buying a 360 tomorrow, what games should i get with a (very) limited budget?

right now i have money for two games along with a year of live and the console itself. one of the games will most likely be the orange box, because i've loved the half-life series since forever and it's a huge value, but i'm kind of stuck on the second one. i probably won't have much money for games in the future, so games that haven't been released yet but will soon are an option. right now i'm leaning towards halo 3 (not a huge halo fan, but all my friends play it), but then there's gears, oblivion GOTY, and the upcoming COD4, mass effect, and maybe even assassin's creed. i really want to make some use out of the live membership and surprisingly i've heard some bad things about halo 3's multiplayer which i had always sort of assumed was good.

so. any help?

Halo3, Orangebox and COD4 are all must buys.

Halo3 is amazing, Multiplayer isamazing and 4 PLAYER ONLINE CO-OP IS FANTASTIC!!!but if you didnt like halo1,2 this wont change youre opinion.

so i say orangebox and cod4, but you must get all three.

CoD 4, Mass Effect, and Assassin's Creed are all good bets. It just depends what you are looking for. shooter - CoD 4. RPG - mass effect. action/adventure - assassin's creed.Spykezilla

i'm just looking for a game with longevity - out of those, assassin's creed doesn't seem like a very good choice.

I'd get Mass Effect and COD4, if you aren't a Halo fanatic I've found that Halo 3 has limited long-term appeal.

Bought mine a few weeks ago. Got Forza 2 - Halo 3 and Perfect dark zero

Well wasent a hugh halo fan before. but i must say that im pretty impressed after finish the campaign. However i would suggest looking through the youtube cinematics from the first two game. so you can follow the story. But Halo 3 fine game. especially if your friends got it (then you can play mp with them) Forza 2 is just pure awsomeness if you like racing simulators (this is not NFS or PGR far from).

Well havent tryed Perfect dark zero that much. it seems pretty fun and i got it on sale for around 10 usdollars :)

I however also have both Bioshock and the OB for pc. and they are very very good. You should buy thouse in my opinion :)

So Bioshock and OB it is

u should get halo 3,gears of war,orange box and call of duty 4cod4roxs

yes, i know i should. ideally, i would. however, this is not the case and is out of my budget so please read the topic thoroughly next time.

vampire rain is great game highly recomend and bomber man act zero is another great one zombieman666

agreed, also get sneak king, juiced 2, sonic and a nyko intercooler. then ur set

orange box is great, i didnt like oblivion too much and i LOVE rpgs, but it was too long even for me, Bioshock is a good and complex story, id still go W halo, then rent bioshock and beat in about 12 hours, cause halo has so much replay valuestevesurdaddy12

I feel the same way. Btw who wants some cake? Lol(Portal reference if you've played the game)

Because you have the FPS covered with the Orange Box I would suggest a used copy of normal Oblivion. You can find it at Gamestop for 25-30$. This a a much better deal then 60$ GotY version.

If you have some money left, go with H3. This game really shines when you can play with friends. Don't worry about what you have heard. Many people just like to call H3 terrible because it's popular. It really isn't true about the multi-player. Sure, some complaints are justified but this is still the most polished multi-player game in console history.

Enjoy the new system and games!

Orange box, cause you already want it.

Also, a great game, CONDMNED: CRIMINAL ORIGINS is only 17$ new, and its incredible.

Gears of war, but its still full price, but Ive played it nonstop for 10 months.

There are probably 30+ games to recommend, use:

Metacritic.com

it tells you the highest rated 360 games, it averages and compiles official reviews and gives you the average score.

Halo 3

BioShock

Orange Box

Gears of war

Oblivion

are the top rated 360 games.

I picked one up at best buy yesterday. It came with Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Aliance bundled in for free. Orange box is a good choice, Mass Effect looks promising.

right now i have money for two games along with a year of live and the console itself. one of the games will most likely be the orange box, because i've loved the half-life series since forever and it's a huge value, but i'm kind of stuck on the second one. i probably won't have much money for games in the future, so games that haven't been released yet but will soon are an option. right now i'm leaning towards halo 3 (not a huge halo fan, but all my friends play it), but then there's gears, oblivion GOTY, and the upcoming COD4, mass effect, and maybe even assassin's creed. i really want to make some use out of the live membership and surprisingly i've heard some bad things about halo 3's multiplayer which i had always sort of assumed was good.

so. any help?

TarzanTheMan

rainbow six vegas is probably on discount....if you dont like this game i dont why you gonna buy 360

Get the new Premium bundle that's out now. Same price w/Forza and a Marvel game.

right now i have money for two games along with a year of live and the console itself. one of the games will most likely be the orange box, because i've loved the half-life series since forever and it's a huge value, but i'm kind of stuck on the second one. i probably won't have much money for games in the future, so games that haven't been released yet but will soon are an option. right now i'm leaning towards halo 3 (not a huge halo fan, but all my friends play it), but then there's gears, oblivion GOTY, and the upcoming COD4, mass effect, and maybe even assassin's creed. i really want to make some use out of the live membership and surprisingly i've heard some bad things about halo 3's multiplayer which i had always sort of assumed was good.

so. any help?

TarzanTheMan

To choose only 2 of the games you mention is hard if not impossible. You're between a rock and a high place but if you're looking for value then you wont go far wrong with Oblivion. I'm 170 hours in so far and I haven't even started the content packs. Geras and Halo3 have brilliant but short single player campaigns with the emphasis on multiplayer. COD4 looks excellent but I haven't played it so can't comment. Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect look great too but for long levity will they last as long as Oblivion?

same as him

i would say:

Halo, Gears, Oblivion, Bioshock, or Mass Effect

Halo is probably yoru best bet if you friends play.

If you have a limited budget, why don't you get two games for the price of one. For example get Oblivion, and Forza 2 etc(in the UK,from amazon i could buy both of these games for the same price of one new game) for the price of one new game or unreleased game. For games already released and fit in to the category of large value/longevity and can be cheap enough to buy two games, here is a list (based of amazon uk marketplace, should be similar in NA):

-Halo 3

-Oblivion

-Gears of War

-Forza 2

-Blue Dragon (well i liked it)

- COD3/COD2

- Lost Planet

- C&C3/LOTR:BFME2

- Rainbow Six: Vegas

- PDZ (incredible cheap)

These are just a few of many games,which will last you a long time and are very good. Hope this helped.