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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Best XBOX Games

Best XBOX Games

by John Cole|  August 14, 20055:15 pm| 32 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I thought I would provide a list of the best XBOX games I have played:

1.) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
2.) Jade Empire
3.) Ninja Gaiden
4.) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
5.) Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

No. I didn’t like Halo. Discuss.

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32Comments

  1. 1.

    Stormy70

    August 14, 2005 at 6:45 pm

    I play Nintendo 64. I got it off ebay and I play Mario and Donkey Kong Country. I think I just out-dorked you in the gaming department, which is sad. I’m behind the times.

  2. 2.

    StupidityRules

    August 14, 2005 at 6:53 pm

    Not owning a XBOX I would say that Jade Empire is a game that I could buy a XBOX to play. I agree on SWKOTOR being a great game but the sequel was released to early so the game is full of holes in the story and lost subquests…

  3. 3.

    Jack Sparks

    August 14, 2005 at 7:09 pm

    As a big PC gaming fan who bought an xbox for the sports games (Madden’s only good if you’re piss drunk and on the couch), I had mixed feelings about Halo. Some parts – the buggy comes to mind – were fun, but it’s not, say, Far Cry or Half Life 2. Plus the story was terrible – poorly done high-school sci fi.

  4. 4.

    Horshu

    August 14, 2005 at 7:12 pm

    Halo was a lot of fun (part combat simulation part FPS), as was Halo 2 (which had about the most difficult opening for a game I’ve ever played). I’ll still pop in H2 and play it all the way through; the city combat on Earth is awesome.
    I never really understood the allure KOTOR, and I’ve tried to play it twice. Too RPG, I guess, and I wind up just not understanding how it’s intended to be played.
    Ninja Gaiden is the best game I’ve ever played on any system (although God of War on PS2 improves on a lot of the mechanics while adding some amazing plotlines and levels in its own right; Pandora’s Temple on the Titan blew me away).

  5. 5.

    Bostondreamer

    August 14, 2005 at 7:17 pm

    I don’t have an X-Box (teacher salary and all; my pc and ps2 are enough!), but I loved KOTOR. Better than the last 3 movies. Kotor II, though…well, after about half way through, I thought the plot collapsed and the Sith Lords seemed incredibly weak..especially the ‘Force Eater’ lord, whose name escapes me now. Way too easy to kill. I am hoping Jade Empire comes out for PC. I am a huge RPG fan; if you like CRPG’s I recommend Planescape: Torment. Best RPG ever.

  6. 6.

    StupidityRules

    August 14, 2005 at 7:19 pm

    BTW, the best games on any platform is the Grand Theft Auto triology (III, Vice City and San Andreas (never played the first two)). Obviously after playing them too much I know feel a need to jack every car I see and run over hookers. That can’t be good.

  7. 7.

    Tim F

    August 14, 2005 at 7:31 pm

    Stormy,

    Perfect Dark is your friend. That and Goldeneye are the best N64 games and two of the best games ever.

    For best game ever I’d nominate Romance of the Three Kingdoms for the NES. Two-player of course, block out the whole weekend and stock up on caffeine.

  8. 8.

    MI

    August 14, 2005 at 7:43 pm

    John, I’ve been meaning to ask, what does Balloon Juice mean?

    And I’m still rockin’ the original Playstation , heh. I’m always behind the times!

  9. 9.

    John Cole

    August 14, 2005 at 8:00 pm

    Balloon Juice is slang for Hot Air.

  10. 10.

    John Cole

    August 14, 2005 at 8:09 pm

    And I agree about Ninja Gaiden. Just superb. You know a new one comes out in a month?

  11. 11.

    MI

    August 14, 2005 at 8:46 pm

    Balloon Juice is slang for Hot Air

    haha! thanks.

  12. 12.

    tBone

    August 14, 2005 at 8:51 pm

    No. I didn’t like Halo.

    Heresy, I say. Heresy!

    Can’t argue with KOTOR as #1, though.

  13. 13.

    Stormy70

    August 14, 2005 at 9:10 pm

    Perfect Dark is your friend. That and Goldeneye are the best N64 games and two of the best games ever.

    Cool. Will search them out and sequester myself away some weekend.

  14. 14.

    Nathan Lanier

    August 14, 2005 at 9:21 pm

    I bought mine and pretty much stopped playing it a month later, but when I did play it I loved:

    Burnout III
    Tiger Woods 2005
    Splinter Cell
    and, of course, Madden.

    I bought Halo 2 but I hated it. I even signed up for the Live thing but the little fourteen year old peckerheads calling me a jerkoff while blowing my head off became a little too much to bear.

  15. 15.

    Stephen

    August 14, 2005 at 9:29 pm

    RPG fan, eh? Well, this liberal loves PGR, PGR2, both Halos, and the Splinter Cell series.

    I assume you have XBL? If not…then what’s the point?!

  16. 16.

    Horshu

    August 14, 2005 at 9:31 pm

    Unfortunately, I will not be buying Ninja Gaiden Black. It just comes across to me as a rehash/expansion pack. I’m also a little disappointed that Xbox 360 launches with another Dead or Alive game from Team Ninja instead of Ninja Gaiden 360. Itagaki’s masterpiece is NG, not DOA, and it is going to be a hard time waiting on a version that maxes out the next gen of consoles. NG is so friggin’ epic in size (vertically, though, as the Vigoor Empire in the game is only a single village and a city), that I never wanted it to end. But at least there’s Halo 3 in the spring to tide me over.
    BTW: I predicted it at the PS3 announcement and I stand by it that I do not think that the PS3 will be ready in time for a spring launch. Think x-mas ’06.

  17. 17.

