Xbox 360 Reviews??

[VideoGameCritic]

Well guys, I know a few of you out there have your 360's already.  Please post short reviews of the system and the games you have.  I'm very interested (go figure).
I wonder how long it will be before I'll have one.

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]
I wonder how long it will be before I'll have one.
[/QUOTE]
I was originally working with a "buying it in a year or two" plan.   I'm down to  buying it after the first  price drop.  If I get  a significant  amount of money for Christmas  (my brother has been known to give me a couple hundred bucks, he works in oil and gas) I'll probably buy one before even that.  I haven't even been impressed with the games, I just can't not want to buy new hardware.

[wur1]

I'm buying it under two conditions:

 

1) If I get this lucrative software job that I recently interviewed for, in the heart of wonderful downtown Seattle.

 

2) As a reward for beating the original Perfect Dark on "hard" difficulty.  (If I ever can...)  Hence, I will be entitled to playing the sequel, Perfect Dark Zero, for mastering the original.

[Atarifever1]

Can anyone here specifically give me a review of the online experience for Perfect Dark Zero.  I've been excited about this game since I heard about it, and it seems to be reviewing well (aside from apparently having a totally horrible story).  The FPS genre is far from my favorite genre, but I do really like some members of the genre. This game looks incredible, and a really good online experience in it might be enough to tip me to buying the 360 really early. 

[Zen444]

I reccomend getting X-box live, you can download arcade games.

Perfect Dark Zero is one of the best games i've ever played.(Next to The Warriors.)

King Kong is easily one of the scariest games i've played.

[wur1]

[QUOTE=Atarifever]Can anyone here specifically give me a review of the online experience for Perfect Dark Zero.  I've been excited about this game since I heard about it, and it seems to be reviewing well (aside from apparently having a totally horrible story).  The FPS genre is far from my favorite genre, but I do really like some members of the genre. This game looks incredible, and a really good online experience in it might be enough to tip me to buying the 360 really early. 
[/QUOTE]

From what I hear from the-elite.net (a website explicitly for conoisseurs of the first PD and Goldeneye 64), the game play is just like the first PD, only a bit faster, and with some of the lame Halo-inspired trends that hit FPS's in the last few years--namely, recharging health, limited weapons, and a "save anywhere" option.

 

The story in the first one was horrible too, so I don't see what people were excepting with this one.  It's probably the most generic video game story you'll ever see.

 

I think I agree with you on the FPS genre.  My stance on FPS's is similar to my views on poetry.  Virtually all poetry is bad, but there's an occasional Nietzsche or Kipling that can put out quite outstanding poetry--analogous to the occasional Perfect Dark, Half-life, or Metroid Prime that comes out every so often.

[Chicken Warrior]

[QUOTE=Zen444]King Kong is easily one of the scariest games i've played.[/QUOTE]

Literally?

[Zen444]

Yup.

Silent Hill and Clock Tower 1 don't have [expletive deleted] all on it.

[Crevalle]

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]Well guys, I know a few of you out there have your 360's already.  Please post short reviews of the system and the games you have.  I'm very interested (go figure).
I wonder how long it will be before I'll have one.
[/QUOTE]

PDZ

This is probably the overall best-looking FPS game ever.  Some will disagree, but being the graphics connoisseur that I am, I pay close attention to this.  There are times when I just stop and look around because it’s just really fantastic to take-in.  I find myself comparing it to Doom 3 and HL2 in my mind, and most of the time, PDZ comes out on top.  The gameplay is straight-forward—much like Halo.  Shoot, open door, activate button, save scientist, etc.  No jumping.  The weapons really pack a punch, which is in my opinion something that makes a game much, much better (yet most developers overlook this crucial aspect for some reason).  Someone mentioned being able to save anywhere, which is not true—you can only save at one or two locations throughout each level.  Also, not sure why it was said that PDZ has “limited weapons” by a forum member.  That doesn’t make sense to me because there a ton of different weapons with many alternate firing modes.  Maybe I misunderstood his post.  The story is mildly interesting—I certainly wouldn’t say it was bad, that’s for sure.  Why all the hate???  Regardless, I have not finished PDZ, but have been playing for a good 12 hours.  I’ve heard that this is a short game, but I’m crossing my fingers that it’s not.  Overall, I would rank this linear game an A-.  Why not a higher grade?  Well, I wish you could jump, and I wish the levels were more expansive (a la GTA).  It’s also fairly easy.

