What usually comes with every big game launch? New clothes for your Xbox 360 Avatar!

According to a Tweet by Major Nelson, there’s a whole bunch of AC2 Avatar clothing available on Xbox Live. A lot of it is clothes from the game like masks and robes, but you can also get t-shirts and caps with the Assassin’s Creed 2 logo.

Pretty much the same sorts of clothes are available for your PS Home avatar as well. Enjoy!

Game’s out next week

Zombie fans rejoice! The Left 4 Dead 2 demo (which was initially only available to those who pre-ordered the game) is finally available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

You’ll need to have a Gold account to download it for now.

The full game hits store shelves on November 17th.

Just a quick note about Grand Theft Auto IV: it’s not available for download on Xbox 360.

The Games on Demand version will set you back a mere £20. That’s about $30 for you Americans out there. The downside to GTAIV is that it’ll take up 7 gigs of your HDD.

So, y’know, enjoy!

If you’re a gamer willing to open yourself to new and inventive ideas, consider downloading Lucidity from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The main menu introduces you to a hauntingly beautiful rendition of a well-known Swedish lullaby, Byssan Lull, whose origin is steeped in mystery.

Lucidity’s composer, Jesse Harlin wrote an interesting piece recently on how this Swedish lullaby came to be chosen for the game, as well as his opportunity to work with Swedish singer Lisa Eriksson.

The LucasArts composer provided a partial translation of the lyrics on the website which are used as a starting point for the subtitles included in the video below.

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The Xbox Live Deal of the Week for Gold Subscribers this week is the Prince of Persia Epilogue DLC. Originally costing 800 MS points, it will not set you back 560 MS points if you buy it this week.

The DLC adds extra content and story past the ending off the game, closing off the cliff-hanger scene that you otherwise get upon completion of the game.

The first of five episodes of Fable II is available now on Xbox Live. And it’s free. Which is just awesome.

Fable II Episodes is the full game broken into five parts. The first will be free, as previously stated, the other four parts will cost some money.

So. Yeah. Free Fable II

The Left 4 Dead’Crash Course DLC campaign is now up on Live, and is available to download for 560MSP.

Left 4 Dead’s Crash Course starts with our Survivors right after their rescue helicopter from the No Mercy campaign crash lands on the outskirts of town. This two chapter campaign includes Co-op, Survival and Versus action, and ten new achievements.

Just remember that the PC version will be free. You can blame Microsoft’s archaic pricing system on Xbox LIVE for that one.

Harmonix has announced that tracks from Alice in Chains, Breaking Benjamin, Just Kait and Kula Shaker will be added next week to the Rock Band Music Store on September 29 for Xbox 360 and Wii and October 1 for PS3.

• Alice in Chains: A Looking in View, Check My Brain, No Excuses, Rooster, Would?
• Breaking Benjamin: I Will Not Bow, So Cold, The Diary of Jane
• Just Kait: U Suck
• Kula Shaker: Hey Dude, Knight on the Town

Alice in Chains tracks are available individually like the rest of the lot for 160 MS Points ($1.99/£.99/€1.49), and 200 Wii Points ($2.00/£1.00/€1.50).

The AIC track pack will run you 680 MS Points ($8.49/£5.25/ €6.59)

[UPDATE] It’s finally available everywhere.

Just in case you didn’t already know, a demo for Schafer’s satanic masterpiece, Brutal Legend, hits the PlayStation Store and the Xbox Live Marketplace tomorrow.

Will you be downloading it? You’d be mad not to!

Well, madder than Tim Schafer, anyway. And that’s pretty mad.

Mass Effect’s DLS “Pinnacle Station” was released today on Xbox Live Marketplace, priced at a mere 400 Microsoft Points.

The DLC takes place on a top-secret Alliance Space Station where players can put their combat skills to the test in 13 different combat scenarios. Apparently it will take two-to-three hours to complete and includes a “land-able space station”. Whatever that means.

Along with the DLC came some Mass Effect stuff for Avatars, ranging from Shephard and Ashely’s armours to simple Mass Effect t-shirts. If Mass Effect 2 needed any more buzz, it’s certainly getting it now.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled

The original Turtles in Time is regarded as one of the best beat-em-ups of its time, and after the success of the previous XBLA TMNT game and re-releasing the most popular of the Turtles games from their heyday seemed like an obvious choice to both the consumer and the companies involved.

Less obvious is the decision to completely remake the game graphically when for many fans a mere port with online play would’ve sufficed. Even stranger than this is the decision to base this remake off the inferior, less popular Arcade version rather than the SNES version that had grabbed the hearts of so many.

An entire stage is gone, as are several characters, and the sections where on the SNES primitive Mode-7 gave us a glimpse at 3D are gone too, with few of the crazy camera-twisting maneuvers Mode-7 enabled in the game.

The gameplay is solid, but there's just something missing.

