[Bemopti123]

I still have some questions, have you done any hacks on the box?


What games do you recommend with the first purchase, for I do not want to dish out $150 to become frustrated with a game, and making me get all upset or give me second ideas, that might make me regret the purchase.  This has happened to me with a couple or more than a couple of games for PCs.  All games look good in the cover and for most, they are about it!  

How old is your Xbox?

[mcrespo71]

I didn't like the control or the graphics. I also hoped there'd be little more new content, even tho I knew it was basically just a port. Did you think the graphics were decent in that game? They were better than the original PS version, but pretty lackluster looking to me (not to harp on it again, but at that time I'd been playing a lot of HALO which pretty much ruins you for lesser game- which is basically all other games!  ).

Resident Evil was quite a bit expanded from the PS1 game.  The controls have always been a knock on the RE games and the GCN versions do nothing to change that, but are no worse than any of the other Resident Evil games on the PS1, DC, or PS2.  If RE changed to a FPS, that would be terrible IMO.  The whole scare factor in RE is the fact that you have slow ass moving Zombies coupled with a slow ass, clunky-moving character, which makes the tension much greater.  I don't think it would be very scary if you had someone as agile as master chief going around and blowing away the zombies.  It is survival horror after all, which means limited ammo and you are weaker than the zombies- you've just got to be smart/strategic on how you take them on to get through the game.

I thought the graphics were fabulous-they are among the most photorealistic graphics of any game because they feature completely prerendered backgrounds.  Only games with prerendered backgrounds can have such realistic looking graphics.

No doubt Halo is a great game, but it's now three years old and is no longer the best game on Xbox graphically, though it's still mighty good.

I still have some questions, have you done any hacks on the box?


What games do you recommend with the first purchase, for I do not want to dish out $150 to become frustrated with a game, and making me get all upset or give me second ideas, that might make me regret the purchase. This has happened to me with a couple or more than a couple of games for PCs. All games look good in the cover and for most, they are about it!

How old is your Xbox?

My Xbox broke with me doing nothing to it, so I'd be vary wary fooling around with it and doing hacks.

As far as games, what do you like and how long has it been since you've played videogames?  If it's been since the NES days, you are in for a big surprise in terms of how much more complicated the games are to control-some will use up to 8 buttons.  If you are a gamer, I'd say for FPS on the box-Halo, Rainbow 6, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and Timesplitters 3.
Adventure- Prince of Persia and Beyond Good and Evil.
Stealth- Splinter Cell, Splinter cell Pandora's tomorrow, and Metal gear Solid 2
GTA 2 pack is good.
EA Sports and ESPN sports (online) are good for sports games.
RPG-Morrowind and Star Wars KOTOR.

Easiest games of all those is probably Prince of Persia in terms of control.

[Rob Babcock]

I guess to each his own.  HALO is getting long in the tooth, but the backgrounds on HALO looked better than the original PSX rendered backgrounds.  I felt the horror of the game came from the creepiness & atmosphere, not the crappy controls!   But I guess I've been in horror at crappy controls in some games.  At any rate I thought the original game had sorta loose control but nothing like the abomination of the 'cube version (disclaimer- so my bias is on record, I think the designer of the 'cube controller should be shot in the head).

Just thinking aloud, here; if not first person, an RE with controls like the original Tomb Raider would be cool, too.

Anyway, some good games for the box:
HALO
MorrowWind-Game of the Year Edition
Mech Assault
Max Payne
Baulders Gate
Castle Wolfensteind
Gotham Racing
Crimson Skies
Star Wars: KotOR
LotR: The Two Towers

I've never hacked mine, don't need to.  I have a computer for computer stuff, and I don't really need to make my 'box into an MP3 server, etc.  I'm just not that much of a tinkerer when it comes to that stuff.  It can be done, I just haven't been inclined to try it.

[mcrespo71]

I felt the horror of the game came from the creepiness & atmosphere, not the crappy controls!

Oh, I agree the atmosphere is what makes RE scary (and the great pop ups).  It's just if RE changed to a FPS control style, it would lose the tension IMO.  Those are some slow ass zombies and being able to shoot them in first person mode would be stupid easy.  The controls on the GCN RE are the same as PS1, so I'm not sure why you think it controlled different.  It controls as poorly as ever across all systems.  That's just RE.

Michael

[Rob Babcock]

The contols on a Boxster are the same as the ones on a grain truck, and they don't handle the same!  

I don't have little elf hands- I can't imagine the 'cube controller fitting the hand of anyone over the age of nine.  No knock on those with daintly little hands, though!   After living with it for a few years I think the box has a great controller, although I hate the S controller.

Naturally if you changed to FPS you'd alter the other mechanics to keep gameplay balanced.

The RE franchise to me is one of the greatest in all gaming history, but it had it's flaws.  Foremost among these was some awful camera foibles.  It really drove me nuts how the view would often abruptly switch or flip while you were running or walking- this was almost completely due to the way you interacted with the rendered environements.  Although bad camera angles plague lots of games, that was the biggest knock I had on RE.  That and the very long load times.

I'd be very happy to have a new 'box RE, and I'd be plenty content if it was the same old prerendered backgrounds but with much higher rez.  The in game DD sound would really add to the spookiness.

[mcrespo71]

I'd be very happy to have a new 'box RE, and I'd be plenty content if it was the same old prerendered backgrounds but with much higher rez. The in game DD sound would really add to the spookiness.

So, basically what you want is the GCN game (which has DD and DPL 2 BTW) ported onto the Xbox so you can use the huge Xbox controller, right?  Don't knock us with dainty hands, man.  I could never use the original Xbox controller without hurting my girl hands.   I'm a controller S guy.  

If you have big hands, I agree there is no beating the original Xbox controller.  You may like some of the changes that are happening in RE4- I think they are finally altering the controls to no longer be digital with crap camera angles.  It just better not be to easy.  Unfortunately, it's only for the GCN, so the dainty controller will always be a knock for those with large hands.

BTW, have you tried Ninja Gaiden for Xbox, Rob?  If you like Ninja's (and who the hell doesn't?), this game is amazing and the graphics are fantastic.

Michael

[Rob Babcock]

No, I sure want to but right now I can't really justify the $50 with so many other things that are a bit higher priority right now.  It's a shame there are so many games I want at the moment.  I'm a huge fan of the Legacy of Kain games and I haven't get the new one yet, I still want "D&D Heroes", there's a new Battalions of Steel game I'd like to have...right now I'd say there are ten games on my list!

The newest "Baulders Gate" looks really good, too.  My brother gets the official Xbox magazine, so I sometimes browse the reviews.  They said it was a good game.

I don't think good camera angles would make it too easy.  Some of the RE games were pretty tough, with very limited ammo supplies.  While some people like their games very difficult, I get frustrated and lose interest.  I don't believe in paying twice for your fun.  I wanna blow zombie heads off with a shotgun, no spend all my time scavening for shells or trying to find some friggin' key for 3 hours.  Give me a hot chick to control and lots of firepower and I'm entertained for days!

[mcrespo71]

You ever tried Return to Castl Wolfenstein for the Xbox?  It has zombies and you can definitely blow them away in 1st person mode.  They aren't as scary as the zombies in RE, but it's a great shooter and only $19 for you bargain shoppers out there.  It's also online enabled.

Michael

[Rob Babcock]

Yeah, that's a good one and a bargain, to boot.