The Xbox One hits shelves tomorrow, so JOE takes a teary-eyed look back at some of our favourite titles on the previous Microsoft consoles…
by Adrian Collins and Oisin Collins (no relation)
JOE has been scraping together pennies, coppers and other small change since we heard that there was going to be a new console out, and so far we’ve got €12.63. Donations to the fund are gratefully accepted, please send $1 to ‘Happy Dude’…
Only joking. Anyway, we decided that we would cast our minds back to our favourite titles on the previous Xboxeseseses, before we get stuck in to playing the new ones.
Halo
Not merely one of the best games on the Xbox, it was probably one of the best games of our generation. Absolutely revolutionary when it first came out, playing online (or on a LAN connection all the way back in the day) was the most fun a bunch of lads could have on a Friday night when you had no money left from days of mid-week drinking studying hard in college. Get a pizza in and you were almost literally having the best time of your life.
You could drive mad space vehicles, there were sticky grenades that would cause both hilarity and devastation when you managed to nail someone and loads of other brilliant weapons, as well as some pretty fantastic graphics for its time. We dare to say that if it weren’t for Halo, the Xbox itself might not have had such success, as it was a truly marquee title.
The franchise which has followed has rarely disappointed either, not that it would really matter if it did anyway given how incredible the first one was. Each Halo sequel broke sales records when they were released, in particular the high-definition version of the first one to mark the ten year anniversary (bloody hell, we feel old now) and with the new console on the way, we’re very excited to see what they can do to this iconic title with all their new found processing power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fEKcOK8gno
Gears of War
If the hugely cinematic trailers didn’t make you want to get your hands on this game, then the brilliant gameplay was surely enough to convince you.
The story was set around a group of soldiers in Delta Squad who are trying to save the inhabitants of the planet Sera from the Locust Horde, who are trying to exterminate them all. One of the most notable things about the game was its absolutely beautiful graphics, and when you consider that it was out about seven years ago, it really was a stunning game to look at. The gameplay was also bit more tactical than your average shoot ’em up, where you needed to use a bit more tactical nous and use of cover to succeed.
It’s still in the top selling Xbox games and spawned a full on franchise with Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgement. While most of those games didn’t live up to the original, we’d love to see that rumoured Xbox One title become a reality, even if Microsoft’s Phil Spencer said it’s on the backburner.
Forza Motorsport
Gran Turismo was easily the most popular motor racing game available on any console for a good eight years. However, that was all going change in 2005 when Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios released Forza Motorsport.
Forza was (and still is) hugely popular among petrol heads and casual gamers thanks to its ease of use, stellar car line up and some of the best graphics for its time. Fast-forward eight years and we’ve seen five instalments of the game, along with the incredibly fun Forza Horizon, which, by the way, features one seriously good soundtrack.
We’ve already had a sneak peek at the latest edition of Forza here at JOE and it’s sure to keep you glued to your telly box with its detailed graphics and realistic driving controls. Make sure to keep an eye out on the site over the coming days for our review of Forza Motorsport 5.
Left 4 Dead
The Left 4 Dead games were the ultimate zombie thrillers back in the day and many Xbox owners still consider them to be the dog’s undead b*llocks. In the first game you played as four ‘Survivors’ known as Bill, Louis, Francis, and Zoey. The second instalment of the franchise saw four completely new characters; Coach, Eills, Rochelle, and Nick.
The aim of the games was to get your survivors from infected areas in the US to various safe houses and ultimately out of the country on boats as the zombies couldn’t swim. Stupid zombies. The Left 4 Dead games were absolutely great craic to play in co-op mode with a few of your mates (and a few beers too) and if you had Left 4 Dead 2 you had the option of playing in ‘realism’ mode – but it was only played whenever you really wanted to scare the crap out of yourself.
Fable
If you like big names in your video games (see Beyond: Two Souls) and a lot of interactive gameplay, then the Fable series is the action adventure RPG series for you.
Among the big names who lent their voices to the Fable games were, Michael Fassbender, Stephen Fry, Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg, Jonathan Ross, Jason Manford and John Cleese, just to name a few.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyQqGFXJjRw
The Fable series were also great fun to play due to the fact that your character would often face a moral choice that could change their appearance along with how the other characters in the Fable world of Albion would react to them. So act like a p*ick and you’ll definitely notice a difference.
We’ve spent many a memorable evening engrossed in the stories thanks to brilliant writing/voice acting while also making difficult choices that could sometimes make you feel genuinely guilty for your actions. By the looks of the latest instalment, gamers with strong morals are going to have to make some tough choices…
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