Ten 360 Games You Haven’t Played – Part 1
by AXIS of Reality
©2009 Alex Baldwin
To start: shame on you! The mere fact I’m sitting down to write a list like this is because of all the those poor, down-trodden games sitting in bargain bins because YOU didn’t buy them.
Right, now that a significant number of you reading this hate me, onto the main topic at hand: why you should be shelling out for them right now. Get your shoes on while you read, as you’ll be walking down to the local games store once you finish this, or, even easier, just open a new tab on your internet browser and get eBay loading while you read.
(Ed: – Better still, check out one of our Affiliates, GameShare . . . now there’s a thought!)
I’m not going to claim these are the only 10 games that lie lost and forgotten in the backrooms of EB Games and GAME stores all around the world, but they’re the ones I can personally vouch for and 10 is a nice, even number. Without further ado, allow me to present to you:
Infinite Undiscovery
Appropriate name considering how few people have discovered it. On release last year it was met with mixed reviews and a general sense of ‘meh’ from the buying public outside Japan. I love my JRPGs, but even I had little interest in this unusually named serving from Square-Enix and Tri-Ace. Then, a few weeks ago I found it incredibly cheap as all low-selling games end up and took a chance. Good thing I did too.
Infinite Undiscovery is incredibly absorbing. More than Lost Odyssey even to me. It starts off badly enough, immediately making me regret my purchase and decide that those negative reviews were right. Stick with it, and about 3 hours in something strange happens: the characters, combat, story and world just click. From then on it won’t let go until every chain holding that moon to the world is severed. Don’t believe me? Have a go for yourself. You can find it for about $10-$25 AUD if you look around.
Overlord
I’m sure you’ve heard of it, probably even seen a few screenshots that scream “Oblivion rip-off!” and lost all interest immediately. Well, time to head back down to that store that was shifting it for about $10-$20 AUD and grab yourself a slice of this minion-commanding action. Overlord on the surface looks like a lovechild of Fable and Oblivion, but anyone who’s played it knows better (and from sales data that isn’t very many of you).
The key hook is instead of much fighting by your character, you send your swarms of minions to do your bidding. There’s the usual elemental types with different abilities, but it’s hard to describe the sheer satisfaction from seeing your horde destroy a pumpkin farm for the hell of it before putting on the smashed pumpkins as helmets and giggling. Give it a chance and you’ll see why Codemasters is releasing the sequel in a few months despite mediocre sales.
Eternal Sonata
Yes, here’s the second JRPG in the mix, from an offshoot of the same team no less. This time a lot of the charm lies with the unique visuals of the game. Eternal Sonata adopts the much overused cel-shading technique but makes it their own with paper-thin outlines on characters mixed with pastel colours and particles constantly floating through the air. It really is a beautiful sight.
The story follows the composer Chopin as he dies, but with the gameplay being focused inside his mind with musically-themed characters and towns. There’s something very relaxing and tranquil about the whole experience with great characters and awe-inspiring sights around every corner. It can be found for about $15-30 AUD now.
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts ‘n’ Bolts
Did you see this one coming? Released last year to mixed reactions, everyone knew it but few had played it, instead basing their opinion on the controversial use of vehicles. Much of the gameplay revolved around vehicles constructed out of Lego-like pieces that allowed for you to make every creation directly around the task at hand. Unfortunately many people immediately expressed their displeasure without trying it out as the substandard sales revealed.
For those who did own this gem, Nuts ‘n’ Bolts was an amazing experience with some of the best visuals to grace the 360 in massive open worlds that were filled with the charm and personality of Rare’s Nintendo 64 days. Almost every objects was physics-controlled and themed around the self-referential style of the game – all the characters were aware they were in a game and the worlds actually looked like sets. Trees were planks of wood held together with metal bands, clouds were giant balls of steel hanging from complex machinery moving them around. It’s breathtaking to simply sit and stare, but chances are you’ll be too busy constructing the perfect plane to fly up and see it closer. Banjo can be found for $20-30 AUD.
Condemned: Criminal Origins
A launch title for the 360, Condemned was poorly marketed and as a result didn’t get the attention it deserved next to Microsoft’s juggernauts PDZ and PGR3. The sequel sold quite well, but the original is where it’s at. Developed in the same studio as FEAR, Condemned took a different route for horror by making it up close and personal. The first-person view was unusual considering the combat was focused on melee weapons salvaged from the environment. Need to get rid of the drug junkie with the axe up ahead? You have to get right up in his face with your own makeshift weapon, no sniping from behind pillars or slow-mo shenanigans this time.
A lot of the fear came from being aware of enemies up ahead. While Doom and FEAR will most often rely on beasties jumping out at you for scares, in Condemned you would see the silhouette up ahead and hear the crazy guy’s heavy breathing as he runs and hides behind a bookshelf, ready to swing a brick in your face when you pass. And pass you must, because 90% of the time you don’t have a gun to take him out and need to rely on your chunk of concrete or mannequin arm. Condemned can be found for $5-$20 AUD easily.
Stay tuned for Part 2
That’s it for now. The next 5 games will be coming in Part 2, lest you drown under reams of text. But hey, now’s a great opportunity to head on down and grab yourself one or two of these and see what you and most of the world was missing out on. The developers will thank you for it – give them the sales they deserved when the game first came out.
©2009 Alex Baldwin
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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, Editorial, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News, Xbox Community Network | Tagged: 1st gen xbox, 1st gen xbox games, Banjo Kazooie, Chopin, Condemned, condemned: criminal origins, Doom, EB Games, eternal sonata, F.E.A.R., Game, infinite undiscovery, JRPGs, Lost Odyssey, nuts & bolts, Nuts 'n' Bolts, overlord, OXCGN, rare, Rare's Nintendo 64, Square Enix, Tri-Ace, Xbox 360
aaah, my shoes are on the wrong feet!
