Online multiplay is great – when it works.

While GameCube remains firmly disconnected from the internet and PS2 seems oddly muted about its Network Gaming, Microsoft are really pushing Xbox Live. Halo 2 might not be out for a while, but it won't necessarily be missed too painfully this season, as Xbox is getting a slew of excellent releases in the hectic pre-Christmas schedule.

There are 50-plus Live-enabled games now (though many of them only offer downloadable content not actual multiplay). Return to Castle Wolfenstein has long been pre-eminent among existing titles for online multiplay, but it's losing its crown this season. Crimson Skies, for example, not only features a solid solo mode, its online multiplay offers the chance to indulge in majestically savage bouts of aerial dogfighting. This is one I've actually had a chance to play online.

Unfortunately, despite my best intentions, I can't offer any honest opinions on the online multiplay provided by some of the other highly anticipated titles: snowboarding game Amped 2, urban racer Project Gotham Racing 2, tennis title Top Spin and squad-based stealth/FPS Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 (though they're all dandy offline). Yup, the curse of the technical problems has struck – and, sod's law, it happened when I was planning this piece.

Xbox Live seemed to be relatively user-friendly. By way of a BT Broadband connection, Windows XP's internet connection sharing and a crossover cable, I've had a good few months of access. Then, by some fluke, it dies. Offering me, in lieu of the online antics I was anticipating, a catalogue of DNS and IP issues that even the Xbox, BT Openworld and Microsoft support folk can't help with.

I'll say this though, as the sort of person who regularly yells obscenities into the receiver after five minutes on hold, at least the Xbox Live support crew answer quickly, have decent hold music (Air) and pleasant staff. In comparison to abject corporate disgraces like Dell – who put you on hold for 10-plus minutes of convoluted queues and distorted classical hits before you eventually get a bad line to India – the service was excellent. Other than the bit about not finding a solution.

These days, I'm coming round to the argument that online is the way forward for gaming (thanks in large part to the mighty PlanetSide on PC). However, from these Xbox woes, it's still fair to say that until this all gets a tad easier for us non-techie types, it's not going to entirely replace nice straightforward offline gaming. Daniel Etherington 14 November 03

Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, Top Spin and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 are out on Xbox now.
Amped 2 is out on Xbox on 14 November 03.
Project Gotham Racing 2 is out on Xbox on 28 November 03.

useful link: xbox: live

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