To all you avid gamers out there I welcome you to the first article on Refined Gaming. For those of you who couldn’t guess by the name of the site, we hope to eventually make gaming more enjoyable for those of you who wish to only play games that interest you.
One of the biggest mysteries about games is much like a present. You’re swayed by the nice wrapping paper, and don’t truly understand what you might be getting yourself into until you open up the present. Well, much can be said for gaming as well. For instance, I remember back in the day when Tak 2 came out, and all I remember was that I wanted the game because of all the cool things that were shown on the commercials (like the shape shifting and amazing abilities).To my discontent though, it appeared that close to 30 hours of gameplay at the minimum would be needed in order to obtain these abilities, and at that age, I simply did not have the attention span to play a horrible game for 30 hours just to get to the good parts. So, to my amazement, I just wasted 50 dollars on a game that I did not enjoy playing. To new gamers out there, you will often times be swayed by the gilts and tinsel of screenshots and cut scenes that the gaming companies have chosen to show you, but if there’s one thing that’s for certain, it’s that when it comes to buying your first couple of games, you need classics that will never get old.
Ever since the creation of the Xbox 360 gamers from just about every corner of the world have come to the conclusion that this console provides one of the best gaming experiences known to man. Not only does it’s game selection provide some of the most popular titles, but it’s wide variability in games that you can enjoy playing is what really sets it apart from the other two major consoles.
Though there are many game types that exist in the world of gaming, there are only a couple that should concern new gamers for the Xbox 360. These types are split into 5 categories.
First Person Shooter Genre – Halo
Every good console needs what all gamers dream to be. It’s the middle of the night, approximately 23:46, and your battalion has just been sent onto the front lines. As a commanding officer, you are one of the most prestigious in your selected area, and are fit to conquer any challenge. This little dream is what every gamer has whilst playing a shooting game. Although there are great shooting games like the newly released Red Dead Redemption, which I recommend getting a taste of the first installment Red Dead Revolver first, there has always been one debate about shooting games. Either you’re a CoD Head, or a Halo Freak. Now when it comes to which ones is better, they are both good. Halo has an extremely intricate storyline, while CoD provides a very easy to adjust to online multiplayer selection. But when it comes to which game is necessary for new players, this is one of the toughest decisions I think any gamer will have to make. My choice would have to be the Halo series. Even though CoD provides a realistic approach to the average shooting game, upon testing the newest, and Bungie deemed “last” of the halo series, I feel that Halo has changed from the so called “Mario” style shooter, where you can only jump up and down, and run at one speed. The fact that this next game adds a whole new type of character creation helps to give each individual Spartan a unique ability, whether it be sprinting, creating an impenetrable shield, or even getting a slightly nerfed active camo. Granted there are some kinks that needed to be worked out, like power level of a couple weapons, but overall this series is great.
Halo is one of the greatest shooters of all time, and just about everybody who plays video games will say it. To new gamers who might have just purchased the new Sweet-ass looking Xbox 360, I would say wait until reach comes out before you get a shooter, then buy Halo 3 so that the price drops. The thing that seperates Halo from CoD is its game type variability. Granted CoD has more actual different games types, and a better way in choosing which one you want to play, Halo’s different rule type games are what set it apart. If you want to play Halo for what it is, then you play the normal slayer games. If you want to play a more realistic shooting version, then you grab yourself a BR and play you some SWAT. And if you want to get a little more skill intensive, then you can choose from snipers, Lone Wolves (FFA), or any other type of game. Not only that, but the fact that you can stay in party chat no matter what game type you play is always a plus.
Aside from its multiplayer action, Halo has an extremely entertaining storyline. The one thing that bugs me about maybe 70% of the people that actually own any CoD game is that I asked them how the story was, they would most likely say “What story? I bought CoD for the online.” To me, that’s a waste of a game. When actually playing the modern warfare 2 storyline, I’m not gonna lie, I almost cried when, well, you’ll just have to play the storyline to find that one out. The CoD game that I have has an extremely well created storyline, but the fact that most people don’t realize it is what makes Halo in my mind seem more appealing to the average gamer.
Sandbox Genre – The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The second type of game isn’t really a type of game, but rather a gamer created genre. It’s called a sandbox game. Sandbox games, like grand theft auto, are games that have endless possibilities once the story mode is over, much like a sandbox to a child. These games are great because when you’ve got nothing to do but procrastinate doing your homework, or pretend to go to bed, you can just turn on the game and chill out in your giant sandbox. And since you aren’t necessarily doing anything important, If your parents try and catch you, just hold down that center button, turn off your Xbox and nothing is lost.
I would say that from my experiences, sandbox games that are good are hard to find. The game that I chose I was thinking about putting in a different genre, but to be completely honest, it could fit in just about any of them, and is one of the highest selling games to date, complete with multiple expansions. And this game would happen to be The Elder Scrolls IV – Oblivion
In order to officially complete the game, you have to get extremely lucky, and from what I’ve been told, easily put more than 100 hours of gameplay into it. The fact that the game provides so many side quests is what gives it its excellent sandbox trait, the fact that you may have tools that help you build that castle, but once you dig a moat, and then a dragon that looks like your fist comes crashing through the front gate and eats all of the stone shaped people that your mom told you not to put in the sandbox, you then have a mountain that a brave adventurer is trying to climb.
