Games in my Xbox collection that I believe to be under appreciated. Some of these games are bargin favorite while others at full price still felt like a deal. Most of these games are exclusive to the console while others were just better on the platform. If you see a game you haven't seen before all the more reason to check it out.
When I first saw this it was a trailer with no actual game play, but when I went to go look for it the price sold me. This was a budget game sold for 20 bucks and had little or no coverage upon release. I was very surprised to discover how good this game actually was. Fantastic soundtrack with custom soundtrack support, long enjoyable story driven single player experience and incredibly detailed graphics with destructible environments. And as if that wasn't already worth my 20 bucks there was a huge multiplier component both locally and online. I finished this game 3 times on the original Xbox and did so a forth time on the 360 when it became compatible.
Another game I picked up solely on the trailer. The fact that it was a locked perspective fps caught my attention, I've always loved the idea of total immersion. The other thing that stood out was, unlike many fps before it, mostly first person "fighting" and little to no shooting. I ended up loving the story so much I had to play it again just to make sense out of the big twist near the end. Who knew the same guys who brought you Tekken could make a decent fps?
When I bought this I had a choice between it and Ninja Gaiden but with all the attention Tecmo's latest got I was turned off playing it right away so I took this instead. I was blown away when I finally got this home it was like nothing I had played before, sure it was another third person action game but something here was different. The music was beautiful and authentically Japanese. The graphics although not up to the bar Tecmo had set it had crazy amounts of destructibility and the most enemies I had seen in a similar game prior to its release. This game was not perfect however and feels quite dated by today's standards and I find it really hard to go back as much as I'd like to.
Like its predecessor it impressed me. The graphics were given a needed boost and the RPG elements introduced in the first game were toned down in the name of accessibility. This time around there are multiple playable characters and the story has 1-3 missions that are active at a time, which means if any character is used on one of them they can't be used at the other missions. This is a clever way to have more than one thing going on in the story playable at once. The story this time wasn't as good but with all the small improvements made to the graphics and gameplay make it worth a play.
This game was fantastic, mind you it wasn't the shooting that caught my attention which was pretty standard fare. Telekinesis, that's worth just buying this game. This was the fist time I had seen some decent physics in a game and boy way that fun. The physics engine was so go that if you were skilled enough you could even surf on objects you were lifting. The story was also quite good although it appears they intended to make another because there was one hell of a big cliffhanger at the end. That said its was still more than worth my time with epic boss battles and cool powers, its just too bad it didn't make more.
This was a game that, at least to me, looked like Psi-Ops so I picked it up. Turns out that the premise may be similar but the gameplay couldn't be more different. This game is in two realities, one future one past, and each plays different. In what they initially establish to be the future you wake up in a locked sterilized room being held for some research and discover you have psychic powers. This plays out much like a survival horror game or stealth game. When you're not in the complex you're in the past a few days prior to your arrival to this complex. The past play more like a typical shooter with the option of fist person and third. Overall a good game with a great story and more than worth my time.
This is a game I couldn't have hated more when I first played it, luckily that was only a first impression. This is a great third person action game that is among the first to give you the ability to give accurate, consist, and simplistic orders rather easy. The story is also worth mentioning as it involves an invasion of the us and a guerrilla organization formed to destroy such invaders, can you say irony? There was also a multilayer component in this version (Xbox) that is way too much fun as it is 4 players all with subordinates of there own, which makes this a lot fun even with such few players.
I was never a big strategy fan and even less of one when it came down to the turn based variety but after playing a lot of Advance Wars weeks prior and seeing this for only 20 bucks it was hard to pass up. So how did it compare you ask? Well the squares were replaced with hexes and the hexes could be played from different depths/altitudes making hitting air/sea targets. As you may guess its hard and as it punishes you for every mistake is never goes so far as reward you for decimating targets. Its a sadists wet dream and Gen. Patton's nightmare. Enjoy at your own risk.
I remember being a huge fan of Wipeout before this came out but remember being frustrated with the how unforgiving it could be and the total lack of any differences with the vehicles. This is exactly what I needed. Some ex SCEE employees started their own studio and made this gem. Less getting hung up on walls, tighter races, enjoyable weapons, beautiful well designed tracks and awesome vehicles and drivers to choose from. One of the fastest racing games of its day and remains one of the most fun. SCEE, watch and learn!
