41. The Walking Dead – Riley
Still. Not. Bitten.
To this day, the original The Walking Dead game by Telltale is one of the best titles released by the company. A franchise that needs no introduction; the TV show is well-renowned throughout pop culture as one of the best forms of zombie media. The game, however, follows the comics a lot more closely whilst still allowing some wiggle room for the choice mechanics that Telltale are known for.
If you’ve not played one of their titles before, Telltale Games are choice-driven narrative adventure games. They take the traditional point-and-click adventure game cycle and create a more cinematic experience, so that they feel more like an interactive movie. This means they can tell rich and interesting stories with a ton of world-building, puzzles and optional dialogue trees. These can add more to the story depending on how much the player wants to get out of the experience. If you only play one of these titles, let it be The Walking Dead, and if you happen to fall in love, there’s a sequel and a whole library of similar titles to try out.
42. The Simpsons Game – Riley
Worst. Movie Tie-in Game. Ever.
It is hard to pinpoint which version of The Simpsons Game is best to play. It varies wildly from platform to platform, and weirdly enough, has different cover art for each one. Whilst it may not be as prolific or great as the previous generation’s Simpsons offerings, it has strengths of its own. The 360 version specifically has hilarious achievements, including a 0G achievement for dying an excessive number of times. It’s also vibrant, colourful, and chock-full with references to other games and classic episodes from the show’s history.
Whilst the self-referential jokes can feel gratuitous, there’s an authenticity that classic Simpsons fans will enjoy, before the characters repeat the same quotes ad nauseam. This game is primarily an action platformer, and it is pretty clunky for a game of this genre, but the main appeal here is the IP rather than the gameplay. So if you’re looking for some nostalgic fun of a forgotten era of license games, Springfield isn’t a bad place to go.
43. Sonic Unleashed – Riley
Hedge by day, Were by night
While Sonic Colours may be the first 3D game to fully lean into the boost formula, I personally feel like the prior game, Unleashed, mastered it. With blazingly quick speed and excellent set pieces, the day stages feel nothing short of visceral in their approach to high-speed platforming. The story has catastrophically global stakes, whilst taking a light Saturday Morning Cartoon approach to writing and dialogue that fits the blue hedgehog and his zany friends quite well. The different hubs you visit between levels have some exploration factors and side quests to keep you busy.
Now for the dark side of this tale, the Werehog. Frankly, its quite like Marmite: you either love these changes of pace and combo-based action, or you hate it and wish it never existed. Which line you’ll fall into is down to preference, but I feel like the quality of the day stages more than make up for the occasional slower moments. What’s even better about Unleashed on Xbox specifically is that if you chuck your disk into a modern system, it will get a significant performance upgrade. Unleashed is truly best on Xbox in this regard, as far as consoles are concerned anyway.
44. Just Cause 2 – Azza
Some men like to watch the world burn; those men play Just Cause 2
While I like the idea of skydiving and blowing up an oil rig to stop a villainous government like a Tom Cruise movie, it would only lead to my demise, and frankly, who has the time or energy when I could just play Just Cause 2 and get a similar experience?
The gameplay is a loop of falling with style, blowing things up, driving, blowing more things up, repeat. It’s a process that governs the entire game, and breaking it means you have failed. Oh, and the game features a fun and useful grappling hook, just in case you need to hold people in place to watch them explode.
Similar to games such as Doom, the story isn’t important; the carnage is. So if you want a massive open-world sandbox that lets you wreak havoc on anything that can break play this.
45. Soul Calibur IV – Azza
Creating effective gimps has never been easier!
Soul Calibur IV is one of my favourite fighting games ever. It has great responsive combat, an awesome character creator, and a cool “Tower of Souls” mode that is tough to beat.
The story mode is back from II and III and has a good cast of characters, both familiar and new, that make it worth playing through each one. While pretty much all the endings aren’t canon, it’s a fun experience worth doing just to see what could have been.
The character creator is so good that it was copied and pasted into both V and VI. It’s very detailed and allows you to create some utterly bizarre creations. I remember my brother and I creating the late great Ozzy Osbourne as an example.
The Star Wars characters (Darth Vader or Yoda, depending on whether you bought the PS3 or Xbox 360 version of the game) are a bit jarring and don’t fit. But the overall package here is something that is fun to play. It’s one to check out on either system; you won’t regret it.
(Side note: the character creator is probably where you’ll spend most of your time)
46. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent – Kane
Really puts the “cell” in Splinter Cell
The Splinter Cell series is one of the all-time stealth game franchises, standing up easily alongside the likes of Metal Gear or Assassin’s Creed.
Starting on the previous generation, Splinter Cell built itself up with new, more interesting mechanics with every new entry, culminating in Double Agent. While there are still more entries afterwards, with one even being on the 360, those came at a time when the franchise had started to streamline its mechanics and ended up feeling like a soft reboot.
Double Agent itself sends Sam Fisher on a new kind of infiltration mission. Sent to prison to make contact with a member of the JBA, Sam is tasked with infiltrating the domestic terrorist group to bring it down from the inside.
Double Agent adds branching objectives and a trust balancing system into the usual stealth gameplay. There will be times when you will actively need to choose whether to kill people to maintain your cover or push back against the group to save lives. Whichever way you choose will either gain or lose you trust from the JBA and Third Echelon, and will have effects on missions later on. The gameplay balancing act of trying to balance which objectives you complete to help or hinder either side of the conflict while maintaining your cover makes this a title worth checking out for any fan of the genre.
