XBOX Fun 'n Games

[Scrivener]

Since Thursday my life has pretty much been Xbox. With the launch 'n all, I've been going in early every day. When I'm not working, I'm playing games. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that GameSpy has sold their souls to Sony with their flat-out dumbass reviews. So for those who trusted them, here are some honest opinions...

IMHO, the best Xbox games currently are:

1) Oddworld - Absolutely brilliant! Hilarious! This was the last of my three bundled games I tried out, and so far this one is the most original and all-around entertaining. Did I mention the mind-blowing graphics, or should I just assume that it's a given?

2) Halo - The levels are very, very repetitious... to a point that they become boresome and predictable. Nevertheless, the outdoor battle sequences and cut scenes make all that gratuitous monotony worth it.

3a) Dark Summit - It took me a little bit to get past the colorful snow, but when you give it a couple hours you discover that this game is really very entertaining. Inspired by the tone and feel of some of the darker and more sinister comic books, Dark Summit will not impress anyone looking for a real snowboarding game. It's like X-Files+TombRaider+ACMESnowboardingGame.

3b) Amped - For those loosers who want their snowboarding in vanilla.

The others:

Dead or Alive 3 is pretty to look at, and some of the moves will make you cringe... but I would have liked more locations. This one's fun but not a system seller.

Fuzion Frenzy - It flaunts 50 different games. 45 of those involve jumping over stuff... Donkey Kong Classic style. Lame. Not even worth a rent.

Mad Dash Racing - A racing game... where you race furry animals instead of cars. Definately a renter, but not worth owning.

Oddworld kicks ass.

Transworld Surf - I STILL don't understand whose idea it was to make a surfing game. I mean, that ranks right up there with making a game about skydiving (Which has been done, btw). Trans Surf sucks all kinds of ass. The Xbox makes the water look awesome, but unless you want to waste money on looking at impressively rendered water, don't bother.

More opinions to come!

[Guest]

I saw Halo on an XBox at my Local EB, I wasn't impressed. Actually it looked stupid! When I first started reading about this game, it was tooting about large splendid outdoor areas and the ability to operate vehicals like in Tribes and the more recient Operation Flashpoint.

While waiting for the clerk to ring up my purchase of Empire Earth and Star Trek Armada II, and quit showing off his Xbox, by playing it for everyone who walked in the door! I paged through the entire Halo hint book and didn't see any levels out doors. Basically it looks like the confines inside the Bases in Tribes. From what I saw, I'd rather play Tribes.

I think the Xbox is the best console out there at the moment but it sure dosn't put the PC to shame.

[Scrivener]

That's partially true. The outdoors areas are few and far between. The indoor areas all look exactly the same, while being both linear, and cookie-cutter. The outdoors areas are brilliant, though. The ones that are in the game are large, while not "huge" and most of the vehicles (Except for the Ghost and Scorpion Tank) are just gimmicky. Your buggy will *NEVER* take damage or explode, btw. Too bad most of the game wasn't set outdoors. It would have been spectacular.