The 32 Best Xbox 360 Games
- September 18, 2008 16:09 PM PST
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#16: Guitar Hero III
Why It's Great: Once you've got kids dropping out of school (with their parents' permission, no less) to pursue careers in playing your game, you know you've made a mark on the world. Aside from its set list, the differences between GHIII and its predecessor are slight, but when it comes to a choice between one and the other, we'll pick DragonForce every time. "Through the Fire and the Flames" has become synonymous with awesome. Those that can destroy it have become the rock legends of the gaming world. And it's all thanks to Guitar Hero III. Rock on.
#15: Call of Duty 2
Why It's Great: Before World War II became the gaming junkyard that developers would scour when they had lost all hope for originality, Infinity Ward made Call of Duty 2. It was the Xbox 360's first and finest trip to the European theater of war. Players rappelled up the sheer walls of Pointe du Hoc on D-Day, defended a besieged Moscow from the invading Nazi army, and piloted a British tank across the blazing sands of North Africa. With its pristine sound effects and pulse-pounding visuals, saving the world has never been more believable.
#14: Burnout Paradise
Why It's Great: It lives by its name. Burnout Paradise has everything a Burnout should: perfect crashes, slow-mo destruction, more crashes, and much more destruction. But the Paradise City setting is what raises this game a step above the competition. It's a load-free, perfectly seamless world that you can fling yourself across to your heart's content, blowing apart just about everything (including you), and earning loot for yourself all the while. No game taps into the primal desire to see Big Things Go Boom better than this one.
#13: The Orange Box
Why It's Great: Never in gaming has there been a better bang-for-the-buck deal than the Orange Box. You get Half Life 2 and its episodic sequels, a single-player rollercoaster of rich storytelling and multi-award-winning gameplay. You get Team Fortress 2, a multiplayer classic polished to absolute perfection. And you get Portal, three hours of what is perhaps the most innovative first-person puzzle gaming you'll ever play. It's a must-own compilation if ever there was one.
#12: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Why It's Great: It's the best Rainbow Six that's ever existed, bar none. The visuals are powered by Unreal Engine 3, which means the neon lights pop, the slot machines sing, and the characters move with the strength and grace that Team Rainbow always deserved. The controls and cover system are smooth as a bullet casing and completely intuitive. And the co-op game is as polished as the single player experience and twice as thrilling. Accept no substitutes: Vegas 2 is the definitive Rainbow.
#11: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Why It's Great: Geometry Wars made shoot-em-ups fun again when the Xbox 360 was first released, but its sequel has completely re-defined the genre. Six brilliant gameplay modes, a bevy of multiplayer options, and yes, they even made it look more eye-poppingly gorgeous than before. No, we didn't think it could be done, either. Everyday Shooter and Super Stardust HD are good, but Retro Evolved 2 is why you were born with opposable thumbs.
#10: BioShock
Why It's Great: Turn down the lights and pull on the wetsuit -- it's mighty moist in Rapture. 2K Boston constructed a marvel of storytelling, morality, and environmental suspense with BioShock, diving its players far beneath the Atlantic and sealing them into a submerged dystopia. Beautiful water effects and devilishly fun weapons lured us in, but it was the brutal Big Daddies and twisted Little Sisters that had us holding our breath down every leaking passage. BioShock is a must-buy if you love shooters, horror, RPG elements, or any combination thereof.
#9: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition
Why It's Great: Despite having more colons in its name than you do in your body, Oblivion is one for the ages. Though not without its fair share of annoyances, its vast and gorgeous world, lush scenery, challenging quest lines, and diverse class system make it an RPG dream come true. Earn housing, claim heroism, scale tall mountains and pillage deep dungeons, and do it all in any order you want. Oh, and you get let out of jail by Captain Picard. No, he doesn't facepalm. That would have been awesome, though.More Top GamePro Stories
Comments [108]
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While I agree with the games on the list, I strongly disagree with the order. Especially the top ten.
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Toneman wrote:
Not enough reason to put up with the crappy hardware... sorry... Nintendo and Sony offer enough games to keep me PLENTY busy.
to each his own.
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I would have like to have seen Castle Crashers on that list but to each his own.
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VivaLeResistance wrote:
damn, all the tittles I own are on this list.
Yeah, I own alot of them on that list. I still play Crackdown and Saints Row, more than GTA4.
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My top 10:
1) Bioshock
2) Call of Duty 4
3) Gears of War
4) Oblivion
5) Grand Theft Auto 4
6) Mass Effect
7) Braid
8) Orange Box
9) Rainbow 6: Vegas
10) Halo 3
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NFS:Carbon picked instead of Forza 2? N+, Blue Dragon and C&C3? There are far better 360 exclusive choices than these games.
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My Top 10:
10) Guitar Hero III
9) Rock Band 2
8) Dead or Alive 4
7) Soul Calibur IV
6) Crackdown
5) Castle Crashers
4) Dead Rising
3) Halo 3
2) The Orange Box
1) Mass Effect
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