Empty consoles.

[CrossLOPER]

I have two issues I would like to share.

Firstly, I have a Playstation 2 for which I have only two games: God of War and Max Payne. I found the first to be very entertaining and the second to be one on the best games I have every played, so it is likely I will be purchasing the sequels. This makes a grand total of four games I will have for this console. I need recommendations. I'm thinking Metal Gear Solid and maybe I'll try Grand Theft Auto III. I am also considering Okami and Shadow of the Colossus.

Secondly, I have just received an XBox 360 and all I have for it is the newest Prince of Persia. Anything about this console would be nice.

Also, I like to have the option of modifying my games, so games that profit heavily from this type of feature, i.e. Oblivion (which I already have anyway, though I will consider bypassing SecuROM to get to Shivering Isles if I find a cheap enough GOTY version) or Fallout 3, are out.

Thanks in advance.

[seireikhaan]

Regarding the PS2, two things:

1) Which Metal Gear Solid game were you looking to get?

2) Shadow of the Colossus is a very high quality game, in my view. It is, however, short. Depending on the person, it can take anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to complete the story, and that is about it to the game. However, I still advise buying it- it is that good.

[Kekvit Irae]

For the PS2, the Fatal Frame series is very good (quite possibly the best scares you'll ever have in a game), Persona 3 and 4 (4 just came out last month) are bargain bin deals and are easily 40+ hours worth of RPG goodness, and Shadow of the Colossus is epic in every way. Katamari Damacy and We <3 Katamari are both quirky and fun. Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence are both recommended (get Substance and Subsistence, not the originals), but be prepared for the beginning of Kojima's patented 60-minute cutscenes.

The 360... well there are plenty of good games for it. My recommendation is Dead Rising (if you love George Romero's Dawn of the Dead), Beautiful Katamari, Fatal Frame 2: Director's Cut (original X-box, but fully functional on the 360), Burnout: Revenge (bargain bin price, and much better than BO: Paradise), Bioshock, Overlord (for Dungeon Keeper meets Pikmin fun), Condemned and Condemned 2 for FPS scares, and Fable II.
Also for the 360, you have your choice of Live Arcade games. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a no brainer, Fable II: Pub Games is great fun and benefits you if you have Fable II, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD for classic fighting action, and Puzzle Quest for your RPG/Bejeweled goodness.

[Fragony]

For some raw shotgun in the face action a la Max Payne get Fear, it's a bit repetitive but the shooting is great and the atmosphere can be quite haunting, nothing is more satisfying then shooting someone in half in bullet time. Similar to God of War, the Devil May Cry games, Ninja Gaiden. For the ps2, Okami and Shadow of the Collosus are simply art. Can't go wrong with any of the Metal Gear games, horribly pretentious yet shamelessly gamy great fun.

[Xiahou]

For the PS2, the Fatal Frame series is very good (quite possibly the best scares you'll ever have in a game), Persona 3 and 4 (4 just came out last month) are bargain bin deals and are easily 40+ hours worth of RPG goodness, and Shadow of the Colossus is epic in every way. Katamari Damacy and We <3 Katamari are both quirky and fun. Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence are both recommended (get Substance and Subsistence, not the originals), but be prepared for the beginning of Kojima's patented 60-minute cutscenes.

If you're a Japanese RPG fan, get yourself Persona 3 FES immediately. It sells for $29.99 or less and playing through the game + expansion's storyline can take 120hrs easily. It took me just over 90hrs to win the original story, without the FES content - you can't beat a value like that.

If you want something more off the beaten path, take a look at God Hand - "A ball-bustingly hard game. But fair"
It's a cheesy, quirky beat-em-up with some great old school appeal. The game cracks me up.

[tibilicus]

If your looking for FPS games for the 360 Gears of war 2 and call of duty 4 are a must. You wont find many if any better online shooters which fit perfectly into the 360's format like these two.

[Fixiwee]

If you think about GTA on the PS2, Vice city is awesome, one of the best relaxing atmospheres, plus a great soundtrack.
San andreas is also a stunning game, but more driven by Hip Hop elements, which is not everybodys thing.

[CrossLOPER]

For some raw shotgun in the face action a la Max Payne get Fear...

I have FEAR on the PC and loved it, but how could you possibly compare the two???

By the way, is it worth going online?

[UltraWar]

For the Playstation II, just buy a load of Playstation One Games.

[Fixiwee]

I would also urge you to play Silent Hill 2. For many gamers this is one of the best games ever made. It's a very subtle survival-horror game that focus on an intelligent plot with many reference to the behaviour and psychology of human behavior.

[CrossLOPER]

How's Dead Space?

[Kekvit Irae]

How's Dead Space?

Tries to be System Shock 2 but fails. It also has no replay value. Give it a rent and try it out. You'll finish it in one or two nights.

[frogbeastegg]

Okami needs more love. It's criminal how few people have played it! Okami is definitely a must buy if you like Zelda style games. IMO it was a better game overall than the last two 3D entries into the Zelda series. Be warned that it's a slow starter; loads of talk, loads of cutscenes, loads of hand-holding. Survive the first few hours and it becomes awesome.

