X-Box Recommendations?

[Morfiend]

Any one tried Psi-Ops yet?

I was thinking of picking this up today. Only problem is, its one of those games that would be so much better with Mouse/Keyboard, but I think it is X-Box exclusive.

[Alluvian]

I played the Xbox Magazine demo of it.  It had potential.  As always the demo was too short to really tell.  2 snippets from 2 levels and a training room to play with the physics.

Physics were decent.  Far better than Thief 3, but not as good as farcry or what HL2 looks to be bringing.  I would put it slightly below Max Payne 2 maybe.  In that ballpark.

The demo let you use all the abilities while the full game will 'unlock' them as you progress in the game.

The shooting bits of the game were pretty weak.  If they take too long to give the powers out the beginning will suck ass.

The powers themselves are pretty much gimmicks.  Gimmicks CAN carry a game if it is well made.  I think it will come down to level design as the powers are only as good as the obstacles you have to use them with.  It is fun once to jump on a pallete and levitate it and you across a chasm, but the second time it is old hat.  They will be hard pressed to keep coming up with unique options for your powers.   I found I didn't like the demo when I could not use my powers to kill everyone.  Once I started to pull the trigger on the guns my interest went down.  The gunplay is average at best.

Without actually playing the full game I can't give a thumbs up or thumbs down.  Level design and pacing will be critical.  I will probably rent it and be done with it that way.  The demo was creative enough to make me want to rent it.  If they give the powers out real slow I will probably give up on it early and regrest wasting $5 though.

[Morfiend]

I played the Xbox Magazine demo of it.  It had potential.  As always the demo was too short to really tell.  2 snippets from 2 levels and a training room to play with the physics.

Same here. I was wondering about the full version. Gamespy gave it a pretty good review (BIT YOUR TONGUE NOW) and their reviews have been at least passable lately. In fact a lot of their reviews have mirrored what has been said here. Maybe Gamespy is getting the idea.

I heard it was using the Havoc physics engine. So that should put it up pretty high.

I think I will take one for the team and try and pick this up tonight.

[Sable Blaze]

As far as I know, only Marathon 2: Durandal ever made it to the PC. It's better than Duke. Way better.

There was a project to bring a version of Marathon to the Dreamcast. I believe it was called...mmm...can't remember. Ahh, Aleph, I think. Or something similar. I believe it was in the alpha stage last time I checked.

You know, I play my DC more than my Xbox. Not sure what that says, but it's not good for M$. Mine has been relegated to movies and waiting for Fable and/or Halo2.

[schild]

You know, I play my DC more than my Xbox. Not sure what that says, but it's not good for M$. Mine has been relegated to movies and waiting for Fable and/or Halo2.

If I played my consoles more, I'd play the Dreamcast more than the XBox. Shit, the dreamcast is still my favorite system (compared to the PS2, XBox, and Gamecube) and by far has the best 1st party controller. Ever.

[Alluvian]

Having the Havok or Havok2 engine in your game does not mean anything though.  Just like you can make a shit ugly game with the doom3 engine if you don't have talented modelers, animators, and texture artists.  Thief3, Max Payne 2, and Farcry ALL use the Havok engine.  I think Thief3 even has the more advanced Havok2.  But all it is is a set of instructions.  MP2 was far better than Thief 3 in terms of physics and Farcry is better than them both.

The ragdolls in Thief3 are among the worst I have ever seen.  It is just a poor implementation of the physics (not setting the constraints correctly on the skeletal models, and fucking up the internal joint frictions totally).  Max Payne 2 was pretty good, but for my liking they put the friction coefficients and weights too low.  Things moved TOO easily.  I think the reason for this was gameplay so that you would never get trapped behind objects blasted around by the physics system.  It made sense, but was also not too realistic.  Farcry made the movable objects destroyable so they didn't have to worry about that as much.  There is also less object clutter in that game.

[Glamdring]

I just wanted to add NBA Ballers to the recommended list.  If you haven't played this game then you're definately missing out.  It's strictly one on one basketball (although I think there's some alternate modes like 1vs1vs1) and it's the most fun arcade-style basketball I've played since the original NBA Jam.

The key mode is a Rags-to-Riches 'Reality Show' (I hate Reality TV..) where you are an up and coming basketball player who is being followed around as you compete in different tournaments.  You play people from random no-names to Lebron James, Rasheed Wallace, Walt Frazier, etc.  You can also customize your look, a la Tiger Woods, gather a following, sport a 'fro, and on and on.

