TheArkOfTurus's Top Ten Xbox 360 Games He's Gotten Around to Playing

These are TheArkOfTurus's Top Ten Xbox 360 Games He's Gotten Around To Playing ranked for Ed Bellis's What Would You Do.

Top 10 Games He's Gotten Around To Playing
I've had my 360 for about a month now and I can safely say that I wuv the wittle (okay maybe not so wittle) guy. Hugs and kisses and everything. Sure, I know it'll die on me and break my heart soon, but I can't help it. WUUUUUUUUUV. For having it for such a short time, I've put an awful lot of playing time into it (it's almost like I don't have a life or something!), and through Gamefly, Blockbusters, and that buy two get one free sale Gamestop did earlier, I've managed to play enough games to put a top 10 list of games I actually like together! I'd go as far to guess that they'd all make my top 100 list if I were to make something like that.

10. Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

My most recent purchase, and the only game (besides the next entry, for obvious reasons) I haven't played through the entire main game yet (I'd say beaten, but saying I've beaten Oblivion feels vaguely wrong.) Marvel Ultimate Alliance doesn't really do anything special, but it's an enjoyable little hack and slash game nonetheless. The storyline seems to be thrown together just so that they have an excuse to give you a bunch of Marvel characters to smash Marvel villains, but hey, I didn't exactly expect to go in expecting Planescape:Torment. The character selection disappointed me a bit, but the inclusion of Deadpool makes all right in the world. I wouldn't call MUA great, but it's a solid, fun game.

9. Geometry Wars

There is very little to be said about Geometry wars. It's a simple game with a simple concept, and simple graphics. Geometry is not simple, however, when it comes to intensity. After a few minutes or so of playing, enemies will start flying in from every angle, requiring you to think, and react at lightning speeds. It's fun for the reasons all the old arcade classics used to be. It also kicks my ass left and right. I completely suck at the damn game, and will probably never break even a million points. Geometry Wars makes me want to cry. Still fun, though!

8. Prince of Persia Classic

Prince of Persia classic is what all developers looking to re-release a classic game onto the arcade should emulate. It takes an already good game, updates it, and makes great. The game is a bit wussified, but it's still very challenging, and the difficulty is still there in the extra modes. PoP classic maintains the original's excellent platforming gameplay, and is a generally excellent game. I will note, however, that survival mode is impossible to beat. Impossible. No, I don't care if you did it or not. You're lying, it's impossible and will never be done.

7. Dead Rising

I have more complaints about Dead Rising than any other game on my list. The ally AI is the worst I've seen in any game ever. They'll get stuck on walls, run straight into zombies, ignore you, shoot you, stab you, and do whatever it takes to get themselves killed. Otis makes Navi's hey listens look like a helpful gameplay feature, forcing you to stop combat completely to talk to him, calling repeatedly until you do, and even chiding you if you have to stop a call to defend yourself from the millions of zombies in the mall. The dialogue is inexplicably small, the creators apparently thinking that people without HDTVs weren't worthy to play their game, and controlling Frank can be a pain at times. All this, and I have it at #7 on my top games list? Hell yes. Despite all the flaws, Dead Rising is a genuinely fun game. Over the top zombie genocide with just about everything you can get your hands on? Yes please. Zombie slaughtering doesn't get old, and the boss fights are great. Survivor mode is excellent; for all that 5/7 day survivor is completely ridiculous. I wouldn't call it an objectively great game, but boy did I ever enjoy it. Plus, Servbot masks.

6. Portal

This was a triumph. The game is too short to rank any higher, and I didn't care about any of the advance puzzles, but it was a damn great ride. Glados makes the game, producing dialogue more humorous than anything you'll find outside of the Phoenix Wright series. No one is reading this. The gameplay itself is entertaining, and very innovative. My only complaints are the aforementioned length, and the fact that I miss my poor, sweet companion cube. Insert obligatory "the cake is a lie" reference here.

