srika

hehehe.. I know. sounds scary. I've just started a day long Xbox 360 jaunt. This review will be continuuing throughout the day, as I try more games.

1) Call of Duty 2: ok earlier I wrote that this wasn't that great but I was in a mode that wasn't the greatest - a tank mode in some desert or something.. tried some more modes and checked some more maps, there are some really good graphics and gameplay here... I hope it will support keyboard/mouse sometime.

2) PGR3: tried Nurburgring Nordschleife with the Noble M400. Sharp graphics. In-car mode is unusable as the screen moves left/right with each turn, to simulate turning your head. Great concept, terrible execution. The other views are a lot better and actually driveable. Nurburgring as a course has been made easier to drive, not as many sharp turns, elevation, and other nuances as the version in GT4 - really the only other thing I can compare to. There were some turns that I could take flat out that would just not be possible in real life. Ok well I guess everyone knows PGR3 is an arcade racer. Oh yea the headlights suck. Very diverse music selection. Racing at Vegas some classical music came on, we're like WTF. Changed the channel, some Indian techno music came on.. I was dying lol.... Love the car selection too. So far, I have no desire to get a 360.

Playing some more - in-car view looks really sweet but I guess I just need to get used to the control.

ok - playing again for the 3rd time, I took the Enzo. In-car is magnificent in this car, with the lights at the top of the steering wheel, and its just great feeling like youre driving an Enzo. In-car is good in all the cars, I apologize for making a rash judgment earlier.

3) Quake 4: played some multiplayer on Xbox live. the other players were saying all this crap and I like it that you can choose any player and "mute" them if you don't wanna hear their BS. Rewarding and fun to play, but honestly aside from the graphics looking considerably better, I can't say the EXPERIENCE is much different than Quake 3 on PC or Dreamcast. And that may be a good thing. Weapons and sounds are better. But I would rather have this game for PC.

4) Need for Speed Most Wanted: this game is great. great sense of speed, the graphics are incredible, and the game is very playable. I feel like I could play it for hours on end. I would get the 360 for this game. I may have to You can get it for PC too but I would rather play it on a big screen.

5) Ridge Racer 6: very nice graphics, with the gameplay as expected - very exaggerated drifting. it's a fun game but I don't see myself playing it too much. if GT4 is the extreme on the simulation end of console racing, this game is the extreme on the other end.

6) Perfect Dark Zero: Played this on Xbox Live. Do not play Quake 4 before playing this game. This game feels like you're playing in slow motion. I don't think I'd be playing this game if I had Quake 4. None of us really liked this game. I didn't like the character models, Looked too cartoony. I didn't feel a part of the game. It reminded me of Time Splitters on PS2, which was a similarly average FPS.

7) Condemned: OMG.. this game rocks. incredible... the game starts with the usual cinematics - it looks really good, but it looks like one of the opening CG movies of any other game - then the game starts - but I didn't realize it started because the graphics STAYED the same as the "opening CG". incredible.. this game is super freaky and has some great satisfaction feeling - the taser rocks - stun the enemies first and then hack em with the various bloody weapons. You have to try this game, this was the most impressive game thus far.

8) Kameo: graphics in this game are really good and it has a very fresh concept and feel. I've never seen a game like this before. very fluid animations and you can tell they put a LOT of effort into this game. The backgrounds are feature-rich and its a beautiful game to play.

The controller is great overall - much better than Xbox 1. The shoulder pads seemed inaccessible while playing a game, though. I mean, I forgot they were even there. Need to get used to em, I suppose.

srika

the battery on the controller just ran out. time to charge. before that, it was losing connection with the 360 while in the middle of a game. glad it wasn't in the middle of like a real critical moment in a game.

jiggaman

wow that sounds pretty F-ing lame, PS3 better not drop the ball too.