It's definately worth a rental.  I'm not sure how much value it would have as a purchase if you're only going to play single player.

[schild]

You can also customize your look, a la Tiger Woods, gather a following, sport a 'fro, and on and on.

Can I sport a pick in my 'fro? If so, I'm renting it tonight.

[Sky]

I like NBA Street Vol.2, but none of my friends like baskaball, so it's collected dust for the most part. It's basically the EA BIG tricks formula put into sports, with combos and stuff.

[stray]

Rented Red Dead Revolver last night (on Schild's recommendation). Fucking cool game, much better than I thought it was gonna be. Already completed it though. Has anyone played it online? Seems like it could be fun, but I don't have XBL yet.

[Arcadian Del Sol]

Someone explain to me the online multifragger aspects of Red Dead - as I understand it (or dont) its a capture-the-cards poker game where get a card when you kill someone and winner is the one with the best hand....or something?

it sounds 1 part cool and 2 parts WHU?

[stray]

Someone explain to me the online multifragger aspects of Red Dead - as I understand it (or dont) its a capture-the-cards poker game where get a card when you kill someone and winner is the one with the best hand....or something?

Actually, I just read that it isn't XBL aware, so that sucks (the only thing you can do is chat or something through it). So I guess the story mode is the only thing worth playing.

As far as normal multi-play goes, it's just a "best of" out of set number of matches. There's also a mode where players can compete at playing different missions, and another one where you just duel each other (best of).

I think the cards are actually power-ups (I'm not sure what a good hand gives you, but even one card will give you something). The card drops at the spot of the dead player. If you want something good, you have to get it at the right time, because the card spins and doesn't always remain the same. The maps are really small, so it's not a good idea to wait too long (sometimes your opponent could spawn right behind you).

[Glamdring]

You can also customize your look, a la Tiger Woods, gather a following, sport a 'fro, and on and on.

Can I sport a pick in my 'fro? If so, I'm renting it tonight.

Okay, I just unlocked the pick w/ 'fro that I didn't think existed.

[stray]

Okay, how about RPG's...I have KoToR and Morrowind on the PC, but what about Gladius or Arx Fatalis?

[MrHat]

Okay, how about RPG's...I have KoToR and Morrowind on the PC, but what about Gladius or Arx Fatalis?

I want to know also, I"m beginning to yern for an RPG.

Is Arx Fatalis any good?

[Morfiend]

I have Arx Fatilis for PC, it came free with my graphics card.

*cough*sucks*cough*

[Sky]

Gladius is ok, but WAY too slow paced. Since I'm not really using my xbox anymore because it looks like garbage on a real tv, I set Gladius aside pretty early.

Arx Fatalis I liked. As has been said 400 times, it's basically Ultima Underworld 3. If you liked UU, you'll probably dig Arx.

[Glamdring]

Don't get Ninja Gaiden.  If you value your soul avoid this game at all costs.  I've never played a game that made me want to kill the developers more than this game.  That includes all mmog's.  The camera pisses me off so bad.

What is it about games like this that continue to draw us back?  I want to break my xbox right now and do bodily harm to the nearest human being due to this game, but I know that I'll be playing it again tomorrow night....

BTW, I'm sure those of you who have played the game will want to know which part is pissing me off.  Well, I'm in Chapter 9 and am trying to beat the helicopter.  Thanks to the two tanks I only have one great spirit elixir and about 1/4 of life to begin with.  I can't believe they didn't put a vendor in this entire chapter.

[Dark Vengeance]

What is it about games like this that continue to draw us back?  I want to break my xbox right now and do bodily harm to the nearest human being due to this game, but I know that I'll be playing it again tomorrow night....

Two games that fully engrossed me in the past 2 years had this exact same effect:

1) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 - Starting out as a new golfer is the hardest part of the game. Your stats suck ass, so you have to play as well as you can to even stay competitive...and even then you still get some random fuckups, and it exaggerates your mistakes. To it's credit, starting out in TW2004 is a lot like starting out with RL golf. You play like shit for a few holes, want to smash your controller, and then you hit a great shot, or nail an eagle. As your stats improve, the tolerance for fuckups goes down fast....but it gets easier overall.

2) WWE Smackdown : Shut Your Mouth -Any kind of fighting game can be frustrating if you are playing poorly. Again, much tougher if you are first getting started, because you have to unlock better moves and a 30 point (i.e. 20%) stat boost. Once it's unlocked, its unlocked for all future characters. Once I got going, the story mode and create-a-character features absolutely drew me in.

