Reviews by gamers of the top 40 XBox 360 video games updated monthly.

JANUARY 2008

XBox 360 - Reviews of Top 40 Microsoft X Box 360 Video Games and Console Systems

CLICK ANY PIC OR TITLE TO BUY

Gears of War - Limited Edition XBox 360 Video Game $70

Gears of War: Limited Edition (2006, Xbox 360)

The Good:

- Amazing graphics, delivered without any drops in the frame rate or graphical annoyances such as a lack of V-Sync
- Excellent gameplay
- Solid controls
- Fun Multiplayer
- Online Co-op through Campaign
- Fun and challenging single player
- Nice, varied environments that don't wear on you.
- You'll want to play through campaign more than once
- Co-op is a blast
- Good enemy AI
- Good level design

The Bad:
- Controls take some time getting used to
- Lack of party system in ranked games
- Story feels thin, could have been told better
- Checkpoint placement could use some work
- Lack of online multiplayer modes

The Ugly:
- Squad mate AI in single player is beyond terrible
- Grades and relationships are likely to suffer

Thoughts:

This game is an absolutely amazing experience, but I can understand that it's not for everybody. The violence might turn some off, since this game easily earns its "M" rating. I also know not everyone's a fan of first or third person shooters. However any gamer that doesn't at least give this game a rental is really missing out. Gears of War is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

This game has amazing graphics, addicting gameplay, and is a great online experience. The gameplay does take time getting used to, but once you get the hang of it other shooters will feel like they're missing something. This game also makes really good use of the Xbox 360 controllers rumble capability. The controller will often shake when there are big enemies lurking off-screen or while you're in an intense firefight. It really adds to the immersion factor. 

The Collectors Edition is also a pretty fair value. For ten dollars you get a pretty nice metal tin with a hardcover art book and a special features DVD.

The annoyances are all minor in comparison to the positives. While the fact that you can't play with friends in ranked games is annoying at first, you'll quickly realize that you can't get anything accomplished in multiplayer unless you work with the people around you, which leads to teams of strangers working together extremely well (It's also not that hard to get into a ranked match with your friends, it just takes a little more work than it does in Halo 2). 

There really isn't much of story being told in Gears of War, with most of the cut-scenes only offering snippets of information you'll find yourself lost if you don't read the background information in the manual or the "Destroyed Beauty" art book that comes in the Collectors Edition. The checkpoints also tend to be placed before cut-scenes instead of after them. This works if you're just starting up a saved game from a checkpoint but if you're at a particularly hard part of the game it can get a bit annoying to hear the same dialogue multiple times. 

There are only three multiplayer modes, and they all have killing people as their primary objective. While that's not a bad thing seeing something like a CTF mode would have been nice. Although these could be added in future updates. 

The worst thing about this game though is the Squad mate AI in Campaign mode. Your squad mates are idiots, there's no nicer way to say it. They often don't use cover and don't make any attempt to find cover if they're being shot at. It's often easier to just let them sit there bleeding instead of risking your life trying to save them.

Bottom Line:

One of the best gaming experiences you'll ever have. Something every gamer should experience.

Rating: 10/10

Marvel Ultimate Alliance XBox 360 Video Game $60

I am having an absolute blast with this game. It combines old-school arcade beat-em-up madness with RPGish character advancement, a fantastic story, and let us not forget a roster of some 140 classic Marvel comics characters, 24 or so playable. Then, of course, there is the much-hyped option of creating and naming your own superhero dream team. 

You start out with four heroes of your choice and the more you team these characters up on missions, the more experience and prestige your team gains. This leads you to upgrade your mighty force with stat bonuses and an expanded roster. Cool, cool stuff if you're a fan of comics or superheroes in general. Marvel Ultimate Alliance is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

If you're a wise gamer, you can send some Avengers line-ups or the Fantastic Four, along with a few other "secret" teams into battle together and receive combat bonuses as a reward. The story will take you throughout the Marvel Universe to other galaxies, under the sea, and even to the depths of the underworld as you battle the Masters of Evil, an ambitious coalition of supervillains headed by Dr. Doom himself. Sadly, the Hulk and Punisher don't make appearances due to prior licensing contracts (stupid F-ing lawyers!) and it would have been nice to play as the Sub-Mariner, the Vision, or [insert your favorite obscure Marvel hero here], but the playable roster is still an impressive combination of legendary mainstays like Spiderman, Wolverine, and Iron Man and hardcore fan-pleasers like Dr. Strange, Moon Knight, and my pet fave, Deadpool. 

Heck, even the cosmic power of the Silver Surfer is yours to command. Fans of the "X-men Legends" games will find the gameplay more than a little familiar (see: nearly identical) and will find some favorites from those games playable as well, but with some new tricks. You gotta love Colossus picking up enemies and using them to club their comrades; that's just good times all around. 

There are also interactive segments, mini-games if you will, that are pretty fun and look cool as hell. Mr. Fantastic running over psychotic clowns in a bumper car springs immediately to mind; then there's that game of old-school "Pitfall" you play in Murderworld... Plenty to do in this game. You'll also earn several unlockable (and upgradeable!) alternate costumes for each hero and solo (or "comic") training missions for the playable heroes in the game if you can hunt down their discs. 

Some of the cutscenes look rather unpolished and the voice acting is spotty at best, but it's still fun to hear your heroes' banter during battle (Deadpool, unsurprisingly, even has wisecracking as one of his special powers) and the graphics during gameplay are a massive improvement over "X-Men Legends". Online multiplayer also looks to be a big draw this time out. I haven't tried it out yet, but from what I've heard there is 4-player cooperative where everyone shares and shares alike, and competitive, where your butt-kicking statistics are tracked for bragging rights and to the winner go the spoils. 

You can even play the comic missions with one player as the fearless hero and the rest of the players controlling the hordes of enemies. The fun just keeps on coming. This appears to be one of those games where, even after you've beaten it, you simply can't wait to start it over and play through it in a different way. 

Personally, I'm relishing every action-packed second and whether you're an average gamer who loves to mash buttons and kick butt, a hardcore comic geek looking for an epic adventure featuring your favorite heroes, an RPG fan who enjoys lots of customization, or just a person looking for a game you can enjoy with your friends at home or online this is that game. 

Click the pic above, buy it, own it, love it.

Call of Duty 3 XBox 360 Video Game $60

The single player campaign is somewhat of a mixed bag compared to its predecessor, Call of Duty 2. However, if you are mainly interested in this game for its multiplayer features, you will find Call of Duty 3 a very worthy purchase.

I've played through the single player campaign and spent quite a few hours playing the multiplayer. I did have more fun with COD2's single player, but COD3 single player was still a blast. You still get that non stop action, with tons of soldiers around you that give you the feeling you are just another soldier among many, and not Rambo who's going to kill everyone yourself, but still makes you feel that you are making a big difference in the struggle.

I did wish there were a couple more scenarios where you operate the tanks. There are quite a few scenarios where you drive a jeep. They are pretty ho hum. Feels like the jeep is on rails. I think COD2 had a better balance and quality of vehicle missions. Call of Duty 3 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

Now for many FPS shooter fans, the single player is just an introduction to the main attraction, the multiplayer. And this is worth the price of admission. I've been playing online shooters for over a decade now, and COD3 online has been one of the most fun. With 24 people in a game, it really does feel like a war, not just 2 squads going against each other.

The classes seem pretty balanced and each offer their own unique gameplay. It's rewarding to revive fallen players and have them thank you. It feels good to pop a cap in a players head from many yards away as he's rushing for your flag. It feels nice to blow up a tank with the bazooka, as well as seeing another player get blown up by a mine you placed around your base. Lot's of variety will bring longevity to the game.

I have rarely experienced lag or disconnections. The maps are well designed and are just the right size, and so far the online community seems great. Definitely far less immature gamers than you'll find in Halo 2.

Bottom line is, if you're mainly interested in the multiplayer, you can't go wrong with this game.

F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon XBox 360 Video Game $60

Okay let me go on record as saying I LOVE this game so far and I would have to agree that it does remind you of Condemned or Half-Life 2 both of which I owned, loved and got lots of hand cramps playing. 

First off let me say that this is not a run and gun type of game and if that is what you are looking for may I suggest Call of Duty? But if you are in the mood for something scary, methodical and fun I STRONGLY suggest this game. The game is meant to be slow and methodical because that adds to the F.E.A.R. factor. Let's face it running around shooting and blasting everything in sight does not a scary game make. F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

On to the review:

Graphics - 4.5 out of 5 - while it is not great in comparison to SC: DA or FN3 it does rank high in the graphics category. I think they could be a tad bit better in some areas though. I don't think anyone will be disappointed with the graphics though unless you were hoping to see Gears of War type graphics.

Sound - 5 out of 5 - Scary! Scary! Scary! Really nuff said there...but voice acting and background music/sounds are some of the best I've heard.

Controls - 5 out of 5 - Controls like your standard 1st person shooter nothing new here, except maybe the addition of the slow motion button which works great I might add.

