XBLA game recommendations

[Qalbert]

[Atreides]

Just bought Gyromancer for 800 points (normally 1200), been waiting forever for it to go on sale. Also bought Dead Rising Case Zero, which is actually a huge amount of content for 400 points, so I'm really looking forward to playing both.

The Plants vs. Zombies demo was a LOT of fun, normally I'm terrible at tower defense but something about this one really appeals to me. It's 15 bucks though so I'll probably skip it, although you can get a disc version (releasing at the end of the month) for 20 that includes the full versions of peggle and zuma. I REALLY hope that Crystal Defenders: Vanguard Storm gets released on XBLA at some point, since it's S-E's take on the Plants vs. Zombies TD formula. Anyone ever play it for iPhone?

Looking ahead there's literally a metric fuckton of games for XBLA (and PSN) that I want to get:
World of Keflings, Outland, Undergarden, Blade Kitten, Dead Space Ignition, Rock of Ages, Trine 2, Bastion, Dead Nation, Dungeon Hunter HD, Swarm, ilomilo, Zeno Clash 2, About a Blob, Dead Nation, Costume Quest, Dungeon Defenders, Hydrophobia, Malicious, The Witness, and Deathspank: ToV. I will never have enough microsoft points

edit: also here's release dates

September 15th: King of Fighters: SkyStage - 800 Microsoft Points
-September 15th: Sonic Adventure - 800 Microsoft Points
-September 15th: Space Invaders: Infinity Gene - 800 Microsoft Points
-September 22nd: Serious Sam HD: The Second - 1200 Microsoft Points
-September 22nd: DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue - 1200 Microsoft Points
-September 29th: Hydrophobia - 1200 Microsoft Points
-October 6th: Comic Jumper - 1200 Microsoft Points
-October 13th: Pinball FX 2 - Tables purchased individually, free import from original Pinball FX
-October 20th: Super Meat Boy - ???? Microsoft Points
-October 27th: Bloody Good Time - ??? Microsoft Points

[Atreides]

Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue is out today, 1200 points. So far it's more of the same awesomeness in the first Deathspank. The DLC is currently free on psn/xbla for the next week.

Speaking of Deathspank, there's currently a vote on the dashboard to determine what the Xbox Live Deal of the Week is during the week of 10/18:
-Deathspank 33% off - 800 points
-Perfect Dark 50% off - 400 points
-Dragon Age DLC - Leliana's Song 320 pts, Golems of Amgarrak/Darkspawn Chronicles 240 pts
-Trials HD 33% off - 800 points, DLC 40% off 240 pts
-Battlefield Bad Company 2 Onslaught Mode 50% off - 400 pts, SPECACT Upgrade 320 pts

Personally I voted for Deathspank, 10 bucks is a great deal and more people should play it if they're fans of Diablo-style stuff and Monkey island humor.

Blade Kitten is out this week too, as are Serious Sam 2 HD and Alien Breed 2. Next week is Hydrophobia which I'm really looking forward to.

[Atreides]

anyone play Hydrophobia yet? I played the demo, it's pretty good but I'm not sure if I want it or not since the demo doesn't include combat. The game is getting mostly good reviews, but a few mixed ones so I'm not too sure.

also here's a preview of Dungeon Defenders, it's diablo-like action RPG meets tower defense, seems like my kind of game:
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/29/du...nders-preview/
Comes out this fall, I'm really looking forward to it

[Pikarya]

Just got Plants vs. Zombies for XBLA (Have it on Steam/PC & iPhone). Still don't understand why some websites are advertising it with "Online Multiplayer", when it only has Local Co-op & Versus.

Also got Streets of Rage 2, surprised people don't play it as much anymore.

[Atreides]

There's a disc version of PvZ btw, the xbox live arcade version costs $15 bucks but the disc version costs $20 and includes Peggle and Zuma for free. I really liked the demo (I haven't played it on pc) but I think I'll wait til I can find a cheapo copy of the disc version. Doesn't the xbox version include extra content?

[Pikarya]

There's a disc version of PvZ btw, the xbox live arcade version costs $15 bucks but the disc version costs $20 and includes Peggle and Zuma for free. I really liked the demo (I haven't played it on pc) but I think I'll wait til I can find a cheapo copy of the disc version. Doesn't the xbox version include extra content?

Other than leaderboard, and being able to have a house (haven't messed with it). Its really not a lot of fresh content.

