Xbox 360 Game Reviews E-G

'Forza 3' is the best racing game on the Xbox 360. Between the sheer numbers of cars and tracks, the great customization options, the amazing gameplay complete with tons of difficulty adjustments to ensure players of all skill levels can play, and the awesome sense of community online, Forza 3 is an exceptionally good racing game all around. This is as close to a perfect racing game as you’ll find on the Xbox 360.

EA Sports MMA is the new contender for UFC Undisputed 2010's fighting crown. How does it do? Pretty great, actually. Find out all of the details in our full review.

Earth Defense Force 2017 is one of those games that, no matter how much fun it is, you can’t help but feel that it could be a heck of a lot better. Sure, blasting giant bugs and robots is cool, but you are also struggling against sub-par graphics, wonky controls, dumb AI, and a laundry list of other annoyances that ruin the experience. There is still fun to be had with Earth Defense Force 2017, but it could have been so much more.

Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard is essentially the videogame version of parody movies. The difference is that, unlike “Epic Movie” or “Date Movie” or “Meet the Spartans”, Eat Lead is actually funny and clever in its commentary. Unfortunately, the humor (thanks to solid voice acting) can only carry it so far and the rest of the game is pretty thoroughly mediocre. Bland graphics. Bland shooting. You get the idea. Find out if Eat Lead is still worth a look right here in our full review.

Enchanted Arms is the first traditional Japanese style RPG for the Xbox 360 and I’m happy to say it is actually pretty good. It doesn’t really try to change the JRPG formula, but it does everything it is supposed to just fine so it is pretty enjoyable overall. It looks nice, tells an interesting story, and introduces a few new gameplay tweaks that make the whole experience more addictive and fun than you might think at first glance. RPG fans, Enchanted Arms is well worth checking out.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is an objective-based FPS set in the Quake universe. At least, I think it is supposed to be the Quake universe, but the only thing this game has in common with “Quake” is the title. It is, for the most part, a completely generic team shooter whose concept has been executed far better elsewhere. It isn’t a complete loss, but for the most part Quake Wars is a disappointment. Find out all of the details right here.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a little rough in terms of gameplay, but more than makes up for with a great story, setting, and characters. Not that it plays terribly or anything, but clunky controls and weak combat mar what could have otherwise been an absolute masterpiece. Of course, being "very good" instead of "great" still means it is...

Who would have thought that an RPG based on the life of and death of composer Frederic Chopin would make for a fun game. But that is exactly what Namco Bandai and Tri-Crescendo have created. Eternal Sonata offers a rich story and great characters tied together by stunning graphics and a fun and inventive battle system. This is just a great experience all around and is highly recommended for JRPG fans.

The original F.E.A.R. hit all of the right notes in providing a challenging FPS experience wrapped up in an amazingly scary horror setting. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin offers up improved gameplay and better presentation, but the horror elements don’t seem to have advanced along with everything else. We have seen it all before, basically. It is still a very enjoyable game overall, however, so even with some predictable scares F.E.A.R. 2 is worth a look.

After scaring up sales on the PC for a year, F.E.A.R. has launched on the Xbox 360 and the result is a fantastic port that has more features and plays tighter than the PC original. It looks great, is packed with modes and features, and plays fantastically well, even when you consider all of the great Xbox and 360 shooters to come before it. The best part about F.E.A.R. is that it is genuinely scary and horror fans will absolutely love it.

Codemasters has been making awesome racing games for seemingly forever. TOCA Race Driver, DiRT, GRID, FUEL (hey, we liked it) - if a racing game comes from Codemasters there is usually reason to be excited about it. With these lofty expectations, we tore into Codies' latest racer and first entry into Formula 1, F1 2010. And we were not...

Fable II is a gorgeous looking, funny, satisfying game that is a worthy sequel to the original Xbox title. But at the same time it is also filled with glitches and strange design decisions that leave you scratching your head. The good far outweighs the bad, though, and in the end Fable II is a solid experience that we highly recommend. Find out all of the details right here.

Fable III plays a lot like Fable II, just simpler. This is both good and bad in that it is familiar, but more shallow and not as interesting. Fable III is still fun, but doesn't quite reach its potential.

Oh Fight Night, where art thou? In the nearly three years since you last appeared, only two brave boxing titles have stepped forth to try and best you, and both have completely and utterly failed. Facebreaker looks okay and offers a nice create-a-boxer mode, but the gameplay consists of simple, dumbed down button mashing that is just entirely terrible. Boxing fans won’t like it and neither will fighting game fans. Find out the full extent of the damage here in our full review.