Gameplay - 5 out of 5 - Okay this is where the game absolutely TAKES off!!! Like I stated before the Slow-Mo is a nice touch and will add to the Gameplay. But what really stands out is how challenging the enemies can be. They will duck in to rooms and behind cover to avoid you snuffing them out and some will even try to flank you while you are concentrating on a certain direction of fire. This by itself to me sets this game above the rest. No enemies are going to come charging you without one of his buddies laying down some suppressing fire. So be ready to use the SLOW-MO button.

Story - 4 out of 5 - I have just started this game about 25% thru I think but so far the story is just okay, I honestly hope it will get better, as I have never played this game on PC, so I don't know what to expect.

I will now say that I am a big 1st person shooter fan anyway so this review may come off somewhat bias. I tried to be as unbiased as possible, but I honestly can not imagine anyone NOT liking this game once they started playing (Esp. if you like a good FPS). 

Also let me say that I play my XBOX360 on a 32" Samsung HD TV so when I rate the graphics that is all I have to go by, so I cannot honestly tell anyone how good the graphics look on a regular TV. I can't imagine they would be that much worst though.

WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 XBox 360 Video Game $60

Amazing game that should be checked out by every wrestling fan.

The new gameplay is fantastic and the graphics are awesome. Story mode is kind of crazy if you don't win or challenge for the title. By that I mean Candice Michelle uses a magic wand and turns you into a Diva. I know it sounds lame, but it was actually kind of funny when you had Big Visc coming on to you. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

1. Previous WWE games (by THQ) on the XBox have been terrible. But at least they had custom soundtrack options for your created wrestler's entrance. So why did they leave that out in Smackdown vs. Raw 07 on the Xbox 360? Even Rumble Roses(360) lets you use custom theme songs.

2. Almost the same commentary in this game as SvsR 06. They just say a few different things about certain Superstars.

3. Am I wrong when I say less moves? Granted they added an awesome way to use power bombs and Samoan drops, but there is a lot of moves from the last game that got cut out it seems like; and I even unlocked all the moves.

4. Create a Superstar feature is great, but with one minor problem. That is the voice options for Season mode are a thousand times worse than the voice options in 06. That's saying something cause the 06 options were terrible.

5. I had a glitch that whenever I edited my Superstar's appearance some of his moves would set to a default and I would have to keep changing them. If that happens to you then just create a character that you won't use, but give them a move set. Whenever you want to edit your superstar's appearance, after you're done go into create a move and then just Auto Set your move set from that created character you won't use.

Despite these flaws the game is great and if you like the last one you will love this.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent XBox 360 Video Game $60

As a long-time Splinter Cell fan who has owned and enjoyed all of the previous Splinter Cell titles, I eagerly anticipated this latest release. Unfortunately, I have been highly disappointed.

The graphics are improved over the last version, but not substantially. I appreciate that the game designers realized that the game's superb graphics were lost in previous versions, because you had to spend most of your time in night-vision mode and not able to appreciate them. In this iteration, you can creep around the dark and still see around you, without night vision.

The game play and storyline, however, are just not as good as the previous games. As well, the game is extremely buggy, as any visitor to the Ubisoft message boards will quickly deduce. While the online gameplay is fun, I am disappointed in Ubisoft's reliance on online patches. I have owned the game for a week after its release, and already it has downloaded two software patches. Yet problems persist. 

In my case, the game freezes at the beginning of the third level and there is no way to get past it. I can cross my fingers and hope that Ubisoft updates the problem soon, but I am disappointed that I spent big bucks on a game that only lets me play two levels. I can't help but think that Ubisoft rushed the game out the door without checking its quality, relying on its ability to patch it later. Splinter Cell Double Agent is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

If you are new to the Splinter Cell series and own an Xbox 360, I'd recommend that you pick up the Xbox version of "Chaos Theory" instead. It's cheaper, the graphics and online play are great, and it will work on your Xbox 360. 

Avoid this disappointing title until several months from now. Hopefully, by then, the price for this buggy product will reflect its true value, and some of the bugs will have been fixed.

Viva Pinata Launch Edition XBox 360 Video Game $50

In Viva Pinata you have inherited a garden in a fantasy world populated by living piñatas and an assortment of odd characters. Your mission is to build your garden to attract piñatas to live there. Everything you grow in your garden, including the piñatas, vegetables, flowers, and trees, can be sold for chocolate coins. 

You can use the coins to buy more seeds and grow more plants or to otherwise improve your garden. Viva Pinata is like a cross between Pokemon and The Sims and virtual pets, but I found that the result is greater than the sum of its parts!

This is a sandbox game of the best sort. You can make whatever decisions you want to and your garden can look however you want. You have the ability to dig ponds, grow grass, build houses for your piñatas, and all sorts of other activities that I am still discovering several hours into the experience. The decisions you make about how your garden develops will determine the kind of piñata who want to live there. 

The open-ended nature of the game is its best feature, and it really makes you feel like you are in control of the game's environment. The feeling of empowerment that kids receive playing Viva Pinata is enhanced by the excitement of constantly finding new things to do and play with. Viva Pinata is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

I am impressed that a game that is so easy for kids to pick up is also so complex. My daughter is nine and was familiar with the controls and basic concepts within a half-hour. Yet the underlying concepts of the game are complicated. 

The skills I see her working on in this game primarily have to do with resource management, which as we adults know is critical for daily life. You have a limited amount of space for your garden (just like in real life), yet if you are not organized in your approach then the garden will quickly become a place of chaos. Kids will also learn the concepts of working to make money and how to budget for the next big item they need to improve their garden.

This looks like a game for kids, but it will suck an adult into its world just as easily. I couldn't wait for my kids to go to sleep the first night so I could start on my own garden. Time is greatly accelerated in the game, and the result is that you are very busy - you may suddenly look up from the game and see that a few hours have passed in the real world almost as quickly. 

The piñata are just the right amount of cute so that they are fun to watch, not annoying. There is no lull in the action for at least a few hours, at which time you may have been able to hire some helpers to take off some of the pressures of a big garden, such as watering and gathering your sellable items. This too is a good introduction to kids of the concept of people management. Lots of times you have to tell your helpers what to do, rather than just letting them do their own thing. Otherwise, their priority list is typically different from yours and those plants that you just planted may die because your helper was busy watering something less important.

Viva Pinata has way too much to offer to cover it all in such a short review. The environment is incredibly well done, from the sounds to the graphics. The game play is very addictive. Playing Viva Pinata actually got me excited to go out and do lawn work in the back yard! 

For parents wondering if this game is suitable for their kids, I will say that I am picky about what I let my kids watch and play and there is nothing here which offends me. There are all sorts of euphemisms around breeding piñatas (they call it "romancing") that sound very innocent but will make the adult chuckle. It is very tastefully done. And there is no doubt that your kids will be using their brains a lot more while playing this game than while playing the typical platform-style kids game. 

This is exactly the kind of game I was looking for to provide my kids with an enriching, non-violent video game experience. If Viva Piñata is an indication of the future of kids video games then the future is very promising.

Need for Speed Carbon XBox 360 Video Game $56

I finished the game a mere 8 hours after purchasing it. May be more fun online but the storyline part of the game is way too short. And it seems as the higher you get the worse your car's handling becomes. Blacklist was ten times better and Underground 2 was 5 times better. 

There are a decent amount of cars and customization but the gameplay is really lost in this one. The idea for Carbon Canyon was good but I find that there are certain aspects of the canyon that are just stupid. Need for Speed Carbon is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

If you skip a race and come back to it later they still have the same car and if you are driving a Lamborghini you can not overtake them. And they never crash off the cliff and you cannot make them crash. 

When playing in co op mode half the time in the upper levels my team-mates cost me races by stopping in front of me or by taking short cuts that get me hit by other cars or the short cut slows me down. The game is only 10% of what it should be.

Phantasy Star Universe XBox 360 Video Game $57

Like many, after playing Phantasy Star Online, I became obsessed. I was anticipating this sequel a lot, and it wasn't a let down.

Once you get past the BORING first chapter (I felt like I was reading a book), it opens up the all so familiar world of Phantasy Star. This game has 20 chapters, and I am looking forward to beating every one of them. So far it takes about an hour per chapter, but I imagine this time will increase, otherwise this will be a short game. Phantasy Star Universe is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

The AI isn't all too great. You get partners during the first chapter, and often times they will just stand around and not do anything. Obviously, if you've played PSO, you know the game isn't known for its graphics, but more for it's gameplay, which is why I gave it a 4 overall. It has an OK storyline, and is overall an entertaining game to play.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas XBox 360 Video Game $55

Combine the popular "Dynasty Mode" and customization options of sports games with the great take-cover functions of Gears of War, and the weaponry and tactical realism of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, and you have Rainbow Six: Vegas, probably the most complete shooter to date.

Let me jump to the custom character section right off: this is SICK. Using your Xbox Vision Camera, you can create an uncanny shaved head version of yourself to use in the game, and online. You can then customize your weapons, rated on accuracy, range, and damage, as well as your shoulder, chest, arm and leg armor, which force you to choose between mobility and protection. You can choose to have a super-zooming rifle scope on your pistol or rifle, or a laser sight, or more. All prettied and ready to go?

