One of the best Xbox games to date and with an MSRP of $20, how can you refuse? Only problem in a steep learning curve.
User Rating: 9.1 | Phantom Dust XBOX
Phantom Dust is the second best game i've played this generation (It's really that good). The only game that beats it IMO is Burnout 3:Takedown. With great, innovative, strategic gameplay, awesome multiplayer, a somewhat helpful single player, and endless replay value, I can't really find much wrong with this game. Gameplay: 9/10 The gameplay consists of picking up aura particles (which increases the amount of energy you have) and picking up 'skills' which are pretty much big lasers and fireballs that you fire at your opponents. Each skill you use takes a certain amount of energy, but it regenerates over time. Each player starts with 20 health and like the GS review says, its pretty much Magic: The Gathering in real time. The skills that appear are from your 'arsenal' which is a 'deck' of 30 skills and aura particles. The one player game isn't all that bad. Theres an overly long tutorial. Expect many battles like 'Using attack skills," "Using Defence Skills," "Using attack skills then defence skills yet again" And for the most part, theyre very easy and basic. The game also at times expects you've NEVER played a video game in the history of the world. Theres a tutorial video that tells you how to press A on the arsenal-editing machine. The one player can last anywhere from 8-20 hours depending on your skill. For $20, even if you don't have xbox live this is worth picking up. The AI is somewhat awful in Phantom Dust. Opponents, if you stand on a ledge say, will spend a lot of time running around under you before they do anything. They also tend to camp their skill-spawn points and become pretty powerful and eventually theyll make you come at them. Your allies to absolutely nothing. They run around same as the enemies and they do no damage at all before they die. When the AI isn't being awful, it's being cheap and hitting you with 1-damage knockdown spells reptetitively whenever you get up and at times it can be pretty frustrating. When you're not in battles, the entire game comes around to running around the somewhat pretty base and finding out who to talk to (which can take a while) to get your next battle going. Xbox live is awesome in Phantom Dust. When you first start out, expect to lose a LOT of battles pretty quickly. Your only kills will probably be cheap shots when someone is low on health. It's best to finish the one player campaign and pick up as many skills as you can before hopping on Xbox Live. The gameplay modes are all basic deathmatch type. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and One on One. You can also trade skills over Xbox Live but don't count on ANYONE needing anything because everyone has 3x every skill of course. Another note, theres only about 7 or 8 (I forgot how many) maps in Phantom Dust. This may not sound like a lot, and they are rehashed quite a bit in one player, but theyre large enough and theyre all pretty fun. EVERYTHING, Abosolutely EVERYTHING, is destructable. This is amazing. You can shoot a missile as a pillar and it will collapse and crush everyone under it :) Graphics: 8/10 Theyre not revolutionary but Phantom Dust is a nice looking game. Theyre not really too big of an issue in a game like this but everything from the skies to the lighting in the bar is pretty well done. My only problem this time was that the same gray hallway is used like 3 times in the base so it's easy to get lost. Other than that the levels, skies, base, characters (somewhat), and the explosions/lasers/fireballs look good. The main character (The Protagonist) looks like he has problems with his face though. (Facial expressions aren't well done) Sound: 8/10 Generic laser and fireball sounds, very little voice acting (only during the few cutscenes). They sound good enough and theres quite a rumble when you fall a long distance. Theres quite a bit of scrolling through boring text. The music, what you can find of it, is some tinny old music that fits very well with the post-apocalyptic theme. When there is voice acting, it's OK. Value: 9/10 With a fairly long campaign, about 340 skills to collect, and endless Xbox Live play, Phantom Dust will last you a LONG time. Did I mention it's only $20? $50 games can't touch this kind of good (Except Bunnout 3 of course). It's not a game for everyone unfortunately because of the steep learning curve, a long tutorial, and gameplay that might not be fast enough for everyone. Tilt: 10/10 I definetly loved this game. It was just my style. Like Morrowind, this game is niche and isn't for everyone. If you enjoy card games like Magic: The Gathering or have ever enjoyed something like that or if you're just looking for an innovative action/strategy game, GO PICK THIS UP Difficulty: Easy at times because of absolutely retarded AI, then really frustrating at some bosses and when the AI cheapshots you. Learning Curve: A good 2-3 hours of tutorial plus more for learning about strategies. 