47. Call of Juraez: Gunslinger – Azza
Arthur Morgan’s fever dream
What happens when you mix Doom and Red Dead Redemption? So said the developers at Devolver Digital. You get Gunslinger, and Gunslinger is gooood.
The gameplay is fantastic, with a move-forward shoot-everything approach that leaves you feeling like you’ve just taken out every bandit in the wild west. It’s an empowering and badass feeling that makes you want more, in a rather bloodthirsty sense, come to think of it.
The gameplay is easy to learn but hard to master, but honestly, the game does such a good job of teaching you the mechanics that I think anyone could be a gunslinger, even if they didn’t know which end of the controller to hold.
The skill tree has a great selection of skills that allow you to play how you want. If you like rifles, awesome; if you prefer revolvers, go for it. The level of customisation on an Xbox 360
Arcade game is staggering, and I love it.
48. Bayonetta – Dave
Single, Sensational, Sapphic and Stylish Sorceress Seeks Good Angel to Beat Up
Something of a spiritual successor and contemporary competitor to the Devil May Cry series, Bayonetta is one of Platinum Games’s most prominent titles. You play as the eponymous Umbral Witch, who channels demonic powers through her weapons and hair to defeat her dogmatic angel enemies.
In addition to the standard character action “juggle this enemy in the air” stuff, Bayo implemented “dodge at the last moment to slow down time” feature that would become a staple in Platinum Games’ library. Between that and the shapeshifting and unlockable accessories, the gameplay feels very dynamic.
For better or worse, Bayonetta adheres to Kamiya’s “everything and the kitchen sink” approach to gaming. In between impeccably choreographed battles, you’ll occasionally be met with instant kill QTEs and gameplay sequences from old SEGA arcade titles. The implementation can do more damage to the pacing than good (I don’t want to play through Space Harrier every time I want to fight one of the best bosses in the game), but it makes for memorable experiences.
49. Assassin’s Creed II – Riley
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.
The entry that made the series, Assassin’s Creed really hit its stride with its second iteration. The beginning of beloved character Ezio Auditore’s journey, a lot of series staples had their start here. The stealth-based action in historic locales may be a tired gimmick suffering from franchise fatigue, but if you have yet to experience the franchise or wish to relive the glory days, this is a fine place to start the assassin journey.
Set in Renaissance-era Italy, the cities are crawling with life, beautiful architecture and historic landmarks. Simply exploring these cities, looking for collectables and taking in the sights is a joy in itself. But there is also an intriguing story, a combat system with mechanical depth and fun ways to hide and strike from the shadows. Personally, I feel like this entry hits a bucket list of must-play games, at least once in your life, anyway!
50. Hitman: Blood Money – Kane
Hello 47
Blood Money is one of the most highly regarded games of the franchise, and damn it really deserves it. The release of this fourth entry in the series marks the largest feature and graphical upgrade the franchise has seen, even to this day.
The story frames each stage as a case being recounted to a journalist by a former CIA director. The Wheelchair-bound ex-agent chronicles to the reporter about a two-year period where the CIA tracked Agent 47 across the world through his high-profile assassinations.
Levels feel much expanded in scope compared to previous games. Where there had been the optional escape route here and there, and technically, you can take multiple routes through stages, it always felt like there was only one true route through the level to attain a perfect rating. In Blood Money, you will find multiple viable routes and methods to accomplish your objectives in every level (excluding the tutorial). This, coupled with the improved NPC behaviour and new possible actions that Agent 47 can now do, makes it feel much more like a creative sandbox to play in.
If you’re going to play just one of the older Hitman games, this is the one to go for.
Thanks for reading our list! Think we missed something? (Editor: WHERE THE HELL WAS RED FACTION: GUERRILLA AND FAR CRY 3? You lot make my blood boil sometimes. >:( ) Let us know so we can check them out! Also, keep an eye out in the future for our PS3 list, which may include some titles that didn’t quite make the cut here! Or have a gander at the distant past with our PS2 article. Feel free to check out our Discord, and let us know how many of these classic 360 games you’ve played too!
Just a dude that plays games. Ill write stuff on here once in a blue moon
You'll see me everywhere here. Mostly I stream and fix things when they break. You might find me writing an odd article or two too. Hope you enjoy the site!
Melltith, or Melty, enjoys cosier or slower paced games and likes to take her time with things.
She's a very crafty person who will throw her all into a multitude of new projects and skills.
Video game completionist and 3D platformer connoisseur, Riley is a fan of the whimsical frenzy of bright and colourful characters that blessed us in the late 90's. Their favourite game's are Spyro, Persona 5 and Super Mario Sunshine.
He/Him
A flamboyant ultra nerd, Dave participates in the Underlevelled Tournament both for the thrill of the fight, and to avenge the orphans lost in the climax of the previous tournament.
Born: London
Height: ???
Weight: ???
Nen Type: Manipulator
Classes: Editor, Dancer,
Hobbies: street dance, collecting manga volumes, reading, editing
Likes: short-to-medium walks on the beach, pointing out how things can and will be misconstrued as racism, fighting games, RPGs, anime, Hades, alternative hip hop, conscious hip hop, Mara Wilson, overly long bios, ice-cream
Dislikes: insincere media, his own uncanny resemblance to Richard Ayoade, mayonnaise
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