Playing any number of games, either in single player or online or multi-player will earn you experience points and medals. The more points you receive, the higher your rank (you start off as a Private Second Class), allowing you access even more customizable items. Rainbow Six Vegas is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

To the gameplay: intuitive and useful, RS: Vegas doesn't throw in any useless controls. You can single click to put a silencer on your weapon, switch to night or thermal vision, or invert yourself upside down on a rappelling rope. You can look inside rooms with a snake cam before you enter, fire blindly around a corner, or detonate explosives from a distance.

The AI is superb; you can run the same mission three times in a row and never have the "enemies" in the same areas, or in the same amounts. If you faced four guys in the opening building the first time around, you might face two guys, with the other two sneaking around to flank you on your second try.

Adopting the Gears of War health system, where you take non-permanent damage that instead impairs your condition and requires taking cover to heal, works wonders for this game...you can't just bum rush enemies guns ablaze, because they're bound to cap you with a headshot.

It's a great game for the more patient sort, and might take some adjusting by those recently spoiled on Halo 2 or Gears of War, in terms of aggressive play. My only complaint (as one spoiled by the latter) is the lack of a run button to cover open ground, but hey, it forces me to take better cover.

Highly recommended, especially for the online co-op option.

Tony Hawk's Project 8 XBox 360 Video Game $60

Yes this is the 8th entry in the Tony Hawk series. Does it actually do anything new? Yes it does.

New Features: The nail the trick mode is simply the best addition and I'm surprised no one has thought of this before now. Also new this version is the bails, which are used for some challenges (bail and break this many bones or bail and rack up this much of a hospital bill). This feels like a copy of Amped 3, but works semi well and adds some new variety to the series. Also new is the classic mode integrated to the story, which is my favorite new feature. Tony Hawk's Project 8 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

Graphics: The graphics are amazing, specially when you compare it to Tony Hawk American Wasteland. The graphics are smooth and I have not seen any slow down.

Sounds: The sound is good and the track list is varied and good. Out of 50 some odd tracks I think I knew about 4 bands. In a way I wish they would have thrown in a few more well known bands, but the unknowns (to me anyway) are decent and a few tracks actually made me want to look up the artist.

Character creation: You pick from 5 or 6 basic models and each then has options to modify them. There are a few things I would have added, like being able to change my guys hair color for the hair I chose instead of it only adding highlights to the black or being able to change the shirt under the leather vest I wanted to wear. But over all I think the creation should make most fans happy.

The cons: Create a trick was removed (IMO replaced with the much better nail the trick), create a park mode was also removed...but I never used it. The graffiti portions found in American Wasteland were also removed...but I found that to be boring and a waste of time anyways. 

My main negative comment to make about this game is that it has some collision detection problems (I've gotten stuck near a wall and had to switch to walking to get away) and the VERY unrealistic bails. It annoys me when I'm trying to get a line or beat a challenge and bail and literally fly all the way across the section I'm in...It's a bail, not a superman impression... I really hope they patch the bails to make them more realistic, because currently it's too awkward half the time to be fun, it's unrealistic...it's not even remotely funny at the minute.

Overall: The game is loads of fun (hence the 5 stars). If you are a fan, click the pic above and pick this one up it will remind you of the good old days. I gave this a 4 overall because of the few issues that diluted the game a bit for me. It is still a fun game that you will spend hours playing despite the few problems.

Superman Returns XBox 360 Video Game $60

I recall that before this game came out there were talks of its development and screenshots popping up like mad on game sites which really stirred up alot excitement and anticipation. The question was out there. Could this finally be THE superman game we've all been waiting for that will do the character justice? I mean after all wouldn't it make sense to have the ability to do the things superman can do now with the substantially powerful next generation consoles we have the choice of buying. Seems like it would make sense right? WRONG!

We don't have any epic feeling of Superman in this game the way we should have for a character of his proportions. There is no flying up beyond the atmosphere and looking down on earth like one would expect to see from the really cool scene in the movie. 

His flying speed is somewhat tame even when he is cruising at the fastest speed you can fly and it almost altogether lacks grace and fluidity. Also Superman is very weak in this game as well and too many times I find myself getting knocked around by a bunch of robots like a 5th grade chess team MVP does by school bullies.

A few things I'll touch on regarding the gameplay and why this game totally fails at what could have been a huge success. The gameplay is severely sloppy and unsatisfying for the most part simply because of the lack of control you have over the camera and aiming ability used for hitting enemies. Superman Returns is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

Also the attack moves employed in the game never really let you think you are truly controlling superman and are almost like giving commands and watching a punch take place after the button was pressed. The graphics while at times are obviously next-gen are more often unfortunately fairly unimpressive. The city looks nice some moments, but it's hard to justify or balance out the fact that superman himself on the game looks very robotic and angular.

Overall I would not click the pic above and buy this game and would only maybe rent it if I were allotted a free rental. EA's developers for this one really left much to be desired and I really can't understand why they fell short on this game on so many different levels with all the processing power of the 360. 

Tedious and unoriginal mission objectives, absolutely no story progress, boring and redundant level up playtime, and absolutely annoying boss battles make this game a complete nightmare. It's absolutely horrible that EA is only able to give us basically what will be a Spiderman 3 game with the looks and gameplay that won't have any edge over the earlier generation console versions.

Sonic the Hedgehog XBox 360 Video Game $57

Let me start this review by saying two things: a) I never write reviews and b) I cannot stand when developers try to leverage brand to sell things, and then don't back up products with any substance.

In this case, the product is so bad, that I felt compelled to save other gamers the waste of time and money by writing this. Also I felt like developers knew that Sonic had a long lived and decent brand, and that they could push anything through the stores. 

As I described it to my gaming friends, Sonic for Xbox 360 is "offensively bad". Sonic the Hedgehog is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

To make it simple:

- Bad graphics (not very distinguished from Dreamcast version, and falls way short of what other 360 games have to offer)

- Bad Play control (cannot customize controls, terrible camera angles)

- Bad Music (thankfully Xbox allows you to play it from other sources)

- Abysmal story and cinema cuts (you'd think they are addressing an audience that is 3 years old, not to mention that Sonic is totally anachronistic to what would be a decent Final Fantasy setting)

- Super buggy (at least this part of it is mildly entertaining, if not laughable)

Star Trek Legacy XBox 360 Video Game $60

Don't worry, in Star Trek: Legacy you won't have to divert power through secondary ODN conduits or spout other technobabble. Instead, in this tactical combat game you are tasked with commanding Federation starships in glorious battle on the Xbox 360. (Multiplayer will let you control ships from other factions, such as those of the Klingons.) 

Legacy is also a game that ties together the five Star Trek television series, so you see ships from every era of the franchise. 

Legacy has a linear mission structure, which means you progress from one mission to another automatically. 

In each era you have enough time to explore the different ships and get a feel for the era through the different mission styles and gameplay objectives. While each era is part of the greater storyline, they each have their own distinct "flavor," owing largely to the capabilities of the ships you are captaining.

As for length about 15 hours of gameplay in the campaign. That's pretty evenly broken up amongst the eras. So it's roughly five hours in each era. Star Trek Legacy is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

The way you captain your fleet changes over the course of the campaign. Early Federation ships are much different than the ones we came to know in the TNG era. The NX-01, while a wonderful ship, was largely unshielded and didn't pack the same punch that later ships did. During the Enterprise era, you may not be best suited to running into a firestorm, phaser banks blazing and screaming Klingon curses. 

You quickly learn it's wise to take advantage of the rich space environment and use nebulas, planets, and stationary defenses to your advantage. In his day, Captain Archer was hunted with only his cunning to protect him! As you progress, the style of play evolves. You have more and more powerful ships and weaponry at your disposal, but remember, the enemy has those too.

The 60-plus ships in Legacy are true to canon and, in the case of new ship designs, are respectful to the Star Trek universe. 

When you roll up in your Galaxy class, you get the feeling that it's big enough to eat your friend's Bird of Prey. Plus, the Borg are just freaking huge.

If you get hit in a certain area, it shows damage. As the enemies unload on your hull, phaser burns appear; smoke, plasma, and fire is thrown about; and chunks start to fly off revealing the underlying structures of the ship. If you happen to nail one of the nacelles, it blows off the ship, making the ship unable to create a stable warp field, thereby effectively trapping it in your reaches. When a ship is destroyed, it breaks apart into random chunks, letting off multiple stage explosions and unleashing the great power within these ships.

After (and even during) battle you can choose specific systems on your ship to repair via a simple interface. Major damage has to be done at a nearby starbase, however. It's kind of hard to replace half your hull plating and both nacelles while lazily drifting in space. You can try, but Scotty will get really pissed off.

Ships, for the most part, are not outwardly modified with upgrades. Upgrades are mostly internal components, boosting stats, weapon arrays and ranges, and system capabilities. Ship registrations and names are set by the game as per the storyline.

Trek "strangers" can expect an exciting, tactical space combat game. It's really the first on the Xbox 360. The game teaches people to embrace their inner Klingon and that it's OK to admit you know a little more about Star Trek than you let on.

Eragon XBox 360 Video Game $60

Enter a world of dragons, destiny and epic adventure to fulfill the dragon-rider legacy.