 

King Kong

Initially I thought the graphics were just ok, and could just as well be on an xbox.  But, after finishing the game, I can say they are actually very, very good and beyond anything the xbox can do presently.  At times, it’s just plain gorgeous.  You get to play as Jack and as Kong (split 80%/20% or so).  This game is very, very linear (what would you expect from a movie game?).  In fact, probably the most linear game I’ve ever played.  Gameplay is again very straightforward—nothing fancy, four guns (pistol, shotgun, sniper rifle, and tommy gun)—you can only carry one at a time.  You can throw spears and burn brush with fire, and that’s quite cool.  The voice acting is superb (Jack Black is great as the ego-maniac film-maker).  The dinosaurs are very well rendered and move very fluidly, but don’t get me started on the T-rex—it’s really nuts when he chases you around and screams—very nicely done!  You may have seen this on a 360 demo unit—the screen shakes/blurs when the T-rex roars.  Not an extremely challenging game.  I give it a B.  I wish you could jump, I wish you could explore (not so linear), the New York levels are over way too quickly, and it’s just too short (took me about 8 hours). 

 

Kameo

I bought this game because someone I know played it straight through the day he got his 360 and loved it.  The graphics (despite the screenshots) are extremely polished and the levels are very large.  The gameplay is the best part—you can morph into several different characters, each with its own powers/abilities.  It looks cartoonish if you look at a screenshot, but it’s actually fairly violent.  I’ve only played through the first level, but I’m really enjoying it.  I am told that this game has sections with hundreds of characters fighting simultaneously, and is a sight to behold.  We’ll see.  Too early to grade.

 Condemned

My opinion?  Scariest game ever.  Period.  I haven’t had the balls to play this since the first time I played it a week ago, especially in the dark.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but hey.  You play as an investigator trying to solve a murder (and catch the offender).  You start out in an inhospitable ghetto-looking loft building going over the crime scene with a cop.  Suddenly you hear someone running on the floor one level above you.  The cop yells that the murderer may be right above, and you split up to find him.  It’s dimly lit, and while you are walking, you will see someone run across the hallway way ahead of you.  Or you will round a corner and a barrel will be slowly rolling as if someone had just been there, or you’ll hear whispering.  This isn’t Doom 3 “BOO!” type of scary—it’s immersive.  I just get really tense playing it.  Once a guy came running full speed at me out of no where, and cracked me across the skull with a pipe.  Blood splattered on the screen, and this guy was relentless.  It was a bit disturbing how realistic is all is.  Some of you may remember me saying that this game has the best graphics of any I have ever seen.  Bar none.  I give it an A—extremely creepy, extremely realistic, absolutely gratuitous.  I have again heard that this is a short game (what’s up with all the short games?), and if true, I would drop the score a bit. 

 
I have a theory about all these “short” games.  I follow video game stocks quite closely, and they (specifically THQ, Activision, and EA) would like to boost game prices to $60 this generation.  This isn’t speculation—Robert Kotick at Activision has actually said this is the plan, and we can see it at the stores.  It’s no secret.  But, not all games are $60.  My theory is (and this is not rocket science) that, since there are two ways to boost profits (either increase revenue OR decrease expenses), game makers are opting to reduce spending rather than start every game at $60.  In other words, less time spent creating a game equates lower expenses.  Think how much cheaper it is to create an eight-hour game as opposed to a 20 hours game.  Who knows, maybe this “short” game thing isn’t a trend, but I’m getting a bit frustrated.  Quake IV, GUN, PDZ, King Kong, Kameo—the list is growing.  Call of Duty 2 is the only next gen title I know of that is long (15+ hours).

 
P.S. – Critic, you know full well you’re not going to be able to walk past a 360 sitting on the shelf at Best Buy. 

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=Crevalle]

(what’s up with all the short games?)

 
I have a theory about all these “short” games.  I follow video game stocks quite closely, and they (specifically THQ, Activision, and EA) would like to boost game prices to $60 this generation.  This isn’t speculation—Robert Kotick at Activision has actually said this is the plan, and we can see it at the stores.  It’s no secret.  But, not all games are $60.  My theory is (and this is not rocket science) that, since there are two ways to boost profits (either increase revenue OR decrease expenses), game makers are opting to reduce spending rather than start every game at $60.  In other words, less time spent creating a game equates lower expenses.  Think how much cheaper it is to create an eight-hour game as opposed to a 20 hours game.  Who knows, maybe this “short” game thing isn’t a trend, but I’m getting a bit frustrated.  Quake IV, GUN, PDZ, King Kong, Kameo—the list is growing.  Call of Duty 2 is the only next gen title I know of that is long (15+ hours).[/QUOTE]

You have just increased my desire for the next generation.  If they kept a large portion of games at current prices while decreasing their length, I'd be very happy indeed.   I'd like an occasional long game as much as anyone, but throw in a couple different ways to upgrade weapons and a minigame or something and I'll be happy with one I can finish in 8 hours.  Generally a few hours of good action beats incredibly long repeditive action anyday.  That's why I actually like on the rails games and dislike sandbox games.  Have you taken ay of it online yet, or are you planning to?