Although Microsoft must be chuffed that Halo 2 is the king of blasters, it cant be so happy that the explosive sequel makes every other Xbox shooter look like trash. Finally, though, a new kill-fest has arrived that brings something fresh to the hackneyed genre.
Uniquely, hitting a button in The Liandri Conflict switches the action to a third-person perspective, allowing players to see their character and use nimble jumps to get into hiding places where they can pick off rivals with a sniper rifle.
The third-person perspective is also important as you can drop your weapons, rush your opponent and leather them with a volley of kicks and punches, more like a fighting game than a space-age blaster.
The environments arent quite as lush as those in Halo 2, and the weapons lack the punch of Master Chiefs fearsome arsenal, but this is still the most innovative Xbox blaster of the year.