I finally found an inroad. Someone wanted to sell their XBox 360, because they had just bought an Xbox One. Seeing my chance, I offered them my PS2 and 30 of my games. He agreed to a deal, and now I have an XBox 360. I didn't have much money, but I had a handful of games left, and so I took them and traded them towards some XBox games. I ended up getting Star Trek, and Tomb Raider. I started Star Trek and it was so much fun. I got to see the Enterprise bridge, move around the ship, crack jokes at Kirk (because I was Spock, obviously). I'm not so good at combat, because these controls take some getting used to, especially when you've been used to either a keyboard or a PS2 controller! Still, it was a blast, and I plan on playing more later. On to Tomb Raider. All I can say about Tomb Raider is HOLY SHIT PICKLES I NEARLY DIED A DOZEN TIMES ZOMG!. That game is awesome! The graphics look gorgeous (if you don't agree, just remember I've traded up from a PS2. For me, the graphics are full HD and gorgeous), the gameplay is hard for me to follow, even on easy level, again due to the control situation. Still, I'm getting used to it, and it's fun! Also, on this one, I think I may have broken the record for how many times I say "shit!shit!shit!shit!shit!" in a video game. For me, I'm 2 for 2 so far. I hope to get some racing games, as I much prefer those to action/combat games. I'm going to our local flea market today, and looking for some bargain bin games. Hopefully I can find a few cheap ones to build up my collection until I can start trading for better ones. I don't play games very often, aside from some PC games, so this is really exciting for me. I realize I'm a whole generation behind, but I don't really have the money to step up to the big boys. Plus, the new consoles would be a waste for me anyway, as all I want to do is play some games. I'm not interested in social apps, or watching movies via Netflix on the Xbox (I have a Roku anyway), but man it's nice to even have the option! The deal I got is sweet, too. He told me he never really played it much, and it shows. The system looks great. It's one of the newer Xbox 360s with the black case, and better heat management. It came with a Kinect and a 250GB hard drive, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm set for a long time! I don't think I've ever owned a game system this nice. Oh, I'm rambling now. Sorry. Anyway, if you want to recommend some games, please do! Remember, inexpensive is best, and I don't really play combat games, unless you know of one so good that I can't resist.
Look up a video of geometry wars. It's 5 bucks and is a high score type game. Super fast, the music is great. If you want a racing game, look into Burnout Paradise if you want something more arcade-y, and like, Forza if you want something more serious. (one of the numbered ones, not forza horizon) Edit: Also there's a ton of cheap (5-15 dollar) games for download that are really good. It really depends on what kind of game you're looking for though. The downloadable ones were some of my favorites, though not as technically impressive as big budget titles.
You might look at the BioShock series. Its a beautiful looking game, and is set in a steampunk/dieselpunk-type world. In Mafia II, you can drive a Tucker (and there's one in LA Noir as well).
I'll have to check those out. I went to Gamestop today, which I would normally avoid, but I found some great bargain bin games! I found Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. I've only spent about half an hour playing it, but oh ye gods, it's awesome! I also found Need for Speed: Rivals, which is a hell of a lot of fun! Finally, someone gave me a digital code to the game Child of Eden. It is wild, and takes fast reflexes, but it is so much fun, and the visuals and music are superb. So I seem to be off to a good start, I think. I just think it's crazy that I finally own something I've wanted to own for ages, and all he wanted was an old PS2 and a shitload of games. I guess nostalgia gets everyone!
GTA-V Unless you decide to sit and play through in one session, just aiming to beat the main story line. You'll probably take at least 70-80 hours or so to beat the game. I picked up the game for the PS3 about 2-1/2 months ago and I'm just over 50% completion of the game. There's so much content in the game, and so much extra stuff in the game like side missions, random events, and freaks and strangers that you can choose to help or not that to actually do everything in the game would probably take around 150-200 hours to it all. The game map is also huge, you have Los Santos which is made up of smaller suburbs, along with a couple smaller towns, an army base, a prison, a desert area, woods, and mountain areas as well. And you can still kill the hookers to get your money back.
I've got GTA IV on the way, having never played it and always wanted to. I do most of my game acquisitions through a game trading site. It's far, far cheaper than Gamestop. Hell, I could probably get 3 or 4 games for what Gamestop wants to charge me. I just happened to see the games I mentioned above, saw them in the "3 for $10" bin, and had to get them. The third game I got out of that group, by the way, is a game called L.A. Noir, also published by Rockstar. I've only played a few minutes of it, but it just seems cool. It's all about the 1940s, and I love detective murder mysteries. It looks like a lot of fun.
LA Noire is great, you'll have fun with that. The way they captured the faces for that game is really interesting and unique. GTA IV is really good but a little frustrating sometimes. I just remember the driving being annoying, and the shooting to be less-than-good. V was supposed to feel a lot better in regards to that stuff. The final mission was also insanely hard and I never beat it. If you're going to play through GTA IV though, I urge you to pick up the Lost and the Damned the biker gang DLC. I think you can get all the DLC for that game on a disc so you might find it on that trading website. If you like the GTA style games and want something a little (lot) less serious, you should check out Saints Row: The Third, and Saints Row IV. You can start at 3 just fine, or you can go back to two if you want. The third is where that game started developing its own style and not just feeling like a knockoff GTA (though I played a ton of 2 as well).
Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Also, I don't know about your area, but the public library where I live has video games in addition to movies and books. I've saved so much money over the last few years.
Maybe. I'm not sure what kind of "combat" John has trouble with, but the fighting in Oblivion/Skyrim is definitely more involved than with Fallout. It's the one thing that bugs me about them. I miss VATS!
I knew L.A. Noire was going to be good the moment they put me in charge of driving the car. It made me impatient for my copy of GTA IV to arrive (snowstorm delayed it). I miss those kinds of games. I love GTA just for the ability to drive around in so many different cars, and the whole sandbox play. I can steal a car, a boat, a helicopter, and just go wild having fun. It's liberating to play those games. As for combat, I have trouble with games that require using multiple joysticks at once, while also using trigger buttons. I'm not used to the 360 controller yet, so it's a pain in the ass to have to be good at using everything at once.
2013's Star Trek was universally panned as a bad video game experience but I loved it and I hope Paramount gets serious and puts a real budget up for another non-movie tie in Star Trek video game. If you liked this, I recommend you give the Mass Effect trilogy a spin. One of my favorite experiences last generation. Tomb Raider is another. Awesome game!
