I am going to write this a two separate reviews in one because there are two different things being sold as a package. The xbox live starter pack is online enabled and allows you to play you your xbox games online and the game Pro Evolution Soccer 5 can be played offline and online on the xbox ... Read review
In a nutshell:Everything fans could hope for is here: officially licensed leagues from ... more
Italy, Spain and Holland line up alongside a replica of the Premiership, as well as the French and German championships. In all, that amounts to 136 club sides and 5...
Postage & Packaging: £1.94 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Free copy of PES 5, Online play Disadvantages: Voice Masking
I am going to write this a two separate reviews in one because there are two different things being sold as a package. The xbox live starter pack is online enabled and allows you to play you your xbox games online and the game Pro Evolution Soccer 5 can be played offline and online on the xbox and is the best footy game of them all.
Xbox Live Starter Pack
Xbox live is great and if you have an xbox I definitely recommend you ... ...it costs for a year so it's just the price of a new game which is great. It means you don't really have to spend much to play online. With the starter pack you get Pro Evolution Soccer 5 and an account code as well as a live headset.
Although the xbox live starter pack only costs £40 you will probably have to spend more unless you already have your xbox near your PC. If you have the xbox away from the PC you will more than likely have ... more
I am going to write this a two separate reviews in one because there are two different things being sold as a package. The xbox live starter pack is online enabled and allows you to play you your xbox games online and the game Pro Evolution Soccer 5 can be played offline and online on the xbox and is the best footy game of them all.
Xbox Live Starter Pack Xbox live is great and if you have an xbox I definitely recommend you get it as it's well worth it, £40 is all it costs for a year so it's just the price of a new game which is great. It means you don't really have to spend much to play online. With the starter pack you get Pro Evolution Soccer 5 and an account code as well as a live headset.
Although the xbox live starter pack only costs £40 you will probably have to spend more unless you already have your xbox near your PC. If you have the xbox away from the PC you will more than likely have to buy a wireless router/modem and a wireless adapter so that you ccan play online, well thats what I had to do anyway, this ended up costing me around £150 in total which isn't so cheap.
So once you have got your system in place and you have the xbox connected to the net you will need to create an xbox live account where you have to come up with a gamertag and fill in all your various details. If you don't know what a gamertag is, it's basically a username for your xbox live account and it's what you will be known as when your online.
After you have set up it's brilliant, this is where the fun begins, you can play a lot of xbox games online and if you can it says on the game box, there is an orange strip which says online enabled and this means you can play this game online. Xbox live really extends the game syou own and you will find yourself getting games you have left on the shelf for months out of there boxes. It is excellent to play against real people rather than dumb predictable AI all the time.
Of course with xbox live you get a headset, it's a bit flimsy and I've broken mine but it's very useful as you can use it to make friends or if you like taunt your opponents which is always rather fun. Usually in most games you can turn voice masking on and sound like a robot or an anonymous person or even gain a deep or high voice, this is quite annoying and it annoys other gamers but it can be fun to use these voices once in a while just for laughs.
Overall xbox live is great and if you want a game instantly the best games to play are Halo 2, Project Gotham Racing 2 or FIFA 07 as these games are the most popular andd there is always plenty of opponents online for you to compete against. I highly recommend getting live if you own an xbox and haven't already.
Pro Evolution Soccer 5 Intro - This is another one of Konami's yearly updates to the PES series, AKA the Winning Eleven series. Its the fifth instalment to the series on the PS2, and is fully up-to-date (well, at least until the beginning of the 05/06 season), complete with fully licensed teams in Seria A and La Liga, sadly, not the Premiership just yet.
Graphics - Long story short, they aren't amazing, but they get the job done. The graphics of the player models are very realistic, and movement of the player both during the game, and in cutscenes with the referees or during substitutions are very fluid and dynamic. The player likeness is done well. This next point may disappoint some players, it did for me anyway. Konami wanted the game to run as smoothly as possible, so there are huge sections of the crowd missing from the stands during the match, but appear when a goal is scored. The chants and noises however are still there but this just looks odd and surely the xbox has enough power to handle putting a crowd in the stands. When the game is actually being played it just doesn't look great, the grass looks rubbish and it just lacks definition and detail, the graphics is really Pro Evo's let down, if this game had the graphics of FIFA it would be great as it does have the gameplay to beat any other soccer sim.
