Down where it's wetter.

I would have updated on Wednesday if I'd realized sooner they'd just made Undertow free and not uploaded any new games. Kind of a dick move, if you ask me, especially since they didn't really announce it on the dashboard itself. If it was in that Inside Xbox thing, well, I never read/watch that, so shut up.

I'd been meaning to get it anyway, so I'm kind of glad they picked this as the freebie.

Undertow
Achievements: 12 (10 offline for 170 gs, 2 online for 30 gs)

Best way I can describe the game is a swimmy shooty strategy thing going on. Two teams on a given map have to try and take each others' command points and kill their doods as different types of undersea units, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. It's actually a really fun time, as simple as that sounds, and what little I've experienced of the story mode was kind of funny.

A lot of the offline achievements actually tie into the online ones, especially when it comes to the killcount achievements. Your kills are tracked across all modes, whether you win or lose, so getting 50,000 cumulative kills isn't nearly as terrifying as it sounds initially. Another one involves boosting every unit type to its third level, which again adds up between doing so in campaign and online, so it's more a payoff for exploring your options than something you feel compelled to do in one go.

Don't forget it's free, at least through 1/27, so go grab it now.

In a stroke of coincidence, given that I'm in love with its big brother Paradise, the latest game in the mail for me was Burnout Revenge. I rented this before so I've already got a bit of a save file established, but you get a retro review anyhow.

Burnout Revenge
Achievements: 36 (24 offline for 700 gs, 12 online for 300 gs)
Online play: Actually, I saw several friends of mine playing this while I was playing Burnout Paradise on release day, so who knows?

The game itself probably needs little explanation. You drive a car, you drive unsafely and mess up other cars to win events and get better cars. Mess up other cars in creative ways and with specific pieces of landscape and you get recognition for it. Very fun, very profanity-inducing.

I love the achievement list, but I hate the achievement list. Most of the offline ones are for full-perfecting different race levels and categories, which means a lot of work. However, that makes it feel like you actually DID achieve something, and helps you get better at the game. The online achievements are excellent for encouraging a sense of competition and community, but are also bound to hose anyone who's coming in late to the game. This was a release title or close to it, after all.

Still, it's not that hard to perfect-rank events, and I've found it's best to blow through what you can early on, then head back and start boosting your ratings in completed courses as soon as you hit a brick wall. Thusly, you improve and can go back to kick more ass. Everyone's a winner, especially when shit's blowing up.