December 29, 2004

9:10 AM

I bought myself an Xbox for Christmas. What are the best games to pick up? Are there any cool things I can do with it without installing any chips or risking ruining the thing? [more inside]
posted by Otis to (32 comments total)

I know from browsing past threads there are a few Xbox experts around these parts. What are the must-have games? I already own a PS2 and Gamecube, so Xbox exclusives are appreciated. I’m not really into first person shooters. Should I pick up Halo/Halo2 anyway? Also, I already have a PC hooked up to my TV, so my emulation/video streaming needs are pretty much covered. If I hook it up to my network, can I do anything else with it?
posted by Otis at 9:11 AM on December 29, 2004

Buy the first Halo. The gameplay is fun and the story superb. Xbox Live is also fun to try - and relatively inexpensive.
posted by rotifer at 9:17 AM on December 29, 2004

Prince of Persia (The Warrior Within) is awesome - really terrific. Great gameplay, nice graphics, very smooth. The older Prince of Persia was great fun, and challenging, as well. Too challenging - I could NOT get past 80%, where he and Farah are in the round elevator room. I ended up trading it in for another game. Perhaps you're better than I am at slaying baddies.

As far as mods go, we're going to attempt this, by starting with this. Isn't it pretty? I think you "risk ruining the thing" any time you mod it or open the box, though. I started an x-box mod thread here, and I was advised to buy Hacking Your XBox, which I did. Great little resource filled with fun stuff to try.
posted by iconomy at 9:19 AM on December 29, 2004

Come on, you know you want to mod it!

Playing Robotron:2084 on a television screen with the Xbox's dual analog sticks is better than any current xbox game.

As far as Xbox games go, I really enjoy the Tony Hawk/THUG series and the ESPN line of sports games
posted by neilkod at 9:40 AM on December 29, 2004

Xbox Yourself!fitness! (Review here.)
posted by oldtimey at 9:43 AM on December 29, 2004

Buy the first Halo. Definitely. Play it 'till you're sick of it, then pick up H2. They are phenomenal F.P.S.'
posted by exlotuseater at 9:47 AM on December 29, 2004

It's pretty much just Halo, I'm afraid, if you're looking for stuff that's not of the generic-all-platform variety. I suggest taking the Xbox back and buying a few Gamecube/PS2 games instead.
posted by reklaw at 9:52 AM on December 29, 2004

Halo2 is a given. Beyond that- well it's hard without knowing your video game history? Do you like fighting games? Adventure games? Racing games? Sports simulators? First-person shooters? Whatever has the best graphical eye candy, etc... ?

If you're a new XBox owner but with a gaming history, such as "I really liked xxxxxxxx when it came out a few years ago- what's like that?!" or "I like sports games, what's the best golf/ baseball/ football*/ basketball simulator out there?", we can probably make better recommendations.

My personal favorites are the Tecmo fighting games, 'Dead or Alive Ultimate' and 'Dead or Alive 3', and the Splinter Cell games (the gameplay is awesome, and graphically immersive- the use of shading and light is fantastic to maintain a mood). I'm not a big racing fan, but RalliSport Challenge was a surprising amount of fun- I'm sure the racing geeks on the thread will point out better titles for the XBox, so listen to them. :) For any of these recommends, preferrably buy the new one, or rent it for much less, or if budget is a concern then consider the $20 price of the older versions of the series.

If you look, some of these games like- Halo2 I believe- come with 3 months free trial to XBox Live, so you can try that out as well (but if you don't like it, be sure to cancel or they'll start billing you automatically; it's $50 a year I believe).

* Some people know what I'm talking about. Goddamn EA Sports!
posted by hincandenza at 9:55 AM on December 29, 2004

Halo and Halo 2 are excellent, even if you're only mildly into first person shooters. I also liked Crimson Skies, and people other than me love the Tom Clancy and MechAssault games. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and Fable get a lot of press as excellent RPGs. Ninja Gaiden is tough but fair, and really good.

If you want to spend more on a single game than you spent on your XBox, Steel Battalion can be yours for a mere $200. That'll justify the purchase.

Live is great, especially if you're curious how high people are or how gay you are (hint: the answer to both is very). Because they kickban mod chippers, there are much fewer cheats than what I saw on SOCOM.

This list of exclusives would probably be worth going through.
posted by revgeorge at 9:57 AM on December 29, 2004

Must have games for the admitted non-FPS lover (not all of these are exclusives):

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic I and II

Burnout 3: Takedown

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (versus the Warrior Within)

MechAssault

Smugglers Run (the original, not Smuggler's Run 2. The orignal makes for a much better party game.)

Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee

Dynasty Warriors 3 (I played DW:3 drunk, with a friend, and by evening's end we were wearing homemade headbands and shouting battlecries at the TV. They're coming out with DW:5 soon though, but I can't vouch for the improvements.)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (I have yet to play Pandora Tomorrow.)

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb

As for other things your XBox can do...most XBox owners don't know that with proper motivation in a calm authoritative voice XBoxes can be trained to make grilled cheese sandwiches.

