Outside Nintendo's Domain
As a spiritual successor to Irrational Games' System Shock and System Shock 2, BioShock (with no story connection other than that of the name) is the company's newest venture into the first-person horror genre. Backed with an creepy 1950's era soundtrack, BioShock sets the mood for a psychologically thrilling game that will unnerve you deeply, but also will allow you to marvel at the beautiful art-deco designs carefully crafted by the game's designers. This style, combined with the Randian dystopia that the underwater city of Rapture (where the game takes place) has become, create a deeply emotional and atmospheric adventure which will make a worthy addition to any self-respecting gamer's library.
It goes without saying that regardless of your interest in Nintendo products you've likely been unable to avoid the Halo advertising onslaught. In the case of Halo 3, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Developer Bungie has taken the classic FPS formula and brought it to the 360 with fully featured match-up replays, screenshot taking, and a "Forge" mode that allows you to fully customize games with personally placed objects, weapons, and game objectives.
Whether you're into the latest shooters like Bioshock or the Orange Box or even haven't played one since GoldenEye, Halo 3 is a mass-market favorite, one of the best online multiplayer games available today, and a polished experience not to be missed.
The Orange Box is, simply, one of the best gaming values of all time. In the package, you get Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2, all for the retail price of what you would pay for a regular title.
Half-Life 2 and its episodes (short excursions, but very well-paced), with their use of physics based puzzles and interactive storytelling, are some of the best FPS gaming experiences you can find. Team Fortress 2 is a competitive online FPS that features nine distinct character classes and territory control scenarios. Portal, a delightfully dark humoured first-person puzzle game that is certainly worth checking out—even if you're not an FPS fan—rounds out the package.
The level of quality in all the available titles is staggering and the fact that it retails for the same amount of any other game you could buy makes it an absolute must.
When Harmonix released the original Guitar Hero on PS2, gamers around the world immediately wondered what it may have been like to have an entire array of insturments outside of just a guitar. Years later, that dream has come to reality. Backed by the powerful library of songs provided by Harmonix' new owners, MTV, Rock Band is the true evolution of what Guitar Hero strove to be. If you've ever tapped your feet to the beat of a song, and frightened those around you with your insane table-tapping as you drummed along, then Rock Band may be what you're looking for.
Doing what Wii Sports did for the Wii, Rock Band is the must-have party game for the Xbox 360 - its integrated online play makes even lone instrument players part of a band controlled by real people, and lets you share in the excitement as your band sells out a gig. With weekly downloadable content, Harmonix and Microsoft are making Rock Band a must buy for any rhythm game fan or casual gamer. If you can find it, definitely pick it up.
Telltale Games has brought back LucasArts' famous duo in Sam and Max: Season One. The duo first entered the video game world with a bang (literally, Sam has big-ass gun) in the point and click adventure game, Sam and Max: Hit the Road, but now, over ten years later, the Freelance Police have returned. It's up to you to help Sam and Max solve some out of this world cases with ingenuity and a little insanity.
Season One consists of six individual episodes, each one well-paced at a few hours in length. Through it all, Sam and Max will save some washed up childhood sitcom stars from being brainwashed, rescue an entire studio audience from a mad talkshow host, infiltrate a casino run by the Toy Mafia, race for president against the animated statue of Abe Lincoln, save the internet from a sentient arcade machine and his pals, and finally take down the mastermind behind it all on the moon. Sound like a trip? It is.
Anyone who likes to laugh (and who doesn't?) can enjoy this game. If your loved ones already have Season One, Season Two has just begun. The first episode, Ice Station Santa, was released last month, and will continue next month and every month thereafter for five episodes.
There might be more notable blockbusters on the 360, but for sheer racing thrills with a dose of reality it's hard to go past Project Gotham Racing 4. Bizarre Creations have thrown out the old career mode and thrown in an all-new calendar-based career mode, breathing new life into the franchise in the process.
Taking the best elements from previous editions, incorporating new vehicle types (Motorbikes!), beefed up online play, new/bigger/meatier career mode, new graphics, new cities, new ways to enjoy. Bizarre have tweaked, refined and polished to make this arguably the best racing game on the Xbox 360, and definitely the pinnacle of the series thus far.
Other games might have more sales, make more of a splash, but no game builds upon its original foundations better than this. Highly recommended.