Hell and Soccer on the 360

It's been a year and change since Microsoft first started making original Xbox games available for purchase through the Xbox Live Marketplace on the 360, and while Microsoft has made sure every man, woman, and child on this big blue marble knows about Gears of War 2, it's been much more laid-back about the Xbox Originals program. I guess it makes sense, as most of the games released so far have been high-profile titles that speak for themselves pretty well, like Halo, Burnout 3, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Not so for this week's Xbox Originals releases, which include two games that just did not get enough love the first time around. Sega Soccer Slam is a fun, flamboyant take on the sport that even an ignorant American like me can appreciate, though it's Raze's Hell that's got me really excited. If you missed it the first time around, and there's a very high probability that you did, Raze's Hell is a third-person shooter where you play a gnarly-looking rabbit-beast set out to destroy a fascist regime of cute, squeaky-voiced creatures that look more like children's toys than the cruel oppressors that they are. It initially just seems like an exaggerated slobs-vs-snob conflict, though what's brilliant about Raze's Hell is how it also serves as a cutting satire about the role of media in the war in Iraq. That it seems like such an unlikely vehicle for political dissent makes it that much more effective.

Both games are available right now for $15 a piece, which is a little disappointing for Raze's Hell, since that game retailed for $20 when it first appeared on the original Xbox. Still, where else are you going to hear teddy bears contemplate the graphic horrors of war?