The beginning of every year usually offers a dearth of new games. With most publishers aiming their triple-A titles toward the lucrative holiday window, the first few months of the new year are typically littered with a few games that weren’t ready for a fall release. However, with the industry presenting an ever-increasing amount of downloadable software, many gamers may be able to avoid the January doldrums.

One surefire entertainment choice may be found in Xbox Live Community titles; a collection of independent games of widely varying quality. Although currently hidden within the Xbox dashboard, users can also peruse Microsoft’s website and mark games for automatic download the next time players power up their console. Half the fun of the community games is sorting through the free demo trials while searching for the hidden gems. To make the quest a bit easier, we offer three game recommendations that we encourage all 360 owners to seek out:

Weapon of Choice

With the exception of the Metal Slug series, the ‘run and gun’ genre has been nearly forgotten by the gaming industry. Games like Contra and Gunstar Heroes had players running and jumping across the screen, while filling the air with a steady stream of ballistics. Clearly, developer Mommy’s Best recalls this motif, as its recent title features screen-filling reptilian bosses, immense weaponry, and a nearly endless supply of extraterrestrial cannon fodder. Weapon of Choice is 2D gaming at its best.

For five dollars, players get seven full levels and a handful of characters each with their own unique weapon. The game has several distinctive features, our favorite put the game into a super-slow motion when an enemy was about to make contact with the player. The execution of this feature was flawless, making the title feel evolutionary, rather there mere homage.

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