And now for a GNR news update. After years of waiting, Fallout 3 has finally hit store shelves. It isn’t the same type of game as the first two entries in the series, but it also isn’t a hardcore shooter and it certainly isn’t just Oblivion with guns. It is a great mix of satisfying exploration, bloody combat with gruesome enemies, and a great story in an awesome setting that will grip you for 40-50 hours. It is an amazing game that we highly recommend. Thanks for listening, children!

Fallout: New Vegas is kind of a glitchy mess, but it is still crazy fun. We liked it enough to overlook most of the issues, and found a great, fun, satisfying game underneath. Find out all of the details here in our full review.

Far Cry 2 is a bit of a tough nut to crack. It is a gorgeous looking, solid playing open world game with amazing physics that packs plenty of stuff to do. But it is also kind of oddly paced and occasionally brutally difficult game marred by some iffy design choices. You do eventually figure out the game’s quirks, and when you do Far Cry 2 is an incredibly fun game, but it may not be for everyone. Find out all of the details right here.

Far Cry Instincts was one of our favorite Xbox games of 2005 but what has Ubisoft done to earn our $60 for a 360 version? Not much. The final product is still a good game but I can’t 100% recommend it. If you played Instincts on the Xbox already, be wary before you buy unless you love achievements. If you haven’t played a Far Cry title yet, Predator on the 360 is definitely the way to go.

Great graphics? Check. Missing features? Check. Higher pricetag? Check. Yep, this is an EA Sports Xbox 360 launch title. Perhaps it is the CAG in me, but I really don’t understand EA’s reasoning with their Xbox 360 launch titles. Sure, you had to rush them out for the launch, but charging more money for inferior versions of games you have already released on current gen systems just doesn’t make sense. FIFA 06 plays just fine, but at $60 it is a pretty poor value.

Oh look, a new Xbox 360 sports game from EA. Nice graphics? Check. Less features than other versions? Check. Clunky gameplay that isn’t as good as other versions? Check. Higher price than other versions? Check. Yep, FIFA 07 more than meets the high standards set by EA over the past year for Xbox 360 sports titles. It is really a shame that FIFA 07 on the 360 is so disappointing, though, because the PS2/Xbox version of the game is amazing.

FIFA is back to take another stab at next-gen soccer for the 08 season, and while there are some definite improvements over 07, it still struggles in the most important area of all: gameplay. It has great presentation, tons of modes, tons of real teams and players, but the play out on the pitch is slow and clunky rather than crisp and beautiful. We have to admit that we love the new Be a Pro mode, and the new camera angle it uses, but it isn’t enough to give FIFA 08 a solid recommendation.

After years of steady improvement, EA’s FIFA Soccer series has finally put everything in order and is easily the best soccer game on the market. In years past we had great presentation and plenty of features and modes and licensed teams, but the gameplay was lacking. In FIFA 09, however, every single aspect is as near perfect as you could hope for. It looks gorgeous, packs plenty of stuff to do, and plays like a dream. Find out all of the details right here.

The best soccer game on the Xbox 360 just got better. That is all you really need to know about FIFA 10. The great presentation, the great gameplay, the mountain of licensed teams and leagues and players, and the insane number of modes all got another year’s worth of polish and are even better than before. If you’re a soccer fan, there is a whole lot to love here.

It's like clockwork at this point. Fall rolls around and EA gifts the world another fantastic FIFA game. FIFA 11 is more about streamlining past modes and polishing the gameplay than debuting a lot of new stuff, but it still marks meaningful steps forward over previous games in the series. Find out all of the details here in our full FIFA 11...

I'm not a fan of the original FIFA Street. It was all style and no substance and just drove me crazy because it focused too much on individuals rather than on the team, which is what real soccer is about. FIFA Street 3 has toned down the “me first” attitude and put a bit more attention on the fundamentals of soccer, but it is still a very flawed game. When it all works, Street 3 can be a lot of fun, but the huge list of flaws will sour you on the game very quickly.

Fight Night Round 2 was one of our favorite Xbox games of 2005 so Round 3 had some pretty high expectations to meet. Amazingly, EA has delivered a boxing experience that easily surpasses everything that Round 2 had to offer. The gameplay is absolutely phenomenal and the graphics on the Xbox 360 are amazing. Not only is this the best boxing game ever but it is also the best Xbox 360 game available.

Here we are, three and a half years after its release, and Fight Night Round 3 is still one of our favorite Xbox 360 games. To say that Fight Night Round 4 has a lot to live up to is a massive understatement. Does Round 4 meet the challenge? Yes and no. It is definitely a step above as far as presentation goes, but there is just something about the gameplay that falls a little short. Find out all of the details in our full review right here.

Final Fantasy XI is now out for the Xbox 360 much to the delight of massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game fans everywhere. It features a huge world to explore and hundreds of hours of gameplay to share with all of your online buddies. MMORPG’s aren’t for everyone, though, and there are quite a few things to consider before you dive...

