Originally posted by: Modeps
I cant believe that so many people still have Bioshock on their must owns. The game is good don't get me wrong, but its not this revolutionary experience like everyone says. If replayability is what you desire, then Bioshock will, at most, give you three play throughs (if you start on the easiest difficulty, which you shouldn't). While I DID enjoy the experience, I found myself using the same guns and plasmids over and over because they were the most effective. The "choice" aspect really played NO part at all in the overall game which really disappointed me. It's a fairly standard FPS with great environments and magic.
Anyways, Gears of War has to be on my list... I played through it 4 times, once solo, three times coop, and played enough MP that I knew I wasn't good enough. To this day a year later, there are still only a handful of games that match the visuals and intensity of GoW.
Crackdown is on my list because its a long fun time. Sure, the game itself is a bit repetitive in terms of mission objectives (kill the generals then the kingpin three times), but the lightweight RPG elements, combined with some truly entertaining achievements and mini-game style happenings just kept it in my system for a long time.
Orange Box I have not played enough of to say if I'd want it to be in everyone's collection or not. The core game and engine are 3 years old now, and certainly showing age. Portal is incredible, but there is little replay or length... (I beat it in just over 2 hours). The driving elements of Half Life 2 (which I'm working through now) feel more tedious now than they did. In general, I'm enjoying TOB and glad I bought it, and will continue to work through the 3 single player games I have left, but once that's done, I dont see TF2 holding my interest as much as I had hoped. Right now, I'd suggest a rental.
Bioshock is an experience. It's an above average story, in this incredible environment, with interesting characters and weapons and items.
Does it have replayability? Not really - in fact I got a copy used and resold it when I beat it. But when I played it, there was never a point where I felt it was a chore, or that I wanted to stop playing. I really enjoyed the ride - more than I have in most other games. I think that alone is worth experiencing.
The Orange Box is probably my 2nd-favorite 360 game, though I am an ex-PC gamer so I am probably biased. Playing Half Life 2 reminded me what a FPS should be. The first chapter of Episode 2 was more fun to me than all of the Halo games combined. Great storytelling, fun weapons, smart AI, beautiful graphics, and interesting characters.
Portal is incredible. Hands-down. The length of the game is irrelevant - I dare you to find another 360 game with writing as smart and witty as that. Writing aside, the gameplay is something I think every gamer should experience.
TF2 I find to be hit or miss with people. Personally, I love it and can play it forever. I love how it doesn't matter if you are new or a veteran - the perfect balance between classes allows everyone to get involved and never makes you feel like you're a boy among men like other multiplayer FPS's can do - Halo/Gears of War in particular.
My favorite game on the console is Dead Rising. I was late to the party with this, but I somehow managed to avoid any spoilers or anything. Going into the game, all I knew was you were in a mall, there were zombies, and you have to kill them using whatever you can. And that there were timed missions.
The story is phenomenal and engaging, the characters - in particular Frank West - are human and easy to relate to. The game has so many "holy shit" or "wow, this is so badass" moments that it's ridiculous. I think those things make up for the sketchy save system and timed rescue missions and retarded AI. It was, hands down, the most fun I had playing a video game on the 360.
I like Crackdown for its very simplistic sandbox approach at a 3rd-person shooter. Online co-op is done right. Collecting orbs is surprisingly addicting and add to the RPG-lite elements. It's essentially a superhero sim. It's great in small doses, and has a ton of replay value, but there's not much engaging about the "story" or characters, and I think the biggest flaw is that there isn't a single enemy in the game who comes remotely close to being as powerful as you. I think if there was one "arch-nemesis" who could also leap buildings and throw cars - it would be a far more incredibly experience.
My 2, possibly 3 cents.