It’s not all bad – the game is in true 3D and additions such as 8-way attacking instantly makes the controls more refined. Online multiplayer is in, and all the basic, fun gameplay elements that made the original a smash are in place.

In spite of still having solid game mechanics and controls, Turtles in Time Re-Shelled seems to lack something. The graphical overhaul in particular feels charmless compared to the original sprites, and through that the nostalgia factor is gone.

With the fan service gone, all that Turtles in Time Re-Shelled has going for it is its gameplay, which while serviceable now feels tired and outdated.

- 6 / 10

Trials HD

Trials HD is a difficult game to describe, but here goes – it’s a physics-based motorbike racing and stunt game that draws its addictive qualities from leaderboards where the game challenges to beat out those on your Xbox Live Friends List.

In a nutshell, that’s this game – out of the box you’ll have over 50 tracks and you’ll be challenged to get from one end to the other as fast as possible without breaking any bones, setting yourself on fire or generally causing the rider any damage.

Not that it matters for the poor driver – he gets totaled at the end of every level anyway. A nice touch.

Each level will likely take several attempts to complete and again it’s clear how long each level took and how many respawns everybody used on the leaderboards – everything is tracked here. You can even see your progress against others whilst playing via a handy meter at the top of the screen, so you know if you can afford to slow down or if you need to put your foot down.

There are bronze, silver and gold medals for every level – merely surviving will net a bronze, but silver and gold are significantly more difficult to get. Stuck players can watch replays of the top 500 people on each task’s leaderboard and see exactly what buttons they pressed and when via icons on the screen.

Sometimes frustrating - but great.

Sometimes the game can be frustrating, but the feeling of accomplishment when you pull off an incredible jump or a death-defying stunt far outweighs the anger you felt when you failed it 50 times prior.

The addition of several fun challenge modes and a level editor further increases the value of the game and makes it one of the more condensed but complete experiences in XBLA. Levels can be shared with friends and everything – everything – is leaderboarded to foster competitive driving.

All of Trials HD is meticulously designed and well presented. The game also has controls as tight as they come – important for a game like this. While I found myself wishing for more options in game and some sort of actual online game mode, there’s still a fair amount of depth here.

It’s a great example of how to integrate Xbox Live without gameplay actually being online, and it’s a master class in how to create a very simple, condensed but stunningly addictive game.

- 9 / 10

MetroidVania is an interesting genre name to be sure. Named after the two series’ that birthed this particular gameplay style, Metroid and Castlevania, the genre is defined by 2D gameplay across sprawling maps with progression controlled by the items and moves you have access to at any given moment.

The genre isn’t dead, but it’s certainly a bit of a wasteland right now with portable Castlevania titles the only viable option and the last 2D Metroid released way back in 2004. Here to save the day for fans is Shadow Complex, a new, original, sizable adventure for Xbox Live Arcade.

Platform & shoot your way through the game world...

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Nelson has just confirmed that Trials HD is now up on Xbox Live to download.

Fasten your helmet…and unlock the full version of Trials HD. This physics-based motorcycle game has over 50 brilliant tracks and amazing HD graphics, in two unique game modes. Customize your rider, unlock bikes, climb global leaderboards, and compete with new in-game friend-scores. With the level-editor, create and share an unlimited amount of new tracks. Trials HD is an experience you haven’t seen before!

It’ll set you back 1,200, and based on the rave reviews it has been getting, it’s well worth it too!

Microsoft have released some more details concerning their Games on Demand service, which is set to be released with the summer Xbox 360 Dashboard update Tuesday of next week.

For the uninitiated, Games on Demand will allow Xbox Live users to download original Xbox 360 games, for a small price of course. Hopefully this will become a successful method of digital distribution, and the opening line-up looks pretty sweet:

* Assassin’s Creed
* Burnout Paradise
* Call of Duty 2
* Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
* Fight Night Round 3
* Kameo: Elements of Power
* LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
* Mass Effect
* Meet The Robinsons
* MX vs. ATV Untamed
* Need for Speed Carbon
* Need for Speed: Most Wanted
* Perfect Dark Zero
* Prey
* Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
* Sega Rally
* TEST DRIVE: UNLIMITED
* Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
* Tomb Raider Legend
* Viva Pinata
* Viva Pinata 2: Trouble in Paradise

I think we’re going to need a bigger hard-drive.

From the moment I booted up ‘Splosion Man, I knew I was in for something special. The last time a mere menu and intro caused so much interest and intrigue on Live Arcade was in Braid, and we all know how well that came out.

‘Splosion Man tells the story of ‘Splosion Man, an escaped experiment who has been given the power to explode without causing any damage to himself – and is now determined to break out of the facility that created him and out into the world.

Looking like a whacky version of the Fantastic Four’s Human Torch, ‘Splosion Man is easy to control – you move with the stick, and every single 360 face button makes him ’splode. Simple.

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