Non-Halo/Bioshock 360 game recommendations?

The Game Room
1

This year’s family Christmas gift is a 360, so I’m looking for some suggestions of good games, as I haven’t followed the 360 very much. Already picked up Bioshock after hearing good things, but in general I’m not the biggest FPS fan because quite honestly, I suck at them. I get hopelessly lost and end up getting shot to death quite efficiently.

I haven’t played the original Viva Pinata but I somewhat liked the DS version, never got into Devil May Cry, and love RPG/strategy games. I covet Tales of Vesperia and am hoping that it’ll be under the tree come the 24th, and any other RPG suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Platformers, puzzle games, fighting games, slice of life, adventure, I’m really not as picky as I initially come off. I just never ended up getting into some of the big franchises. And while I like cute games, my taste does expand beyond them.

I want Rock Band, but it’s expensive and nobody else in the family likes rhythm games so that’s out…are there any good music-based games on the 360 that aren’t either Rock Band or Guitar Hero?

Offbeat titles that not many people have played would be great to hear about, so if you have some game you feel hasn’t gotten the recognition it deserves, then please, tell me about it so I can check it out!

2

Burnout Paradise. Forza 2/Marvel Ultimate Alliance two-pack is a heck of a value, used.

3

My Xbox came with this.

That’s kind of like asking what good violent, automobile theft based games are out there that aren’t Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row.
You might want to try some Lego games (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc).
I liked:
FarCry 2 and FarCry:Instinct Predator (FPS though)
Dead Rising
GTA 4
Mercenaries 2 was ok
Ace Combat 6 (kind of a fun fighter “sim” with a cheesy story line)

also
DC vs Mortal Combat (haven’t played it, but if you want to settle that “who would win, Batman vs Raiden” argument once and for all)

4

If you like adventure games, Psychonauts.

Seriously.

5

Fallout 3. Get it. Get it now!

The Darkness is a fun one. It’s an FPS of a sort, but you rarely get into fights where guns are blazing everywhere. Plus, the Darkness powers allow you to conceal yourself in shadows while the powers do the work. Also, if you have issues with aiming, the auto-aim feature pretty much zeros in on people’s heads, making it easy to kill them with one shot (almost too easy).

6

The Darkness is one of my favorite oldies, but it is basically a FPS with a decent storyline.
I would also like to suggest DeadSpace.
There is also some shooter element in it, but is a very well-crafted horror-survival game.
It reminded me very much of the original Alien movie : great atmosphere, great use of sound and music.

7

I seem to be the only person on the board playing Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. The Banjo-Kazooie franchise started out as a platformer (dare I say a GREAT platformer) on the Nintendo 64. This latest incarnation has some platforming elements, but probably 90% of the game is played using offbeat vehicles that you can create and customize to your heart’s content. Everything from basic cars, planes and boats to helicopters, submarines, spring-cars, vacuum-powered aircraft, balloons, whatever you can think of. And of course there are weapons and various gadgets you can use to accomplish your goals.

It took me an hour or so to get into the gameplay, but I’ve gotten really hooked. Designing new vehicles to complete specific challenges is really quite addicting (example: there’s one challenge that involves throwing trash into a very tall trash can. You could make a helicopter with a storage tray to fly it up, or make a spring vehicle to toss it in, or do what I did and make a vehicle that’s just a huge set of stairs. hehe). And it’s fun to just dink around and see what you can make; here’s my version of the “Tumbler”-style Batmobile. Some folks have made some very impressive creations (Ferris wheels? B-wings?), testing the physics engine to the limits. And you can send your blueprints to other people if you want, and race and play various “sports” with other people online.

The original N64 platformer “Banjo-Kazooie” is available on Xbox Live Arcade, and when you have both games, you can get access to a few new decorative parts in Nuts & Bolts. And there’s also a Nuts & Bolts demo that you can download and try before you buy. But the full game’s only $40, so it’s not a huge investment, and it’s family-friendly.

8

Forza 2 was a damn good racing game, if you’re into that. I’ve heard really good things about this year’s Madden. Civilization: Revolution is a good game, and someone’s mentioned Grand Theft Auto, so I’l just add my name to that pile.

9

Dead Space
Mass Effect
GTAIV
Crackdown
Fallout 3
Gears of War 1/2
Oblivion
Fable 2

10

My current favorites that are npon rhythem non FPS are:

Lego Star Wars the complete saga
Lego Indiana Jones
Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts
Oblivion
GTA 4
Crackdown

Games I liked but am not gaga over that would fill your requirements:
Forza 2
Project Gotham 3
Viva Pinata

I also want:
Soul Calibur 4
Lego batman
Fallout 3

There are a lot of fun arcade downloads like Castle Crashers, boardgames like Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride, and classic arcade games.

11

I just bought my 360 Arcade in November. I bought Oblivion and Fallout 3 to go with it. I recommend both. Almost any game that is a Platinum Hit(Oblivion is one) is a good bet.

12

I disagree. Other systems have plenty of music centric games. See Ouendan, Parappa, Samba de Amigo…and that’s just taking three random somewhat well known ones. I don’t think it’s near as restrictive as you say. I didn’t say I was looking for other music games that involve plastic instruments but aren’t RB/GH, which I agree would have been a bit silly.

Oh, yes. Psychonauts is definitely something I want to play. I borrowed it from a friend and played a bit, but I’d really love to be able to finish it.