When choosing a game like this you also want to look at it’s what I call “Pokemon” trait. A “Pokemon” trait in my mind was explained to me by a game developer at a game design lecture. He said that “Every game creators dream is to create a game like Pokemon, where you can literally turn on your game, take one step, turn it off (after you save of course) and you will have accomplished something.” Oblivion has that kind of World of Warcraft feel that you can turn on the game, take a step, kill a boar, and you will have done something. It’s a great game with a high re-play value, that’s also fun to, well, quite frankly it’s just fun to dick-around in it.
Racing Genre – Project Gotham
The third genre that I’d like to talk about is a racing game. Racing games are fun, but you need a game that won’t get repetitive, and that’ll keep you guessing as to which vehicle is best in which situations. Though my Xbox 360 racing experience is limited, I would say that getting yourself any of the Project Gotham racing games would probably be the best bet. Not only do they provide a realistic look on the whole law-breaking, fast paced racing lifestyle, but it’s also a very enjoyable game.
Along with that, I found that its graphic quality was always top notch, especially for an Xbox game, and the fact that they’ve had so many installments must mean that they are doing something. I wouldn’t be surprised though if the new racing game Blur takes the stage, but once again, it’s the gilts and tinsel that makes you want to buy a game, but it’s the experienced reviews that actually get you the game.
If you have a Couple of Friends Over, and you Need a Good Game that’ll Help Pass the Time Whether you’re Bored, Piss Drunk, or Higher than the Clouds Genre – Soul Calibur & Aegis Wing
The fourth game is in a genre that I don’t really know what to call with a witty one name title so I’ll just call it what I think it is. This is the “If you have a couple of friends over, and you need a good game that’ll help pass the time whether your bored, piss drunk, or higher than the clouds” genre.
This genre encompasses just about every game with multi-player, but out of the 3 games I already listed, 2 of them are perfect fits for this category. I would like to add, that there are a couple of games that I would like to give special notice to, and one of them is free.
The first game is Soul Calibur 4. This game has an almost bottomless pit of accessories in which to make your own character just the way you want. But it’s also got some decent gameplay. It’s story mode is a lot to be desired, but it’s multiplayer is great. Since rounds are short, and can be adjusted based on how many people you have over, it’s one of the best games you could have at a party.
The other game that should be taken into account is the free game, and gets some bad rep. just because it’s an arcade game. This game is called Aegis Wing.
As a proud supporter of the human race, Aegis Wing is the perfect multiplayer game to play if you want to team up with some friends and kill some aliens. It’s Galaga-like play style helps to keep it close to the heart, and makes it feel homey and gives you that sense of security that the game will be fun. But at the same time, it’s unique changes to the Galaga like game style helps to give it a “futuristic” type of feel to it. And, if you need one more person to help you get a complete party, you can always take it online. Coming from someone who just recently acquired the last achievement for the game that I needed, it will take you a while before you become a master at it, and getting better with your friends at the same time is always nice too.
Miscellanious Genre – Assassin’s Creed II
The final genre that I would like to put into perspective is the one that I pointed out earlier, which is the miscellaneous category. This category involves just an all around good game. One that doesn’t excel in graphics, or isn’t necessarily action packed from start to finish, but rather a game that at the end of the day, you can say that you spent your time in the best way possible.
Now at first I wasn’t really sure how to go about choosing this game, considering most of the time if I want to play a game like this I go back to good old Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube, considering it took an extremely long amount of time to complete, and was fun all throughout. Upon further speculation though, I think I’ve chosen a game that’ll keep you interested the whole time your playing, and it can fit into almost all of the other genres as a contester for their coveted position atop the “Best Game Pyramid”.
I would have to say, that Ubisoft did a pretty good job on this sequel, and go with the famed Assassin’s Creed II, for this title. Some of you may disagree with this decision, but hear me out. Assassin’s Creed II has a great story line, and was interesting from the first game. The only problem that Ubisoft faced was how do you take out the repetitiveness of a storyline that’s repetitive. I was a little bit skeptical about buying the game, considering I borrowed the first one from a friend, and got extremely bored after the second assassination. But, still interested, I decided to read up on it. What I found interesting was that Ubisoft knew how repetitive their first game was, so what did they do? They hired a couple more people to help them out. You know, they only hired more than 200 people to help re-create their vision of a perfect pre modern assassination game. In doing so, they created a game that utilized an extremely widely varied fighting experience, a storyline that keeps you interested the whole time, while at the same time, creating a game that has a pretty decent sandbox value.
The fact that you can just turn on the game and start killing random civilians without getting found out is a pretty good deal if you ask me. I would gladly re-play the story line, which says a lot coming from the guy who doesn’t like seeing movies again because he already knows that the main character dies at the end only to be resurrected in the spirit and remembrance of his/her closest friends and family members, and that what you thought was going to happen from the beginning does in fact happen.
I would say that this about wraps up my thoughts on the top games that every Xbox 360 gamer should have. Might I add you should all subscribe to Gamefly, not because I’m being paid to do so. In fact, I’m not getting paid at all yet to do any of this, I’m doing it to help, but rather, so that you have the opportunity to play the games that I will hopefully be writing reviews on in the future. Also, it’s an inexpensive way to try and test out my reviews, and for those of you who are against me, to try and prove me wrong.
For all those CoD Heads out there, sorry bout the disappointment, but if you want to prove me wrong, then post some comments on the Halo vs. CoD forum.
Happy Gaming!!