at your head, the game really uses the story to build the scares not just relying on haunted house-esc dummies jumping out of wardrobes

Characters
The cast in Bright Falls all add to the fantastic story that is Alan Wake, you really get attached to certain characters, and when those final credits roll you really feel the need to get back in there and see what else you can discover in the town.

Bad Points
Length
Alan Wake is a fantastic game, that much is shown by it only really having one major flaw, and that flaw is the length of the main storyline, I went through the game exploring quite a lot of the countryside and trying to find various collectables along the way, but some people just want to get a game and get through it to see how it ends and for those people Alan Wake will be a very short experience, that said if you really want to max out all those achievements and watch every TV show etc the game is lengthened somewhat.

Overall
Alan Wake is engaging, and emotional. It scares you but also makes you care about the characters in the game, and since we are talking about a game and not a movie, Remedy have really delivered something special, Alan Wake is a must buy for any Xbox 360 owner.

We played Alan Wake through to completion on normal mode

With Guitar Hero World Tour only just starting to gather dust on my gaming shelf, I was very pleased to take delivery of Guitar Hero 5 from my friendly neighbourhood courier, find out what we thought after the jump.

If you are looking for a whole host of new features from the game leave your cash in your wallet as you’re not going to get that here, what you are going to get is a whole host of refinements on an already winning formula, such as music creator, (GH Tunes) 85 songs straight out of the box (with the ability to import songs from World Tour & Metallica) and loads of little things that make it that little bit better to play.

The question is though with lots of new music and rhythm games coming this xmas have the refinements done enough to keep us interested?

What We Liked:
Quick play – If you have ever fired up a game of Fifa in the last 3-4 iterations then you will have been able to take a few pot shots at goal whilst waiting for the game to load, GH5 takes this one step further enabling you to jump straight into a song directly from the main menu, and unlike previous versions every song is available from the start so no having to struggle through career mode just to unlock a few tracks to show to your mates.
Play What You Like – If you have two guitars and one mic, or if for some unknown reason you only have 4 drum kits and no other instruments you can all join in together and play, no restrictions are made – i.e. one bass, one guitar, one drums, one vocals. We also liked that the Lips microphones now work with GH5, meaning anyone who has invested in Lips has at least 2 wireless mics.

Navigation – One of the best refinements to the game has been the menu system, it sounds like such a small thing, but it makes the game so much easier to play; swap instruments, difficulties etc all on the fly not to mention the new drop in/out party play mode

Challenges – We are all aware of Xbox achievements and Playstation Trophies but aside from those Activision have added a set of song specific challenges such as hitting the whammy bar a certain amount of times in a song, on one hand they make you want to return to the song to try and get all the stars (which I personally liked) but I can understand that anyone who lacked the instruments might get fed up with it as they would not be able to complete the challenges as some are instrument specific.

What We Didn’t Like:
The Tracks – For me personally the best Guitar Hero of this generation of consoles was GH2, some of the tracks on GH5 are un miss able such as Sex On Fire by the Kings Of Leon or 2 Minutes To Midnight by Iron Maiden, but many more are poor and just not fun to play. The function to import songs from the previous games is a good idea, but it costs money to import them from GH World Tour, which I find a tad harsh since I already own the songs through buying the previous game!, But the worst problem with the tracks is that some of them your strumming away at your guitar but you are actually playing a synth part of the track, come on guys this is GUITAR HERO not synth hero.

Overall Guitar Hero 5 is a worthy addition to the family, but I personally wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who had never played the series, sure the tweaks they have added have really improved the mechanics of the game, but let’s be honest who plays Guitar Hero to play in the menus? My main gripe with the game is the soundtrack; a few classic hits that will have you jumping around the lounge, but too much filler, and nothing that makes you think – “Wow I’ll check out this band later when I’m not playing” which is a big part of the game for me and a real disappointment.

Despite the main part of the game (the music) being a failure, the game is much improved, so let’s hope that GH6 features the same improvements with a decent soundtrack, and no ridiculous fees to enable you to play something you have already paid for.

Played GH5 to career completion on an Xbox 360, using a wired guitar and microphones from lips.