Final Fantasy XIII has proven to be a controversial game as it casts aside RPG traditions like towns and exploration in favor of a tighter focus on a more linear story. This raised a red flag for RPG die-hards, but since we’re not RPG die-hards, we dove in without any preconceived notions of what the game should be. What did we find? Find out in our full Final Fantasy XIII review right here.

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.

Fracture, from LucasArts and MechAssault developers Day 1 Studios, is a third-person-shooter where the main attraction is that you can raise and lower the terrain to help you solve puzzles and progress through the game. The game looks pretty nice and the concept is definitely interesting, but a short, linear single-player experience and only so-so multiplayer make Fracture hard to recommend for a full price purchase. Find out all of the details right here in our full review.

Front Mission Evolved turns the traditionally turn-based-strategy-RPG mech series into a full on third-person-shooter. The results are actually pretty fun, as the gameplay is fast paced and customizing your wanzer (Front Mission's term for mech) is deep and enjoyable. We just wish the single-player was longer, and that the multiplayer was...

Frontlines: Fuel of War is, basically, a more fun and accessible version of Battlefield 2. Massive battles with up to 50 people complete with tanks, helicopters, air strikes, and drones are the name of the game here, and it all works incredibly well and is just plain crazy fun. This is a solid game that is well worth checking out.

Codemasters’ latest four letter racing game sets you loose on 5000+ square miles of wilderness and lets you decide how you get from point A to point B. FUEL doesn’t quite match the polish of DiRT or GRID, but it is huge, pretty, and can be a lot of fun for baja/rally-style race fans. Find out all of the details on FUEL right here in our full review.

The release of Full Auto marks the end of a long drought of no new Xbox 360 releases and for that reason alone it will likely sell well whether it is good, bad, or in between. The good news is that it plays quite a bit better than the demo that was released earlier this year, but the bad news is that it still isn’t all that great. Read our full review right here.

Microsoft went straight to the source for party games for Fuzion Frenzy 2, developer Hudson Soft (who make the Mario Party games for Nintendo), so it seemed like a can’t lose situation. Unfortunately, when you take out the lovable mascot characters and insert a crew of no-name wannabes into the same formula, the minigame heavy gameplay just doesn’t have quite the same flair. Some of the minigames can be fun, but there are far more negatives here than positives.

A lot of people seem to forget that stupid, mindless fun is still fun even if it isn’t fresh or new or innovative. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, is one of those sort of games. Calling it a good game is a definite overstatement, but there is something about the simple 3D Contra-inspired gameplay that is enjoyable in spite of a laundry list of gameplay and presentation problems. You don’t need to buy it, but you can do worse with a rental than G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

CliffyB said months ago that Gears of War 2 was going to be “bigger, better, and more badass”, and now that we have spent some time with it we have to agree with him. This is a bigger and better game in every single aspect. The campaign feels more epic and is filled with jaw dropping moments. The multiplayer has been beefed up with new modes, and the addition of Horde mode as well as a training mode means that Gears 2 has plenty to offer both on and offline. This is simply a great game.

You would think that after all of the hype and coverage Gears of War has gotten over the last year or so, that there would be no way it could live up to expectations. But it does. It meets those expectations and even exceeds them. This is one of the best looking and best playing games of 2006. And you’ll only find it on Xbox 360.

In March of 2006, when the first GRAW hit the Xbox 360, it was one of the first “Wow. This is next-gen” type games to hit the system. It looked absolutely phenomenal and played like a dream. And now, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 has arrived as a highly polished and refined sequel. It doesn’t take any risks or deviate from the GRAW formula, but you can’t deny that it looks and plays even better than the original, which should make fans of the series very happy.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is the best Ghost Recon game yet. Period. End of discussion. It looks and sounds amazing and the new additions to the gameplay make Advanced Warfighter one of the best playing squad-based shooters around. And best of all, the game is amazingly newbie friendly while still retaining all of the stuff Ghost Recon fans love. Xbox 360 owners, you need this game.

Fear not, Ghostbusters fans. Ghostbusters: The Video Game has been worth the wait. It perfectly recaptures the look, sound, humor, and feel of the movies and it also plays pretty darn well to boot. It is a licensed game created with love and care and passion for the source material (like Riddick) and not a quick cash in tied to a new release (like every other movie game) and it really shows. Find out all of the details right here in our full Ghostbusters: The Video Game review.

Easily one of the most anticipated games ever, Grand Theft Auto IV is finally out and is selling by the boatloads. Has it been worth the long wait and massive amounts of hype? Yes and no. It is certainly a huge game with tons of insanely cool little touches and tidbits that tickle gamers in all of the right places. But in terms of gameplay and graphics and storytelling, it all feels awfully familiar. Find out our final verdict on GTA IV right here in our full review.

