GameRevolution's Top 25 Xbox 360 Games

Posted on Thursday, December 27 @ 11:16:21 Eastern by Alex_Osborn

The Xbox 360 is often referred to as the PlayStation 2 of this generation, which is an incredible compliment that speaks to its massive and diverse game library. As we near the end of this console generation and come ever closer to putting a period at the end of Microsoft's second gaming console, we can't help but look back on the last seven years with so many fond memories. As such, the GR staff decided to put their heads together to compose a list that highlights our top 25 games that have come to the console.

Note: This list reflects the opinions of the GR staff at large. So if you're looking to pick a fight, you better be ready to take on all of us. But be warned, Mr. Bischoff packs a mean punch.

25. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Konami's gothic vampire-heavy franchise has thrived as a 2D sidescroller for many, many years, but has struggled to gain traction in the 3D space—I'm looking at you Castlevania 64. That all changed with the release of Mercurysteam's Lords of Shadow, a game that manages to capture the dark and haunting atmosphere key to the series while injecting fast and fluid gameplay that takes advantage of the current technology. Not only that, but it has a killer story and a jaw-dropping ending that has us waiting on pins and needles for the sequel.

24. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Ever wished you could play a modernized version of Metal Gear Solid in first-person perspective? Look no further, as Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the game you so desperately crave. Stealth action has never felt so immersive and fun; however, the real draw comes from role-playing elements that have been embedded within the experience. Set in a future riddled with biomechanical augmentations, the game's protagonist Adam Jensen is able to enhance his abilities through an RPG-like progression system. It's incredibly rewarding and—more importantly—an absolute blast to play.

23. Dark Souls

While Xbox-exclusive gamers missed out on FromSoftware's brutally punishing Demon's Souls, its spiritual successor brought the painfully difficult experience to the Xbox 360. This sword-slinging action game certainly isn't for everyone, but if you appreciate the tough-as-nails difficulty that defined the retro gaming era, you'll feel right at home with Dark Souls. You'll die a lot, retread the same path for hours at a time, and find the sudden urge to smash your controller on the floor—but hey, that's all part of the fun, right?

22. Fallout 3

When we first heard that Bethesda was redefining the way we play Fallout by turning the franchise into a first-person open world RPG, nearly every gamer on the planet was extremely skeptical. Could Fallout 3 truly serve up a compelling post-apocalyptic world that players would feel inclined to explore? How could a radioactive wasteland not get redundant and boring? Somehow, the dev team managed to pull it off, taking what many love about The Elder Scrolls series and embedding it within the Fallout universe. Oh yeah and the V.A.T.S. system is downright incredible.

21. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition

CD Projekt's sequel to The Witcher was a graphical showpiece for the PC, so when it was announced for the Xbox 360, there was an understandable level of concern regarding how the game might run. Fortunately the dev team is a crafty bunch of guys, as The Witcher 2 looks absolutely stunning on Microsoft's gaming machine. But visuals aside, this game is easily one of the deepest, most thought-provoking RPGs to come along in years. If you're looking for a deep mature story, full of political intrigue that is coupled nicely with incredible (and challenging) gameplay, you'll find one of the most epic experiences in The Witcher 2.

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Tags: Xbox 360, Halo, Microsoft, Bethesda, Rockstar, Irrational Games, Bioware, best of GR, Top 25 Games

Comments

Chunibrow
Joined: Mar 2010

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 11:58 am
Good list. As an Xbox player I've played so many of those it's hard to put them in a specific order. But oh the memories... Skyrim, Red Dead, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Arkham City, Gears of War... God I love video games.

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
I know! Just going through this list reminds me how great this generation has been.

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LawnGnome
Joined: Apr 2007

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
I'd have Arkham City in the top 5, and Arkham Asylum actually on the list, but otherwise really great selections.

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MandaloreHunter
Joined: Aug 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Definitely! The Arkham series as a whole is in my top 10 video games of all time, absolutely amazing!

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kingg5
Joined: Aug 2006

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
what about Alan Wake?

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
I LOVED Alan Wake. Unfortunately, it looks like that one slipped through the cracks.

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kingg5
Joined: Aug 2006

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
That sucks Alan Wake was so well rounded and the story god was like playing the mind of Steven King

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Heath_Hindman
Joined: May 2011

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
I haven't played it and don't know much about it :(

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MootCoffee
Joined: Jan 2007

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
That's a whole lot of Halo. Deus Ex's low placement on the list makes me sad. And no Dragon Age: Origins but EVERY Mass Effect? C'mon meow.

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 1:49 pm
Dragon Age: Origins on the PC is vastly better than its console counterparts. As such, it wasn't a favorite among the GR staff.

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Jonathan_Leack
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 7:57 pm
Whoever downvoted you is a kitten.

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MootCoffee
Joined: Jan 2007

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
That's a whole lot of Halo. Deus Ex's low placement on the list makes me sad. And no Dragon Age: Origins but EVERY Mass Effect? C'mon meow.

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damo_rox619
Joined: Jan 2007

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
This is a good list, it's great to see you didn't omit the Call Of Duty's because of what others might say. Can't say I agree with putting Gears Of War so high up on the list, I kind of have a personal quarrel with that game, though that may be because every time I play it on co-op one particular friend of mine turns into a complete jerk, so much so that it almost ended the friendship once, but what it did do was put me off ever playing Gears again. No.2 was a good pick btw!

