Xbox 360 Game Reviews M-O

Madden football makes its way onto Xbox 360 just in time for launch, which is good news for pigskin fans. It definitely looks nice, no worries there, but it is very light in the features list. If all you want is a pretty game to use to show off your new Xbox 360, Madden gets the job done. If you want a solid game of football, however, you are better off with the Xbox version of Madden 06.

EA is back with attempt #2 at NFL football on the Xbox 360 and this year’s game is head and shoulders above last year’s dismal try. It doesn’t match up mode for mode with the Xbox version of the game, but it makes up for it with far superior graphics and equally as good, if not better, gameplay. It is far from perfect, but the Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 07 is actually worth playing this year and stands as my preferred version of the game.

EA’s third attempt at Madden NFL football on the Xbox 360 is as close to the glory days of last-gen Madden as we have seen so far. It looks great, and the gameplay has been tweaked to where it is just as good, if not better, than ever. Sports fans, you really can’t go wrong with Madden NFL 08 on the Xbox 360.

For the 20th Anniversary of Madden NFL Football, EA decided to celebrate in style by producing a game that only has little problems rather than huge ones. Unlike years past where the features list was light or the gameplay was flawed, Madden 09Â’s issues are smaller and more nitpicky. And, yes, that is a compliment. Madden 09 looks phenomenal, plays extremely well, and packs plenty of features to keep fans happy. Find out all of the details in our full review.

Every Fall the Madden haters come out of the woodwork to claim that it is just the same game year after year with prettier graphics and a roster update. Has that ever been true? No. Some years definitely see more changes than others, though. Like this year’s game, for example. Madden NFL 10 has gone back to the basics of realistic, gritty, pure football and the result is amazingly fun and satisfying. Football fans, there is a lot to like in Madden 10.

Madden NFL 11 gets pretty much everything right. The presentation, the feature set, the gameplay - this is the best NFL game on Xbox 360. We've actually kind of been down on Madden the last couple of years for presentation and gameplay balancing issues, but Madden 11 solves all of that. It is an amazing game for both the hardcore and casual football fan that we highly recommend. Find out all …

Mafia II poses an interesting problem for players. It tells a decent story filled with fascinating characters, but the gameplay is surprisingly boring. When you can just sit back and watch it is fairly entertaining, but when you actually have to play it Mafia II is rather dull. And that is generally a bad trait for a videogame. Find out all of the details here in our full review.

The X-Men Legends games and the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance perfectly matched comic book nerdiness with addictive dungeon crawling RPG gameplay to create some pretty awesome games. Those games were all made a year apart, so you would think that with a three-year gap between MUA and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, this trend would continue. Instead of being bigger and better, however, MUA2 is shallower and weaker and not nearly as good as its predecessors.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance is Activision and Raven Software’s third attempt at a superhero-themed action-RPG and the results are every bit as good as the first two X-Men Legends games. The gameplay and graphics have been refined and perfected which make MUA something truly special. I’m not sure if the overall Marvel universe has the same kind of mainstream appeal as the more focused X-Men games, but it plays so perfectly you’ll love it even if you don’t know the characters that well.

Mass Effect 2 is a better game than the original Mass Effect. Plain and simple. The combat is better, the side missions are much better, and this is arguably the most polished and relatively bug-free game that BioWare has ever produced. Little nitpicks and problems with the first game are long gone, and what you are left with is amazingly fun gameplay and a spectacular story with great charact…

BioWare’s latest RPG epic is finally upon us, but has Mass Effect been worth the wait? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yeeeesssss. Not only does it look and sound incredible, but it also has a great story and offers some of the best role playing elements of any game yet. The combat isn’t quite on the same level of quality as other aspects of the game, but it is still plenty good enough to make Mass Effect one of the best games on the Xbox 360. Find out all about it right here.

The new Medal of Honor is a good example of the negative effects of blindly following videogame trends without really realizing what made those trends popular to begin with. It shamelessly tries to copy what Modern Warfare and EA's own Battlefield series has done, but lacks the soul that makes those games stand out. It isn't terrible or...

Medal of Honor kicked off the WWII FPS craze way back on the original PlayStation, but in the ten years or so since then, the MOH series hasn’t changed too much. Not saying the games are bad, but Call of Duty and Brothers in Arms have pushed the genre in terms of immersion, intense battles, and emotion while Medal of Honor has always seemed like a regular FPS with a WWII mod tacked on. Airborne adds a few new bells and whistles, but it can’t really compete with the elite titles in the genre.