Stapler

I firmly dissagree about the cockpit view, it's the best in the game. Even pc sim's i can't really tell where the car is in cockpit mode too well (but use it anyway for effect)
In this game I can do thos platinum cone challenges and know if the back end will hit a cone on the way out of a turn.
The dreamcast comment.. I guess you mean that it doesnt look extra special to you. Your right ... pc port.

srika

The view LOOKS great. I agree. But the control is terrible in this view - I seriously found Nurbugring unplayable - if you started to lose control of the car going too fast into a turn, the whole car goes psycho and you can't correct with any kind of normal driving maneuver. About the Dreamcast comment, it's just the first thing I thought of when I was playing these games. If its a port, well I guess that makes sense.

doopstr

Now I know why they make wireless controllers. So that when the battery dies there is a slight chance a kid just might go outside and get some sun

JJ4Short

Most systems out the gate have shitty games. I am sure it's best though to judge a system by someone elses preferences and the games that came out right when the system did.

Plus most here will own both eventually.

FiftyFive

i got nba 2k6 and nfs most wanted, the 360 s fucking amazing, as far as live goes and how much shit you can mess around with, its amazing

srika

you know, a lot of ppl are saying, Xbox 360 is not that great, it's alright, it's not as good as it was supposed to be, etc.. I disagree. It's great. The improvement in graphics over the Xbox is considerable. The in-car views in PGR3 are terrific, the gauges are PERFECT, along with the scenery. The amount of detail in these games is far and above beyond any other games I have seen. And wanna hear the kicker? I'm not even playing at full 1080 HD mode.. we are only running one of the lower graphics modes, I think it may have even only been 480.

And, I am happy to report we have not had any crashes with any of the games, after playing for about 12 hours now. The only issue we have had is with the controllers losing charge - we have had to plug them in using the wires - no big issue, just might need to get some USB cable extenders or something, as the supplied cables aren't very long.

I can tell you right now, there is an Xbox 360 in my future. I will probably wait until Spring 2006. Congrats Microsoft, this is a killer console with great launch apps.

There's a great feature in PGR3 on Xbox Live, you can watch any player from any of the views, if you want. I thought it was cool, if you wanna just leave it on as a demo or something. Also cool to see other ppl's skillz on your screen, in real-time.

We just took out the F360 Challenge Stradale and it is perfect - from the taillights to the gauges to the sound - perfection.

Sarlacc

glad to see you came around on the system.

If you my posts over the threads, I wasnt very impressed when I first saw a demo with COD2 either, then I saw it again and realized it did look really good, and I go to play and it was awesome.

I think we are expecting some so awesome we were let down at first, then when reality set in, we realized it really pretty fucking amazing after all.

ghost_masterCL

you all are just trying to warrant spending $400 on a goddamn system.

srika

not me. what I wrote has nothing to do with the cost of the system, I wasn't thinking about that at all. thx

edit: I'm probably one of the last ppl on this forum that will try to justify the cost of buying an Xbox 360.

cusdaddy

Great reviews. I'm glad to see you have enjoyed the system as much as I have. While not all games are great, the experience on an HDTV is amazing.

Currently, I have COD2, Kameo and PGR3. I downloaded the demo if NFS:MW and it looks like a great game. I'll probably pick it up after I play out my first 3 games. I'm also definitley going to pick up Condemned. I've heard great things about it and I love the atmosphere.

Have you played around with the user interface and Live Arcade? These features actually interest me more than the games sometimes.

Glad to see you enjoyed the system and a very level-headed review of the system and the games.

cusdaddy

I agree about the PGR3 in-car view. It really adds a new dimension to the game. For competitive races, I prefer the in front of the hood view (no visible car), but playing inside the car adds a new type of realism that that is I have never felt in a racing game. Driving in the NYC course (where I've lived most of my life) inside the car almost feels like I'm truly there. I've never felt that in a racing game before.

srika

yea I really need to experience this in HD... trying to get that setup for the next outing.

