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I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that we've all heard about OnLive. Most of us have probably dismissed any possibility of trying it (because, hey, you already have an Xbox 360/PC/PS3, right?), have thought about trying it but haven't gotten around to it, or just have no interest or knowledge about what it is besides hearing the name once or twice whatsoever.

I've tried it myself, and I thought I'd provide a quick rundown of its functionality and features for anyone who may be interested. This review isn't going to be very carefully typed or anything, so don't expect a magazine editor's finesse from me. :p

Basically what OnLive is is Steam, but with different (sometimes better) features. The service itself is either free, or you can pay monthly and gain access to what is called the "PlayPack", which is basically a bundle of games that you have access to until your subscription is up. I believe it's $9.99 a month, which isn't a terrible asking price, considering the games you get to play.

To be able to use the service, though, you need either an OnLive console (which is only $99.99, and I'd most definitely pay that for any type console), or a half-decent computer with a good, solid Internet connection. If you suffer from high latency, or slow download speeds, then you're pretty much out of luck.

The games are constantly streaming to your PC; the good part about this is that there's no need for the latest and greatest hardware to play games on your computer, and you also don't need to wait for the game to download and/or install. The only bad thing is that it's not a full-proof system (yet). Even if you do have a solid Internet connection, you will run into some lag and possible freezes. It doesn't happen too often, though, so that's always a good thing.

As for the library of games it has, it consists of quite a few unknown and well-known titles, and this will surely grow over time. A few of the well-known games available are the Deus Ex games (the first and Human Revolution), Homefront, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Metro 2033, Just Cause 2 and Darksiders. This, obviously, isn't all of them, but it was enough for me to become interested in the first place.

Games that are marked for future release on OnLive include Saints Row: The Third, Batman: Arkham City, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. I'm sure a lot more of been planned, too.

OnLive has quite a few unique features, such as giving the ability to fully try most games before you buy them instead of having to download a demo(they have a 30 minute expiration counter), the ability to spectate others as they play their games (which is pretty damn cool, especially if you're not sure if you want to buy a game or not), and, of course, an achievement system. The last one isn't as unique, but it's still a nice feature. There's also a constantly growing community and system, as well as support for voice chat.

Alas, amongst all of these amazing concepts and features, there are bound to be many flaws. The main one being a graphical disadvantage for both users of the console and PC versions of OnLive. Since the game is constantly streaming to you, it looks like a video on YouTube. You know how a game looks good graphically until you see it in like 480p when it's better in 1080p? It's not half as bad as that, but it still isn't up-to-par with the 7th generation of consoles.

Another thing that may turn people off is the inability to customize graphic settings on the PC versions of the games on OnLive. It's basically like playing a console game with a mouse and keyboard.

Right now I give it, at its earliest stage, an 8/10, just because it is a wonderful concept that will surely improve over the next few years.

However, that is for now. There's this engine I think they're going to be using to make games for OnLive itself. It looks pretty damn good. And obviously the system is going to get better as time progresses, and I really cannot wait until OnLive gets the chance to show its true colors. I love the service as it is, even with its flaws.

If you're still a bit iffy on whether or not OnLive is right for you, consider this: it's free to try and use (but the games beyond their trials aren't, obviously), it's still in its early stages and looking fantastic already (there's always room for improvement, and I surely can foresee a vast amount of improvements in the future), and all you need is a half-decent PC to just try it. And if you pre-order Arkham City or Saints Row 3 within the next few days, you get a FREE OnLive console. That's a pretty damn good deal, if you ask me.