5. Mass Effect

The main quest of Mass Effect is very fun. Sure, you have to deal with the terrible vehicle combat, but you get used to it, and everything else is golden. The dialogue system is wonderful and the main character is great now matter how you play him/her. The on-foot combat is much better than what you find in most RPGs, the story is good, and there is a perfect amount of dialogue, despite what certain charismatic British hat-wearers may tell you. Then, after about 15 hours or so, it ends. I don't know about you, but I expect my RPGs to be a lot longer than that. But hey, it's a WRPG, there are sidequests! Shame, then, that the sidequests are all horrible. It seems they all repeat themselves, talk to person A, travel to generic barren planet B, find a dungeon (read: one large room and a couple of small ones) that looks like every other dungeon on every other world, kill enemies you've already fought before, finish quest. There's little in the way of originality, or interesting backstory behind these quests. The whole experience seems like it was rushed, which is a shame given how genuinely great the main questline was while it lasted.

4. Virtua Fighter 5

Virtua Fighter 5 is the perfect fighting game experience. The characters are near-perfectly balanced, the gameplay is spot on, there is plenty to do with the single player mode, and the online play was seamless for me, despite the fact that I can't seem to play DoA4 online without running into a gigantic towering wall of lag. Virtua Fighter 5 is an excellent game, but it feels like the exact same game that VF4:E was with two characters and online added. I can't imagine buying this on the PS3 without getting very angry. Sure, there are plenty of minor changes, and the game looks better, but I kind of expect a lot more for a full priced game. Luckily, there is online play, and it's fantastic.

3. Oblivion

I think I'm up to 70 hours on Oblivion, now, in a little less than a month. That's more than any three games on this list combined. Combat is extremely fun, and varied. I've put in that time with two characters, and both play completely differently from each other. The world is huge and beautiful, with seemingly endless areas to explore. So why is it only #3 on my list? Simply because, while I have great difficulty finding flaws in my top two games, naming Oblivion's flaws is easy. The story, characters, and writing fail to be interesting, not something you want from an RPG. Although there are a large number of dungeons, some of them are indistinguishable from the others, especially with caves. The game can be repetitive at times, and the load times are atrocious. Despite this, I love the game, and rank it in my top 10 games of all time. It just isn't #1 or #2.

2. Call of Duty 4

Without a doubt, Call of Duty 4 is the best multiplayer FPS I have ever played, and it isn't close. The gameplay is intense at all times, requiring high levels of attention and awareness. I was expecting to hate the limited radar, but it actually improves the experience for me. It even has incentive to keep playing, and try out new things, something most FPSes can't say. The single player is equally intense, throwing tons of enemies at you, and rarely giving you a chance to stop and catch your breath. The game is the best looking I've ever played, and they even manage to do a half-decent job with the storyline (Captain Price for the 2k8 character battle!). The only real flaw I can find is that it's sometimes too intense. I find it a bit hard to play for long stretches at a time simply because it can be very draining. Really, though, the only reason it isn't my #1 game is because it isn't Bioshock.

1. Bioshock

When I played it, Bioshock had the best gameplay I had seen in an FPS since Deus Ex. It has the best story, and characters in a game I've seen since Planescape:Torment. It has the best atmosphere and sound I've ever seen in a game, period. I'm a huge System Shock 2 fan, and I went into Bioshock expecting it to be a bit of a letdown in comparison, but it improved on many aspects of SS2, and ended up a better game. I was originally disappointed to hear they were using the audio-log format to tell the story again, but unlike my experience with its predecessor, Bioshock leaved me excited to find them. The voice acting is top notch, the characters all manage to be interesting, and they're all wonderfully written. Andrew Ryan is my favorite video game villain, and the scene where you first meet him is one of the most incredible in all of gaming. The world of rapture is the most fascinating video game world I've experienced, and exploring it was fun throughout the whole experience. The gameplay would have been hampered by vita-chambers, but they're easily turned off. I have a few complaints, but they're all very minor, and they didn't stop Bioshock from being just about the best game I've ever played.

If you've been paying attention, you'll notice that makes three X-Box 360 games in my top 10 of all time, despite my having only owned the system for a limited time. Needless to say, my experience with the console has been very positive. Sure, any of the three games could have been bought on PC, but, uh, screw the PC I don't have money. There are a number of games on the horizon that could easily break into this list, Fallout 3 and Resident Evil 5 especially, and I can't see my enjoyment of this console ever dissipating. Unless it breaks. Which it almost certainly will. Soon. Damn it.