Some games will sell me with just gorgeous graphics alone and that's enough. the game was start to finish one of the most impressive games I've played. It's a dying breed however, even at its release the only other successfully on rails flight game was Star Fox. The bosses were pretty tough and the enemies were varied. Not much else to say, impressive to watch and pleasure to play.
I hate sports games, yes I said it, but same could not be said about future sports games. This game was a sports game centered around getting points by throwing a Tron like disc through a sensor net, the catch was that it was a full contact sport. When not handling the disc the game turns into a brawler with punching, kicking and throws which allowed an alternate form of victory by KO'ing the entire opposing team. It also feature copious amount of creative foul language and supported full custom soundtracks. Whith that said it was a blast to play. One of the very few multiplayer experiences I've ever enjoyed.
Ok I admit it, I love transformers...So you can imagine my reaction when I found a game that featured a mech that could morph into a jet. Basically a Armored Core Game that turned into Ace Combat at the press of a button. This was not a good game, nor was it a long game, but damn if I didn't like it. It was fast and punishing but with some practice you felt like a total badass.
Now I have to say that before this game I had no previous knowledge of what it was or anything about the first one but that didn't stop me. After about 5 hrs it became clear what to expect. The game is a RPG broken up to a few different gameplay sections: open world exploration, dialogue trees, Quick Time Experiences, minigames and fighting one on one or groups a system of which is based off the Virtua Fighter tech. The story is quite good and I can see why it comes with a DVD movie including all the plot points in the first game. The only problem I had with it was that it ended far to abruptly and without a conclusion, the sequel promised but still not delivered.
As a fan of the Deus Ex games I saw this and new I needed to play it. Although it didn't live up to the same standard it did however prove to be an excellent game. A simple game at its core with a fairly linear story but with the variety of equipment it still remains entertaining from start to finish.
The only thing that sold me on this one was it had space combat, everything else was a generic First person shooter. All the guns had multiple uses and most were available right away which did make the shooting feel rather poor earlier than necessary. This space combat does make this worth playing, seamlessly integrated in to the missions and requires no extra loading which helps immerse the player.
I have always had fun with the other unreal tournament games but they never held my attention for very long, mostly due to the lack for depth. This Xbox exclusive version added enhanced mobility with an option of third or first person perspectives as well as melee weapons. Another big change is how many weapons you can carry; each character has their own pistols and melee weapon and have to chose one ballistic weapon and one energy; that's only 4 and with only the former 2 requiring ammo it means you really don't need to hunt for ammo as there are only 2 types. The other big addition is new adrenalin abilities. The story mode was also surprisingly good if not a little brief. This was a blast to play, with a lot of offline and online modes to choose from it certainly promoted longer periods of play.
I always enjoyed flight games, the only problem was Ace combat was on the Playstation 2. Luckily for me this was released and wasn't bad at all. Stunning visuals and a nice selection of planes. Its story mode is a mission based mostly liner one with a grid between you and your objective. The stops need to be cleared to progress requiring minimal air or land targets but larger stops have much more targets but only need to be cleared once but have much more resistance. A lot of fun, the best game of its type on the platform although the only one.
I was never a big fan of WWII shooters but when I played this it changed my mind very quickly. One standout was the squad controls, with groups of men in teams you control a few teams and sometimes a tank, this allows you to flank a position or even just lay down some cover fire. The guns work pretty much the same as other shooters but you can't carry a lot of ammo and crosshairs are disables default promoting using iron sights. The graphics are also quite good especially on faces which does an unnervingly good job of characterizing the members of your team. With the best story in this genre it was hard to not enjoy.
Much like the first another excellent game. The story this time around happen during the later events of the last game and explore a bit after all from the perspective of the other commanding officer. This presents the opportunity to show the other side of the same mission from the first game from a whole other perspective, one choice example being where the first team is picking off tanks from a tower while the second hold off the enemy forces at the base. Some new weapons also round out this package. Sometimes a sequel doesn't need to make huge leaps forward.
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