Ok, so I wasn’t falling over myself with quite as much excitement as many of my friends. I didn’t spend release night trying desperately to download it. I just waited till the morning, dug out my Crackdown disc, stuck it in and downloaded the beta in 5 minutes. No fuss, no muss.

Then I loaded it up and jumped right into a game.  And, well, it was Halo. It didn’t feel different or special or all that new - it was just Halo with sharp graphics and that was umm .. good. Am I down on it because I got my bottom handed to me for an hour or so in every mode and map, and turned it off in a rage? Possibly, but my point is this: the next thing I did was to turn on the wonderful Crackdown and have some excellent fun on there.  Checking out my friends list it seems I’m not the only one who’s found their second wind with the game.

The new downloadable content is utterly brilliant. First off, it seems every complaint and request has been listened to. So many little imperfections have been dealt with. You can shoot better over walls. The targetting system prioritises living enemies, no longer staying locked onto the dead.  When you’re hunting down those last orbs you’ll be helped along by augmented sound.

There are also new game modes, co-op challenges, three great new cars, some bitching weapons. The harpoon gun is utterly evil and hilarious and the cloaking device is incredibly useful. There are also 7 new achievements with 350 points worth of gamerscore to pick up.

Lately, there has been a lot of new content to bring me back to games I once loved.  The Red Pack on Rainbow, the remade Summit Strike maps on GRAW 2.  I find myself not looking forward to the next big thing, but exploring every element of what’s already here.

There’s no gift like the precious present.