We praised the original Mercenaries for delivering exactly what had been promised throughout its development – complete and total freedom to cause destruction and chaos. Mercenaries 2 continues that proud tradition of not trying to be anything more or less than an explosives-filled sandbox you’re free to play around in and is mostly successful. It isn’t terribly different from the original, and isn’t as polished as we’d like, but Mercenaries 2 is still a fun game with a lot to offer.

Metro 2033 has come in under most gamers’ radar, but this post apocalyptic horror-FPS set in the Moscow Metro system is definitely worthy of your time. The atmosphere and story and setting are incredibly well crafted and the world Metro 2033 creates is amazingly immersive. There are some rough edges to the gameplay, but nothing deal-breaking. It is all worth it just to experience a world tha…

Midnight Club’s first appearance in the hi-def era has taken a long time to get here, but the wait has certainly been worth it. Midnight Club: Los Angeles delivers a near photo realistic L.A. for you to tear around in at breakneck speeds. The racing is fun. The graphics are gorgeous. And there is a ton of stuff to do. The difficulty level presents a few roadblocks, but for race fans Midnight Club: L.A. is worth a look.

Don’t let the cute and colorful aesthetic fool you, Mini Ninjas might be “kid friendly”, but that doesn’t mean it is “kids only”. It is fun and funny and accessible and a blast to play through for gamers of all ages. This is going to go down as one of the great underrated games of this generation. Find out all about Mini Ninjas in our full review.

Mirror’s Edge is, at its core, a relentless pursuit of perfection. It is all about getting from Point A to Point B as fast as possible, but there are a hundred variables in between and you have to figure out the fastest way through them. A perfect run gives you a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. A failed run can leave you frustrated and angry. Mirror’s Edge delicately balances fun and challenge to craft a unique experience that is among the best games of the year.

Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia is a top-down perspective action game that has you duking it out with zombies and other creeps who are attacking suburbia. At first glance, it seems like a loving retelling of the classic game Zombies Ate My Neighbors but, unfortunately, the execution of pretty much every aspect of Monster Madness falls far short of LucasArts’ zombie killing epic. We love the concept and the corny jokes, but the bad controls and camera make actually playing it a nightmare.

Gamers were skeptical of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe when it was announced, but as more videos and information were released (and you can’t discount the “Dark Knight effect” since everyone loves Batman and The Joker again), that skepticism turned to hopeful optimism. It wasn’t the “DC” half of the equation that had people worried in the first place, however, and despite a cool theme and solid roster of characters, MK vs. DC is still a Mortal Kombat game under all of the fluff.

The MotoGP series of games have been surprisingly successful despite the brutally difficult simulation-style gameplay and the fact that the sport isn’t terribly popular in the U.S. THQ and Climax Studios handled previous games in the series on the Xbox 360, but MotoGP 08 moves on to a new publisher in Capcom who tasked developer Milestone to try to take the genre to never before seen heights. Does MotoGP 08 continue the success of its predecessors? Find out right here in our full review.

The latest offroad racing game from THQ and Rainbow Studios is here, but is it worth the $60 investment? MX vs. ATV Untamed features all of the things that have made previous entries in the series enjoyable, but it doesn’t do much to move forward and improve the series. It is a fairly safe, by-the-numbers sequel that doesn’t do anything wrong, but everything will feel very familiar for series vets. Find out more in our full review.

MySims: SkyHeroes is a kid game, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. Is it going to challenge Ace Combat and HAWX in the flight combat genre any time soon? Of course not. If you are looking for a new game to play with your kids, however, it is a surprisingly solid game that you'll both enjoy. Find out all of the details here in our full...

Released four years ago, the original Ninety Nine Nights was mostly just a showpiece to show off the power of a "next gen" system. It featured hundreds of enemies on screen for you to hack through, but not much else. The sequel, Ninety Nine Nights 2, or from here on N3 II, adds some new features and cleans up some issues from the original, but the core experience of hacking through hundreds of …

EA’s NASCAR series has finally made the jump to next-gen systems but, unfortunately, the transition hasn’t been a smooth one. Like all of EA’s other sports franchises, the first attempt at NASCAR on 360 is bare bones, visually unimpressive, and suffers from some seriously flawed gameplay. Oh, and you get all of these “great” features for an inflated price of $60! Simply put, NASCAR 08 is a complete mess, and you’re much better off sticking with the last-gen NASCAR games.

