Top 10 360 Games After X10

February 18, 2010

Top 10 360 Games After X10
By Dakota Grabowski

Microsoft has a star-studded
lineup going into the fall

Microsoft’s X10 shed a lot of light
on their portfolio up until the holiday season for 2010. While their first-party
lineup is on the light side, even with the slated releases of Halo Reach and
Fable III for the fall to winter months, Microsoft is specifically allowing
third-party publishers to shine in all of their glory – so long as they avoid
the juggernaut of Halo.

Naysayers may say that Microsoft has
blown its load and 2009 was a glimpse into the future of the fall of popularity
for the Redmond, Washington based company in the console space. Well, Microsoft
isn’t going to go out without a fight and 2010 is shaping up to be a much better
year for the console than 2009 was.

It goes without saying that there
are dozens of games we are excited for in 2010, but here are our current 10
favorites that have caught our eye.

10 – Splinter Cell: Conviction

After playing through Ubisoft’s
often delayed spy-thriller, we are confident that Sam Fisher will be brought
back to the forefront for beloved heroes on the Xbox 360 console. Even with the
exclusion of Spies vs. Mercenaries, Ubisoft is introducing a cooperative story
mode that is separate from the single-player experience to draw people in. Check
out our full hands-on preview.

9 – Red Dead Redemption

Rockstar Games needs a bonafide hit
in 2010. Red Dead Redemption may turn out to be the game that fills that role
since many are calling it Grand Theft Auto with cowboys and Indians. This claim
may turn out to be beneficial for Rockstar Games since the Wild West is a theme
that isn’t too often explored. For gamers looking for a mature experience, Red
Dead Redemption should comfortably fill that void.

8 – UFC Undisputed 2010

A successful debut in 2009 and THQ
is off to the races with their mega-popular UFC license that is bound to impress
once again in 2010. The laundry list of additions is plenty for gamers to
upgrade to the new copy including: signature moves, new fighting styles (Karate,
Sambo, Greco-Roman wrestling), southpaw fighting stance, use of cage walls,
online fighting camps, new submissions, and so much more. The only question left
is, where do we sign up?

7 – Crackdown 2

Even with not allowing us to have
hands-on at X10, we still were blown away at what the new development team
behind the title, Ruffian Games, has been able to accomplish in such a short
time. Supporting up to four players in cooperative mode, Crackdown 2 is going to
be a blast to play with friends and family later on this year. Only issue is
that Crackdown 2 could potentially be delayed into 2011, so we’re keeping a
close watch on it until more news is released.

6 – Dead Rising 2

Dead Rising 2 was, perhaps, the most
surprising title at X10. Our expectations were low with the switch of
developers, but Capcom and Blue Castle Games look as if they know what they are
doing. The switch of protagonists may turn long-time Dead Rising fans off, but
it shouldn’t stop the game from being wildly entertaining. Read our hands-on
preview of Dead Rising 2.

5 – Fable III

Peter Molyneux is gearing up the
third installment in Microsoft’s cash-cow of a franchise from Lionhead Studios.
If Molyneux can live up to promises of a world that is ever-inviting and
emotionally touching, then Microsoft should strike gold a third time with the
Fable sequel. Besides… not only we will be able to pick up chicks in the game,
but the game now allows the players to fondle their body parts with “expressive
touching.”

4 – Fallout: New Vegas

Picking up three years after Fallout
3, Fallout: New Vegas is bound to offer hundreds of hours of gameplay to users
dying to serve their craving for a walkabout in a post-apocalyptic world.
Showing off the crazy environment of Sin City (aka Las Vegas, Nevada) players
should get their good fill of the city where anything can happen (Dead Rising 2
is also based in Las Vegas).

3 – Final Fantasy XIII

The wait is finally over for US
gamers on March 9 (provided they haven’t already imported it from Japan) as
Final Fantasy XIII hits store shelves with several years of anticipation. It’s
going to be one of the year’s top-selling titles and we can only pray that the
title begs us to come back for more after our first completion. In addition,
Lightning, the female protagonist, is an absolute babe – so it’s a must-buy in
our eyes with that notion alone.

2 – Alan Wake

Remedy Entertainment has won us over
with their hands-on debut of Alan Wake at X10. It was gorgeous, spectacular,
mesmerizing and exciting all wrapped up in one. Check out our full hands-on
preview to find out why Alan Wake is potentially going to be one of the year’s
best titles to release on any console.

1 – Halo Reach

This may be Bungie’s swansong for
the Halo series, so it’s only natural that the hype for Halo Reach is
progressively rising every day. This holiday season will be Halo season all over
again – such as 2001 was for Halo: Combat Evolved, 2004 was for Halo 2 and 2007
was for Halo 3.