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XBox360 Games
Updated: 07/01/2010 Game Reviews: Ratings 1: avoid -----> 5: Excellent. Latest game obsession is Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox 360. Excellent single player campaign, excellent multiplayer and spec ops mode. If you like first person shooter, buy this. It is one of if not the best first person shooter yet released on any platform. Rating 5+ Quantum of Solace: Rating 2 Never have I completed a game so quickly (and wanted a game to be over). Solid game engine on display (Call of duty 4) but it appears totally rushed. The story is a mashed up of both of the Craig Bond movies but when I say mash, I man mash. Timelines are all over the shop. Cut scenes are ignored - you get voiceovers on status screens for most of the story (why = rushed to release). The number of levels are too limited. The hand to hand combat is a simple matter of pressing or mashing single buttons (dead boring) and the mini games are simply brain dead (lock picking and tight rope walking) - no driving???? Fun for the first few levels but only kept going because my kids wanted to know about James Bond and got into the theme. Rent it or wait for second hand copy. Sadly like the movie, it missed it's mark totally. Halo 3: Rating 4 The game that sold a million Xbox's is finally on the 360. Is it worth the wait? Both yes and know. I don't think it is enough of a leap from the old XBOX to the new system. Yes visuals are better (but not enough), levels are bigger etc. But technically we expected more. Great game and online is even stronger. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, try it. But don't expect a WOW factor feeling from Halo 2. When the hype died, we all found ourselves playing something else. Rainbow Six Vegas 2: Rating 3 More of a Vegas 1.5 than full 2 release. The engine and game play haven't changed much (or enough) from the first release. Same game play and dynamics on display here and didn't grip me the same, so haven't really gotten into it at this point (too many great games out to be fair). Pick up the first game in the bargain bin. Half Life 2: The Orange Box: Rating 5 Amazing Value for money on one disk. Half life 2, episode 1 and 2, team fortress and portal (online mod) all for the price of one game. The main concern would be, has half life 2 aged well? Well yes. It runs far better on the 360 that it did on my "much too expensive rip off" pc at the time. The stuttering that plagued the PC release is gone. The visuals and game have stood the test of time well, only grip is the enemy AI looks a little dumb with some enemies in comparison to more modern releases like COD4. Get it the main game is massive. Grand theft auto IV: Rating 5 Work buying a next gen (360/ps3) just to play. With the 360 getting the most complete version, because of future downloadable content. Amazing game design. Actually so big, you will be pushed to have time to do anything else. A wealth of features lie in this game. But to get the most out of it, you have to ignore the free roaming for a bit and follow the missions. Only gripe? The cut scenes are too long and the narrative gets tedious at times. But nothing is perfect right? Well as far as games go, it's damn close. Assassins Creed: Rating 3.5 The game world is incredible. Visually amazing in fact. You wander through a near pixel perfect world, where people appear to react as they should. Hiding and waiting to take out your next victim. But...The story of being in the future and experiencing what has happened in the past just acts to suck you from the story and remind you this is just a game. It know what they were trying to achieve, but movies have made the same mistake. The game play does get a little tedious after a few hours play. Pick it up like I did, as pre owned. Call of Duty 4: Rating 5 Excellent release. Strong single player campaign, excellent graphics and sound. The best in series so far. A little short in length, but more than makes up for it with quality. You may even find yourself playing twice (it's that good!!!).The multiplayer is also one of the best. A wealth of options and the use of unlockable weapons and abilities through building XP is a stroke of genius. Worth it for the multi player alone. But there is a problem with online games. Play it with a group of "balanced" players who aren't shouting abuse at each other and it's gaming heaven. But against people that are too skilled and it's run dead, walk dead, run dead, total boredom. Guess this the issue with ANY online game... Scene it: Rating 3.5 Fun "family and friends game". Wealth of movie questions and good use of sound, video and graphics throughout. The addition of the four wireless buzzers is a nice touch. A party game for the 360. Kane and Lynch: Rating 2 Stinks of a game rushed to market. Poor controls and weak narrative. Just a missed opportunity on each and every level. Get GTA IV instead and save your money. Ghost Recon: Advanced war fighter 2: Rating 5 Released 9th March, so have only played the demo on live. From playing it, it looked like a more polish version of A.W.F. 1. Better visuals and controls(much of which is copied from G.O.W.). But looks like a definite purchase and on-line should be solid (first game was amazing). So far much more of a "game" experience than the first game. Good solid controls, well laid out missions and the story isn't half bad. Haven't taken it online yet (as my xbox blew up the weekend, ring of death), waiting for a repair (along with 5% of the people who brought these machines). Update: Very well designed single player campaign. Although seems short, it makes up for it with quality. You notice a few of the missions you must play as a single soldier (ala the demo) and it works better for it. Well scripted story and believable "alive" world. Have