Eragon is an epic fantasy-adventure centering on a young farm boy named Eragon. Based on the best-selling novel and feature film, the boy's destiny is revealed with the help of a dragon.

Eragon, now a Dragon Rider, is swept into a world of magic and power, discovering that he alone has the power to save -- or destroy -- an Empire. 

Features action-filled combat-RPG with touch screen spell casting and unique dual screen attack mode. Gamers can also sharpen their magic and dragon riding skills in unlockable mini-games.

FIFA Soccer 07 XBox 360 Video Game $56

I recently traded up to the 360, and one of the first games I always buy for any system is a soccer game (maybe even two). Since Goal! for NES, I have been addicted to soccer video games. 

I decided to click the pic above and pre-order FIFA 07 since PES will not be out in the US until January. I have to say I am a bit disappointed. The graphics are great, and the physics are an upgrade from FIFA past, but the mechanics and playability are still not there for the EA submission to the soccer world. I would still find playing Winning Eleven on XBox better. FIFA Soccer 07 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

The game plays very slow, and does not grab the attention and the excitement of the older titles (one example is the way players react, or in this case don't react to passes). I will be ordering PES when it comes out, and I will probably trade in FIFA when I do. In the meantime, I will play around with FIFA some more in the hopes that it addicts me like other soccer games in the past. Beautiful game, but the gameplay needs more excitement

Saint's Row XBox 360 Video Game $50

So long as you don't include originality as part of your game evaluation process, Saint's Row is a stellar, stellar piece of programming. It fixes five of the six problems with the GTA series, and offers tons of little "next-gen" improvements that make it more palatable for older gamers. Saint's Row is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

1) Graphics: The draw distances and general graphical ... "cruddiness"... of the PS2 (and even the XBOX) versions of GTA are a thing of the past. The game looks great. There's some pop-up with long streets, but the explosions, character models, and polish is simply a vast improvement. I actually thought San Andreas looked worse than Vice City, so this is almost a two-step improvement for me. The explosions, weather and lighting effects, and reflections are really incredible when you consider the lack of loading times.

2) Auto-Aiming: It's gone. I'm not quite used to the borrowed FPS style yet, but anything would be better than the broken auto aiming feature of GTA. It shan't be missed.

3) Save Scheme: No longer am I limited to the GTA "one save per half an hour of playing" madness. Hallelujah. I can't devote large chunks of time to a game, and if I can't save frequently, I lose interest fast.

4) Restarting Missions. Recovering your weapons and restarting missions from the beginning (actually, before the beginning) was asinine in GTA. It wastes time and annoys gamers without really upping the difficulty. Also won't be missed.

5) On-line. Haven't had a chance to play with my own copy yet, but watched someone else play. It might suck, it might be great, but at least it's there.

6) Timed, pizza-delivery missions. They haven't really reared up yet, but hopefully these annoying time-wasters are gone. We'll see.

The main problems I see with Saint's Row I *suspect* will be solved with Xbox live "updates"/purchases. It took me an hour to realize that there were tons of cars, but no motorcycles, etc. I have a feeling we'll have to pay for the privilege of flying a chopper or driving a boat. That will suck. It better be cheap, because the lack of these vehicle options doesn't feel like a game limitation, but like a conscious programming choice.

The story seems pretty derivative, but I'm not far enough along to really evaluate it.

I can't really see myself ever playing any current version of GTA ever again. After only a few hours of Saint's Row you realize that GTA has too many annoying idiosyncrasies that should have been fixed long ago.

For fans of the sandbox genre, this is the game to click the pic above and buy, and may be for quite some time.

Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy Xbox 360 Video Game $50

After the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in theaters we got Lego Star Wars; a game that was a lot of fun to play simply because it emulated the movies rather well with all the characters being made entirely from Legos. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy is even better for the simple fact of nostalgia. Any Star Wars fan will enjoy this.

You'll begin the game in the Cantina in Mos Eisley. This is the hub, and from there you can go into any of the three episodes and play through them. At the start you'll only be able to choose A New Hope, but after completing the first chapter, you can choose The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi. As you go through the three episodes you'll view some of the most memorable moments of the movies acted out entirely with Legos. These moments aren't only memorable, but they're given a hilarious charm. These moments are also from the actual original versions of the movies as well. In other words, Han Solo DOES shoot first. Lego Star Wars II the Original Trilogy is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

The game is visually striking. Seeing your favorite characters from the original Star Wars films as Legos is quite a treat. Not only do you get to have nostalgia with Star Wars, but with Legos as well. Even better are the hilarious antics of most of the scenes. On the XBOX360 it looks especially sharp. Far better than the other consoles, especially because it'll actually focus in on objects (far off objects actually look blurry, for example). To benefit the nostalgia even more is how John Williams' classic score accompanies each and every level of the game. For a Star Wars fan this game is the ultimate nostalgia.

As you play through each of the classic episodes, you'll be in control of several characters. Not all at once, but you'll end up having to switch. At times you may only have two characters, at others there may be as many as seven in your party at once. Your characters, depending on who they are, also have their own unique skills they can use. Jedi for example, can double jump and use the force. Those who wield blasters have a grappling hook that allows them to ascend to accessible platforms. The droids can open up special doors for you. 

Other characters, like the Jawas and Ewoks will be able to go into vents and access areas the other characters can't. In all actuality, they're really no different than their counterparts in the original Lego Star Wars. Also like the original Lego Star Wars, you'll constantly have to switch between characters in order to get through each and every area. You'll have to switch to R2-D2 to open up a door, for example. More than one person can play at a time, which is also really cool. You can also beat up your allies if you wish, and they respawn instantly. The gameplay isn't completely the same, though, there have been some small tweaks made here and there.

The additions to the gameplay aren't huge, but they are welcome. As you progress through levels all your characters may be able to assemble certain materials together to form a droid to help them fight. In the original Lego Star Wars this ability was only given to the Jedi, but here everyone can do it. There are also moments when you'll have to dress up as a stormtrooper in order to gain access through certain doors. You'll also be given the chance at some point to dress up as a bounty hunter and you'll be able to use Thermal Detonators. 

Characters also have their own unique abilities. Chewie, for example, can rip a stormtroopers arm right out of his sockets. All of these are welcome additions, and that's not even all there is to the gameplay. From time to time you'll be in command of vehicles. Landspeeders, the Millennium Falcon, the X-Wing and more as you take on some of the more memorable moments from the film, like destroying the death star.

It will probably only take you five hours at the very least to complete the story mode of all three episodes. However, Lego Star Wars II is full of extras. Each time you dispatch an enemy, whether it be in story mode or not, you'll earn money. You can also destroy certain objects and obtain money. You can use the money you gain to purchase cheats and hidden characters. 

Each time you get a new character they'll walk around in the hub, and you can switch to them. "Purchasing" characters isn't the only way to get them. You could easily just use one in story mode and you've got him or her. You'll also get hidden characters if you've got save data from the original Lego Star Wars. Just unlocking all the characters takes a lot of time.

The importance of unlocking characters is so you can play through certain aspects of the free play mode. There are places that in story mode the default characters couldn't reach. These hidden characters might be able to reach it, though, and so you will find yourself playing through levels again. The good news is these levels are so much fun that playing through a second, third or even fourth time is no hassle at all.

Free mode also offers a way for you to customize what a character looks like. You could put Yoda's head on Luke Skywalker's body, for example. This is mostly just a lot of fun to mess around with. Some combinations are just all out crazy. You could, for example, put Chewbacca's head on Leia's body from when she's wearing the slave outfit in Return of the Jedi. This really doesn't do a whole lot for the gameplay as a whole, but it is quite fun to mess around with, and the combinations are endless.

The only real problem with this game that I can really think of is that there is little, if any, challenge at all. Each time you die you respawn right where you left off and you have infinite lives. There's really no such thing as a game over. If you die the only penalty is that you lose money. However, the sheer fun factor of the game is enough to do away with that, and still make Lego Star Wars II a treat.

Lego Star Wars II surpasses the original in just about everyway. It's a Star Wars game for the classic trilogy done with instant perfection. If you love the original Star Wars movies, you'll definitely want this game.

NBA Live 07 XBox 360 Video Game $35

After playing Live for the 360, it made me fall asleep, it was boring and while the graphics are excellent, it just has this weird vibe. The shots do not come off right, the shooting animation is so slow that you can have a wide open guy on the wing and by the time he gets up and into the air and release the shot, a defender can make up serious ground and block it. Against the computer, I had J. J. Reddick and Turkoglu blocked 5 times apiece by Mourning and Shaq coming from the basket on what were wide open shots. There are also a ton of missed dunks, even Howard missed several. It is hard to pull off three's as well, since their guaranteed bricks.

The point guard and fatigue issue also sucks. The comp team never subs regardless of sliders. And their point guard scores 90% of the points. I played vs. Milwaukee and Maurice Williams scored practically every basket. This occurred regardless of what level. Edit player is also a joke; I cannot edit the height, but at least I can edit the number and position. The rosters were supposed to be as of Aug. 24th, but where is Turiaf? And why is Battie a FA, he was never renounced or waived!

