'Microsoft' and 'free' are two words rarely heard in the same sentence, let alone in the context of games. But to mark the season of good will, Microsoft have given us all two early Christmas presents, in the form of racing/shooter hybrid, Harms Way, and the Total Wipeout-esque avatar obstacle course, Doritos Crash Course. And both games are, surprisingly, very good.
Available for download now from the Xbox Live Marketplace, both games were finalists in the Doritos 'Unlock Xbox' competition, where members of the general public were invited to submit ideas for games - a bit like Dragon's Den, but with games instead of head mounted face massagers. The two games below were the two that made it to the finals stage, which led to their ideas being made into a real life game, as they now compete for the grand prize - a $50,000 'game consulting gig with Doritos brand' (whatever that means). You can vote for the overall winner now - only if you're American though, as no-one else's opinion matters - by clicking on the Doritos 'Unlock Xbox' advert on the Xbox dashboard, and picking the game you want to win. The winning will be announced on the 26th December - so get playing and voting.
Harms Way
In Harms Way, you and a friend can team up, with one person driving and one person manning one of the many turrets scattered around the race course. The aim is to win the race (of course), and your team mate can help by shooting at the other racers to blow them up. It's a fast, frenetic, multiplayer oriented arcade game, and with support for up to 8 players online (4 teams of 2), and 4 player-split screen offline, with the remaining four cars/shooters being controlled by the computer, there's plenty of ways to get your friends involved.
Doritos Crash Course
Influenced by the TV program Total WipeOut, Doritos Crash Course has your avatar dodging giant hammers, swinging on ropes tarzan-style and jumping on trampolines on your way to the finish line. Best played in multiplayer (when you can all laugh at your hopelessness), up to four people can play, both online and offline in split-screen. It's a non-stop laugh fest.
