The 14 Best Games You Can Buy for Under $30
- July 30, 2009 12:58 PM PST
- Email this!
Save some dough with the 14 best reduced priced video games for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PSP!
Unless you're buying old, crusty GBA cartridges or hunting down used games online, video games are rarely something that you can honestly call "cheap." And while it is exciting to buy new games the day they hit store shelves, sometimes you're better off showing some restraint and being more selective with the games you buy. Anyway you slice it, $60 is a lot to pay for a video game, not to mention the rather obscene prices of special collector's editions and Rock Band/Guitar Hero controller bundles.
GamePro understands that with the economy in the toilet, getting your hands on every big new release can get pricey. That's why we've put together this guide that features the best PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and PSP games you can buy brand new for $30 or less.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter here.
14. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
PSP Greatest Hit
Price: $19.99 (PSP)
Why it's worth owning: I'm a huge fan of all things Grand Theft Auto, and actually got sucked into the lawbreaking series with the top-down, old school GTA games (Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2). I'll admit that Grand Theft Auto 4 is one of the best installments in the open-world franchise -- it certain has the best graphics out of the lot -- but I genuinely had a better time with GTA: Chinatown Wars, Vice City, and Vice City Stories. GTA: VCS is the second and better of the two GTA games released for the PSP, which expanded upon the neon pink signs and acid-washed jeans-filled 80s world of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. And for the cost of a single Andrew Jackson, you can add this one to your PSP collection.
For a Few Dollars More, Try: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars ($35 on DS, $40 on PSP)
13. MadWorld
Price: $19.99 - FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY (Nintendo Wii)
Why it's worth owning: It's hard to believe that you can pick up Sega's gore-drenched best excuse to run around mutilating people with a chainsaw for only twenty bucks. I mean, the game just came out last March. There are only a handful of newer games that have given me chills, bringing me back to the days when I used to hike to my local cockroach-infested arcade to play games like Double Dragon and Final Fight, and MadWorld is one of those games. It's concentrated fun and is the most creatively violent video game I've ever played. As a diehard fan of the Wii, and someone who plays just about everything that comes out for it from big games to crap like Carnival Games (yeah, I own and play it to satisfy my skee-ball addiction), I can say that MadWorld is in the top five must-own Wii games, right up there with Super Mario Galaxy. And for $20, it's a frigging steal.
For a Few Dollars More, Try: No More Heroes/Red Steel Bundle($30 on Nintendo Wii)
12. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
Price: $19.99 (Nintendo Wii)
Why it's worth owning: Most Resident Evil fans will agree that the fourth game in Capcom's zombie-butchering series is by far the best and most terrifying game in the franchise. Resident Evil 2 is a horror masterpiece, and Resident Evil 5 comes close to being as blood-curdlingly evil as RE4, but Resident Evil 4 is still the ultimate RE game. Dripping with ominousness, the game featured some of the most fearsome video game villains like the ogrish El Gigante, the heavy metal-beard sporting Bitores Mendez and, of course, the chainsaw wielding madman Dr. Salvador. Not only is Resident Evil 4 a bargain for $20, the Wii Edition is the superior version of the game with a few neat additions like new motion controls and all the bonus features/modes of the PlayStation 2 version that the GameCube original lacked.
For a Few Dollars More, Try: Resident Evil Archives($30 on Nintendo Wii)
11. God of War: Chains of Olympus
PSP Greatest Hit
Price: $19.99 (PSP)
Why it's worth owning: God of War: Chains of Olympus wasn't quite as awe-inspiringly epic as God of War and God of War II, but it comes pretty damn close. Even the graphics are almost as polished as the PS2 GoW incarnations. Chains was far more of an ambitious project than just Kratos on a smaller scale and screen. In fact, it featured some things entirely unique to the series such as the bone-crushing metallic boxing glove-like Gauntlet of Zeus, which is hands-down the best weapon Kratos has brandished in the entire franchise aside from his signature Athena's Blades. If you're a God of War fan, you shouldn't skip this prequel that's worthy of the God of War name.
