Don’t miss our other 2008 Buyer’s Guides!
Sony PSP
Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
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Multiplatform

Microsoft Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 may have some reliability issues and lack the Blu-Ray drive and motion control of its competition, but Microsoft’s great white hope has been doing better than ever thanks to an enormous library of excellent titles, a ton of downloadable gems, and the most feature-packed online service in gaming. With plenty of big-name exclusive titles down the road, and the constant evolution of the Live service, Xbox 360 looks to have a bright future ahead.

Dead Rising
(Capcom, 2006, Metacritic Score: 85)
Check out the TGR Review here!

While the zombie massacre has been a frequent scenario used in gaming, Dead Rising manages to stand out by letting you kill the undead with style. The game sets you loose in a shopping mall full of lumbering creatures and gives you the freedom to attack them with whatever you can find. Slash through zombies using such diverse weapons as chainsaws, lawn mowers, plastic swords, pottery, and even a car as you try and escort the survivors to freedom before it is too late. A game that will make you giggle with glee as well as scream in horror, Dead Rising is an easy recommendation to make for any action fan.

Fable II
(Microsoft, 2008, Metacritic Score: 89)
Check out the TGR Review here!

Journey back to the land of Albion and raise your character up from childhood to become a savior or a sinner in a massive medieval environment. Fable 2 offers unparalleled levels of control as you build your character just the way you want, including fully customizable attacks, defenses, and abilities. The game also lets you jump into a friend’s Albion over Xbox Live and battle through their missions cooperatively, an innovative idea that rounds out the deep role-playing experience available in Fable 2.

Gears of War 2
(Microsoft, 2008, Metacritic Score: 93)
Check out the TGR Review here!

The mantra behind Gears of War 2 is ‘bigger, better, and more badass,’ and that is exactly what you will find when you boot up Epic’s latest shooter. Gears 2 takes the cover-based gameplay of the original and drops it into new, massive environments that include some truly epic (no pun intended) set pieces, playable both in single-player and 2-player cooperative modes. The fan-favorite versus mode also returns, this time with oodles of new match types, maps, and options, including the new cooperative Horde mode that has you and a team of your buddies trying to survive 30 waves of increasingly difficult monsters. More importantly, the guns in Gears 2 still have chainsaws on them, which guarantees hours of Locust-tearing fun.

Halo 3
(Microsoft, 2007, Metacritic Score: 94)
Check out the TGR Review here!

It may be over a year old, but Halo 3 is still the game to beat on Xbox Live. Featuring the best single-player campaign in the series, 16-player multiplayer, 4-player online co-op, the map-editing Forge mode, a bevy of free and premium downloadable maps, and one of the most active communities in gaming, Halo 3 offers a lot of content for a low price. With easy-to-learn combat and plenty of gameplay variety, Halo 3 is a fantastic pickup for anyone craving solid online action.

Mass Effect
(Microsoft, 2007, Metacritic Score: 91)
Check out the TGR Review here!

From the creators of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comes Mass Effect, a futuristic sci-fi space epic that has you guiding your fully customizable character across the galaxy trying to stop a powerful enemy threat. The game takes the third-person shooter genre and merges it seamlessly with an RPG, creating a real-time experience that adapts to the way you want to play and lets you tinker with your character’s attacks, strengths, weakness, and psychic powers as they level up. Mass Effect offers a lot for its budget price, including a long quest, plenty of planets to explore, exciting battles, a thrilling story with multiple outcomes, and a richly detailed universe that will captivate you from beginning to end.

Don’t miss our other 2008 Buyer’s Guides!
Sony PSP
Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
Sony PS3
Multiplatform

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