Quite a few of us played dead space, and the overall consensus was positive. The main letdown for me was that the last part of the game isn't as good as the first part. I got a lot of games in this year's Christmas release rush, and out of those I have played this one remains right near the top. Possibly because I wasn't intending to get it, and expected very little from it.

Mass Effect. If you haven't played the PC version pick it up on the 360. It's tied with Planescape: Torment as my favourite western style RPG.

If you like Star Wars and aren't allergic to fun, get Lego Star Wars: The Complete Trilogy. Pure joy on a disc, and moreso if you play in co-op.

Played Bioshock? If not the xbox version is dirt cheap nowadays. Ditto Assassin's Creed. They're both games which gather strong reactions, love or hate.

[TinCow]

Mass Effect. If you haven't played the PC version pick it up on the 360. It's tied with Planescape: Torment as my favourite western style RPG.

Wow, that's some high praise right there. This may be a bit off topic, but I'm curious to know what aspects of the game you liked so much to warrant that level of a recommendation.

I personally found the main storyline interesting and engaging, but thought the actual choices given for my actions were pretty limited, the gameplay was repetitive, the inventory system was one of the worst I have ever seen, and the vehicle driving/planet exploration portions were tedious. I would certainly recommend it for a single playthrough on the strength of the main storyline and the details of the game universe, but equal to PS:T?

[frogbeastegg]

I like then for (mostly) different reasons.

Torment is all about the characters, dialogue, and unravelling that delicious story. Exploring the world is a secondary delight for me, with much of the attraction coming from opening up new dialogue, backstory etc. The third big attraction is the options. You could usually find another way to approach situations.

Away from those things, I didn't like the gameplay that much. As in the Baldur's Gate series et al, the parts based most strongly on AD&D rules didn't engage me. Combat. Trap detecting. Lock picking. The insistence on giving everything a mob of stats instead of a useful description.

When I think of Torment I think of finding Fall From Grace, or Annah's comments, or Morte and his teeth upgrades, or that maze, or Dakon's story. I don't think about pause-clicking my way through yet another mob of gutter thieves.

I have played Torment ... four times? Possible five. I have never finished it - each time I get to a certain point close to the end the game slows to sub 1FPS and becomes unplayable. That's happened on every computer I have tried it on. There is no fix. Each time I start it I know I will not get to see the end, yet it is my single most replayed game.

Mass Effect is flawed, buggy, and I know I probably shouldn't like it as much as I do, but what can I do? I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. Cliched as the plot might have been, it engaged and it produced some brilliantly memorable moments. Cliched as the world was, I loved finding out more about it. Cliched as the characters were, one particular decision I had to make gutted me because I didn't want to have to choose. Together, those points fall under the heading that a well-told familiar story is better than a poorly told new one. Another thing I found, looking at it with a writer's eyes, is that this universe has a lot of milage in it. It's filled with opportunity. That's not a feeling I often get with games.

Average as the combat was, it was a far sight better than "pause, click, unpause ... pause, click, unpause" a la Torment and co. It was enjoyable in its own right, and lies at the heart of two of the game's standout moments for me. Dodgy as the frame rate and technical production values could be, the non-technical values were high indeed. The voice acting in particular is some of the best I have encountered, especially for the female version of Shepard. Repetitive as some of the side quests were ... I can't pan the game for it, as most RPGs have repetitive and/or dull side quests, including the old classics. At least with these I had some fun, rather than wishing I could run faster and get it over with. Some of those side quests were good in their own right. The ship with the man on life support, for example. The mako was a pain to drive; so are the vehicles in most games. At least this one had a rocket launcher and could jump most obstructions.

When I think of Mass Effect I don't think about driving around planet number 29 in a hunt for the 6th Geth attack squad. I think of spending most of an hour on a certain fabled planet talking to a certain rare artifact because I found the information it had to be utterly absorbing. I think about charging an entire space station, running about in space, and telling some highly irritating people to fend for themselves. I remember having my own high tech space ship and being able to go wherever I wanted for whatever purpose.

I have completed Mass Effect with all side quests etc once, and immediately went back for a second, equally thorough playthrough. I was close to completing that one when I had to put it to one side. Why? My boyfriend decided he wanted to play it. He's not much of a gamer, and has never showed an interest in any other RPGs I own.

I guess the most telling thing I can say about Mass Effect is that I completed it in around 45 hours. Normally that would be a month's play time for me. Here it took under 2 weeks. That's how much I liked it.

[TinCow]

Those are very fair comments, and I completely agree with you about PS:T's flaws. It deserves its spot as the gold standard of storytelling, character development, and freedom of choice. However, as you point out, it has an absurd number of gameplay flaws that most fans overlook. I've personally only finished it once, and my other 3+ tries have all failed due to corrupted saves or other tech problems. It is, simply put, a buggy mess of a game. While I'm a huge fan of the Infinity Engine, PS:T made a massive mistake by trying to implement that radial menus system. It's very confusing, slow, and clunky. The same type of system was tried in Temple of Elemental Evil, and it caused the same problems there. PS:T to me is the best example of how to create a story, and an excellent example of how bad technical design can ruin a game.