The press box angle is actually not bad. I dunno why Live insists on having their players pass in unconventional ways, things like hook-shot style passes, behind the backs, even though the situation does not need those. The substitution is also clunky; you can do the sub using the D-pad during a break in the action, but by the time you select the player you are bringing in, the game resumes leaving you with the same people on the court. NBA Live 07 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

The timeouts are also timed, as if you call a 20, there is a 20 second clock and so on. But you can always press a button to continue. The arches on the shots are off as well. Who shoots a high-archer in the paint? There are no retros unless they're unlockable. The courts look good but they don't have mascots, so it seems kinda dead. That should be the new name of this series. NBA DEAD 07.

I don't blame Mac for signing an NBA 2K7 game during Live's launch party. He knows what game is better!

Dead Rising XBox 360 Video Game $54

Capcom's Dead Rising stands as one of the most fun titles to come out for the Xbox 360 since its initial release in late 2005. From the makers of the Resident Evil series for past console systems, Capcom has taken a new approach in adding to their growing library of zombie titles. Dead Rising is a semi-free roaming action-horror game which takes the classic premise of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead --- survivors trapped in the mall teeming with flesh-eating zombies --- and makes a fun and exciting game.

The game takes place in Willamette, Colorado, population 53,594 where nothing exciting happens in town outside of visiting the local mega-mall which seems to dominate the entire town. Dead Rising uses a time-based mission system and the intro cutscene in the beginning of the game hints at this. You play as freelance photojournalist Frank West, who never fails to mention that he's covered riots, wars, and all sorts of dangerous events, who gets a tip from an unknown source that something big is happening in little old Willamette. 

The intro both introduces Frank West, flying over the town to bypass the military blockade and cordon of the town, and the controls for the photography mechanics of the gameplay. It's in this hands-on tutorial part of the intro that we see a bird's eye view of the crisis that has befallen Willamette. From there you're dropped onto the roof of the Willamette Mall where you meet one of the few survivors of the town. The rest of the game moves on from there at a very frantic pace. Dead Rising is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

It's the game itself that shines for Dead Rising. Despite a save system that could've been done much better (more on that later), Dead Rising's gameplay mechanics has quite a bit in common with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto games. From the get-go the player as Frank can just go down into the mall and begin killing zombies left and right, and everyway from Monday through Sunday. All manner of items stocked in the mall walkways and stores can be picked up and used either as a weapon, a change in clothing attire, and/or food. This is where Dead Rising will get most of its mention for being fun. When Capcom programmers decided to allow the player to use anything that could be picked up as a weapon they meant it. 

It's been reported in many sites and gaming publications that there's over 250 useable items to be picked up as a weapon. These items range from the gore-inducing lawnmower (an homage to Peter Jackson's Dead Alive zombie film), chainsaws, and excavators (a garden tool that has one of the bloodiest and funniest killing animation) to the ridiculously funny use for CDs, shower-heads, novelty masks, teddy bears and skateboards. There's also the more traditional weapons such as a pistol, shotgun, submachine gun, machine-gun, swords and axes. Being a game developed by Capcom, Dead Rising has more than a few wink-wink acknowledgement to other Capcom games such as Mega Man and Resident Evil.

One could spend all their time just killing zombies, but the strict time-based missions in the game might make zombie-killing take a backseat to actually solving the mystery of whats caused the zombie outbreak in the town. There's two types of missions Frank could try solving. 

There's the mandatory Case missions which deal directly with him trying to solve the mystery with-in the 72-hour time limit. Each case mission must be solved in a linear order to open up the next case. 

The second set of missions are named Scoops and act more as sub-missions that can be taken on and accomplished or ignored. They really don't affect the availability of further case missions. What they do give Frank are prestige points that can go a long way to leveling him up to gain more skills and abilities. Most scoop missions usually entail finding scattered survivors within the mall and leading them back to the safety of the security office near the roof. 

Some survivors could be armed with extra weapons Frank carries and defend themselves when attacked, and some survivors are so incapacitated that Frank must carry them to safety. While carrying a survivor Frank will be unable to use a weapon so this type of mission usually takes several tries before the player figures out the best path to safety. Like most game AI, the survivors need a bit of constant attention from the player to make sure they're actually following you and not stopping every second to fight the closest zombie. It's not a gamebreaker but the survivor AI could've used a bit more tweaking to make them follow much better.

As mentioned above Frank can level up to a level cap of 50 by acquiring prestige points (called PP in the game). Prestige points can be acquired through many different ways within the game. Taking pictures of different nature and quality will give Frank prestige points as high as several tens of thousand. Shots with poses that follow a certain genre gives more points than those that are just generic poses. Such genres that shots can be taken of are shots of brutality, horror, outtakes, drama and erotica. 

Erotica shots are pretty much just photographs taken of survivors and zombies (a bit creepy) in sexually-suggestive poses. Brutality shots are usually pictures where extreme violence and fighting poses are framed and photographed. Horror is pretty much self-explanatory. Drama shots usually involve pictures with survivors and main NPC characters in dramatic poses. Outtakes usually entail photographs taken of survivors and zombies involved in any sort of funny situations. Usually them slipping and falling down or wandering around aimlessly with novelty masks over their heads.

Other ways to gain prestige points will be to finish case missions and scoop missions. The PP reward for finishing part or all of each mission usually ranges from several thousand to as high as 50,000 PP. The high amount of PP reward for taking on and accomplishing these two types of missions go a long way to leveling up Frank. The most fun way of getting PP, though not as much and takes a long time, will be to kill zombies. For every 50 zombies killed Frank gets 500 PP and every time Frank reaches 1000 zombies killed he gains 20,000 PP. It's a much slower path to gaining PP but it's surely the most fun of the three ways.

The main storyline in Dead Rising was actually a very good one. Like most games outside of the role-playing game genre, storylines were usually the weakest of all the games had to offer. In Dead Rising, Capcom was able to create an intriguing storyline that didn't rip-off the Dawn of the Dead story that the game was usually compared to. There are conspiracies, betrayals and just outright weirdness to help tie together the mystery of why Willamette, Colorado has suddenly gone zombiefied and why the U.S. military and government were quick to quarantine the whole area. There's not much that could be said as scary about Dead Rising. 

The game itself leans more towards comedic horror than outright horror. There were some cutscenes and plot developments that were downright creepy and scary, but most of the time you'll just laugh in glee at all the carnage you're causing within the mall. The characters of Frank West and those NPCs he has to deal with in the context of the case missions were pretty well drawn both in animation and personality. As the game progressed and certain characters were put in danger it was hard not to feel saddened by such tragic events. It helps that the voice-acting in Dead Rising was pretty high quality. The spoken dialogue during the cutscenes were pretty well done and one could sense that Capcom wanted to really capture the cinematic tone they were going for with Dead Rising.

Now to the one glaring negative in Dead Rising. The save system in this game could be called unforgiving and that's saying it lightly. The game only allows for one save per memory unit. This means that you can only save the game once if you only have the 360 HDD as your memory unit. This means that once you save over a previous save then that's it. If your current save doesn't give you the chance to finish your current case mission then you pretty much have to start the game over. This would sound terrible if not for one saving grace. Dead Rising allows the player to start the game over with all skills, abilities, levels and PP acquired to be transferred over to the new game. This lessens the impact of having to start the game over. 

It also helps in power-leveling Frank to a level high enough that you can breeze through the case missions. Starting the game over and over with stats and skills included also gives the player a chance to try different methods of solving a case until finding the one that's easiest to do. I know of players who have done nothing but just kill zombies and try on a few case and scoop missions to gain PP to level up then start the game over then repeat the cycle again. This makes the game much easier in the long run, but also takes time.

The graphics in Dead Rising are top-notch and really makes use of the 360's graphical power to put as many zombies on the screen as possible. There's barely any slowdown in frame-rate as the action on the screen gets heavy and crowded. The animation is not on the same level as Bethesda's Oblivion and Tecmo's Dead or Alive 4, but what lacks in near, photorealistic graphics it more than makes up for the high level of figures on-screen. 

The look of the mall itself was also well done. Each store and utilitarian room has their own unique look with most items rendered with enough detail to be recognized as either weapon, sustenance, etc...Dead Rising looks great when played on a HDTV-capable TV or computer monitor. The game itself utilizes Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and each sound has a distinct quality to them that you can tell the difference between an acoustic guitar smashing noisily a zombies head into pulp to one where you use an electric guitar instead. The sound effects of zombie-killing makes great use of all the squishy, gooey, and splatter noise effects horror movies have been well-known for.

Overall, Capcom has created a great game with their action-horror/comedy Dead Rising. With a choice to either play the game in the free-roaming style of Grand Theft Auto to a more time-based, linear mission-style of an action game this game more than makes up for unforgiving save system its developers decided to give it. 

With summer time being the dead zone of new game releases, it's been a breath of fresh air to have a game like Dead Rising to play and take up hours of time before the start of the holiday season. Outside of the save system which keeps this game from reaching excellent status, Dead Rising is a great and fun game that should remain fun to click the pic above and pick up long after the player has finished its main mission.

ENCHANTED ARMS XBOX 360 VIDEO GAME $59

So when i started playing Final Fantasy 13...uh I mean Enchanted Arms, everything was... Seriously, this could easily have been right out of the Final Fantasy vaults. The games look, feel, and sound like a Final Fantasy game, just worse. It's a very beautiful game and when it works it's a lot of fun. The story is some kind of FF reject about somebody's magical arms...well it's dumb so I won't go into it.