[Atreides]

By the way, for those of you who have been waiting on XBLA purchases... MS is having a deal that if you spend 2400 MS points (30 bucks) between 10/1 and 10/31, you get 800 points credited back to your account (the pts will be added sometime in mid/late november). That's a really sweet deal especially if you've been waiting on price drops or if there's stuff coming out that you want, I know I had planned to spend well over $30 in points before I even heard of this promotion.

In case it helps here's some upcoming stuff:
This week: Hydrophobia, Toy Soldiers DLC
October 6th: Comic Jumper - 1200 Microsoft Points
-October 13th: Pinball FX 2 - Tables purchased individually, free import from original Pinball FX
-October 13th: Sonic 4: Episode 1 - 1200 Microsoft Points
-October 20th: Super Meat Boy - 1200 Microsoft Points
-October 20th: Costume Quest - ?? Microsoft Points
-October 27th: Bloody Good Time - ??? Microsoft Points

Also there's the Alan Wake DLC (560 pts) on 10/12 and I'm guessing the Red Dead Undead Nightmare DLC will be out in October as well. Potential sale on the first Deathspank or the latest 3 Dragon Age DLC. Obviously you can buy anything though, I've been considering Limbo or Hydrophobia if I have points to burn.

edit: here's the link http://www.xbox.com/en-US/press/2010...ankyougift.htm

The Details
Purchase at least 2400 Microsoft Points worth of Xbox LIVE Arcade and/or Game add-on content between 12:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time (EST) October 1 and 11:59 pm EST October 31, 2010 and receive 800 Microsoft Points added automatically to your membership. Limit one gift per person. The free points will be deposited automatically into your Xbox LIVE account after the end of the promotion period. Please allow four weeks for delivery, on or around November 30, 2010.

[Atreides]

oh also, for the rest of this week (although you'd have to buy it Friday/Saturday to count towards the 800 back on 2400 promotion), a shitload of sequel-related DLC is on sale:

September 28th: "Sequel Sale Extravaganza" OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS!!! "THIS WEEK ONLY"
"Assassin's Creed II"
-Altair Outfit (Male/Female) - 160 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Ezio Outfit (Male/Female) - 160 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Sequence 12: Battle of Forli - 160 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities - 160 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities & Secret Locations - 400 Microsoft Points - 28% off

"Fable II"
-Knothole Island - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-See the Future - 320 Microsoft Points - 43% off

"Fallout 3"
-Broken Steel - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Mothership Zeta - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Operation: Anchorage - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Point Lookout - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-The Pitt - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off

"Star Wars: The Force Unleashed"
-Character Pack 1 - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Character Pack 2 - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Hoth Mission Pack - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Jedi Temple Mission Pack - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Mouse Droid (prop) - 160 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-StormTrooper Outfit (Male/Female) - 160 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Tatooine Mission Pack - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off

[Atreides]

Costume Quest is out today, 1200 points. I've been playing it for about an hour, really fun game if you like collecting and RPG battles although it's a bit on the simple side.

Here's some more Xbox Live Deals of the Week:
10/19 - Borderlands DLC (Secret Armory/Underdome/Zombie Island) 400 points (50% off)
10/25 - Bioshock 2 DLC sale (Protector Trials 240 pts, Rapture Metro 400 pts, Sinclair Solutions 240 pts)
11/1 - "Cats and Dogs" sale - Blade Kitten 600 pts (50% off), Risk: Factions 400 pts (50% off), Snoopy Flying Ace 400 pts (50% off)

Also there's a launch sale on Super Meat Boy, 800 points instead of 1200 from 10/20 to 11/21.

Not really a whole lot else coming out soon. I think Guwange is a bullet hell type thing, that's out on 11/10 and Crazy Taxi is coming out on 11/24, both are 800 points.

Kinda surprised Blade Kitten is already getting a 50% off sale, must have really sold poorly since its release. I hope Hydrophobia gets a sale soon

[Atreides]

Been a while since I updated this, so here goes:

-Costume Quest is fucking awesome, 15 bucks is a tad steep considering it's only about 2-3 hours long but I would definitely buy it anyway just to support games like this. It's a bit on the easy side, personally I don't see why we can't have REAL rpgs on xbla and have to settle for quasi/lite RPGs like Penny Arcade/Costume Quest, but CQ is so fun and charming it's hard to stay mad at it.

-The first DLC pack or Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (one of the best games of the year, if you haven't played it at least try the demo) is out, and as promised it's free. "All the Trappings" adds 4 VERY hard stages, 3 of which are puzzle-based and one which is all combat. It's only about an hour of content unless you try to finish all the challenges, but unfortunately they don't give you any items/weapons so there's not much reason to.

