Arrivals and Survivals: NXE and Left 4 Dead

Yesterday was a pretty good day in my little world of gaming. First, the New Xbox Experience(NXE) was finally released and I have to say it looks pretty good.

If you haven't been on your xbox since the update then the next time you are on you will be prompted to update and the NXE will be put on to your xbox. You will see a pretty sweet intro video and immediately be taken to your new avatar. You get to choose a starting point for your avatar from different characters that run out onto the screen. After that you can customize your avatar to look as close to you as possible or as different as you want.

I didn't get to cruise around too much but the new party option is awesome. And when you are in a party it will show that on the dashboard where you can flip through and see each of your friends avatars and what they are doing. After I set my avatar up I didn't have much time to look at the NXE because my brother was gracious enough to buy me a copy of Left 4 Dead. ( Thanks again!)

I have to say I was anxious to play this game since I heard about it. You and up to 3 friends trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. It's really freaky when you first start playing because you never know where a zombie might be hiding. And since alot of the game is very dark they could be standing right next to you and you wouldn't even know it. You will find yourself walking through parts saying " I don't like this, I don't like this at all" and not because the game is bad but because you will have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. Just wait until the first time you accidently set off a car alarm and a horde or zombies come rushing at you out of nowhere. It's a crazy moment.

If I can suggest one thing it's this. Try to play with 4 friends if you can because I found that only playing with one friend you tend to only look out for that person and not so much about the computer controlled characters. Not saying that you don't help them or they don't help you because that is certainly not the case. So should you go out and buy Left 4 Dead. If you thought about it before, buy it. It's definately worth it. If your still not sure if you want to spend your money on it Christmas is just around the corner.

-Nick Recchia