NASCAR 08 was completely terrible. Lets just get that out of the way first. It was an awful start for the series on next-gen systems. Which is why it comes as a bit of a surprise that NASCAR 09 is a 1000% improvement on 08. To get from that hunk of junk to this streamlined beauty in less than a year is pretty darn impressive. It looks great, drives very well, and packs plenty of features and modes to keep you busy for a while. NASCAR 09 is well worth checking out.

Naughty Bear made a positive impression on gamers in the months leading up to its release through a series of humorous videos showing cute cuddly stuffed bears knocking the fluff out of each other. Now that we've finally got our hands on the final product, however, the game isn't nearly as interesting and funny as we had hoped. Instead, it suffers from bad controls, repetitive gameplay, so-so …

Based on the marketing thus far, you'd be forgiven if you thought NBA 2K11 was just a gushy love letter to Michael Jordan. Well, it definitely is that, but there is a lot more here than just a tribute to his Airness. The A.I. has been greatly improved. The presentation is better. The features list is a mile long. And the already...

The champ is here. 2K Sports and Visual Concepts have taken an already great game, thrown in a few new features and an extra layer of polish, and produced yet another near-perfect basketball game in NBA 2K9. EA’s NBA Live is coming on strong, but NBA 2K9 is still the best basketball game around.

Midway is back with another entry in the NBA Ballers franchise, but the results aren’t so good this time. The presentation is fine and it has a definite smooth style to it, but the core basketball gameplay just isn’t all that fun. When the basketball aspect of your basketball videogame is the weak link, you have issues. There is some fun to be had with NBA Ballers: Chosen One if you learn to put up with the complicated controls and other quirks, but you aren’t missing much if you skip it.

EA Sports has revived the classic arcade basketball series NBA Jam. How does the new high-def version stack up against the original? Find out in our full review.

Just like Madden, the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06 is a stripped down shell of its former self. Most of the features that made Live great in the past are gone. And to make matters worse, the available camera angles are far from optimal which means the gameplay, while solid, isn’t nearly as good as the current gen. Disappointing? Yes.

EA is back for another attempt at next-gen basketball, but unfortunately the results are pretty much the same as last year. There are a lot more modes this time around, but the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. It is certainly better than Live 06, but can’t stand up to the unstoppable basketball juggernaut that is the NBA 2K series.

As has been the trend with all of EA’s sports titles, it has taken a few years for NBA Live to really fully establish itself on the Xbox 360. The first couple of games were just plain broken, but Live 08 offered up nice presentation and solid enough gameplay that we were pretty excited about what NBA Live 09 had in store for us. That faith was, thankfully, not misplaced and NBA Live 09 is a pretty solid game of basketball that can actually give 2K a run for its money.

With the ‘09/’10 NBA season rapidly approaching, two mighty basketball videogame titans have hit store shelves. The NBA Live and NBA 2K series have been fighting it out for years, usually with 2K as the clear front-runner, but this year’s games are closer than ever. We’ve played the heck out of NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10 and have direct comparisons and our ultimate recommendation right here.

NBA Street Homecourt is easily the most refined and best-playing entry in the series, and basketball fanatics will find a lot to like here, but there just isn’t enough here to do. The main game mode is pretty shallow, however, and there aren’t enough other worthwhile things to do with the title so you can enjoy all of this smooth-as-silk gameplay. Homecourt is still a very fun game, but maybe a couple of steps backwards from Vol. 3.

Just like all of EA’s other sports games so far, NCAA Football’s first appearance on the Xbox 360 will go down in history as a disappointment. It isn’t a bad game and it looks great and plays just fine, but there is just no logic behind charging $10 extra for a game with less features. For that reason, the Xbox classic version is the one to own, but if you don’t have any other systems, the 360 does a fine job.

Just like most of EA’s sports games on the Xbox 360, the second time is the charm for NCAA Football. Last year’s game was a bit bare bones and felt rushed, but NCAA Football 08 is fully featured and polished and finally ready to do college football justice on next-gen systems. There are still a few hiccups here and there, but NCAA Football 08 is a great game overall that is highly recommended.

There is little question that NCAA Football 09 is a better looking and overall better playing game than NCAA 08. It also delivers some long awaited features such as roster sharing and a 12-player online dynasty mode to round out an already pretty impressive feature list. There are a few glitches in these new modes that sour the experience somewhat, however, so it isnÂ’t quite perfect. Find out all of the details right here in our NCAA Football 09 review.

