For decades, movies about the dead coming back to life have scared millions of people around the world. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that these days, there are just as many Xbox 360 zombie movies out as there are films. Video games are the perfect media for these creatures, as gamers are able to take out their nightmares on the undead with various weapons. For those in the market for one of these gruesome games, here is a list of the top three on the console:

Resident Evil - The Resident Evil series has long made its calling by releasing games that both terrify and excite at the same time. Setting the player in an apocalyptic world, as most Xbox 360 zombie games do, the games allow the player to take down a number of different types of the undead creatures. At the same time, however, the creatures pop out of nowhere to fright and shock gamers into submission. Careful around corners, you never know what is waiting on the other side!

Dead Rising - Following the plot of many familiar and time-loved zombie movies, Dead Rising sets the player in a mall that is being attacked by a horde of zombies. Using whatever is available, along with the help of friends either in person or online, a player can fight through the madness for hours at a time. At the same time, a deep storyline makes the game worthwhile to finish and begs for future sequels to be made.

Gears of War – Technically the creatures in this game may not be zombies, but they certainly do look like them! Using some of the most unique weapons in the shooter genre and a deep story, which benefits from terrific voice action, both Gears of War games have been raving successes on the console. Nothing is better than being able to walk up to one of the fiends attacking you and decapitate them with your chainsaw.

Call of Duty: World at War - While the game itself is not based around zombies, the ever-popular Nazi Zombies gametype is very fun. There are currently 4 maps that you can choose from, and each one has a very different playing style. A new map is released every few months as DLC, and usually each new map gets harder and harder. Nazi Zombies is, simply put, a blast. If you don’t already own World at War, you may want to consider it for the zombies alone!

Of course, these are just three of the many Xbox 360 zombie games available. So long as you are able to get over the initial fright of playing in a world full of these creatures, most are great fun and worth checking out.

In a competitive market, Microsoft’s Xbox Live has worked hard to gain the name they’ve wanted for a long time. With products like the Sony PlayStation to compete with, the two companies have battled to the brunt trying to outrank the other with new features. All of this competition has only meant more entertainment for us the consumers, which let’s face it, we don’t mind! When Xbox Live came about, consumers were ecstatic to say the least. With a plethora of games and functions available that had never been available before, people were incredibly pleased.

Xbox Live offers a variety of popular Xbox games that people have fallen in love with. Among those games, Xbox Live also offers demos, trailers and the best part about the entire ordeal; you can play against and with other players worldwide.  How it works is simple, you just pick a nickname which is called a “UserTag” or “GamerTag” and connect with other players under their “GamerTag”. Over time, that is how you will be known on Xbox Live and how you will log in and be identified.

Xbox Live unlike the PlayStation Network is a paid subscription service, most often it can be paid in increments varying from one month, three month, or even one year.

Xbox Live Membership

Xbox Live subscription memberships come in two types. The Gold membership is the most commonly purchased membership and has the most features like Marketplace access where you can gain early access to the newest games and demos and even “TrueSkill Matchmaking” where you are matched with players who are compatible with your skill level to play against among other features. The Gold Membership for Xbox Live is roughly fifty dollars compared to the

Xbox Live also offers a silver membership which allows you access for free, but with a significantly less amount of features available. However, this option is good if money is tight but you still want to connect. The biggest downfall with Xbox Live’s Silver membership is that you cannot play games online, but you are given access to various downloads, etc.

All you need to connect to Xbox Live and play the Xbox Live games is a broadband connection and a membership. It is simple and the silver membership is free as long as you have internet service through a broadband provider.

Popular Xbox Live Games

There are many games to choose from when playing on Xbox Live. Xbox Live games can be found on the Xbox Live download spot or some Xbox Live games can be bought at the store and are simply “Xbox Live Enabled.” Among the best and most popular Xbox Live games are Halo 2, StreetFighter, or Dead or Alive Ultimate.