[On preview: Ho ho, Reklaw. Them's fightin' words.]
posted by Loser at 9:59 AM on December 29, 2004

Gotta second Ninja Gaiden. That's where most of my X-Box time went this year. Previous to Halo 2 online, I suppose.
posted by yerfatma at 10:04 AM on December 29, 2004

Thanks everyone. Keep 'em comin'!

hincandenza, my first love is the old-school platformer. I enjoy all the Spyro/Crash/Ratchet/Jak/Sly Cooper games. In terms of sports, I like golf games and usually like to have the one best football/basketball/racing game for the platform.

And it's grilled cheese for everyone tonight!
posted by Otis at 10:07 AM on December 29, 2004

The one best racing game for the platform is Project Gotham Racing 2. It's excellent and an Xbox exclusive. Some of my other favorites are Rallicross Challenge 2 and Colin McRae Rally 2005. Forza Motorsport, coming in February, may be the new best one.
posted by mmoncur at 10:23 AM on December 29, 2004

Topspin Tennis is an Xbox-only game that is the best tennis game on the market. Still has lots of room to improve before it becomes a great tennis game, but it is a good one.

I'm mostly an EA sports gamer (FIFA, Rugby, Tiger Woods) and all those games are equally good on Xbos as they are on PD.
posted by psmealey at 10:26 AM on December 29, 2004

I second Prince of Persia - and for the elevator battle, dodging more than blocking, and wall vault attacks.
posted by O9scar at 10:53 AM on December 29, 2004

Seconding Burnout 3, thirding Ninja Gaiden. Both are excellent.
posted by Remy at 11:32 AM on December 29, 2004

I just can't get enough of Fable at the moment. I thought the first Max Payne was great (although 2 was a disappointment), Prince of Persia is visually stunning. I thought Thief was a great game that no one besides me seems to have played.
I'm a big fan of the Silent Hill series, although only 2 and 4 are out on xbox. It's the only game series that has actually managed to creep me out.

All the GTA versions that are available on XBox look a million times better than they ever did on PS2.

As others have said, it really depends on what you're into. I personally can spend hours in a game wandering around and occasionally shooting or stabbing people and/or monsters. But the idea of playing any of the EA sports games makes me want to hide.

Don't forget to download a ton of music onto it, too, a lot of games give you the option to have your own while you play. I have hundreds upon hundreds of songs saved, and still haven't made a dent into the total space available.
posted by Kellydamnit at 11:57 AM on December 29, 2004

Ditto Knights of the Old Republic. If you're at all a Star Wars fan, or even if you're not, it's an amazing game. I'm eagerly awaiting the PC release of the sequel.

Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell are excellent as well.

Steer clear of Deus Ex: Invisible War, however. Major sequel disappointment.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:10 PM on December 29, 2004

For platformers, you would do well to find Beyond Good and Evil, which can be found for all 3 platforms for $10 and is well worth it. Also, there's an Oddworld Xbox exclusive that looks good, and you should do some research on Blinx (I haven't heard one way or the other if it's any good).

In 2005 Conker's Bad Fur Day is being reborn on the XBox and should be excellent from everything I've seen.
posted by revgeorge at 12:28 PM on December 29, 2004

If you like RPGs at all, get Morrowind. People rave about the open-ended game play of Fable and GTA. Phfft, I say. In Morrowind, the entire map is open. You can go anywhere, do anything. Some mountains are impassable on foot, but a little levitation will take care of that. Many doors are locked, but if you've got the skill, you can get through 'em.

Every town is fully laid out, you can enter any building, loot the contents, kill the occupant and take up residence (if you like). Or you can build your own estate. Be good, bad, whatever you like. There's no light side/dark side, just whatever you feel and can get away with.

The main quest is about 50 hours long, but there are literally hundreds of hours of additional quests and things to do. And you don't even have to do the main quest if you don't want to. Invent your own. Just wander around. The environment is stunning.

It's not for everyone (time consuming, for one, simplistic combat is another complaint), but if you like this sort of thing there's nothing else that's even close.

As for non-RPGs, I'm a console wimp, not into shooters, flight sims, fighting games and racing games but Halo, Crimson Skies, Dead Or Alive and Project Gotham Racing transcend their genres.

House of the Dead looks like it would be fun but I can't get the damn light guns to work with my Sony WEGA.
posted by zanni at 12:52 PM on December 29, 2004

All the GTA versions that are available on XBox look a million times better than they ever did on PS2.

Right, remember that most games that are across several of the current consoles will often be at their best on the XBox: nicer graphics, quicker load times, etc. IGN.com often does cross-platform comparisons.

And yes, Burnout 3 is a must. You can load custom soundtracks on the harddrive for it, which you can't do on PS2.
posted by kreinsch at 1:59 PM on December 29, 2004

I've done the cross-platform comparison since my best friend actually owns all three. We've rented the same game for each and played them all.
I have yet to find one I prefer on PS2 or GameCube (and this is even going back to long before I had an XBox, so I was equally familiar with all of their controller styles).