Sound - This being a sports title, sound and atmosphere are key, and are done very well by the crowd, however, players that have played other PES titles will know just how poor and repetitive the commentary is. The crowd chant recognisably, and cheers for those vital last minute goals, as well as the "ooooh"s for the shots that hit the post. Now, back to the commentary. It is pretty decent for the first few hours of playing the game. Mistakes aren't made, the problem of the two commentators talking at the same time has been sorted out, and overall, is realistic and relevant to the certain match being played. However, when you have had this game for weeks/months, the commentary gets boring, repetitive, and does start to show its faults with mistakes being made about the teams position in the Master League for example. Some players suggest switching the commentary to Spanish, for some added excitement and laughs.
Gameplay - One word. Fantastic. Players looking for a better football game will prefer this to FIFA. The movement of the players is realistic, with fatigue and the weight of the player affecting how easily/hard the ball can be controlled, and passed about by each player, basically every part you can think of is done very well. The Exhibition mode offers the old classics, with Penalty matches, as well as a normal match against the computer or another person. However, Konami have also added a new feature called "Memorable Match", which allows players to see the results of the last 20 games they have played, and can be stored for that time you beat the best of the best.
But, the mode that will be played the most is Master League. This mode allows you to either create, or play with an existing team, and take them into your selected league, and to play against the rest of the teams in that league, or in other leagues from abroad (the WEFA Championships, ie Champions League). With also being able to buy any player from the game, as well as creating your own and buying them for you team. The retirement system will also allow older players to age, and then become “reborn”, with you the player being able to re-grow them, and build up their stats. This game mode will have you playing for months, which really increases the life span of the game.
PES5 might be difficult for PES4 players to convert to at first, with the new control and shooting system, with the introduction of middle shooting, which allows players like Steven Gerrard or Nedved to really blast them from range. But, with practice and patience, you should be able to overcome those frustrating 0-0 games that we have all had at first, and begin to start scoring great goals. The beauty of the game is that when you get better at it your team will look and behave like a real football team which is great.
Buy/Rent - A definite buy. This is an essential game for any football fan to own, and will keep you playing all the way until the next instalment. However, if you are a FIFA fan, probably renting this first might be for the best, because the two games do play very differently, with this being by far better, not fanboyism, just fact.
This game is worth buying if you haven't got it and are into football as it it is the best soccer sim on the market. As you are getting xbox live with it it's free because the xbox live starter pack costs £40 anyway and this xbox live package costs £40. it's microsoft's way of trying to get more people to play online. Of course if your a gamer and a footy fan you'll probably already have this game.
sifair 06.06.2007 (06.06.2007)
Ciao members have rated this review on average:
very helpful
Review of Microsoft Xbox Live Starter Kit Starter kit for Microsoft Xbox
Advantages: Easy to set up, Great fun to play, Good value for money! Disadvantages: Can be difficult to set up for some, No censorship
I have owned xbox live for over a year now and have bought almost every xbox live enabled game there is avaliable so the review i have writtern is based on all different types of games ranging from racing, shoot em ups action etc.
---COSTS---
First off the costs. Xbox live will cost you £40 a year to use. This is good value for money if you play games alot but if you only plan on playing it once a month or less then you may not wish to spend this ... ...connection if you wish to have a faster connection. This can also be quite costly. When i brought my Xbox live i had to upgrade my broadband connection which was free, but the hassle of having the workman round to install more wires in my messy room was alot of hassle.
---GAMEPLAY---
Xbox live is very addictive whatever game you're playing but can also be very annoying. Xbox live is supposed to be cheat free to make the games fair for everyone ...
Roguey-117 11.07.2006 (19.09.2006)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Microsoft Xbox Live Starter Kit Starter kit for Microsoft Xbox
Advantages: Online gaming fun, at its complete best Disadvantages: People have found it hard to set up, breaking headset
On first opening my box, I found a "startup disk" complete with Fifa 05, Rainbow Six 3 and Outrun 2. It also contained a headset and more importantly, a 12-Month subscription to get your xbox online.
Overview.
Xbox Live connects you to gamers around the world. As you can probably imagine, there is a fair bit of bad language so whether its something you want your kids listening to is up to you. Most games are supported, and each time you log on ... ...with.