The NCAA football series has been decent for a couple years now but was always just missing some extra levels of polish and that unmistakable college atmosphere to really push it over the top. NCAA Football 10 isn’t lacking in these areas. In fact, it is easily the most fully featured, polished, and authentic college football experience we have seen yet. Find out all of the details here in our full review.

Anyone else noticing a pattern with EA Sports games? One year we'll see tons of feature and mode improvements and the next year we'll see tons of gameplay improvements. Well, this year is the "gameplay" year for NCAA Football 11. It isn't much different from '10 as far as features go, but the gameplay and presentation are a definite step up. Without question, NCAA Football 11 is the best coll…

One of the most appealing aspects of college sports is the unpredictability of it all. These young kids aren’t perfect. They aren’t used to the pressure. And on any given night, the little guy can beat the big dogs. March Madness 07 captures the thrill of college basketball perfectly, and despite some issues, is worth checking out for college sports fans.

Need for Speed Carbon is a mix of the absolute best that the Need for Speed series has offered over the past few years. You get solid racing along with police chases and some of the best customization options around all in one pretty looking package. Carbon is better than Most Wanted, and that is all you really need to know.

Need for Speed Most Wanted is literally the best of all of the Need for Speed worlds. It combines the great car customization and open world of Underground with the police chases of Hot Pursuit and the solid racing gameplay that the entire series has been known for. Whether on the Xbox or Xbox 360, Need for Speed Most Wanted is a must play for race fans.

Need for Speed ProStreet is a rather different beast from the past few Need for Speed games. The focus now is on legal, sanctioned races rather than running from the cops and tearing through city streets. The gameplay has also shifted a bit towards a more simulation-style of driving, but it is still very much an arcade racer at its heart. The changes take some getting used to, but in the end, Need for Speed ProStreet is a very solid entry in the series that is worth checking out.

Need for Speed goes back to its roots with Undercover after last year’s ProStreet experiment failed pretty miserably. Undercover brings back the police chases, open world city, and arcade-style gameplay that made previous titles in the series, and in particular Most Wanted, hits. Does Need for Speed Undercover recapture that old NFS magic? Find out right here in our full review.

EA's Need for Speed series gets a shot in the arm from Burnout creators Criterion in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. It pairs old-school Need for Speed progression and layout with a Burnout flair. And it is darn fun! Find out all of the details in our full review.

Need for Speed: Shift takes the NFS series in a decidedly different direction than we have become used to, and the result is a more focused, more polished, and overall better game. It looks and sound great and features perhaps the best cockpit view the genre has ever seen. The controls aren’t quite as tight as we’d like, but overall NFS Shift is a surprisingly good game. Find out all of the details right here.

EA is back to take another stab at arcade-style football with NFL Tour. You may remember the NFL Street series on the PS2 and Xbox. Well, NFL Tour is pretty much the same game minus the thug attitude. That means it is fast paced, extremely biased towards the offense, and ultimately pretty darn shallow. It’ll keep you entertained long enough to add about 700 points to your Gamerscore, but there just isn’t enough substance here to make it a solid experience in the long run.

EA’s first attempt at Xbox 360 hockey is fully featured (a nice change from the other 360 sports games from EA), and even innovates with some new controls, but the pacing and overall feel has taken a hit this year that makes it hard to love, at least for a casual fan like myself. Hardcore hockey fans will enjoy it, but if you are looking for high scoring, hard hitting, fast paced hockey you are probably better off sticking with NHL 06.

EA Canada follows up last year’s solid effort with another great hockey game in NHL 08. The skill stick has been refined and is better than ever, and the improved AI and wealth of modes make this one of the best hockey titles yet. EA has fully committed to the simulation side of hockey rather than arcade-style like they used to do, but NHL 08 is very polished and has a great feel that will make you forget all about scoring ten goals a game and laying on a big hit every time down the ice.

Strange how the hockey videogame world has flip-flopped. EA used to play the part of the high scoring arcade game while 2K used to be the all around great hardcore sim. Now it is the opposite. Not only has EA rebuilt its NHL series into the best hockey game around, but NHL 09 stands as one of the best sports games period. With great controls, a deep set of modes, and unrivaled presentation, NHL 09 is an amazing game that is worth a look for any sports fan.

