Top 5 Video Games I Own But Don’t Play

I started to realize (or maybe have known for a while) that I own a bunch of video games that I really haven’t played – cool ones too. I chalk the lack of play up to attempting to have some balance in my life, i.e. I can’t sit in front of my Xbox 360 playing games day in and day out.

Games collecting dust.

GamePro recently posted the 32 best games for the Xbox 360. “Sweet,” I realized, “I own 4 of the top 5.” The irony, I’ve hardly played 3 of those. And if you include Rock Band as Rock Band 2, I own 5 of the top 7. Here are the top 7:

1. Halo 3 – Okay, I’ve actually played the multiplayer mode extensively. Halo 3 was a big reason for me to get an Xbox 360 in the first place because I got addicted to playing it over at my friend Hasser’s house. But I really hated being bad at it so I needed to practice in my own home. So the interesting thing is that I’ve only minimally played the story mode and have a low amount of achievements to prove it. For me it’s all about showing some eleven-year-old in Florida that I am better than him.

2. Grand Theft Auto IV – I got this along with most of my buddies when it was released so we could play together in multiplayer (as we do with most games). However the shiny soon wore off and we reverted back to playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (see below). I did play the story mode for a while (and probably got about a quarter of the way through) but I found that I was getting bored with it and I was tired of making drug runs for my cousin Vinny (is that his name?) and I ended up wasting a lot of time looking for “easter eggs.” I quickly found out that I am the worst easter egg finder of all time.

3. Gears of War – Now this is a game that I think I would really like. I got it with my Xbox 360 that I bought from some kid in Oakland. I actually sat down and played it for a little while and thought the game was awesome. However I didn’t quite make it through the training level because I kept getting stuck on one part. I then figured it would be a much better game to play with a partner but I never got around to making that happen and thus GoW has been collecting dust on my shelf.

4. Braid – I only know about this game because one of my friends (Robot) was playing it and I asked him what the game was. I don’t own it but since it’s number four, look for it collecting dust on my shelf real soon.

5. Call of Duty 4 – Alright, when I first got my Xbox 360 this was one of the first games I really wanted to buy. It was all hyped up, was touted as game of the year and was a realistic shooter, so I knew it would be right up my alley. I bought it and it sat on my shelf for about a month because I was too addicted to Halo 3 to bother with my new $60 game. When I finally did get around to playing it I had to adjust to the controls a bit but I thoroughly enjoyed the gameplay. I don’t remember how far I got into the story mode but I do know this: I never finished it. I think I reverted to spending time playing RSV2 (again, see below)

6. Mass Effect – Again, heard good things about this game but it has never been on the top of the list for me to purchase and probably never will be.

7. Rock Band 2 – Okay, I don’t have the new version but I do have Rock Band. And although I love it to death (I played out Guitar Hero I-III on PS2) I must agree with GamePro: “The game’s not much fun without friends, but if you’ve got them, you’re golden.” It did get a bit embarrassing when my roommate told me to keep it down when I was banging on the drums all alone up in my room. I can’t image what she was thinking when I was doing the singing all alone. I think I need to find some friends to invite over to rock out with.

Honorable Mention: # 12 Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

As mentioned above, the majority of my game play has revolved around RSV2 as of late. What’s great about it is that you can play in cooperative mode with 3 of your best buds and go around shooting terrorists in a Vegas casnio. What else could you ask for? So why do I play it so much? Well, it makes a really easy game to just pop in and pop out of. Let’s say you have limited time and you are only able to hop online for 30 minutes before you go out to the movies with your girlfriend. No problem, hop on, you see that two of your buddies are online, you join a “terrorist hunt” with them and procede to clear bad dudes out of an abandoned housing project on the outskirts of Vegas. Get a couple of rounds in and your good to go. It’s amazing how good you feel after murdering a few terrorists.

The story version is actually pretty good too. What’s nice is that the play is very tactical and fluid. You must shoot bad guys around a corner with blind fire, shoot them through a wall, and set up C4 to blow a door and kill the 4 guys standing behind it. Meanwhile you send your “team” of computer controlled characters in the other door to the room to pop-off two more of Al Queda’s finest. When I play this I am a badass. I’m one of America’s elite killing force. So secret, even the Pres doesn’t know about me until I save his ass. Actually, that never happens.

Okay, so that’s it. I think I’m off to try round 2 of Gears of War or Call of Duty 4… that is, right after I play one more terrorist hunt with Hasser, Robot and Dirk.

~ by audioscience on September 19, 2008.