Fallout does look pretty awesome, I’ll admit. And it sounds like The Darkness is the kind of FPS I have a bit more of a chance with. Maybe if I can get somewhere in it, I’ll be less bad and be able to branch out :stuck_out_tongue:

Oh, I utterly loved Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie. I’m glad to hear that Nuts & Bolts is, in fact, really good, and I’m sure it won’t be too long before I’m spending absurd amounts of time trying to make the world’s most awesome vehicle.

And I didn’t know that the orginal was on XBLA; definitely have to give it a download. Been years since I played it.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I’d totally forgotten about some of the games you guys mentioned.

13

Is it playable yet? Every review I’ve seen of it says that you should just assume you’ll hit a game ending bug two or three times and have to start over from the beginning, in addition to a myriad of non-critical but annoying bugs (disappearing spouses being the most common one mentioned). I don’t have that kind of time in my life.

14

Oh my, that sounds a bit frustrating…do other 360 games tend to have this? I don’t want to have to download patches to enjoy my games, they should be finished and without critical errors by release.

15

Nah, they’re cool, for the most part. Every game has some kind of patches or updates every once in a while, but not ones that’ll wipe out your save game.

16

FWIW I played through Fable 2 without hitting any such bug, but YMMV I suppose.

Crackdown is a lot of fun. I think it’s a platinum priced game.
Orange Box, if for nothing else but Portal, if you haven’t already played it.

Fable 2 and Fallout 3 have provided me with plenty of RPG fun. Oblivion too, but it’s hard for me to recommend Oblivion without mentioning the broken level scaling system.

17

For the record, I never hit a game-ending bug in Fable 2, though it was a bit buggy at times especially with the golden breadcrumb paths. Still, very playable and a decent game.
I’d definitely agree with the Fallout3 recommendations, though definitely not a game for the kids :wink: Neither is DeadSpace, which is also a great game.

I’d throw Prince of Persia into the mix as well. Great Platformer game, pretty easy but with a great story, absolutely fantastic characters, and the game is breathtakingly beautiful. Plus there’s a lot of exploration to be done.

Psychonauts… if you haven’t played psychonauts you have two choices, die in a firey pit of fire with the burningness and pain, or download it from XBLM(Xbox Live Marketplace) and play it. I’d recommend the latter, but that’s just me. Tim Schaffer is an amazing game director, and while the game suffers from a few frustrating bits, overall it’s a fantastic game that everyone should play.

For classic-style JRPGs, if you liked Final Fantasy then get either Lost Odyssey or Blue Dragon, both are done by Mistwalker Studios (Hironobu Sakaguchi’s new studio, he’s the guy that created the FF series) which is basically one of the three or four places everyone from Squaresoft ended up after they all left SquareEnix. Tales of Vesperia looks very good, though honestly I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Also I liked Eternal Sonata, a bit slow but quite an experience, imo, and freakin fantastic music.

and if you like Fighting games there’s always Soul Calibur. Street Fighter IV is coming out sometime sorta soon, but if I were you (any of you) I’d stay the hell away from it. I’ve played it in the arcades and it’s a TERRIBLE game. I loved SF II, I love the Alpha series, and I loved SF III. It feels like they took all of that, threw it into a jar of molasses, took all the good ideas (like parrys… parries?) out, and then took a steaming dump on it, colored it pretty colors, and released it. Even the Japanese stay the hell away from that game, it’s ridiculous. Only game in the arcades that’s consistently not being played.

18

I second Crackdown. It does have certain parts which are not that great IMO (such as the driving component), but the game as a whole I found to be very addictive and a lot of fun. It can be picked up pretty cheaply now too.

I’ll also second Portal even though you mention not being a huge fan of FPS. I’m also not a huge fan of the style, but it’s arguable that Portal could be classified as an FPS simply because that’s the perspective the game is played in. As for purchasing it by buying The Orange Box, you can actually save your money now and buy the entire Portal game as a standalone game (plus extra levels) directly through the xbox marketplace.

19

Speaking of Psychonauts, Brutal Legend has a publisher. It lives!

20

I suppose I’ll bide my time for a bit rather than completely writing it off, but still really not a fan of buggy games…it’s exactly the kind of game I’m sure I’d love, so if it’s not too broken maybe I’ll end up getting it anyway.

Heehee, no worries about games not being good for kids; I’m the kid in the family :stuck_out_tongue: But the warning is appreciated.

I haven’t really had much playtime with a PoP game yet, but they do look pretty fun and a good-quality story is always a big plus in my book. No good if something is pretty but shallow.

Heh, I’ve heard all about the Meat Circus being a sadistic level. And no worries, I haven’t a need to die in a firey pit as I have played, though not beaten. I love off-beat, creative games so I’ll definitely be getting it by download to finish it.

Ah, I’ll have to check those out; I don’t know what it is but I’ve never been able to get all that deeply invested into a FF title, despite trying several over the years. I’ve heard lots of good things about ToV and I’ve loved the other two Tales games I’ve played, though, so it’s a definite want for me. And Eternal Sonata, that’s the other one that sounded really good. I love good music and the art style is really nice.

SCIV is probably going to be the first fighting game I pick up, and thanks for the warning away from SFIV. I might well have picked it up on a whim someday, since I’ve never really had a chance to try that series, but if they completely ruined it in that version, then I’ll save my money.

I’ve heard so many good things about Portal that it’s definitely on my list, especially since it exists as a standalone now. It’s as much a puzzle game as it is an FPS, right?