yet to take part in a multiplayer game without being booted after a few seconds (????). But will dig in and persevere. Gears of War: Rating 5 Visually amazing. Great control system. Single player is great. Solid campaign. You could argue this is simply the ps2 kill switch. With basic duck and cover game play with great and visual effects. For the most part you would be right. The game play is simple, but easy to get into and hard to put down. In a world filled with complex game play and controls, they is lots of room for G.O.W. The number of units sold shows 360 users are agreeing in their millions. Check out the live game also, built for online play with a great co-op option so you can take a friend alone for the ride. Simply a well developed and polished gaming experience. Would mentioning, if not for the developers of this game you might only have half the memory and poorer visuals overall in your 360. They demoed a version with 256 megs of ram in comparison to 500 megs. Prompting Microsoft to shove another wad of money into the machine design. Rainbow Six Vegas: Rating 5 The franchise hits the 360 with a bang. Great visuals and sound mixed with a slightly arcade(ish), dumped down rainbow six form of game play. But the good news is it works. The starting location may be a tad bit lazy as they got a nice selection of maps etc from the developers of Ghost Recon. But it works well as you get to contrast the traditional location against the new Las Vegas city (when you make it to the second level). What hits you first is it feels more playable that GRAW as the guns feel powerful (I always felt like you were shooting in with a pee-shooter in single player GRAW). Only minor niggles: graphics could have been better - you soldier looks like he has cartoon hands at time (over sized), the lip syncing is crap and finally the voice commands aren't that hot. Too slow and you have to almost shout to get the team to follow your commands. But a solid game and visual treat. Call of Duty 3: Rating 4 Much the same game as before. Better visuals and sound. One or two scenes are a little "game ish" in execution. But a good WWII blaster, that could have been better but ends up being fun. Worth comparing to the Wii version if for nothing else to prove the power of your 360 in the next gen race. Rainbow 6 Vegas (demo + final game): Rating 5 Ubi-soft seem to be dominating the next gen market at the moment with some excellent releases of old franchise games. Here we have the latest chapter in the Rainbow 6 franchise. Excellent sound and visuals throughout the demo - although the lip-syncing on the main character seems well off and I noticed a lot of slow down when the team were landing (not a good thing to see in a machine so young - or any console for that matter). Nice physics and game dynamics on show here. I imagine the multiplayer games will be a blast, as the action is a lot more up close and personal than war fighter. Only a demo, but a good taste - get with the official magazine on marketplace. Full game out November 24th. More on the final code when I get my hands on it - which will be Christmas (hopefully). Splinter Cell Double agent: Rating 4 I wanted to be a fan of the original games. Looked fantastic with what seemed liked interesting game play. Hide, seek and kill. But I soon found stealth games could be , well boring. Just seemed to play like a visual rubics cube. Follow some defined steps and you finish a level. Exciting? No. Limited action wrapped in amazing visuals. The ps2 version even lacked the visuals in comparison to the Xbox and pc flavours. So I decided (after reading some reviews) to give the latest splinter cell a try. Any better? Well yes and no. Visually amazing (again) with a more interesting storyline. This time you can either be the hero or the villain. But the one thing that saves this, is there is just more action. Which means more fun. The game could have done with giving some help in the first level. As you are thrown in with a wealth of weapons but no clue where to go or what to do. A few visual aids to ease you in would have made the early games more fun and less pain. Multiplayer is where this game should do really well. With mixed teams of spies and agents. Each with different abilities. The early demo on market place didn't go down too well (with me) as waiting for 20 minutes to not a get a game is not my idea of leisure. But check this out. Ghost Recon Advanced War fighter : Rating 5 If you are a fan of the "Tom Clancy" family of games (rainbow six, ghost recon), you are in familiar territory here. Team based tactical shooter.... Warfighter adds some new elements to the mix, but including some future technology in heads up displays, on screen comms and drones. All work well and add a new twist to the game play. The single player campaign is what interested me in the first place. Taking place in a beautifully and accurately rendered Mexico city. One major limitation being the lack of civilians and entry to certain buildings. You would feel playing in one area would limit the experience. It doesn't. Obviously undertaken once more with the upcoming Rainbow Six: Las Vegas. To be also fair, the developers were clever enough to branch out the multiplayer game to different locations to reduce the effect of limited locations. Speaking of the multiplayer game. I found myself playing this more. A wealth of online options can be found to death matches through to co-op campaigns. If you get to play against a balance team: makes for some of the finest video game action I have ever witnessed (on any platform). Excellent visuals on display here. To be honest it was the first game that made it worthwhile buying that 360 with the HD screen. Audio is also top notch. In all an excellent game, further enhanced by the release of downloadable content (chapter 2) allowing