*** Official *** XBox 360 Software Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

Now that the release date has arrived it would be interesting to hear some personal experiences about the games themselves. How do they look? How do they play? How do they compare with high res. PC versions on a kick-a computer?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I would highly recommend getting Call of Duty 2. Probably the best games I've ever played.

Brion

That's good to hear! Call of Duty 2 is included in the XBox 360 package that arrives at my doorstep tomorrow.

Other titles include

Perfect Dark Zero Limited Edition
Kameo: Elements of Power
Project Gotham Racing 3

I also ordered (to arrive tomorrow)

Peter Jackson's King Kong (the sample videos looked great)

and

Condemned: Criminal Origins (for the sickie in me)



Should be an interesting Thanksgiving.

Robert you're in for a treat with PD0. The game is terrific

Joey,

Do you happen to know the difference between the "limited edition" ($60) of Perfect Dark Zero and the "standard" ($50) version (other than 10 bucks, of course.)

Just curious.

Thanks.

Oops! Just answered my own question by checking out the specs here at EB. Looks like you get a bonus disc and some other goodies that don't affect the gameplay.

Which version did you get?

Hi Robert,

When and from where did you arder your package. It sounds like the same package I ordered from EB on November 4 (still on hold).

I would also highly recommend getting Perfect Dark Zero collector's edition. It is deffinetely worth the extra $10.

Brion

Because....?

Larry and others in this thread,

Yes, I ordered (and received today) the "Ultimate" bundle from EB Online. My order was placed on August 25th so I beat the cutoff date.

I also ordered King Kong and Condemned: Criminal Minds.

King Kong starts out like you're watching the movie and then turns into a game on the island. VERY impressive graphics, especially in 720p (or 1080i). I'm using 720p since that's my projector's native resolution, but I did try 1080i as well and they are very close, at least to my eyes.

I haven't had much time to use the 360 yet and with the holiday weekend and family obligations probably won't really get into it until next week. But I did get to sample Perfect Dark Zero (great!), Kameo (also great graphics and a little bit unusual but fun) and Condemned (now this is a SICK game, definitely not for the kiddies or weak stomached, but nevertheless enthralling). The rest I'll get to as time permits. I'll have more to say over in hardware.

Ike

Both 720p and 1080i are considered to be HD and yes, it is a noticeable step up from 480p to me (and I'm using a 110" screen). Just like watching a movie in most cases - sometimes crisper.

I got the LE of PD0 Robert. The disc has some extra behind the scene stuff, plus it has a Theme for the live interface which i havent tried yet. Plus the case it comes in looks really good. Worth the extra $10 IMO.

Hey guys...

Condemned: Criminal Origins (First Impressions).

I've been playing C:CO the last couple of nights so I thought that I should post some initial impressions.

The Good: The graphics are very nice! Detailed and smooth, you almost feel like you can reach out and touch the texture on some of the items you see. 720P is what this game is all about. The lighting is very good/creepy and adds so much to the atmosphere of the game. I love hitting the ceiling lights that are on chains just to see them sway back and forth while lighting up different areas of the room. The character animations are flawless! I really like how they move and interact with objects. The weapons are done extremely well and are also very detailed. Right along with the blood splatter that you add to them along the way.

The AI: The AI in this game is very good. I have seen many different outcomes play out in front of me. There is "some" scripting" but overall the enemies think VERY well on their own. I have seen enemies pick up a comrades dropped shotgun and use it. I have even seen an enemy reach for some first aid from an open cabinet!

I've had a group of three with weapons take cover and try to play the "waiting game" while I was trapped in an office. I then saw them do something completely different after a death and restart. They stormed the office like a swat team!

The Sound: Play this game in the dark with a 5.1 system and you are golden. I'm playing on a large 110" screen, 6.1 system. This game sounds better than just about any game that I've played. You can easily locate enemies by using the direction of the sound.

Except for the voices that are sometimes not even there, or in your head

The music is also very good. I usually turn it down but not in this game! The department store music is especially creepy.

Difficulty: I'm playing this game on the hardest difficulty and it can be tough at times. Especially when you are low in health, out of ammo and they throw three psychotics at you! I've had to replay out certain scenarios a few times but it has been worth it every time. Especially since they occasionally do something different to keep you on your toes. Play it on the hardest difficulty!

The Bad: I find that the "open door" icon and "pick up X" icon are a little touchy at times. When you are in a hurry this is sometimes a pain. I also wish that when I have a .45 handgun and I come across another .45 that I could take the bullets from it and put them in one gun. Not so...