Over the last couple of years, EA’s NHL series has made huge strides to become not just the best hockey game, but also one of the best sports games on the market period. NHL 10 continues this pattern of excellence. It isn’t quite the huge leap forward that 08 and 09 were, but it is polished to a high shine and is undoubtedly a better game overall than its predecessors. Hockey fans are going to love it.

In case you didn't know, EA's NHL series is crazy good. So good, in fact, that its only competition decided to pack it in and not even release an...

Once the top of the hockey sim heap, the 2K series has morphed into a casual-friendly, arcade-style game. Hockey purists might not like the change, but lets face it, hardcore fans of anything only make up the minority and the rest are more casual. NHL 2K10 delivers that casual experience perfectly. High scoring. Fast pace. Easy to pick up and play. And most of all, fun. Find out all of the details in our full NHL 2K10 review.

Another hockey season is upon us and we are blessed with yet another great hockey game from 2K Sports. It is as if all they know how to do is breathe and make good hockey videogames. NHL 2K7 packs all of the great features and gameplay of the last few years along with significantly upgraded graphics and sound, which make this one of the best looking and playing NHL games yet.

It is always interesting when the young up-and-comer manages to pass by the old standard, and that is exactly what happened with the NHL games this year. EA came out swinging with new controls and a focus on simulation in 07 that they greatly improved in 08, so 2K tried to make some big changes of their own. Unfortunately, the new controls in NHL 2K8 fall flat, and not much else has changed from last year. NHL 2K8 is still fun, but it isn’t the best hockey game out there anymore.

After dominating videogame hockey for many years, the 2K series has seen a bit of a down turn lately. A lack of real changes from year to year and some amazingly strong competition will do that to even the best series. NHL 2K9, unfortunately, continues this trend with outdated presentation and a lack of real tangible changes from last year’s effort. The action out on the ice is still pretty solid, and if you are looking for fast paced, high scoring hockey, NHL 2K9 has you covered.

Nier is a game with obvious, easily identifiable problems, but it is also a game that does other things well enough those negatives are forgivable. Sure, the endless backtracking and fetch quests will wear on you after a while, but probably not until you have seen two of the four endings and played for 20-25 hours. Nier is one of those games you know isn't all that good, but you keep playing an…

Ninety-Nine Nights, published by Microsoft and developed by Phantagram and Q Entertainment, is an action game where you hack and slash your way through hundreds upon hundreds of enemies at the same time. It looks good and plays fairly well, but there are a couple of stumbling blocks that suck all of the fun out of it. You’ll want to love it, but the game just won’t let you and that is a shame.

In an effort to fill the gaps in its 2009 Spring lineup with something (anything), Microsoft brings us Ninja Blade. As a calendar gap filler, Ninja Blade does a fine job of filling a slot on a release list and taking up shelf space. As a game you would actually want to pay money for, Ninja Blade is pretty awful. The biggest offense: A crazy, over the top, borderline criminal misuse of the hated Quick-Time-Event. To see our full review, press A, then X, then B, then rapidly press Y.

Ninja Gaiden II is a better game than Ninja Gaiden/Black/Sigma. It looks simply outstanding, offers a far better difficulty balance, and is just flat out fun to play. Don’t get me wrong, it can still give you fits of controller throwing frustration, but because the controls are so precise, and the weapons are so cool, and the core game is so fun, you always come back for more time and time again. And that is the sign of a great game. Find out all of the details right here.

Onechanbara is a game that you’ll want to like, but it is executed so incredibly poorly that it is impossible to overlook its flaws. Seriously, how can you mess up a game about scantily clad women slicing up zombies? By having stiff, clunky combat, awful level designs, and PS2-quality presentation, that’s how. Find out all of the details on Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad right here.

Sometimes, a game concept seems to be both too crazy to work, yet too awesome not to work. Operation Darkness is one of those games. It is a strategy RPG set in an alternate World War II where Hitler has armies of vampires, zombies, and worse at his command along with his normal troops and weapons. The gameplay and presentation don’t quite match up to the lofty ambitions of the setting, but Operation Darkness is a solid SRPG that fans of the genre will enjoy.

Codemasters and Triumph Studios caught everyone off guard in 2007 with the release of the first Overlord. It was gorgeous and funny and fun to play and no one expected it to be as good as it was. Of course, with that success comes higher expectations, and a lot more is expected of Overlord II than to just be a cult hit. Do the new evil overlord and his band of naughty minions capture the same magic as the first game? Find out right here in our full Overlord II review.

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 of the summer, but one of the best games of 2007 so far.