Xbox 360: The 10 Best Games Ever
McKinley Noble & Dan Tennant, GamePro
Spending a little extra time with your Xbox 360? Wondering which games are worth your cash? From The Orange Box to Halo to Mass Effect, we sort through hundreds of titles to bring you 10 of the best Xbox 360 games that we've seen on the console so far.
10. Grand Theft Auto 4
Like Rock Band, Grand Theft Auto 4's a tossup. If you've got the Xbox 360 build, however, you're a truly lucky gamer. Rockstar Games is still dishing out GTA goodness in the form of episodic content, with great characters and intense new side stories to explore. If you've been itching to get back on Liberty City's streets, try The Lost and Damned or The Ballad of Gay Tony. As if that wasn't enough reason to count this game among the best Xbox 360 games ever, there's always the fact that you can push people in front of trains, saw pedestrians down with helicopter blades, and drive your dinner date off a cliff. Be bad, be wild, and be a menace!
9. The Orange Box
Talk about bang for the buck: The Orange Box includes five hit games from the FPS gurus at Valve Software, making this a must-have for any shooter fan. Not only do you get the award-winning Half-Life 2 and the follow-ups Episode One and Two, but you also get the butter-smooth online game Team Fortress 2. But the real jewel of this fantastic collection is Portal, a mind-bending puzzler that every gamer should experience at least once. Armed with one of the coolest weapons ever devised in the Portal Gun, you run through a series of deviously designed levels while the omni-present voice of GlaDOS gently coaxes you onward. Filled with delicious humor and addictive gameplay, Portal is worth the purchase price alone but lucky for you, there's four other amazing games to keep you occupied long after you've discovered the secret of the cake (hint: it's a lie).
8. Batman: Arkham Asylum
No one expected Batman: Arkham Asylum to be this good. In fact, no one expected it to be one of the most impressive and thrilling action games to ever hit the Xbox 360. Thankfully, Rocksteady Studios and Warner Bros./DC Comics made the invaluable choice of enlisting help from the best talent possible, including big-ticket names like Paul Dini, Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin, and of course, Mark Hamill. For once, a video game developer got everything right in a Batman game, and Rocksteady may have single handedly saved this series from an eternal cycle of horrible cash-in clunkers. But most rewarding was the fact that The Caped Crusader fought like a demon from Hell, his tools were inventive and intuitive, and the atmosphere of Arkham Island was as demented and dangerous as its inhabitants. Welcome back, Batman.
7. Mass Effect
It's a magnum opus for the ages, a space opera of galactic proportions. Mass Effect will find you conquering unexplored planets, rescuing hapless innocents, and digging into the lives of a wide and rich cast of characters. It will grant you carte blanche to rediscover a forgotten civilization and save existence from the onslaught of a soulless menace. Plus, you can have hot lesbian sex along the way! Thank the gaming gods that BioWare is working on the rapidly upcoming sequel; we could stay in this universe forever.
6. BioShock
Generally, gamers relish the ability to kill, maim and obliterate their enemies and obstacles, but BioShock changed the entire experience with solid, inventive gameplay and a new moral compass. This sleeper hit from 2K Games, a studio formerly known for high-profile but moderately successful strings of PC role-playing games (Jade Empire, Civilization IV, Sid Meier's Pirates), sold Xbox 360s and unintentionally became a flagship title for the console with little buildup and a huge amount of positive press. BioShock 2 is on the way, and like the demented Rapturians, we're already foaming at the mouth for another underwater adventure.
5. Borderlands
Collecting guns and slaying 50-foot tall Rakks is just the tip of the iceberg with Borderlands, one of the most original and unique first-person shooters we've seen in years. As a wandering adventurer on a quest for riches, power, and glory, the journey though the world of Pandora is meant to inspire the greedy treasure hunter deep in every gamer's heart. From the dusty peaks of the Arid Badlands to the wastelands of the Rust Commons, Borderlands has loot under every rock, just waiting to be discovered. Even though you can take the role of the lone wolf, running through a game with a few friends is the best way to play. With each new crew member, you'll encounter bigger enemies, harder missions, and mouthwatering rewards. Borderlands is the pinnacle of co-op gameplay, and the RPG elements alone make it worth multiple playthroughs. Even the best Xbox 360 games have something to learn from Borderlands, and we're eager to see the next frontier.
4. Assassin's Creed 2
Ubisoft recreated the historic enviroment of 15th century Italy with the same care and attention to detail that Leonardo da Vinci gave to The Last Supper. No matter how well you can build a city, you almost can't do better than Assassin's Creed 2. Taking the stylish and addictive motions of the previous game's protagonist, the near-superhuman Altair, Assassin's Creed 2 went further towards the present with Ezio, the new assassin on the block. Noting both the forwards and backwards steps of the previous title, Ubisoft made sure that Ezio moves in ways that his predecessor never could: wading through waterways, stealing his opponents' weapons, and even flying through the skies with the help of some handy contraptions.
3. Halo 3
Bungie's incredible series eventually had to come to a conclusion, and Master Chief definitely went out in style. Halo 3 put a gigantic, explosive ribbon on the series that defined both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360, sold millions and millions of copies worldwide, and started a franchise that no other first-person shooter has been able to touch in five years. We still remember the first time we saw the Bubble Shield. Forums lit up like fire when the Recon armor was unveiled to the public. Sometime, you just can't mention Halo without gamers around the world getting excited. Even we couldn't believe that the multiplayer had gotten even better than Halo 2's glorious run, and we had pretty high expectations. Everything was better, and we still couldn't get enough of it. Until the next time we see Bungie's iconic leading man, we won't forget the thrilling last words of Master Chief: "Wake me when you need me."
2. Modern Warfare 2
Gut-wrenching moments and fast-paced FPS action were the bread and butter of the first Modern Warfare. After taking the Normandy Invasion as far as it could go, Infinity Ward dropped their coveted franchise into the modern era with amazing results. Since then, Modern Warfare 2 has proved to be a more-than-worthy successor to 2007's Game of the Year, upping the ante with an insanely gripping story, multiplayer that rivals the best titles in Xbox 360 history, and enough controversial story-bound decisions to jar any player back into reality, if just for a split second. Even if you never go back to the solo missions after the first time around, playing this Call of Duty online is so deep and incredibly well-polished, you'll have little to no excuse to get tired of Modern Warfare 2.
1. Gears of War 2
Gears of War 2 is bloody, brutal, and possibly the best action game to hit the Xbox 360 yet. How did we live without Horde Mode? Will there ever be a more badass weapon than the Lancer? When is Gears of War 3 going to come? Until those questions are answered, you can still sit back and revel in an experience that will grab your face and pull you headfirst into the most over-the-top shooter ever made. Taking the role of Marcus Fenix, you and a troop of elite, alien-killing super marines will shoot, punch, stomp, claw, and tear your way through the Earth itself in a jaw-dropping fight against the Locust Horde that infests the planet. Believe us, this game is a marathon of gore and explosions that has no peer, and Gears of War 2 is our top pick among the best Xbox 360 games around. If you own the console, go to the store right now and buy this game. You'll never regret it.