Those who make games know it, too. Most commercials for games released on multiple platforms will use footage from the XBox edition.
posted by Kellydamnit at 2:06 PM on December 29, 2004

Morrowind is by far the most open ended RPG I've seen on Xbox. It's mind bogglingly huge. Many varied experiences available. Almost every item you encounter can be interacted with in some way. Plants can be picked and eaten, or sold. They grow back after several months. Some are poisonous. Different climates on different parts of the map. Wow. Be warned, though - there are a few bugs on the Xbox version that are a bit frustrating.

Fable has fewer options, but the fight gameplay is much better and the graphics are more impressive (example: individual blades of grass, instead of just textured green).

I don't like first person shooter games generally, but both Halo's are very good. There is only one story line, but it's pretty well developed. There are 4 levels of difficulty, so you can play the whole thing at the level that is right for you, then go back and have it more challenging. And there is a real variety of different multiplayer modes and maps. I think this variety is a major plus, making a lot of milage out of only one game.
posted by raedyn at 2:49 PM on December 29, 2004

Not to dissuade Morrowind, but it is a pretty hardcore RPG. This is speaking from the PC version, which I doubt is different at all, it was very hard for me to get into -- I just felt generally lost at the massive size. I have a feeling I was missing a lot because I was not acquainted with old-school style RPGs before this. If you're a casual gamer and know nothing about fantasy and RPGs I really recommend renting before you buy.

This thread may be close to dead, but anyone want to recommend an XBox wireless controller? I feel spoiled by the great Wavebirds for Gamecube.
posted by geoff. at 3:25 PM on December 29, 2004

This thread may be close to dead, but anyone want to recommend an XBox wireless controller? I feel spoiled by the great Wavebirds for Gamecube.

I have the Pelican Eclipse II controllers. I haven't read any reviews or anything, I got them cheap in a 2-pack at CostCo. I find the buttons to not be as responsive as my original wired controllers. So, I would suggest checking some reviews to find out what is best.

And, yeah, the Wavebirds are sweet.
posted by kreinsch at 3:44 PM on December 29, 2004

- The Otogi games from Sega, Xbox only.

- Seconding the historical "Warriors" series from Koei [the Xbox versions usually have extra features reserved for the PS2 versions' "Xtreme Legends" expansion packs], and their bastard cousin Crimson Sun [CS1 is Xbox only].

- I really enjoyed the fighting-RPG-lifesim Shenmue on the ol' Dreamcast and have been meaning to check out Shenmue 2, which is Xbox exclusive and should be cheap as dirt by now.

- If you have any knowledgeable friends, the "Custom Soundtrack" hack is the least damaging Xbox mod I know of [no opening, just some dinking around with a hacked game-save and from there an ethernet connection], and it's enabled everything else I've ever wanted from a console [DivX playing, emulating other consoles]. Unfortunately, it eliminates the Custom Soundtrack feature, a prime Xbox advantage, but as my friend put it: "They have these things called CD players, see..."
posted by britain at 8:30 PM on December 29, 2004

Wireless Xbox controllers: I used the Logitech Precision controller to earn my 100% in Burnout 3 (booyah!). I turned off the rumble 'cuz I've never been a big fan of that, and I'm on the first set of batteries at nearly 200 hours of gameplay in B3 alone. I prefer it to my Wavebirds (which caused genuinely disturbing cramping that lasted as much as a week after use when I was playing a lot of Viewtiful Joe).

And Burnout 3 is absolutely stunning. It has the most amazing sensation of speed, brings real innovation to arcade racing, consistently rewards the player with new goodies, and has so much to do.
posted by NortonDC at 9:16 PM on December 29, 2004

Er...

I don't know why no-one has linked it, but: www.gamerankings.com. It averages (with weighting) the reviews from pretty much all the major and many many minor sites to come up with a cumulative average score per game the diminishes individual reviewer bias. You can also sort a bajillion ways, including, for example, the Best 50 Strategy RPGs on XBox.

Go to the advanced search, pick categories you like, set the listing to order by score, and set the console to XBox, and you can find out what the best games in any little subgenre you like are, or by major genre, or across all genres. Very very useful.

If you have any more specific questions after that, c'mon back to AskMeta and let us unleash our word hordes on you.
posted by bugbread at 5:08 AM on December 30, 2004

You do know that Rotten Tomatoes also does video games, right?
posted by NortonDC at 7:57 AM on December 30, 2004

You do know that Metacritic is superior to Rotten Tomatoes in almost every conceivable way, right?
posted by jjg at 1:03 AM on December 31, 2004

Nope, never seen it before. What makes it better?
posted by NortonDC at 10:17 AM on December 31, 2004

For the record: Burnout 3 turned out to be a real winner, even for a family not really into racing games. My 9-year-old stepson loves it, his grandfather loves it, my wife loves it and I love it. Smashie smashie!

Blinx has seen some playing time, although I'm stuck and frustrated with the game right now.

Picked up Jet Set Radio Future/Sega GT used for 3 bucks. You can find this cheap everywhere as it was formally bundled with the xbox. It's worth picking up for JSRF.
posted by Otis at 7:29 AM on January 10, 2005