[Vladimir]

Those are very fair comments, and I completely agree with you about PS:T's flaws. It deserves its spot as the gold standard of storytelling, character development, and freedom of choice. However, as you point out, it has an absurd number of gameplay flaws that most fans overlook. I've personally only finished it once, and my other 3+ tries have all failed due to corrupted saves or other tech problems. It is, simply put, a buggy mess of a game. While I'm a huge fan of the Infinity Engine, PS:T made a massive mistake by trying to implement that radial menus system. It's very confusing, slow, and clunky. The same type of system was tried in Temple of Elemental Evil, and it caused the same problems there. PS:T to me is the best example of how to create a story, and an excellent example of how bad technical design can ruin a game.

Like with any game I recommend everyone try the user created mods. There are links on the Gamebanshee forums and planescape-torment.org. This is why I prefer computer games so much. However, I thoroughly enjoyed Morrowind in the X-box.

[CrossLOPER]

OK, so here is the list I generated. Anyone have anything else that absolutely needs to be here? Granted, I'm probably only going to get some of these over a period of months, but if something is truly worth getting over the others, I'm all ears.

XBOX360
*Mirror's Edge
*Dead Space
*Mass Effect
*GTA IV
*Halo (xbox)
*Ninja Gaiden Black (xbox)
*Beyond Good and Evil (xbox)
*Psychonauts (xbox)
*Fable (xbox)
*Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (xbox)
*Gears of War
*Assassin's Creed
*Bioshock
PS2
*Max Payne 2
*God of War 2
*Okami
*Shadow of the Colossus
*Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
*Devil May Cry
*Resident Evil (ps)
*Metal Gear Solid
*Silent Hill (ps)

[Fragony]

Beyond Good & Evil is a gem. Fear 2 demo is out by the way.

[Whacker]

Gran Turismo 3 was the main reason I bought my PS2 back in the day. GT4 really stank though, IMO.

[Kekvit Irae]

I recently picked up Persona 4, and was pleasantly surprised. A JRPG with excellent voice acting? That's unpossible!

[Drunk-Monk]

@Crossloper I wouldn't advise you to purchase the ps 1 versions of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, every time I have tried playing earlier versions in the series they were always very disappointing. Also you would need a ps 1 memory card. I would recommend purchasing Silent Hill 2 as opposed to its earlier incarnation, and would recommend Resident Evil 4 in favour of the original as its probably one of the best games available on the PS 2. I would also reccomend the following:

Mercenaries

Time Splitters 3

Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time

[johnhughthom]

@Crossloper I wouldn't advise you to purchase the ps 1 versions of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, every time I have tried playing earlier versions in the series they were always very disappointing.

The only way those games could be described as disappointing compared to the later versions is if you can't look past the inferior graphics. Especially Silent Hill which has gone steadily downhill in my opinion.

[Xiahou]

I recently picked up Persona 4, and was pleasantly surprised. A JRPG with excellent voice acting? That's unpossible!

Next, get P3:FES if you haven't already.

The only way those games could be described as disappointing compared to the later versions is if you can't look past the inferior graphics. Especially Silent Hill which has gone steadily downhill in my opinion.

Silent Hill 2 was amazing, there's no going wrong with that....

[Paradox]

The only way those games could be described as disappointing compared to the later versions is if you can't look past the inferior graphics. Especially Silent Hill which has gone steadily downhill in my opinion.

Homecoming was pretty good, and underrated....

[Fragony]

Homecoming was pretty good, and underrated....

Agreed. It nails the atmosphere and the controls have been improved, only gripe is that the reverse y-axis option is broken.

Tries to be System Shock 2 but fails.

Or better it's a complete rip-off. But it's a good rip-off I had a blast playing it. Love the creatures they are sooooooooooooooo disgusting.

That reminds me, there is this game that nobody has played for whatever totally unjustified reason: The Thing. The mood is very similar to Dead Space imho, so are the monsters.

[CrossLOPER]

What about bugs? I heard Assassin's Creed was kind of a glitchfest.

[Paradox]

What about bugs? I heard Assassin's Creed was kind of a glitchfest.

Yeah, especially on the PC. But the game was still epic! I remember experiencing a huge glitch at Arsuf where there was an Altair clone following me and killing some enemies.

[Spartan198]

A few PS2 recommendations:

Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3
GTA: San Andreas/Vice City
God of War II
Mercenaries

The Prince of Persia games are great and I love all three, but I wouldn't suggest getting the PS2 versions. They're extremely buggy.

[CrossLOPER]

A few PS2 recommendations:

Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3
GTA: San Andreas/Vice City
God of War II
Mercenaries

The Prince of Persia games are great and I love all three, but I wouldn't suggest getting the PS2 versions. They're extremely buggy.

Thanks, but now I'm looking more for elimination than addition. Check the list that's about ten posts up.

Also, if I ever go after Two Thrones, it has to be on the PS2. I'm not dealing with StarForce again.