    Zifnab

    August 14, 2005 at 9:42 pm

    When I got the X-Box at launch, Halo was the only game I owned for a year and a half. I ended up selling it to a friend who modded the hell out of it. Halo is the ony game he has ever (legally) owned as well, although he’s got 250 gigs of… um… save files that just happen to play really well.

    That said, there’s a reason one game often precedes another. The same engine that runs DOA is the one that runs NG, and before you create another forty hour epic action thriller, better to test out your code on a quick and easy Fighter game. DOA is magnitudes less costly and time consuming to produce than NG.

    Finally, not loving Halo makes you a bad person John Cole, and you should feel bad. :-p

  18. 18.

    demimondian

    August 14, 2005 at 9:46 pm

    Sheesh. You know, John, I can forgive you for having political prinicples that are antithetical to mine and seeking the Destruction of All That Is Good in America(TM), but…I don’t know. Not liking Halo? That’s…serious.

    Actually, I loved Halo, but not for any of the reasons that people usually love the game. I’m awful at first person shooters, and they bore me to tears, but that game had the Best. Physics. Ever. You could do the coolest things with a few grenades and a bit of mayhem aimed at your innocent Marines.

  19. 19.

    SeesThroughIt

    August 14, 2005 at 11:09 pm

    I play Nintendo 64.

    Me, too. And I concur with TimF, Stormy: GoldenEye is one of the greatest first-person shooters of all time. In fact, that game is the major reason why I still play N64 even though I have a PS2 as well (and I mostly use that to play Madden or Star Wars Battlefront).

    Also, you want game dorkiness? I used to work at GamePro magazine. Dork-o-rama. And I mean that as a compliment.

  20. 20.

    Mark Coffey

    August 14, 2005 at 11:59 pm

    I would have said NCAA Football 2005 until a few weeks ago – now I say NCAA Football 2006…but then, I’m a sucker for the sports games…

  21. 21.

    Pelikan

    August 15, 2005 at 12:01 am

    Second on KOTOR, but Jade Empire? Maybe I’m too dorked out on Asian Mythologies, but I was disappointed. Now Psychonauts.. That was a good game!

  22. 22.

    Pelikan

    August 15, 2005 at 12:03 am

    As for both Halo and Perfect Dark, God Bless any game with timed explosives/proximity mines. Yes I was that guy, and yes I know you all hated me.

  23. 23.

    Matthew J. Stinson

    August 15, 2005 at 12:26 am

    I definitely agree with KOTOR in the top slot.

    Now, in fairness, Halo was fun in the outdoors, then you went into a building and wondered when Bungie decided to fire all their level designers.

    Have you played any of the Clancy games besides Splinter Cell? The Rainbow Six game on the X-BOX was pretty sweet.

    P.S. Damn you for mentioning Ninja Gaiden. I was drooling over that game before I left the country.

  24. 24.

    Kirby

    August 15, 2005 at 1:57 am

    I’m an avid Xbox gamer and enjoy playing on Xbox Live. But the only game I play a great deal of on Live is Star Wars Battlefront. So I will rank that as my number 1 game because it has provided me with the most enjoyment. Plus most of the other people I play with on Live are generally in my age range (mid 20’s to mid 30’s) so I don’t have to put up with the screaming 13 year olds that are playing Halo. Most of the gamers I play with regularly consider Halo to be a four-letter word.

    My other favourites:
    Tiger Woods 2005
    Morrowind
    KOTOR 1 and 2
    NHL2005 and no doubt the soon to be released NHL2006. Though how they will make a game based on a lockout season is beyond me.

    Also, I just picked up Delta Force: BlackHawk Down today. So far it has proven to be very enjoyable. And I like how the instruction booklet gives some historical perspective to the Somalia conflict.

  25. 25.

    rafael

    August 15, 2005 at 2:02 am

    Hey, I loved Rainbow Six. I also played the second part, Roque Spear. That, Metal Gear Solid and the Splinter Cell games are my favorite kind of games… Am I a bad person for loving the sniper missions???

    Oh, and on other PC related things, I love the Total War series and you all should try them out. I’m thinking of buying a computer just to play Rome Total War.

  26. 26.

    Marcos

    August 15, 2005 at 9:21 am

    I’ve heard Ninja Gaiden is an outstanding game, but that it’s too difficult. Do “soft core” gamers have a shot at beating it?

  27. 27.

    Tim F

    August 15, 2005 at 10:00 am

    To my earlier N64 recommendations, I’d be crazy if I didn’t add Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time. I sacrificed a few college GPA points to that game.

  28. 28.

    Tim F

    August 15, 2005 at 10:00 am

    Do “soft core” gamers have a shot at beating it?

    The original NES Gaiden was hard as hell too. It’s just that sort of game.

  29. 29.

    Defense Guy

    August 15, 2005 at 10:05 am

    I would add

    Halo and Halo2
    Grand Theft Auto 3 & Vice City
    SpiderMan 2

    for the RPG fans – Morrowind.

  30. 30.

    dorkafork

    August 15, 2005 at 1:51 pm

    Star Wars Battlefront is a lot of fun. And the Best-Selling Star Wars Game of All Time, if the marketing is to be believed.

  31. 31.

    Horshu

    August 15, 2005 at 2:20 pm

    Oh, yeah, the Hitman series is a lot of fun as well, just not graphically as impressive as Halo or Ninja Gaiden. It’s like Splinter Cell in that it’s a stealth game, but it is extremely open-ended and not as linear as SC. It took quite a while for me to realize that I could beat a level any way I want. I try to play games as the designers intended them to be played, but that one has so many ways to achieve the goal that it takes a while to get into that kind of mindset.

  32. 32.

    John Cole

    August 15, 2005 at 2:22 pm

    Morrowind was anabomination, and I love RPG’s.

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