…That’s nice betheo.
i hated Infinite Undiscovery, that being said I didn’t give it 3 hours.. I only gave it 2 lol.
-should have thrown in Enchanted Arms into the list I reckon… unless I see it part 2
Great list though, some classic titles in there, that are bound to become desired and rare once the 360’s life is over.
3 multiplats and 2 flops?
Xbox sure is great!
so you played them all have you . . hmm right . . .So what if they are Multiplatform. Nowhere does it say they are Xbox only games . . we play GAMES here at OXCGN, not take sides is some dumb arsed console war like ’some people’ do.
Please don’t bring bias or fanboyism here.
I’m the writer of the article, and I own both a 360 and PS3. I’m enjoying Fable 2: See the Future and Resistance 2 online at the moment.
A lot of the games on this list will be multiplatform, because most exclusive titles are given enough marketing and hype so they sell while smaller titles go by unnoticed. This list is dedicated to those unnoticed gems, or games that may not have been worth $100 for everyone but now that they’re incredibly cheap are well worth picking up.
And yes, of course there are 2 ‘flops’. They flopped because no-one bought them despite their high quality. That’s the whole reason this list is here.
After all, there’s no point doing a ‘Ten 360 Games You Already Own’ article because, well, everyone already owns them and knows what great titles they are.
Please don’t troll and just enjoy the brilliant games we’re getting this generation. If you haven’t played any of the games on this list that are also PS3, I’d highly recommend them. The PS3 version of Overlord (subtitled Raising Hell’) has all of the DLC from the 360 version and can be found for near the same price, so it’s a bargain!
I think your pricing is a bit over the top. IU for 10-25? Nuts and bolts for 20-30?
Please tell me where cos I sure as hell have never seen em that cheap.
I suggest Gameplay.co.uk you can pick both those titles up for about $30. Or just use Game share on our affiliate list which can get you a sweet quick swap.
Banjo Kazooie was a awesome game. Check out our review which gave it a 9.5/10.
http://oxcgn.com/2008/12/02/banjo-kazooie-nuts-bolts-review-rare-fied-genius/
chenkenichi – some of the prices like the ones you mentioned are generally found a lot at the Kmart, Big W and Harvey Norman clearouts.
Otherwise, online sites such as 365games.co.uk have them (PAL editions, prices are in pounds but convert to mentioned amounts).
Better yet, go to our affiliate GameShare (link on the left menu) and you can trade your games for them free for a limited time. Just send request swaps with other people for similar-valued games. I swapped my Dead Rising for Too Human, all done within a week!
I hope you wack Too Human on your list!
Sure it had problems and lacked some polish but its the best (if not) only dungeon crawler that you can pick up for under 20 bucks on 360.
If you Diablo meets Geometry Wars sounds good, it’s worth a look.
I guess you’ll need to wait and see!
All I can say is 3 of the 5 games in Part 2 have had unusually long development times, if that’s any clue…
It funny. There are always good games out there that always get over looked. Several games on this list are JRPG. I’m not a RPG gamer. They never been my thing. I think the problem is when a certain game maker does a game( like Rare) Gamers want them to bring something new but must play like all their other games. If they try something new, gamers reject it.
Overlord and Nuts and bots I have not played yet but will give them a try. I do have Condemned and love it. and it is a overlooked gem. This will always happen.. Good games that get over looked
Condemned was fantastic, it still gives me the creeps!
Nuts n Bolts was one of the best games of last year in my opinion… just not for hardcore narrow minded franchise purists! lol
I too haven’t played much of Overlord but I continue to hear good things.
what?
any one who hasent played Condemned: Criminal Origins should be shot on site.
thats gota be one of my favorite games.
Too right yamumsawersome.
Condemned was brilliant, amazingly immersive and damn creepy. Only game to ever give me cold chills down my spine.
The sequel was great as well, but the original made more impact for being the first modern game in that style (first person + psychological horror).
I also am a HUGE Condemned 1 fan. It was the first game to really scare me. Thought the ending was meh…
Not a bad list. I think The Bourne Conspiracy should be up here too, great game with a sweet fight mechanic
Maybe they’ll list that one in part two….
I never got around to playing the original Condemned game, though I remember being very impressed by the footage I saw… which is why I was disappointed when I played the sequel – I really couldn’t get into it.
If I didn’t like the sequel… would you folks still recommend that I give the original a shot?
there’s a good reason why people haven’t played these games, because they are mostly average at best. this list should really be called, top ten xbox 360 games that you haven’t played, and it wouldn’t do you any better to try.
What a load of rubbish, have you played these games at all past the first 5 minutes, or simply thrown them in, they’ve not been Gears Of Boring Bloody War, or Call Of Duty number 99, and then taken them back. Many are treading new ground as new IP’s. Which usually don”t turn out perfect like a second or third iteration of a known franchise. So things are bound to go a stray here and there. But that’s the mark of a GAMER over a game player.
A “Gamer” sees the “Possibility” – not the flaws, he/she works past the flaws and sees what the developer was attempting to do. I suppose all the early 1st-Gen Xbox games were all trash too . .
Give them a chance masterlinkace – actually play them instead of relying on popular opinion, or if you have go past 5 minutes and don’t have an opinion already set in your mind.
You may have noticed many of the comments that people really do love Condemned, Banjo Kazooie and the others.
The point of this article is to make more aware of these great games to take a chance on, because now that they’re so cheap you’re not risking much by buying any of them.