Setting up.
Personally, mine was very easy to set up, I just plugged it into my laptop and I was away. I've heard many people complain it was hard, but I had no problems at all. One thing that should be noted is that you need a major credit card, so don't buy if you don't have one.
Gameplay.
Now when your xbox is turned on, it automatically connects to the new dashboard, containing links to friends, voice chat, setup, latest news etc. I ...
hcafcdan 17.10.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Microsoft Xbox Live Starter Kit Starter kit for Microsoft Xbox
Advantages: 1 Year free of Xbox live plus Halo 2! Disadvantages: None.
This game is one of the great FPS's to come to the XBOX, not only does it have the same idea as the first one, but it improves on it. By adding move enemy's on screen at once. Improving the AI and making allies last more the 20 seconds, this game is a winner! The campaign lasts around 12 hours on Heroic, which is the 3rd hardest difficulty. So if you enjoy the game, you can then play through again on the hardest which will take way over 30 hours ... ...hard it is to take the enemy out. Throughout the game you are fighting many different types of enemy, all of which realisticly pull back and jump out when they think the time is right. But wait, I havn't even started on multiplayer yet, with not only a large amount of player and a great optimatch setting, but highscore's and a built in clan function. This mode is also a brilliant thing. With the package you recieve a headset and a years free subscription ...
Oooch 30.12.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Microsoft Xbox Live Starter Kit Starter kit for Microsoft Xbox
Advantages: Project Gotham 2 already included Disadvantages: Headset is poorly manufactured
A few months back i decided that i would hook myself up to xbox live, all my friends bragged about how good they were on Halo, Pro Evo 5 and many other games. It was my chance to prove myself. Luckily my ISP just upgraded my 1mb package to 2mb, eliminating all lag i would encounter.
It has changed the way i play my xbox, no longer do I play campaign mode over and over again, now i snipe people off the top of buildings while they curse at me. The ... ...all the American Hillbillies from texas come on with their children and their high pitched voices calling me all names under the sun. You can mute certain people, but not until after the gaming session! Not much lag experienced although in the school holidays it does slow down considerably.
Project Gotham is amazing on xbox live, hardly any bad language is used all day round and racing your ferrari spider is truly satisfying.
One Major problem ...
marvello 18.02.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Microsoft Xbox Live Starter Kit Starter kit for Microsoft Xbox
Advantages: opens a new part of gaming to everyone Disadvantages: real poor headset
...consistent on every game i wonder?
Well the headset broke in about 7 days, so i had to buy another one, i didn't buy the official microsoft one though!!!! Overall the sound, graphics and gameplay are outstanding, so a must buy for any real time gamer. ...
marvello 18.02.2006 (20.02.2006)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful Review of Microsoft Xbox Live Starter Kit Starter kit for Microsoft Xbox
Product Information for "Microsoft Xbox Live Starter Kit Starter kit for Microsoft Xbox" »
Manufacturer's product description
New York, Oslo, Tokyo, Kalamazoo... anywhere people are playing Xbox games, let Xbox Live put you on the court, alien planet, or field of battle with your friends and against your foes. Talk it up, challenge your buddies, and stay connected with this 12-month starter kit. Compete against the world's best. This subscription includes the full version of Crimson Skies and gives you full access to the gaming community. With the included Communicator headset, talk and strategize anytime on Xbox Live - before, during, and after games. Add new characters, new maps, and exciting new levels, so no two games are ever the same. (Additional fees may apply; available in supported games.) Track your stats and rankings with your own unique ID that follows you across all games, around the world. With Xbox Live Now and Xbox Live Web you can get the latest Xbox Live news and games and stay connected with your friends (computer Internet access required).
Related tags for Microsoft Xbox Live Starter Kit Starter kit for Microsoft Xbox »
Similar products and search queries by other users »
Xbox kit, Live kit, Starter kit, Kit kit, Xbox Live kit, Xbox Starter kit, Xbox Kit kit, Live Starter kit, Live Kit kit, Starter Kit kit, Starter Starter kit, Microsft kit, Microsft Xbox kit, Microsft Live kit, Microsft Starter kit
Are you the manufacturer / provider of Microsoft Xbox Live Starter Kit Starter kit for Microsoft Xbox? Click here