You can also get lost in this game fairly easily so keep your eyes open. Some people won't like the fact that you can only carry one weapon. I kind of wish that they allowed you to carry one firearm and one melee weapon, but it really adds to the game when you have to think clearly about your weapon of choice.

Some reviews say that the game gets repetitive, I say it gets more intense! Not only do they start throwing more enemies at you, they start arming them to the teeth! This adds a whole new level of game play and complexity when all you have is a pipe.

Overall: This game is really keeping me busy. I love it.

Excellent review, Michael! I, too, am viewing Condemned on a 110" screen in HD in a darkened room with 5.1 surround sound. Sometimes I feel like someone's going to whisper something about Fava beans and a glass of red wine into my ear. Totally creepy!



This game is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but for us "Big Kids" it really shows off the 360's Immersion Experience.

Tell me about it! Creepy is an understatement. (I used that term as well)

This game can be downright frightening!
Definitely not one for the kiddies.

So far I'm mostly digging on Kameo, which isnt my usual genre but damn it looks AWESOME on a 92" screen in 720p!

I am very happy with this game so far, its got a lot of style and diverse action without being too puzzle-ey =)

Believe it or not, Hexic is worth more than the nothing we all paid for it too! Its well worth a few plays if you liked Tetris or Lumines.

Havent played too much PDO, but I'm looking for some HTF folks to multiplayer with, so if you send an invite to Kadath I'll definitly pop in.

PG3 is also awesome but it shows how bad bad badly i suck at racing games almost immediately =)

Sam

Quick impressions of the 3 games I have so far:

PGR3
Easily my favorite game, getting the most play time. Graphics are crazy and on-line is a lot of fun and easy to use. The one area of the game, that really surprised me is PGR3 TV. I though this was going to be gimicky, but man this features ROCKS!! This idea HAS to be incorporated into more games.

There is a ticker at the bottom of the screen that gives you updates how your friends and leaders are doing. After each race you are automatically ranked. It's probably a novilty, but watching live games is really inovative, and it gets exciting when you get the message ... "this game is being broadcast on Gotham TV"

Kameo
My 2nd most played game. Very easy to pick up and get into. It really captures the old school platform type game very well. Graphics are good and sometimes great. As with all the XBOX360 games I played ... everything is SHINY

I'm still very early in the game so I can't comment how long it will take to finish. I know it's not too long, but I'm sure I'll enjoy every minute.

PDZ -LE
I just played through the training mission. The game looks like it'll be a lot of fun but I haven't spent the time to get into it yet. I was on-line last night for the first time with this game and the levels are large. The rag-doll effect is wierd but cool at the same time.

For me the Limited Edition was the same price as the regular (a game was actually on sale launch week :0 ... 59.99CAD $10 off). Even if I had to spend more, the tin alone is worth the price of admision.

HD Gaming is here and I'm loving it!

I think so far XBOX360 is off to a good start. Rushed or not, the launch titles are impressive and a lot of fun. I'm looking forward in the next year to see what can really be done with this hardware.

Other notable observation:

-Controller is very comfortable and wireless work like a charm.

-Integration to a PC ... Brilliant! Easy to set up (if you set up your firewall(s) correctly). I had a problem with my on-board NVidia firewall on my ASUS K8N-E Board, my Linksys router was no problem. Streaming music from my PC not only same space on the XBOX360 harddrive, but TIME. I never put my whole collection the original XBOX. No Windows Media Edition for me, so I only get to stream Music and Pictures.

-XBOX LIVE: Just like the original XBOX, Live is a very well planned strategy and executed brilliantly. Downloadable content, trailiers, demos and of course seamless online play.

-Noise level: louder than I expected but not too bad. I would put it a bit louder than my projector's normal fan operation, but definitely quiter than my projector's high fan (when the projector is shut off and the fan kicks into high).

-Everyone should remember there is a switch on the actual cables to switch from SD to HD.

My first impressions are very positive. I almost forgot ... some HD video is preloaded on the Harddrive ... I only watched a little bit of a special on Titanic.

Hey, I'm a little confused. My 360 will be arriving tomorrow, and in anticipation I picked up Gotham 3 and Tiger Woods 2k6. I noticed on the Tiger packaging it lists both 1080i and 720p as supported resolutions. On the Gotham 3 packaging it only lists 720p.

My TV doesn't do 720p, all it can do is 480i/p and 1080i.

Does this mean Gotham is only going to work for me in 480p? If so that is -really- disappointing.. I've searched on a few forums now and haven't been able to find a definitive answer to this question.

Also, I see Tiger's been getting poor reviews.. I may have to exchange it for PD0 or COD2.. but I'm not very into first person shooters with controllers. any other recommendations? I love racing games, so I might get NFS even though I've already got another racing game in Gotham.