Instead of Materia and stuff like that, you get a whole bunch of golems. That's really the main part of the game. There are only six "characters" in the game that you can play at different times. The rest of the time it is a bunch of creatures (golems) which is pretty cool because you have a large variety (40+) of different golems to play with.

The worst part about the game is that for some reason it drives my XBox 360 crazy. After playing for a while it locks up and the XBox says that the disc is dirty and can't be read. It's almost like all those pretty graphics overheat the 360. Therefore, you should save VERY frequently.

Unfortunately there are a couple of long story driven parts with 2-3 very hard battles that don't let you save in the middle and then crash the game when you're done. I got to replay those lovely parts several times until I could get through the cinematics and dialogue to save.

Speaking of dialogue, there is an unusually large amount of completely useless and silly dialogue that slows down the game. Enchanted Arms is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

In the end, if you absolutely love FF games and need a fix since they don't release them on XBox then give it a shot but beware. For everyone else...go play Oblivion again or something.

Samurai Warriors 2 XBox 360 Video Game $45

Okay, everyone disses another Dynasty Warriors knock-off. Samurai Warriors I find to be more entertaining than the DW series, because the characters have more personality, there is more of a sense of flair and entertainment, and the scenery seems slightly more realistic. Although I don't have a HD television, I cannot comment on how optimized to the XBox 360 this is, the graphics are visually improved (ground detail, facial details, effects) and the cut scenes are very impressive CGI wise.

SW2 improves over the first version by ridding lots of annoying elements. No more maze castles... that was the worst. No more archery, a useless function. No more tests. Unfortunately you cannot create your own character because of this. No more obscure powers to level up, instead it is replaced with a fairly straight forward "shop" system where gold accumulated allows you to upgrade your skills, your allies, your steeds and best of all, add powers to your weapons. No more dubious skill trees, and locked skill sets you weren't sure if you needed. 

Also, your character can gain experience well above level 20... in SW1, you could max characters with a few free modes and before they even finished story mode, which was a bit frustrating. There is XBox live support which I haven't tried but seems entertaining, and an odd mini-game board game you can play to win gold... it's pretty clever although annoying in that you can't quit out of it... you have to quit the whole game to leave it, so that was strange. There is room for improvement in a SW3. Samurai Warriors 2 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

The only negatives I can say are the difficulty levels aren't extreme enough. The random captains, ninjas, and other non-bosses seem a lot weaker. Actually the bosses seem fairly weak too. On normal I rarely had to improvise with combos to take anyone down... "x" button mashing will kill just about anyone. Then again, I did level my character up alot in free mode to get some sweet weapons, maybe that effected game play, who knows. Also lost is the "alternate" storylines in SW1 which I liked... choices during battle gave you usually 2 separate outcome trees that you could follow for the major stories... now you have linear stories. 

But with the number of characters you can unlock, the samurai warriors line gives you weeks of gameplay, and I can't say that's true of many titles, let alone any available for the XBox 360. Beggars can't be choosers, and the 360 choices these days are mighty slim. This one is one you'll at least get your monies worth. This is the first game I've bought since Oblivion because of the dearth of games... glad I did.

NBA 2K7 XBox 360 Video Game $50

- I recently snagged this game and immediately played it non stop. The intro is neat but after awhile I wished I could skip it.

- The ridiculous "Kid Pix" retros are still there. They have yet to fix that.

- There are no starting lineup introductions. The halftime show "Stamp Of Approval" is alright but maybe it will be skipped after playing several games.

- The mascot is not stationary this time, it goes around the stands, does stunts, and basically, it's not boring anymore. The cheerleaders/dancers are clones though! It is scary! NBA 2K7 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

- Speaking of scary, the player graphics took a step back, some players look identical, but some are downright freaky. Especially Nowitzki, he looks like a zombie, Ginobili also looks like a weirdo. There are a lot of "generics" used for the rookies. Steve Nash has his long hair in this game, even though he has it shaved recently. Maybe they anticipated it growing back for opening night.

- I like the individual shooting styles. Elton Brand's is not that accurate, but for most of the stars they got it down. Kobe, LeBron, Iverson, Wade, Marion, Allen, and of course Shaq. Some players have generic shooting styles. There are also individual celebrations, but they are not overdone. You can edit any player's shooting style.

- Free throws are kind of hard because of the individual shooting style but you'll get the hang of it. Like Shaq's, he has that hesitation and it really feels like you are controlling him and the way he chucks those bricks. Larry Bird also has his shooting motion.

- The Legends team has changed as well. The Nickel is gone, and so is Barkley and Jordan. In their place comes Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Tim Hardaway. Jeff Hornacek and Iverson are also legends. I find it weird that the PA and announcers don't say several legend's names, just numbers. Payton has a flattop in his legends incarnation, and Shaq is a legend but with 90's West yet the number is #32.

- Announcing team is back - Kevin Harlan and Kenny Smith. For some reason the commentary is still similar to 2K6. It needs to be improved upon. Craig Sager is also there, but he just has canned comments.

- The right stick menu is awkward. If I want to exit, I cannot use the controller's back button. I have to use the right stick and it takes me to the main menu and not the submenu that I was in.

- Yes, there is edit numbers in the game. It won't allow you to assign a player number if you have another player in the same team with that number. Not only can you edit numbers, you can also edit positions, headbands, ratings, and even the player's height - you can make Jameer a 7-footer if you want. Also the shooting animation for any player can be edited, even the generics. It's funny to see Iverson shoot with the Marion animation, or assign the Shaq animation to Boke.

- The shoe color can also be edited.

- There is a create your own team in the game, kinda like the Custom Jammers from NBA Live's past.

- The rosters are as of August 1. The Magic don't have BO in the game but he is a FA. Augustine is nowhere to be found. At least 2K7 has Battie unlike Live. The default starters are Jameer, Reddick, "G", Howard, and Battie.

- Ariza is in the game but the announcers and the PA don't say his name for the third straight year in this series. What's odd is the PA and announcer say the rookie's names (like Reddick.)

- The PA announcer is glitchy. Sometimes he will say the full name, sometimes just the first name, and sometimes just the last name, and sometimes - not at all, just silence.

- The inbounding stupidity is still there, the inbounder will step inbounds before throwing the ball.

- A nitpick, the Spurs baseline logo should say "San Antonio SPURS Basketball" yet this damn game flipped it it says "Basketball SPURS San Antonio." Coyote does not have his name in the back of his jersey, but Clutch does.

- Speaking of mascots, Stuff looks weird, particularly the head. It looks like it's bigger than the body, or something.

- Dwight Howard seems small, I think Joe Johnson is bulkier than him. He also, by default, wears black shoes at home.

- There are several rookies in the game, the Bulls also have Safolosha, and the Lakers have Farmar. Speaking of Lakers, Boke has the new #24 in here.

- The Magic dome is definitely a generic. Phoenix, LAL, LAC, NY (called Knicks Arena), New Orleans Arena, SBC Centre, and Toyota Centre are definitely authentic. There might be more. The scoreboards are all real, however. The Magic's banners only say "Division Champions" and not the year.

- One neat thing about this game is that when you view stats, there is a section called "Scoring Summary" and it has every player who scored and what time they scored. Then you can do a instant replay of that particular score (it keeps it in memory.) You can basically make a highlight reel, but you have to save them individually.

- The overtime stupidity is still there. In OT you don't switch baskets but in this game you switch to the other basically you are gonna be shooting at the hoop from the first half.

- The handoff is also in the game and is very easily picked off by the comp.

- It's hard to pickup a loose ball for some reason. The player gawks at it first and then it hesitates before the animation changes.

- The game defaults every time to auto subs, timeouts, and late game fouling.

- If you do the D-pad substitution you cannot sub a guard in the Center position unless that guard's secondary position is F or C.

Overall this game is the best in this series. It is still kind of similar to last year's game as far as gameplay, and the graphics particularly the player faces took a step back.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter XBox 360 Video Game $35

I've never played any of the previous ghost recon games so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was extremely satisfied with all the elements of this game. Gameplay is somewhat like full spectrum warrior where you give your squad commands and tell them where to go. And here you have control of the captain's actions. Meaning you can shoot and do things yourself. 

I had difficulty with the control and command at first, but once you get used to it, you'll be shouting out orders to your squad and sometimes a Bradley assault vehicle, while turning the enemy's flank with ease. Or at least trying to. Ghost Recon 3 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

I also noticed that the enemy reacts well when they see you or your squad. They will lay down a suppressing fire and then seek cover. This is a step up in game play that really seems to simulate a real world situation. But there are certain situations where the enemy A.I. leaves himself out in the open very prone to fire. All in all a good mix that makes the game fun and challenging.

The graphics in this game are what stand out the most in terms of the next generation. I used to look at cut-scenes from the older systems and wish they would be in-game. It's a reality now. The character models are very well done. The details of Mexico City is also laid out very well. Another thing is the sunlight and how it effects the visuals. Very life like and I must say this is the best looking game to hit the 360.

