Oh boy, have I been waiting for a post like this:
My favs:
COD4
Oblivion (just...awesome)
Fallout 3 (just...awesomer)
Midnight Club LA
Skate 2
DiRT
Bioshock
Prey
&
Mass Effect
COD4 - 9.25/10: I give this score to this game because of the great online play, especially with hardcore mode. The career is just amazing as well, and got me very tied up in it. The graphics, gen-breaking, the AI, quite smart, and the knife-in-face-stabbing - never gets old. MW2 will be a great continum of the series.
Oblivion - 8.5/10: This is a wonderful game - TONS of exploration, hours of gameplay, and beautiful graphics. I will admit that the dungeons and caves are almost identical in layout and scenery which takes away from the experience of discovering NEW places...every place looks almost the same. The castle design and the planes of Oblivon MORE than make up for it though, which is why this earns an 8.5/10 in my books.
Fallout 3 - 9.75/10: Where do I get started, great physics, great combat, VATS is the poop, the enemies are quite smart and viscious always giving you a challenge, and they're adjustable in skill from the options. Exploration...you know; the experience of living in a wasteland is perfectly presented, and it really is just an immersive experience. GOTY edition is worth the buy as well, with all 5 DLC's for the same price at the base game...you can't go wrong. I've got so much more to talk about in this game...but you've gotta get it to find out!
If only they added one vehicle it would have gotten a 10/10 from me...
MC:LA - 8.8/10 (for racing guys, not Oblivion exploration): This game is awesome as well, it allows quite alot of customization, amazingly detailed, customizable interiors. Wonderfully textured cars and a great representaion of LA, you'll spend tens of hours finding every little niche and shortcut in the city. You can also jump IMMEDIATELY into a LIVE cruise or match which is an AWESOME perk to this game! The physics, and character interactions and attitude could use a little work though. There are only so many times someone can bump you - blaming you for the paint-trading - until you snap...
Skate 2: 9/10 - A great skateboarding game, and the best you could get for the 360 at the time. You can now get off your board, move objects (clumsily might I add...but who cares?) so you can make your own spots; and of course, the amazing realistic tricks and fun of the best skateboarding games...and lets not forget the return of the Hall of Meat. The Hall of Meat is a bail meter that measures what gets sprained, bruised, broken, and dislocated when you bail (which you can control, you can bail at any time...without consequence), and the physics are gut-wrenchingly real when you bail...eww...
This as a whole makes this a 9 to me. Oh, and LIVE matches are great too!
DiRT - 9/10: Next-gen rally-racing at its finest, the best wrecks, quite realistic physics, and a solid racing feel make this another favorite of mine!
Bioshock - 8.5/10: WHAT? An 8.5? Yes, an 8.5, why? Because while the guns, plasmids, exploration and hours of gameplay are fun...when you go through the game again...well, you know EVERYTHING that will happen. This makes it predicatble horror-fare with lackluster scares...but the first time you go through it...10/10, just a great story and game, award-winning, and I hope the movie goes through, it deserves one.
Prey - 8.75/10: Another great game from 2K (Bioshock creators) which was made before Bioshock and was in the making for years, just like Bioshock. Anyways, another great storyline which grips you. The gun-physics are amazing, the uniqueness is great too, with awesome monsters, portals, alien machinery, and amazing cinematics, this is a hidden gem by 2K that CANNOT be missed!
Mass Effect - 9.75/10: A beautiful story, beautiful battle physics, wonderful characters, detailed facial and character customization; this game was WAY ahead of its time. While it is solely 3rd person, it is close-up and comfortable, unlike the far-off Prototype 3rd person. Anyways, this game...is movie-deserving, it makes you think, makes you cry, makes you laugh, and amazes you...it is a masterpiece - and it is waiting for you in a local Gamestop...in troves! GET IT
!
PS2, one and only-
Final Fantasy X and X-2 - 10/10 and 9/10 respectively: They do not need an explanation lol!
XBOX LIVE GT: Burner156