Top 10 Xbox 360 Games of 2007

BioShock is a great game. It is the best game that the Xbox brand, not just the Xbox 360, has ever seen, and will likely go down as one of the best games ever on any system. It is one of those rare games that combines not only amazingly polished graphics and sound, but very solid, deep, complex gameplay, a great story, and an overall feeling of immersion that sucks you in and keeps you playing that few other titles can match. BioShock is a must play game for Xbox 360 owners. Easily the best Xbox 360 game and best game overall of 2007.

Assassin’s Creed is one of the most intriguing, fresh, fun, and absolutely impressive games to come to the Xbox 360. The presentation is stunning and the gameplay will hook you and not let you go for hours at a time. It is not a perfect game by any means, but when you take your time to really experience everything the game has to offer rather than rushing through it, the flaws fade and the strengths shine even brighter. Assassin’s Creed is a great game that is among the very best of 2007.

So long World War II. Hello modern warfare! Call of Duty has made the leap from the heroics of the greatest generation to a horrifying vision of the future in CoD4, and the results are pretty darn spectacular. The single-player campaign is filled with tight gameplay and great moments you’ll want to play again and again, and the multiplayer is some of the deepest and most satisfying around. Call of Duty 4 is a great game that is highly recommended.

We kind of feel bad about the PS3 version of Virtua Fighter 5. It seems like SEGA doomed it from the start by first announcing the Xbox 360 version before the PS3 version was even out, and then a few months later revealing that the 360 version would have online play and other enhancements. Whatever SEGA’s motives were regarding the two versions of VF5, the only important thing is that both games are great, but the Xbox 360 version is definitely the better of the two. This is one of the best fighting games ever and one of the best games of 2007.

2007 saw the release of Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III, and Rock Band on the Xbox 360. Rather than choosing just one, I'm recommending all three. They all play pretty much the same and they all have great song lists, so picking one over the others is purely a matter of personal preference. Or, you can just get all three, which is what I really recommend.

Halo 3 is the best Halo yet and one of the best games available on the Xbox 360. Every single aspect of the game is polished to near-perfection from the presentation to the campaign to the multiplayer, Halo 3 does everything amazingly well and adds in a bunch of new bells and whistles to really put it all over the top. And above all else, Halo 3 is one of the absolute best values in the industry. You will be playing this for months and likely years to come.

Overlord, from Codemasters and Triumph Studios, is an action RPG where you take on the role of an evil overlord who has control over hordes of vicious minions. Your main objective through the game is to destroy everything you come across, and if that doesn’t sound fun, I don’t know what is. It didn’t get a lot of attention prior to its release, but I can happily say that Overlord is not only one of the great surprises from this Summer, but one of the best games of 2007 overall.

Forza Motorsport 2 is one of the most addictive and deeply satisfying racing games you will ever play. There is no greater feeling than when you tweak and tune your custom painted car for hours until it drives exactly how you want it. Or when you make a really nice custom graphic design and then it sells for a high amount in the auction house. Forza 2 is a great game that is accessible enough to appeal to a wide audience despite the fact racing sims are historically only for the hardcore. One of the best racing games on Xbox 360 and one of the best sim racers ever.

Crackdown is likely to go down as "The game the Halo 3 Beta came with", but it deserves more recognition than that. Crackdown, or Riot Act as it is called in Japan, mixes GTA-style “sandbox” gameplay with special abilities you’d usually only find in a Marvel superhero to create a game that actually stands out among the increasing number of GTA wannabes. It looks gorgeous, plays amazingly well, and is one of the most addictive and satisfying games around. Crackdown is a fun game, especially in co-op, that stands as one of the best titles of 2007.