Do you get excited when you hear a shield charging? Is an animal the last thing you think of when you hear someone say Warthog? Chances are if you own an Xbox, you said yes to both of those questions with a big smile on your face. Halo has been a long-standing success on Microsoft’s home consoles and Halo Reach, the final installment under the leadership of Bungie isn’t going to do anything to hurt its reputation. The graphics are crisp and the gameplay is as fun as ever. Chances are if you have played the previous titles in the series this will already be at the top of your wish list this holiday season. If not this isn’t a bad place to start. Pick up a copy this season to see what a first person shooter on the Xbox is all about.
The tales series has had less success establishing a name for itself here in the states than rival competitors like Final Fantasy but without good reason. Like any other JRPG you fight lots of battles to level up your characters and continue the story arc but things here are a little bit different. Instead of completely random battles you can see and approach enemies in the wild. This allows you to avoid easy battles when backtracking or chain together huge ambushes for the fun of it. The combat system is also a little bit more interactive (think a combination of Final fantasy and Zelda) and while the field encounters can grow a little dull the boss battles are some of the most exciting I have seen. Where this game really sets itself apart though is its amazing story and ridiculous character development. There are few other games where I got as emotionally involved and it’s truly a testament to how real the characters feel. Even if you don’t love JRPGs this is a game to look into. It just might change how you feel about them.
Personally I don’t love first person shooters on a consol. Call me old fashioned but when it comes to my shooters I prefer a keyboard and mouse. That being said I completely changed my opinion after playing both the first and second Gears of War titles. These games are unique in that you move in a third person view but shoot in first person. It sounds like it wouldn’t work well but because you use a well thought-out cover system is actually streamlines the control experience and makes you wonder why more titles haven’t adopted it. Be warned though that this isn’t the type of game where you run up the middle with guns blazing. You will need to move strategically behind cover to advance. If that doesn’t sound fun to you then maybe this isn’t the game for you. For everyone else though the third and final title will be out early next year so it is a great time to pick up the first two games and catch up on the story. You can find both games for around $20 each making them great gifts if you are running low on cash!
If you are like everyone else in America than you are over vampires and into zombies. I’m not sure what will come next (werewolves?) but for now the most fun you can have is cutting down the undead. With that in mind you might want to take a look at Left 4 Dead and its sequel Left 4 Dead 2. While being first person shooters at heart they are different in that your enemy isn’t shooting back. Instead it runs straight for you in large masses of nails and teeth. This doesn’t mean they are easy games but it does mean that people who don’t like aiming a gun with a controller won’t have to worry. Just pick the shotgun and move forward; you will hit something, trust me! These games are fun by yourself but better when played with a friend. There is a hug online community following both games but the split screen co-op mode is fun too. I suggest playing them at night with the lights out and a friend who scares easy, you wont regret it!
Have you ever wanted to play a game so bad it hurt? Are you the kind of person who laughs to the point of tears when something so simple just can’t be accomplished? If you are then you need to take a look at Resident Evil 5. If you like good games than please skip this title but if you and a friend are interested in experiencing something bad and laughing at its shortcomings than buy this game. I wouldn’t suggest buying this game for more than $20 though or you will feel cheated but you should find a bunch of stores trying to unload it this holiday season. Only play this game with a friend in co-op because the laughter will be contagious and by the end you will love the experience. I warn you though, it took my friend and I over an hour just to get the stupid thing set up and between us we have probably played thousands of games. Consider yourself warned. It has a lot of painful flaws, but if you know that going into things you might just love it.
There are many more titles for the 360 but most aren’t exclusive to the system, such as Call of Duty, and will be handled in a different review. Before my box gets flooded with messages about how Left 4 Dead and RE5 aren’t exclusive I will say that I put them in this guide because they belong here. Yes Left 4 Dead can be played on the computer but I don’t recommend it. Personally I like to make gaming a social experience and being able to play co-op from the same sofa with a friend is better in my opinion than playing it over the Internet with strangers. If you don’t care than play whatever is cheapest. Also the main hilarity of RE5 came from an interface system worse than the new Alone in the Dark’s item swap menu. The inability to rearrange weapons and the fact that a rocket launcher takes the same amount of cargo space as an egg (and I mean one egg since you can’t even stack them!) makes me a crack a cynical smile. I don’t know if this problem exists on other systems so I can’t recommend it for those. But if it works well on other systems than you might have an entirely new reason to play it. It’s really up to you.
Hope that this has been a help. As always please leave any feedback you have below and I will be sure to get back to you. If there is a game missing that you think should have made the cut let me know, but please avoid multisystem titles. You will find those later on. Have fun shopping and good luck out there!
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