When Microsoft pushed out the New Xbox Experience (NXE) for the Xbox 360, one of the major changes was the introduction of the Xbox Live Avatars. These are meant to be your digital representations within the video game world, taking on your likeness as you see fit. In addition to adjusting hairstyles and altering wardrobes, it is also possible to use your Avatar within certain Xbox Live games.
As can be expected, the integration of Xbox Live Avatars into games will take some time, but already a handful of titles boast this kind of functionality. We had the chance to take a look at three such currently available Xbox Live Arcade games. All of these titles have varying levels of Avatar integration. Looking for a Wii Sports-like experience on the Xbox 360? The New Xbox Experience might be even better.
Hardwood Hearts
If you’ve ever owned a computer powered by Windows in the last ten years, there’s a good chance that you would have played the small assortment of games that are included with that operating system. You would have clicked your way through Minesweeper and shifted cards around in Solitaire. One of the more enjoyable games for some people was Hearts, because it involved a touch of strategy and a multiplayer appeal.
Hardwood Hearts on Xbox Live Arcade doesn’t really add anything to this trusted old formula, aside from jazzed up graphics and a couple of unique effects. The game itself is played just like any regular game of Hearts, so the goal is to collect as few points as possible. You can go into the options to set the target score for the loser, but I usually stick with the standard 100.
In many ways, Hardwood Hearts is far from being the most exciting game out there. At least you can go onto Xbox Live and play a casual game of cards with some friends and there are some fun little extras, like throwing snowballs at your opponents. In terms of Avatar integration, you can see the face of your Avatar next to your cards, as well as your opponents’ Avatars next to their cards.
This adds a little bit of personality to the experience, but if you’re looking for something more than a simple card game, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
Thankfully, your Xbox Avatar doesn’t remain static throughout the game. They’re actually quite animated, going through various emotions and motions, but these aren’t necessarily tied in to the progress of the game. It would have been nice to see the Avatar get angry or upset when he/she gets stuck with the Queen of Spades, for example.
Bomberman Live
I’ve always been a fan of the Bomberman franchise. While the gameplay mechanic is remarkably simple, the puzzle-styled action game has to be one of the most exciting and addicting titles released since the advent of Tetris. The old formula still holds its strength to today and blowing up friends with far-reaching bombs is as satisfying as ever.
When I heard that Avatar integration would be coming to Bomberman Live on the Xbox 360, I was absolutely thrilled.
Don’t get me wrong. The regular white bomber is pretty cool on its own, but can you imagine being able to run around those incredibly creative arenas in your likeness, dropping bombs and nabbing power-ups? It was a very enticing proposition. Too bad my hopes were absolutely shattered.
Yes, Bomberman Live allows you to make use of your Xbox Avatar, but he doesn’t actually get to enter the explosive arena. That’s still left to the robot-like figure that we’ve known for years. Instead, your poor digital representation is held hostage in a small cell near the top of the screen, next to the other Avatars.
Just like Hardwood Hearts, the Avatars will display some emotions and go through a few motions, but they really don’t do anything to affect the gameplay at all.
The Xbox Avatar integration does go an extra step or two beyond what you find in Hardwood Hearts. With Bomberman Live, you can see your full-figured Avatar celebrate when he (i.e., you) manages to win a match. He’ll wave his hands in the air and have a big smile on his face.
Don’t get me wrong. Bomberman Live is still a fantastic game, retaining the classic qualities while adding in enough of the new stuff to warrant a purchase, but the Avatar integration is still lacking.
A Kingdom for Keflings
Ironically, or maybe appropriately, the Xbox Live Arcade game that is the least conventional is also the one that has the best Avatar integration by far. If you’re a fan of simulation games that aren’t necessarily all that violent, but involve a good deal of strategy and addictiveness, you may find A Kingdom for Keflings to be quite the surprise hit.
It borrows elements from several games and several franchises. In some ways, it’s like Animal Crossing with its simulation of everyday tasks. In other ways, you could say it’s like Sim City in that you are trying to build a comprehensive community. Further still, you could say that it takes inspiration from real-time strategy games, because you have to manage resources. A Kingdom for Keflings can perhaps best be described as a “god” game.
A Kingdom for Keflings can perhaps best be compared to titles like Black & White and Virtual Villagers. While you must take on the form of some incredible mammoth-sized monsters in Black & White, A Kingdom for Keflings lets you roam around the village as a giant. And that giant can be your Xbox Avatar.
While the other two titles highlighted in this article seem to only make use of the head on an Xbox Avatar and superfluously at that, A Kingdom of Keflings allows your Avatar to play an integral role in the game itself. It is with your (giant-sized) Avatar that you move the villagers around. It is with your Avatar that you construct your new buildings, collect resources, and do just about everything else in your virtual kingdom.
When I first heard about A Kingdom for Keflings, I wasn’t exactly all that excited. It felt like yet another real-time strategy game with some simulation elements. I have already spent far too much time playing Animal Crossing and other similar games, and I really didn’t want to invest the same kind of time into something that would be almost the same.
After downloading this game from the Xbox Live Arcade, I told myself that I’d give it a try for maybe 20 minutes so that I could get a sense of what it was like. Two hours later, I found myself managing my Keflings, getting one batch to collect stones, another set to harvest wood, and sending yet another set to the school I constructed so that they could get a proper education.
The gameplay does have its linear elements (you have to unlock certain building blueprints in order to access additional ones), but the open-ended approach and the lack of regular “stages” makes this game terribly addicting. There is no point where you can say that you’ve accomplished what you wanted to accomplish today. And that’s the mark of a great game.
More Xbox Live Avatar Games to Come
The New Xbox Experience (NXE) is here and it’s delivered all sorts of wonderful things to Xbox 360 owners. The Xbox Live Avatars are fine for within the Xbox Dashboard, but being able to use them within games themselves makes them much more appealing.
The three games highlighted here are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is possible. In the future, I’m hopeful that I will be able to import my Avatar into Guitar Hero or Rock Band. You can do that (kind of) with the Nintendo Wii, so I can’t see why the Xbox 360 can’t do the same. Here’s to more Avatar fun… and not just in the form of animated icons.
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