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Thanks! Red Dead Redemption is loved by nearly all of us here at GR.

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Comment hidden due to low quality. Show Comment.

GodofUncharted
Joined: Dec 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
"The Xbox 360 is often referred to as the PlayStation 2 of this generation"

LOLOLOL HAHAHAH OMFG HAHAHAHHA ROOOOOOOOOOOFL LOOOOOOOOL

METH.
NOT EVEN ONCE.

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WILLS_COOL_MODE
Joined: Oct 2010

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 9:53 pm
v/ pls go

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WILLS_COOL_MODE
Joined: Oct 2010

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 9:54 pm
good thing the comment bar deleted the first slash, not like it was important.

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Heath_Hindman
Joined: May 2011

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
"While Xbox-exclusive gamers missed out on FromSoftware's brutally punishing Demon's Souls, its spiritual successor brought the painfully difficult experience to the Xbox 360. "

^ Also, fun fact, in Japan, they didn't. XD Dark Souls was PS3-only in Japan. Even I find that kind of nuts.

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
They still support the Xbox 360 with software in Japan? :P

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moretokes
Joined: Apr 2011

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
Every halo from this generation

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Longo_2_guns
Joined: Jun 2003

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 6:41 pm
I'm surprised that Mass Effect 1 ranks higher than 2. Happy, since that's a good choice to make, but surprised nonetheless.

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Story trumps gameplay for many of us. I'm also very pleased to see it ahead of ME2 :D

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Heath_Hindman
Joined: May 2011

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 9:23 pm
In addition to what Alex said, points are scored for originality.
On "Best games of all time" lists, you'll often see the first Super Mario Brothers near the top, even above Super Mario World, Galaxy, and Super Mario Brothers 3. Is it really "better" than those other games in its series? Like as in, you'd rather play that right now and for the next 4 hours instead of others in its franchise? Well, for most people, no, it probably isn't.

But it was GREAT -- even moreso for its time -- and it was the kickoff to something that became amazing. That's why, on a lot of these types of lists from us (and others), you'll see originals ahead of their sequels. It's not a constant, but it's something that happens fairly often, and that's one reason why. (Not the ONLY reason, but it can be a factor.)

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kingg5
Joined: Aug 2006

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 8:36 pm
Glad lost odyssy is pretty high on there. Was worried about my purchase online

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 7:00 am
Easily one of the best JRPGs of this generation.

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Zajix
Joined: Nov 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 8:51 pm
BioShock at #1? It was an okay game that I played through and got a "meh" feeling from. Although the environment and Big Daddy's were awesome...there were so many games that were so much better! Rest of the list was on target and lost odyssey was an awesome game that I had forgot about when thinking of my favorite 360 games.

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Lok-Nar
Joined: Feb 2012

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 10:38 pm
I would have put Earth Defense Force 2017 somewhere on the list but otherwise I agree with those picks.

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Klandathu
Joined: Apr 2008

Posted: Dec 27th, 2012 at 11:50 pm
I have a couple of friends who claim that Portal is a terrible, atrocious game with no redeeming qualities whatsoever (they levy similar claims against Half-Life 2). The kicker? Neither of them have ever actually played it (or HL2). They completely refuse to. One of them says he watched me play it for about five minutes once before he had to leave the room from being too bored (I don't recall this, and I suspect he he may be fabricating it).

The entire thing just blows my mind. How can you degrade one of the best, most innovative gaming experiences this generation has to offer WITHOUT EVER HAVING EVEN PLAYED THE GODDAMN GAME?!?!?!?!?

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 7:50 am
Portal is awesomesauce.

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drathbone
Joined: May 2011

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 1:28 am
Lost Odyssey was really a gem of an RPG. If you miss JRPG's on par with the greats in the final fantasy series it's a helluva buy. Cheap as dirt now too.

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 8:41 am
Agreed. I have some great memories playing through that game at college with my bro.

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UghRochester
Joined: Jun 2006

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 4:48 am
Halo 4 should be switched with Halo 3: ODST.

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spartan317
Joined: Dec 2005

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 7:29 am
No ugh... Bad Ugh

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 7:48 am
ODST may be my favorite among the Halo campaigns.

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MattAY
Joined: Mar 2006

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 6:02 am
All 3 Mass Effects in the top 10? I really should get round to playing those!

I agree with your Number 1, Bioshock is incredible. Around every corner you look there's always something that puts you on edge or catches your eye - a really innovative and beautiful game.

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PeeDeeJay
Joined: Oct 2011

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 6:08 am
Dark Souls wouldve been in my top 5. You guys got it wrong :-P

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spartan317
Joined: Dec 2005

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 7:31 am
I wanted Dead Space on this list sooo bad... but there were no Final Fantasy's so I can let it go

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 7:49 am
Too many great games!

Which Dead Space did you prefer? 1 or 2?

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usaglory
Joined: Mar 2009

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
No love for Fable 2 and 3? I'm a sad panda.

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backfire99s
Joined: Oct 2010

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Nobody over there a Forza fan either?

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AcidTk03
Joined: Mar 2011

Posted: Dec 28th, 2012 at 6:38 pm
where is left 4 dead 2 does nobody like it or was it u guys got crushed by me and my team lol

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hanuka
Joined: Jan 2013

Posted: Jan 3rd, 2013 at 2:33 am
I like this top, but I really don't understand how you can play shooter games on xbox, I am a complete douche when it comes to shooters and controllers.

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