I think ultimately, the rage comes not from hating the game, it comes from getting pissed at your own mistakes. It's knowing that the game is good enough that you want to play it well, and being annoyed that you haven't quite made it yet.

Ultimately for me, if I don't get pissed when I'm playing like shit, it means I should never ever buy the game. If you can fuck up repeatedly and not get annoyed, it means the game hasn't engaged you enough, IMO....if you curse the controller, chances are you've made an emotional investment in the game. And that's a good thing, because playing well becomes immensely rewarding.

Now, my love/hate relationship is with RL golf...let's just say I hope my theory holds true on this game as well.

Bring the noise.
Cheers.................

[stray]

BTW, I'm sure those of you who have played the game will want to know which part is pissing me off.  Well, I'm in Chapter 9 and am trying to beat the helicopter.  Thanks to the two tanks I only have one great spirit elixir and about 1/4 of life to begin with.  I can't believe they didn't put a vendor in this entire chapter.

I'm only in Chapter 5, but thanks for the heads up. Not having any vendors in a lvl is a raw deal, but that's why I do multiple saves, experimenting with the next chapter, until I'm absolutely positive it's safe to overwrite the main one. A little paranoia is a good thing.

I don't mind a game that makes me want to hurl my controller at the TV. If it's still fun enough to keep comin' back for more, it's a great game. Still, compared to some old games, Ninja Gaiden doesn't seem that hard: From what I can tell so far, I think I can finish it. If I want "really hard" there's still quite a few NES games I've never beaten, nor have I seen anyone beat them (Fester's Quest).

As long as there's more than one way to complete a lvl or beat a boss, I'm fine. I don't want too many options either, because then I can just breeze through without much thought. Timed missions tend to piss me off the most, because usually they're made where's there only one way to beat them (I think I read somewhere that Ninja Gaiden has a few timed missions later on. If they require an exact sequence of things in order to beat them, I'll probably quit...or just cheat).

[Glamdring]

It took long enough (~1 month) but I finally finished Ninja Gaiden on normal mode.  That has to be the hardest game I've played since some of the unbeatable NES games.

Now, it's time to play some BG&E and then attempt Hard mode I guess.  Has anyone even attempted Hard?  Hardest?

[Alluvian]

Hard is not that much worse than normal.  By the time you finish normal you have a lot more skill with the game though.

Very hard is supposed to be fucking brutal though.  I have never played it.

[WayAbvPar]

Shot a 59 in a tourney last night on Links 2k4 (13 under par). Still haven't managed an eagle on a par 4 or a hole in one yet...anyone have any luck with that? My 'character' only has about 60% of the maximum points available (if that); I would guess that a fully advanced character would be frightening.

[Signe]

It took long enough (~1 month) but I finally finished Ninja Gaiden on normal mode.  That has to be the hardest game I've played since some of the unbeatable NES games.

Now, it's time to play some BG&E and then attempt Hard mode I guess.  Has anyone even attempted Hard?  Hardest?

I hate to say this, but maybe you're just too darn old! ;p  My nephew has been staying with me for 3 days now, helping me move.  I gave him Ninja Gaiden to play during the evenings and he's on chapter 12 already.  I gave up after about an hour because of that stupid camera and all the angle problems.  He swears at it, now and then, but doesn't seem to have many problems.  I think I'm pretty good at overcoming loopy gameplay but Ninja Gaiden is just too hard for me!

[Glamdring]

It took long enough (~1 month) but I finally finished Ninja Gaiden on normal mode.  That has to be the hardest game I've played since some of the unbeatable NES games.

Now, it's time to play some BG&E and then attempt Hard mode I guess.  Has anyone even attempted Hard?  Hardest?

I hate to say this, but maybe you're just too darn old! ;p  My nephew has been staying with me for 3 days now, helping me move.  I gave him Ninja Gaiden to play during the evenings and he's on chapter 12 already.  I gave up after about an hour because of that stupid camera and all the angle problems.  He swears at it, now and then, but doesn't seem to have many problems.  I think I'm pretty good at overcoming loopy gameplay but Ninja Gaiden is just too hard for me!

Hah, well age is definately a factor because I just don't have the time I used to have.  I got to a point where I set a goal for myself to finish one chapter per day, but at around chapter 9 I decided to start Chrono Trigger and ended up playing it for a couple of weeks.

Gotta love a modded Xbox.

[Morfiend]

Spidey 2, is good. See my mini review.