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Xbox LIVE is not just about games. Your Xbox 360 can be used to watch movies, listen to music and to socialise; in fact it is a multi-media centre ready to entertain you.

In this fourth part of a series we are going to be looking at X-Men First Class which is a new release on Zune.

We will also be looking at how Zune works, how easy it is to navigate and use. We will be looking particularly at the movies section. We will be looking at value for money, quality, whether they are easy to find and whether they stream/ download fast and without problems.

Those familiar with the Xbox 360 dashboard would already be aware of the different tabs, one of which is the Video Marketplace, from here you can access Zune after a software download.

Zune can be accessed with a controller or by Kinect using your voice to control playback and find movies. It also features a pretty big library of movies, music videos and independent videos. You can also watch movies in an Xbox LIVE party if you wish.

X-Men First Class was a featured movie at the time of this review, so easily accessible from the dashboard. Otherwise load Zune and find it from the ‘Movies’ menu.

There are several options to rent in standard definition for 480 Microsoft Points, High Definition for 590 Microsoft Points or you can purchase in Standard Definition for 1770 Microsoft Points or High Definition for 2120 Microsoft Points. If you decide to rent it is a 14 day rental.

X-Men First Class takes you back to the beginning of the X-Men saga (1960’s), before Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr were called Professor X and Magneto and before they became archenemies. It shows how they were discovering, getting used to their powers and how they were the best of friends, even working together with other mutants to form an alliance against a nuclear disaster.

Many X-Men mutants make an appearance, some familiar like Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Magneto (Michael Fassbender) , Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) and Wolverine makes a brief appearance, others not so familiar such as Angel (Zoe Kravitz), Emma Frost (January Jones) and Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon).

The movie has a brief look back at the 1944 when Charles Xavier is at a Nazi Concentration Camp and has been separated from his Mother, it’s here he first shows his powers with anger and bending the metal gate bars, and shortly afterwards where he met Raven Darkholme, but is mainly set in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. As such real clips are shown featuring President John F Kennedy and the Russians which helps set the scene and ties in very well with the movie’s story line.

During their mission to stop the Cuban Missile Crisis, the cracks begin to show in Professor X and Magneto’s friendship and as we know from movies afterwards they become archenemies, each going separate ways. Professor Xavier plans to set up an academy to train the mutants so they can coexist with humans and Magneto is determined a war is coming and intends to build an army. We see how Professor Xavier ends up in the wheelchair, how Mystique overcomes her fear of being different and how Beast goes from having Monkey feet to all over beast looking. The movie follows the story of the mutants as they struggle to overcome their differences and learn about their gifts.

There is a strong cast line up, plenty of action and sets the scene for the next X-Men movie- X-Men Trilogy. A must see for any X-Men fan.

X-Men First Class can be rented or purchased from your Xbox 360 dashboard or from Zune’s website http://social.zune.n...69-F535AFA649A5

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