Green Day: Rock Band has been somewhat controversial among gamers, mostly because many felt Green Day was a downgrade from The Beatles (who got their own Rock Band game in 2009) and didn't deserve the same treatment. Music games aren't about music snobbery, however, and are supposed to be about fun, which is something that Green Day: Rock Band delivers by the boat load. This game is jus…

Just like it revitalized the Colin McRae Rally series with DIRT, Codemasters has tweaked and tuned the Pro Race Driver series into GRID and turned an enjoyable but niche series into one of the best racers on the market. It straddles the line between simulation and arcade to produce a racer that rewards you for driving correctly, but also doesn’t penalize you if you want to break the wheels loose and throw the car around corners. GRID is just plain fun.

You have to admire Arc System Works for trying to step out of its comfort zone and do something different with the Guilty Gear series after cranking out so many revisions of its great 2D fighting game, but Guilty Gear 2: Overture was a step in the wrong direction. It can’t decide if it is a Dynasty Warriors clone or a RTS game, and the mash-up of genres combined with an awful story and so-so presentation make it hard to love even for Guilty Gear die-hards. Find all of the details right here.

As far as features go, Guitar Hero 5 seems like the best music/rhythm game yet. For casual players and GH veterans alike, there is a lot of nifty stuff in Guitar Hero 5 that makes you want to play it. The song list isn’t quite as strong as the features, but for every bland, boring, stinker in the 85 song list there is a catchy, addictive, fun...

The Guitar Hero games represent two of the most addictive and fun games to come out in the last several years, and now we can finally experience the fun on Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II includes extra songs, downloadable content, leaderboards, and enhanced graphics that set it a step above the PS2 version. We have a couple of complaints, but Guitar Hero II on Xbox 360 is still an amazing game that is highly recommended.

Red Octane and Activision are back for another set, this time with Neversoft at the helm since lead guitarist Harmonix got a big head and left the group to form a new Rock Band. For the most part, Guitar Hero III is more of the same great guitar playing we all love, but just like when any outsider is brought into the core of an established band, some things change and not all of them for the better. It isn’t completely Yoko Ono’d, but an increase in difficulty could be a big issue for some.

If you love Aerosmith, you’ll love this game. If you hate Aerosmith, you’ll hate this game. It really is as simple as that when recommending Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. For everyone in the gray area in between, however, it becomes a bit harder. You have to look at things like overall value and how well Aerosmith songs actually work in the Guitar...

Depending on your musical preferences, Guitar Hero: Metallica just might be the best Guitar Hero game ever. If you don’t like heavy metal or Metallica specifically, obviously this game isn’t going to be for you (kind of like how GH: Aerosmith wasn’t really for me). But if you love Metallica, love heavy metal in general, and are looking for a challenging new full band Guitar Hero experience, then this game is for you. Find out all of the details on Guitar Hero: Metallica right here.

In theory, a greatest hits edition of Guitar Hero that lets you play classic songs with the gameplay tweaks of World Tour is a great idea. Really, it still is a good idea. But the execution here in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits leaves a lot to be desired. Sound issues, charting issues, and just an overall “slightly off” feeling to the gameplay spoil what should have been a glorious homecoming for longtime GH fans. Find out all of the details right here.

I’m going to come right out and say it: Guitar Hero: Van Halen is the worst Guitar Hero so far. The song list is poor, the presentation is lackluster, and there is very little here to justify Van Halen getting their own game at all, let alone a full priced $60 release. As a free bonus for buying Guitar Hero 5 at launch, GH: Van Halen got the job done. As a full priced game, however, it is u…

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock sort of feels like Neversoft is trolling the music / rhythm genre with it's final Guitar Hero game. Warriors of Rock throws mainstream / casual coddling out the window in favor of a crazy story, face melting heavy metal soundtrack, and over the top difficulty that will make casual players cry for mama. It is...

Guitar Hero III was a good game but a bit rough around the edges as new developer Neversoft had to learn on the fly how to make a decent music game. With a year of experience under their belt, they are back to take another crack at the genre. And, boy, they are ambitious this time around. In addition to the guitar gameplay we all love (with far better charts), GH: World Tour also includes drumming and singing as well as a few other nifty features. Find out all about it right here.

Gun is a Wild West-themed action game from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater developer Neversoft. You’ll explore a wide open world where you can be a bounty hunter, a rancher, a miner, or just hunt animals among many other things. And you’ll get to shoot a lot of bad guys. Literally hundreds and hundreds of them. The gameplay is surprisingly fun and satisfying, but there just isn’t enough of it to make Gun worth much more than a rental.