Audiences may have initially been skeptical whenMicrosoftannounced that they were jumping into the console market, but in a short amount of time they’ve been able to firmly prove their place in the video game industry. TheXbox 360is Microsoft’s second console and it helped them refine what they do so well and establish more hit titles and properties.
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Microsoft does a lot of things well, but thefirst-person shooter genreis an area where the company truly excels and has been able to dominate. The Xbox 360 has some clear gems in the FPS genre, but there are also plenty of unexpected hits where looks can be deceiving.
Thezombie genreof video games is so bloated at this point and that means there are both titles that excel with the concept & others that fail. TheDead Islandseries has struggled to find its place andDead Island 2remains stuck in a discouraging limbo.Dead Island: Riptideis the follow-up to the first game and while it doesn’t add a ton to the formula, it’s a fun enough time for those that never played the original.Dead Island: Riptidemeshes together the first-person shooter genre with survival horror in a way that’s imperfect, but still entertaining.
9Bloody Good Time
Bloody Good Timeis an extremely weird first-person shooter that looks like some Hot Topic reject. It’s a title from Outerlight andUbisoftthat’s set on a Hollywood movie set and features an exaggerated cast of characters with a cartoonish atmosphere & mature sense of humor.Bloody Good Timeprioritizes its robust arsenal of weapons more than anything else, but there are still various modes and maps to work through. It’s not Ubisoft’s strongest work, but the weirdness oddly works here, especially with the right players involved.
8Duke Nukem Forever: The Doctor Who Cloned Me
There are few games that have gone through a more difficult development process thanDuke Nukem Foreverand it really doesn’t feel like it was worth such effort.The Doctor Who Cloned Meis technically a DLC pack forDuke Nukem Forever, but it’s as big as a new game with 14 new levels, an original story, and many more additions.
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The originalDuke Nukem Foreveris quite flawed,but The Doctor Who Cloned Meis able to slightly course correct things. The story brings back Duke Nukem’s original antagonist, Dr. Proton, and features a gloriously self-aware storyline.
7Zeno Clash II
Zeno Clash IImixes together several genres and while it pulls from action titles & RPGs, it still applies an interesting approach to first-person shooters. The game may look somewhat questionable, but it’s a refreshing change of pace for how it’s set in the past and features melee weapons more than the standard projectiles.Zeno Clash IIadds a lot more to the equation in terms of weaponry and scope and it also has multiplayer this time around, which is a major improvement.Atlus’Zeno Clash IIisn’t perfect, but it’s easy to fall into a groove with it.
6Sanctum 2
Sanctum 2is a satisfying title from independent developer Coffee Stain Studios that’s set on a distant planet in a highly advanced future. Shooters that are set inspaceor futuristic versions of society are so plentiful at this point that they can sometimes be a wash. It’s easy to overlookSanctum 2as a result, but the game manages to stand out with how it combines shooter elements with the tower defense genre. It also features environments that look great and feel unique rather than derivative of the genre.
5Aliens: Colonial Marines
TheAliensfranchiseis perfect for video games and they’ve had a complicated history with figuring out how to properly bring these terrifying creatures to life in the medium.Alien: Isolationhas set the new standard, but before that point,Aliens: Colonial Marines, was a fun take on the property.
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Aliens: Colonial Marinesmay suffer in the graphical department and the enemies are flawed, but it’s successful as a co-operative game and the multiplayer especially stands out. It’s easy to dismiss this title, but there’s still a lot in it that works.
4Brink
Brinkis a first-person shooter courtesy of Splash Damage &Bethesdathat looks like other generic shooters, but it does offer up some unique and enjoyable ideas. The biggest way in whichBrinkdifferentiates itself is how it heavily involves parkour-like movements into the game’s action. It’s a very fun mechanic when it works. The multiplayer also allows for up to 16 players at once as players wage war between the Resistance and Security factions on the floating city of The Ark.
3RAGE
RAGEcomes from id Software & Bethesda and it pushes the first-person shooter genre into a chaotic post-apocalyptic future that takes more than a few cues from theMad Maxfilms orFallout games.RAGEfeatures smooth gameplay, but the use of smart vehicular combat helps the game make even more of an impression.RAGEas a whole is entertaining, but it’sThe ScorchersDLC pack that brings out the best in the title. It expands the world in major ways and incorporates a fascinating new variety of character that’s just so much fun.
2Goldeneye 007: Reloaded
The magic of the originalGoldeneye 007for the Nintendo 64 is hard to replicate, butGoldeneye 007: Reloadedattempts to do exactly that for a new generation. Many are quick to dismiss the game, but even though it’s a strange mix of Daniel Craig’s films with the plot ofGoldeneye,it still works.Goldeneye 007: Reloadedis the James Bond shooter that gets the most attention on the Xbox 360, but007 Legendsis a less polished game that’s still worthy of love and acts as a showcase as the whole Bond series.
1Singularity
There are so many first-person shooters set during differenthistorical warsthat many of them can blend together and some real gems can be missed because they’re consumed by the bloat of the genre.Singularityis an excellent game that shouldn’t be slept on. It plays around with both the Cold War and time travel, but the time manipulation device that’s the game’s major tool uses the alteration of time as a brilliant weapon & means to solve problems.Singularityis the perfect mix of history with science fiction and it’s far from just another war game.
Next:5 Xbox 360 Games That Still Look Good (& 5 That Don’t)