Also Try: God of War II ($20 on PlayStation 2)
10. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
PSP Greatest Hit
Price: $19.99 (PSP)
Why it's worth owning: Contrary to what you might think, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops feels and plays a lot like its console counterparts. After two disappointing collectible card games, Metal Gear Ac!d and its sequel, it appeared as though a bona fide Metal Gear experience wouldn't be possible on Sony's little screen, but Portable Ops shattered that notion. My favorite thing about MGS: PO that differentiated it from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots or any other games in the series was its use of a squad system. Instead of going into battles solo as Solid Snake, you control and manage a four-man MPO squad. If nothing else, coughing up the $20 to get this game will hold you over until Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is unleashed on PSP.
Also Try: Metal Gear Solid ($10 on PSN for PSP/PS3)
9. Mass Effect
Xbox 360 Platinum Hit
Price: $19.99 (X360)
Why it's worth owning: There's no better time to pick up the absorbing science fiction masterpiece that is Mass Effect since its price has been drastically reduced. For the price of two movie tickets you can buy this video game equivalent to Star Wars (actually, it's far better than the rotten prequels), which will keep you thoroughly entertained for more than thirty hours if you carry out all of the side quests. Plus, those who play through Mass Effect and hang onto their save files will have their game data carry over to Mass Effect 2.
- Previous Page Prev
- Next Page Next
- 1
- 2
- 3
More Top GamePro Stories
Comments [24]
-
- Jump To Page:
- [ 1 ]
- 2
- 3
- 3
-
- Jul 30 2009 at 11:42:24:AM PST
-
I'm kind of disappointed in this list, mostly because I already have the bulk of these games. I guess I was hoping for a list of decent games that were $30 or less but not necessarily because of making greatest hits.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +0
- report user
I'm sorry, reading the description for Bioshock, did the author seriously call the story of Metal Gear Solid "decent at best"? What the f*ck?!? I hate to break this to you, but the story for Bioshock is carbon copied from system shock 2, so you have no business calling it excellent or Metal Gear Solid's story decent. You sir, are the worst kind of human.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- -2
- report user
doyleman7 wrote:
I'm sorry, reading the description for Bioshock, did the author seriously call the story of Metal Gear Solid "decent at best"? What the f*ck?!? I hate to break this to you, but the story for Bioshock is carbon copied from system shock 2, so you have no business calling it excellent or Metal Gear Solid's story decent. You sir, are the worst kind of human.
Well, at least you called me "sir." :)
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +5
- report user
PatrickShaw wrote:
doyleman7 wrote:I'm sorry, reading the description for Bioshock, did the author seriously call the story of Metal Gear Solid "decent at best"? What the f*ck?!? I hate to break this to you, but the story for Bioshock is carbon copied from system shock 2, so you have no business calling it excellent or Metal Gear Solid's story decent. You sir, are the worst kind of human.Well, at least you called me "sir." :)
Yeesh, who pissed in this poor bastard's cornflakes?
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +2
- report user
No shit, that kid just needs to relax. As for it being a rip off of System Shock 2, you are full of shit. There are similarities yeah. But how many stories have we heard of a Utopia going horribly wrong??? Countless, and not just video games. That story has been done before, and I'm pretty damn sure System Shock did not coin it. Relax and enjoy the list asshole.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +0
- report user
This list sucks crap. No Battlefield Bad Company? Mirror's Edge? And The Orange Box? How the hell did you forget the orange box??
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +0
- report user
doyleman7 wrote:
I'm sorry, reading the description for Bioshock, did the author seriously call the story of Metal Gear Solid "decent at best"? What the f*ck?!? I hate to break this to you, but the story for Bioshock is carbon copied from system shock 2, so you have no business calling it excellent or Metal Gear Solid's story decent. You sir, are the worst kind of human.
I had to agree with this part. But he was just being a dick in the rest of the paragraph.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +0
- report user