Multiplayer is pretty well done, although I only played a team deathmatch type game for about a half hour. I know there's a two player co-oop mode where you and someone else can square off against bots. I know there are other multiplayer modes, but I have yet to get into them. 

I'm too busy with the single player campaign. You can change the appearance of your soldier for on-line play. Customizing player looks was a great idea and is just another great part of this game. If you're not into tactical military games then maybe look elsewhere, but if you are then this game is for you.

Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged XBox 360 Video Game $40

Xbox 360 Live Arcade - Unplugged is the first retail collection of Xbox Live Arcade games. Now you can play all the great games available through Xbox Live -- with an Xbox Live connection! Games include: Texas Hold 'Em Poker. plus a FREE one-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold.

Xbox Live Arcade is fully integrated into the Xbox 360 console. You can jump straight into Xbox Live Arcade from the Xbox 360 Dashboard, where you can download new games, access their game collection, check out new releases and experience cool around-the-game features. 

With Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360, casual gamers will find a wide variety of game genres available for download, including action arcade titles, coin-operated and retro classics, puzzle games, casual sports games, light strategy titles, and card and board games.

Cabela's Alaskan Adventure XBox 360 Video Game $38

While not being an obsessive fan of the Cabela Series, I have been a fan nonetheless. Most recently I enjoyed Dangerous Hunts for the PSP, and though rather short and limited in scope, it was a fun game to play. I expected a great deal more with this game, but instead felt like it was a big step backwards. 

This time you are able to navigate via vehicles throughout different regions in Alaska (trucks, snowmobiles etc), but the control is quite frustrating. The animals/game are less than engaging and the game itself it outright boring. Alaskan Adventure is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

One fun feature is the shot cam where you follow your fired round from barrel to destination in slow-motion. Otherwise this is a game that I find too boring to finish, and feel as though you may just want to hold out until the next Cabela release which I am sure will be better....I do not think it could be worse.

Just Cause XBox 360 Video Game $47

In the style of Saint's Row and Grand Theft Auto, Just Cause lets you free a stereotypical Caribbean island from a drug-lord-connected corrupt president.

You're not a secret agent, nor a tough-talking street punk. Instead, you are Rico Rodriguez - smooth, suave, and probably decked out in rich Corinthian leather.

The island map you explore is HUGE, made up of many smaller sub-islands with roads, jungles, bridges, coastlines, and tons of villages. Everything is a mix of bright, tropical colors and run down, Cuban / Haitian slums. Compared to some of the gray, dreary games on the market, you might think the colors here are too cartoony. However, if you're ever lucky enough to visit the Caribbean, you'll realize that the sea really *is* that blue ... the lush jungles are really a brilliant green. Just Cause is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

That's not to say you're in an Eden here. Rico has been brought in by the CIA to mingle with the local revolutionaries to topple a corrupt government. You're not bound by many laws while you do this. You quickly start stealing cars, motorcycles, boats, helicopters and anything else that strikes your fancy. You can hop into the back of open trucks, ride along on the top of moving vehicles, and do numerous 'stunt moves' to carry out your missions with flair. You have a magical unlimited parachute pack on, so any time you find yourself falling into trouble, POOF your parachute opens up and you sail to safety.

This definitely enjoys its action movie lack of realism with great gusto. The clichés abound, as does the peppered-with-key-words Hispanic dialogue. There are numerous side missions - find the 10 boxes of coca. Find the 10 sniper scopes that were washed ashore.

I had both good and not-so-good feelings about the graphics. On one hand, they did a good job of showing the run down nature of many of the towns, the style of cars available, the vegetation. But on the other hand, we have seen some awesome graphics on our XBox 360 - and this just wasn't up to the same quality level. 

Many items in nature seemed blocky. The shadows were often jagged. I suppose it's a trade-off - they created a HUGE world, far larger than pretty much any other game I've seen - so perhaps the detail in that massive world wasn't quite up to other games. I think I personally would have rather had a smaller world - so you weren't running across vast empty wastelands to get to destinations - and kicked the graphic quality up a bit.

Still, there is a lot to enjoy here. There are a ton of vehicles, a ton of locations, and lots of main and side missions to work on. If you're into the GTA style of gameplay and want to take your show to the country, definitely click the pic above and give Just Cause a try.

Test Drive Unlimited XBox 360 Video Game $40

The real star of this game is the island of Oahu. The whole thing, with terrain and streets modeled down to the meter. Mountain passes, ocean drives, back streets, it's all there. You can even refer to online maps to find your way around the virtual version. 

There's plenty of eye candy for the sightseer. Lush forests, beaches, rock formations, plantations, private homes, and just enough traffic to make it feel populated. It's surprisingly fun to just pick a luxury car and go for a Sunday drive. And it's not even wasted time, because you get achievements for exploration.

Of course, nearly every mile of roadway is incorporated into one of the pre-planned races and missions, so you will see most of the sights just playing those through. One race in particular takes a 118 mile loop around the entire island. And racing and completing time trials earns money that can be used to buy more cars and homes to store them in. Test Drive Unlimited is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

The selection of vehicles is disappointing, no doubt due to licensing issues. There are plenty of super cars, and the American major manufacturers are all well-represented, but there are no Japanese brands besides Nissan, which only offers two versions of the 350Z. BMW and Porsche are also missing. Customization is limited to a choice of wheels, paint, and pre-set performance levels. As a result, the cars all feel somewhat interchangeable, with little reason to pick one high-downforce, 200MPH+ monster over another.

The cars that made it into the game are nicely modeled, however, and some of the older models do have some character. The option to set seat position for the inside view is a nice touch that makes it feel more realistic. The physics model seems decent, especially with the traction control turned off.

I doubt I'll end up buying every car in the game, but I may pick up the achievement for exploring the entire island. And if I really need to take a Porsche through Kolekole Pass, I might just have to book a trip to Hawaii and do it for real.

Project Gotham Racing 3 XBox 360 Video Game $30

If you're a racing fan, this is a must-have game for your XBox 360. If you're just looking to see how good the graphics are on the XBox 360, at least rent this game. It's quite impressive!!

You choose from a number of real cars. There are Ferraris, Jaguars, Aston Martins, Lamborghini's, McLaren and much more. The cars look AMAZINGLY good with full detail, and you can choose the color as well.

You race your car through a number of circuits around some quite recognizable towns. You end up in London, Las Vegas, New York City, Tokyo and Nurburgring. Each location is full of detail. When you drive down the river Thames in London you pass Big Ben. Vegas has gorgeous hotels that I remember from my visits there.

Doing fun stunts earns you Kudos points, so not only are you aiming to win your races to earn cash, but you also want to rack up Kudos points. That makes even the easier races fun, as you do spins, slides and much more. Project Gotham Racing 3 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

The world you're in is quite interactive. The people watching the race take flash pictures as you drive past - but if you crash into a fence near them, they all cringe. There are clouds floating by overhead. Mostly, though, there are other racers on the track trying to get by you and steal the lead.

We found the controls to be very intuitive, and the cars handled quite nicely. Note that this is a GAME racing system - i.e. it's not pure realistic. If you smash into a wall at 100mph, your car does not explode into a thousand shards of metal. You simply spin off gently and keep going. That being said, most gamers really don't want a "realistic" racing game. They want a fun one, and this game delivers across the board.

I have to admit that for me, half the fun in this game is the gorgeous landscapes. In Vegas, you drive past the Excalibur and Treasure Island, and the details are picture-perfect. New York, New York is by the track in quite amazing clarity.

I also love the sound in this game - because the soundtrack options are simply awesome. You can choose from a number of soundtracks, from classical to alternative to J-Pop and more. You can even stream in music from your iPod or other MP3 player!

I suppose if you hate racing games, you probably will find this game to be boring. You're just racing cars around in circles with pretty scenery and great sound. But you'd have to be in the minority to not enjoy this game. The cars are amazing. The graphics are amazing. The sound is amazing. Because of the multiplayer options, including up to 8 simultaneous live players online, you could play this game for eternity and still find people to challenge you.

If you want even MORE of a challenge, you can even create your own custom route through their maps! You can design your very own custom lap system and challenge others to play on it. Talk about variety!

Highly, highly recommended!

Ninety-Nine Nights XBox 360 Video Game $46

I really wanted to give this game an opportunity to please me, and for the first two minutes it was mildly amusing.

Like all other XBox 360 exclusive games, it eventually proved to be another unfinished piece of highly detailed garbage. Ninety-Nine Nights is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

The game is obviously not finished because of how pathetic the plot line is. According to the back of the case and not any of the characters within the game, you choose a good side or an evil side to go on a quest to obtain the stone of union. Initially you can only choose one character, every playable character in the game only has the ability to play in their own very brief story mode. There are seven playable characters, who each lack the ability to earn any kind of empathy from the player. The story line apparently wants you to empathize with them however.

While playing, you'll notice that your character has a variety of moves that improve in combo length and strength as you gain experience and level up. You'll also notice that these complex combination attacks don't do very much to your enemies since they magically become invincible while they're reeling back in pain from your initial attacks. While your more powerful enemies leave themselves open to attack by preparing a strong charge attack, you cannot hurt them in any way since it's more important to Microsoft game studios that you regret investing sixty dollars into their company.

