Rate the last 360/Xbox/Arcade game you finished....

Halo 2 (Xbox BC)

8/10

It looks a lot better than I expected, given that it's an old Xbox game from 2004.

The character changes and the ending didn't fuck me off like they did originally, as I was expecting them.

I still think Gravemind is shit, though, and looks like Audrey II.

The plot has a few things that aren't explained (Johnson's appearance at the start, how the Covenant found Earth, etc.), but if IIRC these were covered in the books. A little annoying, but not as bad as Gears of War. I may re-read the books when I finish the games. I think it could also have done with a bit more detail on the Great Schism.

Great fun.


I started re-playing Halo 3 after finishing Halo 2's re-play last night...

[Born2beSlicker]

Don't forget ODST, that takes place between Halo 2 and 3.

Halo 2 has my favourite Halo story, with the Arbiter and the collapse of the Covenant with the Elite/Brute changing of the guard. It's a shame that was practically abandoned in Halo 3.

Yeah, the story was good. I enjoyed the Arbiter and Covenant stuff much more than when I first played it in 2004, because I wasn't surprised and annoyed by the switch from the Chief like I was back then. That whole side of it was very interesting, with more info and insight into the Covenant.

I can't be arsed to re-play ODST. I wasn't keen on the Rookie side of it.

Halo 3

Fucking epic

9/10. I'd be tempted to rate it higher... if it wasn't for that fucking awful level Cortana, which was just as shit as I remembered it from 2007.

Side note:

One thing I've never understood with the Halo games is this... why does an AI construct "wear" what appears to be a corset thong? Does she like showing the Chief her arse?

....because she's female and that the way we treat females in games

[Born2beSlicker]

One thing I've never understood with the Halo games is this... why does an AI construct "wear" what appears to be a corset thong? Does she like showing the Chief her arse?

She's based off Queen Nefertiti.

[DogEyedBoy]

Cortana is constructed from the cloned brain of Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, the creator of the SPARTAN Project; Halsey's synaptic networks became the basis for Cortana's processors. Cortana seems to share her creator's memories, thoughts, opinions, and even values. Cortana is said to resemble her creator, Dr. Catherine Halsey, with a similar attitude "only unchecked by military and social protocol."

An AI chooses its own appearance. Most choose a look relating to their work and the person they were created from. Cortana, being in the unique situation of actually knowing the person she was created from, chose to look like Dr. Halsey, but by not portraying herself with clothing also chose to display her own unique personality and disregard for human conventions.

[Born2beSlicker]

After 7 years with the Xbox 360, I never finished the very first game I played on it. After going through the great XBLA game again, I felt that I owed it to myself to stick it out due to being a life long Rare fan. It still wasn't worth it.

To Rare's credit, they did a good job in making a shooter that has its own unique play style and different difficulty settings really do change the game experience. It still has some of the best lighting, gun models and reload animations of any game on 360 too. There are moments where the game becomes fun and the weapons are all varied and inventive. Having 32 player online is still impressive and surprisingly there were people on it to play with.

The story is a complete mess, acting is poor, animations are shite, level design is atrocious at times and the AI hasn't had an upgrade since the N64 days. There's potential for a good game in here if they never cancelled Perfect Dark 2, but this is a train wreck.

Rating: 4/10
Gamerscore: 17/50 215gp

Halo: Reach

The final part of my Halo re-run (albeit with a four month delay after I replayed the trilogy, for some reason I can't remember).

Awesome. I played it on Heroic this time. Which, for me, was quite fucking challenging Several times I was tempted to drop the difficulty, or just skip to the next Rally Point... but I persevered. And when I finished the final level a short while ago it felt fucking satisfying.

I see from my post in June that I gave Halo: CE Anniversary & Halo 3 9/10, and Halo 2 8/10... So, Reach? 9.5/10, I think. It is, IMO, the best of the series.

Aye, Reach us a fucking fantastic game. I've got Halo 3 sat here to play; I planned on playing it before 4 but got AC III instead.

Halo 4

IMO...On a par with CE & 3, better than 2, but not as good as Reach.

9/10... Although I'm tempted to knock it down a point because of the way it contradicts Halo 3, and also because it's annoying that 343i kept the traditional Halo "weapon & armour inconsistency between missions".

After 7 years with the Xbox 360, I never finished the very first game I played on it. After going through the great XBLA game again, I felt that I owed it to myself to stick it out due to being a life long Rare fan. It still wasn't worth it.

To Rare's credit, they did a good job in making a shooter that has its own unique play style and different difficulty settings really do change the game experience. It still has some of the best lighting, gun models and reload animations of any game on 360 too. There are moments where the game becomes fun and the weapons are all varied and inventive. Having 32 player online is still impressive and surprisingly there were people on it to play with.

The story is a complete mess, acting is poor, animations are shite, level design is atrocious at times and the AI hasn't had an upgrade since the N64 days. There's potential for a good game in here if they never cancelled Perfect Dark 2, but this is a train wreck.

Rating: 4/10
Gamerscore: 17/50 215gp

Ahh memories....did OXBM give it 10/10 or something.
Before they even played it, I guess they were desperate to sell a new magazine.
I finished it......but always hated it apt from a few things.
Was mind blowing to look at in 05 but still wasnt a good game.

It was the first game I ever played on the 360. I hated it. It made me wish that I'd not bothered getting one at launch and had waited for the good games instead.

[Born2beSlicker]

Always been on my list to get to when it goes cheap and finally got it as an Xmas gift. From Starbreeze, it's a reboot of the old RTS franchise told as an FPS. I never played the original so I can't comment on that half. However, the cyber-punk neon feel is pretty cool overall. Very nice graphics, great effects and solid voice acting is let down by a serviceable script but isn't that long (5-6 hours) meaning it won't feel dragged out.

The actual shooting mechanics along with the breaching system plays well, at times you can feel like Neo from The Matrix as you destroy a room full of soldiers thanks to your hacking powers. Playing it on hard, it provides a substantial challenge but not so much that it got frustrating. More opportunities for stealth and less platforming/puzzles would have been appreciated. There were also too many sequences that had you mash the X button to pull open doors and the like.

Didn't get the chance to play the 4 player co-op but I did play the demo back when it first came out. It's a co-op grind fest like WoW with guns pretty much and seemed fun if you had buddies. No online pass required and no VS mode.

If you see it for £5-15, it's a fun game and worth a play.

Rating: 7/10
GamerScore: 430gp, 23/50 achievements

Oh and Skrillex did the theme song which you can download for free on their Facebook page.