Tag: Xbox 360Page 3 of 7

“Investigation music plays” – L.A. Noire

On the unique folly of L.A. Noire, with reference to Ace Attorney, Mad Men, and the allure and decay of beautiful facades

“Live fire exercises” – Brink

Trying and failing to find my into one of the most modern-feeling games yet

“Aristotle vs. mashy spike plate” – Portal 2

The perfect blend of magic and logistics, and how to come back and do it all over again but bigger

“A wizard did it” – Dragon Age II

Way back in 1985, Rare predecessors Ultimate scored two UK #1s in quick succession by following up the isometric 3D Knight Lore with Alien 8. The two games…

“Hold X for Death Machine” – Call of Duty: Black Ops

In Who Hunts the Whale, Laura Kate Dale and Jane Aerith Magnet’s tremendously angry novel about game development, there is a bit where the executives are deciding on…

“Sometimes I make up little stories in my head about what the numbers mean” – Fallout: New Vegas

The provision of player choice comes with an associated player responsibility to suspend disbelief of all of the bits which inevitably don’t make sense. It mostly feels like a worthwhile trade, and that’s not just down to the strength of the narrative philosophy but that of its execution.

“Opposing Forces” – Medal of Honor (2010)

In 2010, it was just eight years since Medal of Honor was one of the biggest things in gaming. Yet the series had already spent more than half the time since flailing in identity crisis, lurching from reimagining to reimagining even before Call of Duty took its place at the top.

“Better get going, Six” – Halo: Reach

Spotify and fellow music streaming services have killed the Greatest Hits album. People can listen to a group’s most famous songs together whenever they like; why would they…

“It ain’t like you’re qualified for anything else” – Mafia II

As Rockstar successfully expanded out its open world Grand Theft Auto formula to new settings, they were far from alone. Such was the boom for the genre around…

“It’s fucked” – Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Before reaching this point in 2010’s journey, there was only one thing I knew about Kane & Lynch. It was that in 2007 the video game website Gamespot…