All of these games offer you the opportunity to play multiple opponents online and are fully interactive. If these aren’t for you though don’t panic there are tons of options to choose from so look it up, do some research and find the best Xbox Live games for you.

Below you will find a list of the top 5 Xbox 360 games that can be picked up easily for less than $15.

Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s creed is an amazing bargain for under $15! Set in 2012 Desmond miles, a simple bartender, is kidnapped by a company to be used as a test subject. Desmond then becomes dedicated to death and has to assassinate various targets that he is given, in order to rise through the ranks of the Brotherhood. Aside from the main plot, the player is given the opportunity to embark on ’side’ adventures to save people and look at the current city from great heights, adding an extra bit of flexibility to the game.

Medal of Honor: Airborne

Medal of Honor Airborne is a FPS set in WWII where the player takes the role of Private First Class and later being promoted to Corporal. As you play, you get dropped into various operations worldwide including Italy, France, Germany and The Netherlands. Multiplayer mode is varied, and allows you play locally or online, individually or as a team, on many maps set all over the world, which are adaptations of maps from single player mode.

Project Gotham Racing 4

The 4^th release in the Project Gotham Racing series, Project Gotham Racing 4 takes you all over the world in various track courses New York to Shanghai, in all different weathers! The main emphasis on this particular version of the game has been realism, so expect to see lots of varying weather conditions!

Need for Speed: ProStreet

Need for Speed is, quite unbelievably, the 11^th instalment of Need for Speed, and things just keep getting better! The player takes the place of Ryan Cooper who is a street racer who enters a challenge day to win a Nissan 240SX, which becomes the start of his massive adventure. The difference between ProStreet and the previous versions of the games, is that its set in closed circuits, rather than on the street, perhaps so it doesn’t promote the illegal activity, but it’s still just as fun to play!

Saints Row

Saints Row is perhaps a popular take on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and trying to cut into their market share, is a good game, and for a bargain price. Being almost identical to GTA, players can walk around in an open world playing in third-person shooter style and hijack, and blow up, anything they feel necessary to do. The main difference to GTA, and this may make people feel like its better, is that if you ever fail a mission you can just retry without having to drive around and find it again, and you won’t lose all your weapons. The game also features a very nice online multiplayer mode across Xbox Live.

Fable 2 is the very latest addition to the Fable series. Unlike many shooter games of the current era, Fable is based in a time where guns are still very much a basic tool, and haven’t evolved into huge war machines. Fable 2 is based 500 years after the original Fable setting, but the technology still hasn’t advanced much but castles have appeared all over the world.

Gameplay

In the game, money can be obtained through doing quests and also by taking on jobs including Blacksmith, Woodcutter and Bartender – anything that would be typical of that era. Each job allows you to level up thus being able to earn more money as the game progresses. Economics also comes into the equation as, when stores have surplus or deficit stocks, you can sell your products for more or less respectively. ‘Relaxing’ is also an important concept in the game, given as exploration, in which the player explores to find out hidden areas and pick up new quests. There is even a feature called the ‘breadcrumb trail’ which means that, even if you are in the middle of a quest, you can go off and explore and the follow the breadcrumbs back to where you were!

The game also features a co-operative mode, via Xbox live, where other players can drop in and out at any stage.

The Review

Lucky for those of you trying Fable II without playing Fable, you’ll be pleased to hear that you don’t need to know a single thing about Fable to enjoy the game! With it being set 500 years later, there’s not a lot of continuity. And, for female gamers, there’s the opportunity to choose between a male and a female character, rather than being limited to the single choice as in the previous game.

Perhaps the best bit about the game is the huge level of exploration that can be done; perfect for those who just want to take a look around and just know what’s out there! You also form a strong emotional bond with your dog that accompanies you throughout your travels, so another plus for those of you out there who like Sims 2 Pets but need a little more excitement in a game!

Best Bits

• Exploration is massive; you can literally wander around for hours and still see things you haven’t seen before!
• Lots of funny scenarios
• Varied questing
• Good graphics