-I'm still undecided on Hydrophobia. The demo was fun but the reviews were kinda meh, part of me wants to wait because Blade Kitten is already going on sale just a few months after its release and I have a feeling Hydrophobia, which didn't sell much better, might follow suit.

-Haunted House is out as well, a remake of the classic Atari game (it's also out for wii). What I played of the demo was alright, I suppose it's kinda fun if you like collecting and exploring, but not having a map is annoying even with the house broken up into smaller stages. I would probably only get it if you were a HUGE fan of the original, as it does do an adequate job of capturing at least the feeling of the original game.

Xbox live deal of the week is Dragon Age DLC btw, for those of you who don't have it all yet it's a pretty good deal:

November 2nd - November 8th? (END DATE IS NOT 100% FINAL!!!): "Select Dragon Age DLC" OPEN TO ALL XBL MEMBERS
-Awakening - 1600 Microsoft Points - 33% off
-Leliana's Song - 280 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-The Darkspawn Chronicles - 200 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-The Golems of Amgarrak - 200 Microsoft Points - 50% off

also if you were planning on buying Super Meat Boy, it will only be 800 points until 11/21, at which point it goes up to 15 bucks.

There's a decent amount of upcoming stuff on the horizon too, I'm definitely most looking forward to Undergarden, which looks really fucking amazing. I'll post a video below the release dates:

-November 3rd: The King of Fighter 2002 Unlimited Match - 800 Microsoft Points
-November 3rd: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds - 800 Microsoft Points
-November 10th: Guwange - 800 Microsoft Points
-November 10th: Undergarden - ??? Microsoft Points
-November 10th: Faery Arcade - ??? Microsoft Points
-November 17th: Days of Thunder Arcade - ??? Microsoft Points
-November 17th: Trouble Witches - ??? Microsoft Points
-November 24th: Crazy Taxi - 800 Microsoft Points
-November: Auditorium - 800 Microsoft Points

Undergarden trailer

Spoiler: show

Has anyone played Comic Jumper or Bloody Good Time yet?

Phew, I think that's everything

edit: actually, speaking of RPGs this Faery game looks slightly promising, I think it's coming next week too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4PYRqQm8l4

[Atreides]

Also Scott Pilgrim is currently half off for Xbox Gold members, 400 points ($5). I think it lasts til the end of the week

[Callisto]

Didn't see anything about it in this thread, anyone tried Hydrophobia yet?

[Atreides]

I played the demo, it was kinda fun but the game got mixed reviews. I definitely want to play it at some point but 15 bucks seems kinda steep, especially considering there's a lot of other games/dlc that are even better on the service

[Salodin]

The demo I thought was rather good, and the game seemed kinda big for an arcade game. I'd wait for a price drop before getting it though.

Now, does ANY ONE play catan? I fucking love that game but it's impossible to find people that play it =(. Awesome board game, I highly recommend it. Please join me ;_;

[Atreides]

more sales:

November 15th: "Shank" GOLD MEMBERS ONLY
-Shank - 800 Microsoft Points - 33% off

November 22nd: "Hasbro Family Game Night" GOLD MEMBERS ONLY
-Battleship - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Boggle - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Connect 4 - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Connect 4X4 - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Jenga - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Pictureka - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Scrabble - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Sorry! - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Sorry! Sliders - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Yahtzee - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off
*All these require the Family Game Night Client to Play.

This week is Shank for 10 bucks, down from 15. Considering Blade Kitten and Shank have both gone on sale for 10 bucks within 1-2 months of their release I'd definitely wait on Hydrophobia if you were considering it, I bet we'll see a sale sometime before Feb/March

[Salodin]

Man thank you so much for these recommendations, I'm really enjoying a lot of these games.

[Atreides]

np man, did you get Shank? I played the demo and it was fun for a bit but I've heard the game is VERY short, like maybe 2-3 hours with only 7 stages and 1 MP stage. I know it's on sale but I dunno if I want to pay even 10 bucks for it lol. Hopefully Limbo goes on sale eventually, I've been waiting to buy that for a while now

[Caiyuo]

Honestly I thought Limbo was a little overrated. It was fun and all, but it wasn't the transcendent gaming experience it was being made out to be by all the people I saw touting it before I bought. More "neat" than anything.

[Salodin]

Did not get shank. I rarely spend more then 10 bucks on a game from arcade unless it has an extremely good single player campaign, or a very good multiplayer scene.