the player to squeeze more out of the title (multiplayer only). Perfect Dark Zero : Rating 3 Not as bad as was made out, just couldn't live up to what I regard as overrated hype comparing it to golden eye. A benchmark game that never should be regarded a benchmark game. One of the greats in it's day, but those days are long gone. Perfect dark is a fun first person shooter. Bit James Bond, bit half life. Good online options also. Pick it up 2nd hand or on budget. Battlefield Modern Combat: Rating 4.5 This is a good game but doesn't quite match the PC version. Visually more stunning, just different game play style. But the live functions and added single player game work well. Same game that was on the Xbox and PS2 with major visual and audio upgrades for next gen. So you could argue it is not next gen, just last gen with a lick of paint. Which is true, but considering the age of the 360 and how fast this was released, you can forgive(for now). The next version should prove to be a lot more interesting (hope they fix up the messy shadow effects: or is this just my machine?) Dead or Alive 4: Rating 3 Great visuals mixed with game play that has it difficulty setting set way to high to enjoy. No matter how fast on the pad you are, you will find yourself wishing they remembered that games should be fun. Rock Star Table Tennis: Rating 4 Visually amazing game mixed with fun and simple game play. Great fun on live. But limited in single player. Did the GTA boys just want to test their new engine before GTA4. Time will tell. Pick it up on budget, because although great, you will find yourself only playing between rounds of other games. Tour of Duty 2: Rating 5 Excellent single player campaign. One of the few games I have bothered completing more than once (on PC) and the only game that I have played and completed on more than one platform. Even better on 360 (yes even with a controller and no mouse). Apparently the multi-player was plagued with a poor interface and lag issues on release; but has since been patched. This is where TOD2 comes into it owns. Amazing multiplayer game included, balance and well designed. Although like with any live game, play with a group of loud mouths that keep shouting "your gay" or "you suck", and you may feel like sticking to single player. But ignore and enjoy. Fantastic fun. The most played 360 game I own. Can't wait till TOD3..... King Kong: Rating 3 Nice visuals and good conversion of the movie. You get to play as both human and Ape, which helps with variety. If you were a fan of the movie, you will enjoy the action of this title. But it fails to sustain you for longer than a few plays (unless you really have to get to the end: 1,000 game point anyone). Fun for the kids though. Revise: My kids have "asked" me to play this with them. Being avid dinosaur fans. Some good scenes in it and they love it. So maybe worth picking up second hand. Top Spin 2: Rating 3 Simple game play (last gen) mixed with OK graphics. Fun in two player on on live, but dull as a single player game. Needs to try harder to be a next gen title. Wait for Top Spin 3. Dead Rising: Rating 3.5 Although being hailed as the next amazing game and exclusive to 360. Feels more like a developed tech demo than a game. I know I will be flamed for this; but speaking the truth. Let down by an amazing lack of character dialogue, slow and frequent loading, crap save system (adds to tension, but means you have to play section over and over and over again), zombie spawning: clear and room and go back and the room is full again. I know it keeps game running and an old trick, but a cheap trick and reminds you that you are playing a game and finally too short and what about multiplayer. No game should be released these days without on-line play: period. On the plus side. Great audio and visual treatments (although the main character runs or should I say glides with a funny limp). The setting is indeed Dawn of the Dead (but the film making has distanced himself from the product by insisting a note be stamped on the packaging that he had nothing to do with it's production). It is a game setting any teenager will love; set free in a shopping mall and killing who you want and how you want. But could have been so much more. To be fair perhaps when I play some more, my opinion will change. Will review this if it does. But for now, Dead Rising Two should be interesting... Just Cause: Rating 4 The new age term for these type of free roaming games is "sand box". Which basically means the game format of Grand theft Auto and set it in another location. Older gamers will remember having similar games on the Amiga, but boy how they have matured. In just cause the first thing that hits you is the visuals. It contains some very impressive draw distances and textures. You can almost feel the wind in your face as Rico sky dives over a huge landscape. All of which you can visit on foot, in a car, plane, boat name it. If a vehicle is in the game, you can drive it. This (to me) is the main fault of this game type. You are given so much freedom, you get bored traveling from a to b. Granted just cause adds some new (and very visual features). You can carry out stunt moves, by jumping onto the hood of a car and going off a cliff. You survive because you have an endless supply of parachutes attached to your back - fun, but rips from out of the game world by suspending belief. In order for games to mature and develop, they need to get more realistic. Realistic worlds and physics, combined with audio and visuals. Just cause on one hand tries very hard to do such, but with the other is trying too hard to be a game. Good game that could have been perfect... Note: If you have access try this on the PS2 and compare it to the 360. Same game, but like watching a poor pirate copy of a Hollywood blockbuster: not worth it.