I am considering getting one of these mean machines, although the GF won't be happy with the purchase.

I have been out of games for a while. The last time I owned a console was when I had a PS1 when they first came out and most other systems before that. I just happen to have fell out of gaming after the PS1 once I actually started working full time and had money to buy all the games i would ever want.

What are the must have games?recommendations of great games of any genre are welcome.

Thanks

CoD4
NHL 09 if you're into hockey games
I like Left 4 Dead but wouldn't call it a "must-have"

http://www.metacritic.com/games/xbox360/scores/

Great link, thanks

...some hits:

Shooter:

Halflife 2
Bioshock(!)
Call of Duty Modern Warefare

Adventure:

GTA4

RPG:

Fallout3
Oblivion
Mass Effect

If you like sports games, definitely get NHL 09. I also love FIFA 09; it's really addictive even if you know zero about soccer.

Everything else on this list is good.

I'd also add the Orange Box to it; if you haven't played it, you're definitely missing out.

If jumping off a ten story building while shooting a rocket launcher at the crowds below sound like fun, Crackdown might be the game for you.

Call of Duty 4
Halo 3
Fifa 09
Grand Theft Auto 4
Gears of War 2

Gears of War 1&2 [One for the campaign so you know wtf is going on ]


Personally I rented Assassins Creed and played it and beat it in the first session [was 10-15 hours?]

I enjoyed it if your into those games, LOOKS FANTASTIC and a pretty cool combat system, try it out and let me know what you think.

Perfect time to beat it too, the Second is coming out soon.

I would put Oblivion, CoD4, Halo 3, and Bioshock on the list. For some reason I never got more than about 7 hours into GTA4. I guess it was because I was moving at the time and just fell out of it. I liked GTA3 a lot - I digress.

Assassain's creed was an interesting game. It would be just as interesting to go over to a friend's house and watch someone play it for 3 hours instead of playing through the whole game. Each kill had its own gimmick which was neat but not enough to warrant all the time it took to get everything done. The thing that kept me getting all the objectives done in each town was that I was playing it in HD and the graphics were stunning. To its credit, climbing around all the different buildings and finding intersting ways to kill people does take a while to get old.

It's weird, my initial reaction whenever someone brings up AC is to say that it was pretty meh. But then again I did play it for a long time and it was a lot of fun. I guess that's a function of really cool gameplay with a pretty abysmal storyline.

I was at Gamestop today and they had a BioShock/Oblivion 2 in one game for $29.99. You literally can't miss either of those and at the price you basically stole them.

...i love the U S and A

That would be a pretty sweet deal if I hadn't already beaten Bioshock and gotten 110 hours into the PS3 Oblivion. A while ago I contemplated ditching the PS3 version and getting the 360 one in order to get all the achievements (I think I'd have almost all of them by now) and the extra DLC. I feel a little too far gone now, though. If anything I'd get it for the computer - use my raptor drive to cut down on all the stupid loading.

I bought bioshock at blockbuster for 3.99. I think it had to be a misprint.

What is the best racing game? I love those.

This. Portal blew my mind. Your girl might even like it.

Forza 2 is the last racing game I had. If they had a 3 it would probably be the one to get. It's basically the Gran Turismo of XBox. It's really ****ing hard though. If you want something less demanding probably Need for Speed. I had one of the old ones and it was fun.

Forza 3 is coming sometime this fall.

Burnout Paradise is a lot more arcadey, and is very fun.

COD2 if your looking for a bargain.

best game on 360 imo by far.

...did you play cod modern warefare?

...this

Burnout partymode is really funny, we spend hours with that...

Thanks for the suggestions, used some of my bankroll for my first purchase with poker money and got me a 60 Gig Xbox 360 which came with Gears of War 1 & 2 and also bought Bioshock, Grant Theft Auto IV and COD4.

Liking Bioshock alot and am just getting started on GTA. Haven't had time to look at any of the Gears yet and only messed about with COD4 for a bit, I need more time!!

Will be looking to get Fifa 09 as to reviews and suggestions + I am a big football fan!

The GF is not over the moon and wished I got a WII, girls eh, maybe for her birthday...