I didn't try the Live Arcade but I LOVED the Xbox Live setup. It is so great how you can be playing ANY game and it will tell you when one of your friends comes on - they can then invite you to the game they are playing, and all you do is hit the Xbox button (on the controller) and you're there. Multiplayer network connections with friends has been a challenge in the past, as far as setup - sometimes it can be quite tedious. Xbox Live on 360 makes it very easy. a BIG plus there. Also like the player Gamescore and rep points, you can very easily tell who are the n00bs and annoying players you want to avoid, and who are the cool players. Lag was virtually non-existent for all the live games we played. Once in a while it might stutter a bit but that's almost expected with online gaming.

at this rate, I may even have a 360 before the end of the year, if I can get my greedy hands on one. need to get my Gamescore up!!

cusdaddy

The experience is 100% different playing the games in HD. For example, PGR3 looks little better than PGR1 and 2 on the Xbox on a SDTV, but it looks unreal on an HDTV. You won't get the full experience until you try the games on one.

is300eater

so, that would be me (a "n00b" that is...) would you advice that I get better, or I should say... "master" the game before trying out "Live"?

srika

heh... no, I would say play on Live as much as you can, so you won't be a n00b for very long

<--- going to be a serious n00b unless I get a 360 soon!

srika

9) Top Spin 2: Played a few solid hours of 4P. The game looks really good, but I can't help but think it doesn't look that much better than the first one. I mean, it doesn't "wow" you - at least, it didn't wow us. The player movement is quite good, but sometimes not so good. Some of the players' faces look like, scary. When they're not supposed to. The buttons didn't seem as responsive as they were in Top Spin 1. Speaking of which....

Top Spin 2 is not as good as Top Spin 1. It just doesn't have the feel. One of the very noticeable changes made to the game is, you hit the ball out more often. Now this may make it more realistic, but the problem is, for a game such as tennis in video game form, this may be good or bad. There is only so far you can go with a game like tennis, simulation-wise. You just can't simulate all the various nuances of real tennis, with a controller. I could go into the details but I don't feel like writing that much atm. That being said, the focus should be on FUN factor, in a game like this. Top Spin 2 lost the fun factor of games like Top Spin 1, and Virtua Tennis. In Top Spin 2, if you max out the stick in any direction to go for an angled shot, the ball will go out. In the other 2 older games, the ball will stay in - although there seemed to be some low "out" probability factored in, as the ball would SOMETIMES go out. That's one of the main reasons Top Spin 2 isn't as fun. You can't get those insanely angled shots that leave everyone ooh'ing as they frantically try to run for it. Sometimes you'll get a very simple lob that should be cake to hit back, and you'll hit it out. It's frustrating. Of course, this can happen in real life too, but in a game like this, it subtracts from the fun factor. The serving system was better and easier in Top Spin 1.

Now, here's the thing - like the first one, the game has the "risk" shot system in place. So you hold the Right trigger to execute better shots, that are also tougher to place, because you have to time the power meter thingy. With practice I can see this making the game more fun to play - and we did start using these shots more towards the end. But it's just too tricky to use like, a lot. You might try it once, and if you don't know what you're doing, chances are it will go out or into the net. Now, granted this game just may have a steep learning curve. And while that's fine if you play the game for a long time and learn everything, it's not fine for when you have 4 ppl over and just wanna grab the game and play. I wish there was a mode that was "easier", where the ball doesn't go out as much.

But in the final analysis, this is a game to get. If (when?) I get an Xbox 360, I will get this game.

srika

10) Fight Night Round 3 (demo) - this game wowed me. And it was just the demo. Played a few rounds, I love the guard mode - looks very realistic - albeit a bit fast. Towards the end we were kinda goofing around and I couldn't help but do some button-mashing. It was pretty fun, lol. Great great graphics... the mood of this game is just amazing. The ambient lighting, shadows, well you've seen the pics and videos. A must-have for any 360 owner.

cusdaddy

I completely agree. I really like this game. The actual game looks even better than the demo (MSG is filled with thousands of actual individual people cheering) and I love the create a boxer feature and the ESPN Classic fights (You can re-live classic fights like Ali vs. Frazier). Lastly, while it is shameless product placement, you can unlock The King (BK) as your trainer. It's absolutely hilarious.

Mokos23

Did you happen to play MLB 2K6 yet or that hasn't come out on 360 yet?

srika

should be out this week.

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product_id=200153