The Orange Box

Fortunately, my laptop runs Team Fortress 2 just as well as Counter-Strike: Source and Day of Defeat: Source, even though the minimum requirements are supposedly higher. This translates to 30-40 fps at the lowest possible settings, but it’s all I need. But I might end up buying it on 360 as well as the electronic copy I already purchased on Steam. You can often find affordable Xbox 360 copies at local pawnshops like ezpawn.com. Just in case you don’t know, the Orange Box isn’t just Team Fortress 2, it’s Half-Life 2 complete with both Episode 1 and 2, and Portal, a sort of first-person puzzle game involving teleports. So for any 360 owners out there that haven’t touched PC gaming in 3 years, the Orange Box is the best value in gaming this year. I’d pay $45 for Team Fortress 2 alone. It is THAT awesome. Surprisingly, it’s not as fast as I thought it would be, so I can see the 360 version being just as fun as the PC version. It’ll definitely look better for most people, including myself.

Bioshock

The game I bought before I even had a 360 to play it on. A very atmospheric, story-driven game with incredible graphics, but not quite the revolutionary experience it was hyped up to be. I haven’t touched it in two weeks due to other addictions, but I have vowed to complete it this weekend. It deserves at least that. Once the next game hits, no other disc will enter my 360 disc tray for at least a month.

Halo 3

The game Microsoft hopes they can ride to a phenomenal holiday season of sales. There’s really no way for it to live up to the hype at this point, but I have no doubt that it’s multiplayer will be nothing short of incredible. Bungie has had years to perfect this game and I think they’re still sore at how they were forced to rush out Halo 2. They want this game to be the end-all be-all. I didn’t have a 360 when the beta was out, but the consensus seemed to be, “it’s awesome.” One thing’s for sure — it will be a statwhore’s dream. Just look at this! Insane.

Rainbow Six: Vegas

The other game I’ve bought for my 360. Outside of a couple of epic nights, I’ve barely touched it. It is without a doubt the best realistic tactical shooter I’ve ever played, but I’ve been addicted to the following game…and it’s not even a final game.

Call of Duty 4

With an incredible multiplayer demo disguised as a beta, Infinity Ward has won themselves a shitton of sales. Running at a silky-smooth 60 fps while sporting eye-popping MGS 4-like graphics, COD4 is going to be fighting with Halo for supremacy in my 360 playtime once it hits in November. The choice to leave the WWII-era and enter modern times was the right one. It’s no slouch compared to Halo 3 when it comes to stat-tracking, and the leveling-up and challenges will no doubt keep me occupied for months. And getting kill streaks has never been so much fun. I completely own Crash in Free-for-All. It is MINE.

Gears of War

Ok, so it’s not technically a FPS, it’s a TPS, or third-person shooter. In every other way, it’s the same type of game. Epic just wanted to make a more cinematic experience. For all the hype it received, I wasn’t too impressed when I played it. The graphics were definitely amazing, but the gameplay was just clunky and awkward as hell. And apparently the online aspect of the game isn’t something to write home about. Nevertheless, I will borrow this game from Chris likely some time over the Christmas break. I’ll just beat the single-player to get some achievement points. Gotta get that gamerscore up!

Of course, mixed in with all these shooters will be Guitar Hero III and Rock Band. I think my GPA might suffer this semester…