Many people will notice how this game functions like a very popular game legacy known as "Dynasty Warriors". Indeed it is somewhat like Dynasty Warriors in how you hack and slash through hordes of enemies, charging an eventual high power attack while doing so, moving closer and closer to a high profile enemy who you'll have to chop away at in order to defeat. A big difference is that this is 2006, and if you're going to rip off Dynasty Warriors then you may as well rip off the most current version of it and learn from the mistakes of previous versions. This game is as slow and dull as Dynasty Warriors 3 is to someone who's played Dynasty Warriors 5.

The characters become more and more idiotic as you play, one in particular is beyond the definition of idiot. Eventually you'll play as a female magician who shoots small jets of water at her enemies, and those jets of water kill your enemies. She won't shoot them directly at the enemy if the enemy is slightly left or right of her line of sight, she'll instead shoot directly at the ground. Someone at Microsoft game studios made that decision, that you should be playing a sixty dollar game where a character in that game responds to the attack button by shooting at the damn ground while enemies are directly in front of her preparing their attacks.

In this game if a boulder comes rolling down a hill, misses you and comes to rest at the bottom of the hill, it's still considered a fast rolling boulder to the game. Walk into it, and you fly back in pain as though you've just been struck.

In this game if you're in the middle of a horde of enemies slashing away and a cutscene occurs, you stop but your enemies don't. You will watch yourself standing there like a dumb ass for a few seconds before the 360 crunches numbers trying to load up the five second cutscene, and then see your character getting smacked back and forth by the enemies that were surrounding your character.

In this game you can find and equip all the defense boosting accessories you want, and still get killed in at the most five hits by one of the signature enemies. Combine that reality with the fact that they can declare themselves invincible simply by preparing a lag charge attack and then add in the fact that you'll play some levels for an hour only to get slaughtered so easily, and you'll realize why this game can be very irritating indeed.

Another obvious way to tell that this game is unfinished is the fact that throughout the game you encounter characters with unique abilities, and pathetic input into the sorry excuse for a story line. Most of these characters are not playable, though you know that they were originally intended to be. Obviously Microsoft decided to wrap this one up early, while assuming that the quality of the cutscenes will over shadow the lack of quality in the actual game play.

This, like all other XBox 360 exclusive games I've ever purchased, is going right back to the Beardsmen where I clicked the pic above and bought it. I don't ask for refunds or trade-ins, I just give it back to them.

I'm begging Microsoft to finish their games from now on, I really honestly want the XBox 360 to do well in the video game market.

The Godfather XBox 360 Video Game $60

This game is awesome! The graphics, game play, storyline, and playability ranks among the best of the xbox360 games made - if not the best. This is a type of game you will get your money worth out of. 

The very first time I turned it on I played five hours straight. It is very addictive. One of the main things I ask myself before buying a game is how long will it take before I get bored of it. Most games I get bored of rather quickly. Taking into account XBox360 games cost $60 dollars this is very important. This is a type of game without a doubt I'll spend over a 100 hours playing. The Godfather is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

There are many options in the game. For example, one can follow the mission structure or just go around exploring the city. You have a lot freedom to choose what to do. You can do things such as steal cars, hustle and threaten store owners, become a hitman, jack supply trucks and warehouses, take over other families in the city and even become the Godfather of all of NY City. There are many weapons to choose from also.

So basically, you can't go wrong with this game. The other five star reviews before mine knew what they were talking about. Click the pic above, buy it and enjoy!!

NHL 07 XBox 360 Video Game $57

It's about time someone finally stepped up to the plate, or the blue line in this case, and changed the way we play our hockey games. EA's skill stick lets you use the right analog stick to basically control every movement of your player's hockey stick. When you're on defense you use it similar to Madden's hit stick. Your fingers never have to leave the analogs unless you want to change lines or initiate fights. The control scheme is nothing short of genius. You use nothing but analog and triggers to shoot, pass, check, hook, block, dive, and switch players. For those who are not comfortable with the change, you can switch it to the familiar setup.

Graphically the game shines and really shows the power of the 360. Players look like their real life counterparts, jerseys have fantastic detail, player equipment looks very authentic, and arenas are well represented although I'm not quite sure they are authentic because Cleveland does not have a hockey team so I have little chance to catch NHL games. 

The crowd is a huge improvement and while looking somewhat basic, they stand when goals are scored to cheer you on and seem to have some knowledge that good things are happening on the ice. It was just nice to notice that when I scored a goal. Most of the time I pay little attention to the cardboard cut-out crowds but the 3-D crowd is more noticeable. NHL 07 is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews.

Players animate well though most of the animation is recycled from NHL 06 from the current gen. The AI has been changed so that finally players aren't glued to their position. For example, last year if you witnessed a loose puck on the ice you had to manually change to a player and chase it down because the players were too busy covering the opponent or playing their zone. And, finally, they have toned down the one timers. I cannot stress enough how difficult it really is to nail a good one timer in real life and it should never have been that easy in video games.

Goalies have been given all new animations which are extremely welcome. When you play the position in real life, you tend to become more critical towards the realism and effort in games - so naturally I notice every year what small changes are made to the net minders. Making butterfly goalies finally play like butterfly goalies brings a HUGE smile to my face. No longer are the goalie's pads glued to their legs like all previous hockey games (2k series included... even this year's). They will show the full face when in the butterfly on the ice. Also new this year, goalies limbs move independently. This basically means the goalie isn't locked into one whole body involving animation. They can move their arms while still in the butterfly to make glove saves or kick one leg out to knock the puck away. The end result is a much more realistic and life-like representation of the position.

All of the features we've come to know and love are included in this game. As Xbox 360 owners, we know how in the past, our sports games have skimped on the features and game modes to give us more graphical wow. I'm seriously happy EA decided to skip making a watered down version of NHL last year because you all know how the rest of the sports lineup was for '06. You can play single games, Dynasty, World Tournament, and Shootout. 

Sadly they have removed the single season game for those who are not interested in micromanaging a hockey team. The Dynasty mode has all of the basics of managing your team such as trades, contracts (which now include negotiations and 1 or 2 way contracts), upgrading team and facilities, line management, and messages. The interface has changed for the better and much needed update. It will take players a while to familiarize yourself with the new layout but it's still basically the same.

Now, I'm not strictly an EA fan and into glorifying their games. Every year since NHL 2k came out, I've been buying both because each game had its pros and cons. For the first time in years, I believe EA's NHL 07 is the closest we're going to get in a while to perfection in the gameplay department. And, I usually buy a hockey game for the game play, not mini games or shootouts or practices or skills competitions. I want to strictly play hockey. 

This year they've tightened up the AI, changed the way we play our game with the implementation of the skill stick, and the sound and graphics are very impressive. Despite NHL 2k7's online dynasty mode and plethora of game modes, I still feel as if I'm playing the same game as last year with only extremely slight changes. 

This is not enough to warrant shelling out another $60 for 2k. And for the first time since its release, I will not buy the 2k game. It's almost like EA and 2k has switched when discussing which is realistic and which is arcade. I feel EA has finally given the gamers what they want and that's realistic hockey that makes you feel like you're actually part of the game.

Prey XBox 360 Video Game $50

Prey is a bona-fide 5 star game. Play it soon because everyone is going to be raving about it. The SUMMER BLASTER for 2006 is HERE! Basically it is Turok meets Doom 3 on steroids. If you like first person shooters (fps), then getting Prey is probably the next best move you will make next to owning Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and F.E.A.R. 

The future of fps in space has not outlived its lifespan. If you liked Doom 3, which was the last good adrenaline pumping monster mash on Mars, then you will love Prey. Prey is back to basics again, whopping up the graphics considerably, brilliant lighting effects and a frightening story to boot that isn't afraid to have lots of gore and shocks around the corner. It has a certain feel of HALO about it too with its alien-type weapons. 

You play an Indian who has been beamed up off his reserve into a spaceship where the aliens are eating up the humans. Prey has awesome in-game action sequences and is quite shocking for the sum of its fiendish parts. You have an old Indian trick out-of-body-experience (OBE) which helps you to reach areas in the rooms you can't normally get to. The rooms also rotate when you shoot switches which offers various level puzzles to get through. Prey is included in the top Microsoft XBox 360 video games with reviews

Most of the time you totally lose your orientation which makes the play even more fun, especially when portals start opening after room rotations. Duke Nukem lovers will also enjoy the fun on display. An alien's severed hand to open doors is a nice touch. Art Bell's radio talk-show of the aliens invasion is broadcast at various junctions in the game. 

You don't die either. Well you do, but you are given unlimited chances to regenerate your blue or red health by shooting at blue or red birds in the land of your ancestors. It is a great idea and works. The Boss fights are massive. You even get to fly some aircraft with fire power. Running along anti-gravity tracks around rooms upside down and across walls while unloading your gun into the screaming aliens that have driven people insane who are crying banging on doors is probably reason enough to own the thing if it wasn't for the photorealistic gfx. 

Slime on the wall has never looked so real. The end boss battles are amazing. The graphics are simply outstanding. This is a high quality fps that deserves your time and CPU power. Prey it today.