Cheap and Fun Games for The Xbox 360

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Cheap and fun Xbox Games

by Brad O’Neill

OK so you were a little late to the party but the latest Xbox 360 price cuts finally caught you up with the rest of the video game world.  Welcome to the greatest gaming experience ever put on a console.  Because you are this late I can make only one assumption you are cheap!  That’s ok because the gaming pioneers have gone out and spent 60 dollars on hundreds of games that frankly weren’t worth the 20 bucks you are looking to spend now.  Have no fear my friend you don’t need to spend 60 bucks to have a great experience on the Xbxo 360 I have put together a list of absolutely top notch entertainment that can be had for nearly nothing in the bargain bin or the used section of your favorite video game store.

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Saints Row II

Saints Row II- This is a Grand Theft Auto clone that gets everything right.  The missions are terrific, the gun play is exciting and tossing people in front of trains has never been such an enjoyable experience.   Look GTA was great if you want to read a crime novel but if you want to go gangster grab Saints Row.  The people you call on your cell phone are more about beating people up than playing darts and that is major upgrade over GTA.  I loved the fact that you can customize and keep as many vehicles as you want unlike GTA.  There is nothing like having a subcompact convertible with 3 other gangsters shooting out the sides as you pull drive by’s on rival gangs.  The game even has an empire building element where you can buy and own every store in the game if you are so inclined.   It has a ton of great side characters like Officer Freeball a cop with no pants.   This is one of the best games for those who love sand box style crime sprees. 

Bioshock

Bio Shock-  You have probably heard all the hype about this game.  This is a deep story game with horror and first person shooter elements.  The graphics are very impressive and it is just creepy enough to make you keep the lights on while you play.

Ghost Recon advanced war fighter get them both.

Ghost Recon and Ghost Recon 2 are both available for next to nothing.  My friends and I loved the multiplayer in both versions.  We would set it up so it was us against a huge army of bots and have a great time drinking beer shooting bad guys and enjoying fantastically designed maps with elevations and plenty of cover.   The multiplayer and single player play differently so there is a lot of variety in both games.   I also enjoyed the missions in the games but the multiplayer was the best part for me. 

Rainbow 6 Vegas

Tactical shooter set in a beautifully rendered Las Vegas.  The story is interesting but the graphics and the tactics were what set this game apart.  Again the multiplayer was fun but this time I really got into the story and the missions.  If you find this one on sale snap it up and laugh all the way home you just bought yourself several nights of great fun.

Just Cause

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if James Bond was Hispanic.  Yea me neither, but apparently someone at Eidos did and they did a great job stealing Antonio Banderas’s likeness and giving him a crazy parachute that he can use over and over and over again.  This game completely tosses reality aside but it is beautifully rendered and the action is constant.  I mean come on who wouldn’t want to use a grappling hook to parasail your way into highjacking a helicopter in mid flight.  The stunts you can pull off in this game are just awesome.  There is nothing like car surfing off a cliff just to pull your chute at the last moment and gracefully land in the middle of an army camp machine guns blazing.  If you always wanted to be Che Guerra or you always wanted to kick his butt this is the game for you.

Two Worlds

OK admittedly this game was borderline for making this list as it had a few major problems.  Number one was the damn horse gets stuck all the time.  Number two was that the voice acting is horrible, grating, irritating and made me want to break stuff.  But once you get past the old English the game itself isn’t half bad.  The missions are very well thought out and maintain a good change of pace throughout.  If treasure hunting is your thing this game will keep you entertained for a good long time.  The spells build on themselves so if you find a new fireball spell you just got better fireballs and who the hell doesn’t want better fireballs?  The armor and weapons varieties had me filling horses left and right with junk.  If you just park your horse in town he will stay there and no one will mess with him so you can stock pile a number of horses and just load them up.   The magical combinations will keep you guessing (or more like googling) for hours on end to create that perfect deadly sword/potion/helmet etc etc etc. 

Battlestations Midway

I know world war 2 is over done.  But this is a tactical wwII game unlike any other I have ever played.  In addition to guiding your ships and planes around you can jump in at any time and take control in the heat of the action.  So basically while you are sending your destroyers after enemy subs.  You can jump into that fighter plane and attempt to fend off the Japanese bombers trying to nail your carrier.  I loved the visuals in this game.  When the sky was filled with fighters engaged in dog fights and the flak was cracking from 4 different ships I couldn’t help but scream with delight!  

Mass Effect

This is by far the best science fiction adventure I have ever played on a console.  The story is interesting the gun play is fun and you get to drive around strange planets and kill things.  The game starts a little slow as you are in a big city and although I am sure there was some direction I missed it.  So I wandered around aimlessly for what seemed like 4 hours before I ever figured out how to do anything fun at all.  But once I got my guns and my crew and started flying across the galaxy the game went from a zero to a hero.  I loved my squad mates and really dreaded some of the difficult decisions in the game as they have a profound effect on your crew.  

I hope this helps you on your trip to the bargain bin.  If you know of other games that are cheap and people will love leave them in the comment section as I am always looking for something fun to do.