Number 9: Tomb Raider: Underworld

Finding the cover for this game was a pain

    Some might consider a game that I probably didn't put more than 15 or so hours into within the 3 years I owned it an odd choice for this top ten. Hell it even beat out the previous entry, which I have far more time put into. Probably the reason I didn't put too much time into this was because I got a shooter and a racing game the same time (along with three gamecube games). Pretty much every one of the other five games I purchased that day had more pick up and play value than Lara's adventure. But I'll get onto that later, here is the number nine spot.
     Tomb Raider: Underworld is an action adventure game released in 2008 on the 360, PS3 and PC (in more or less the same form) as well as the Wii, PS2, mobile phones and DS (which vary in faithfulness to the HD versions). It is the third game in the Crystal Dynamics reboot trilogy of the former PlayStation classic. Being a direct sequel to "Legend" the game picks off around where its predecessor left off. From there is plays off in a series of flashbacks (starting I believe two weeks before the into training mission). Basic gameplay elements include platforming through complex levels, puzzles, and combat.

its a balancing act deary

     This is a game in the franchise that time seems to have recently forgotten about. People will often think about the PS1 classics, Legends, and the 2013 reboot. This was the first strictly next gen installment into the series, and it seemed to have garnished mixed reviews due to its sort of half gen feel. By that I mean many elements feel "next gen" while others didn't exactly feel new, original, or fresh. Thankfully, Crystal Dynamics gave the players a backstory feature, so players who didn't get to Legend two years prior could know what going on. My biggest complaint about the game would have to be its glitches however. There seemed to be times where Lara would get stuck in an area and you would have to sort of jiggle the thumbstick to get her out. Hopefully that wouldn't happen over a huge ledge, or you'd be done for. An area I had no complaints on was the audio/video presentation. The graphics in this game were, and still are excellent to me. Beautiful complicated vistas are the game's specialty, and it makes sure you get a front row seat to the view. Character models are also wonderful, even if a little more dated than the environments. Your ears get some sweet candy as well, with film quality music and superb voice acting. Guns are loud and the creatures you fight sounds wonderfully convincing.

a vista not unlike this one

     I purchased this game in April of 2011. This was in the first batch of 360 games I bought outside of the two that came with my console. Its worth noting I bought these around 14 hours away from my hometown on a beautiful spring thunderstorm. Come to think of it, the memory of buying the game could almost be considered my best with it. Honestly this game seems to hold a place in my heart for the memory of that Summer, as it was pretty much felt like my last true childhood Summer. I remember getting home from one of my last days of Sophomore year and turning this game on, stuck at a part with a huge green and grey vista in front of Lara, not unlike the weather we were having that muggy June day. Had to stop playing for an hour to talk to a friend of mine on the phone.All these superficial memories may make it sound like I didn't enjoy the gameplay, but its quit the opposite. I've been dying to play this game ever since I got rid of my console, and I'm thinking of rebuying it on the PS3. Tomb Raider is one of those franchises I grew up with (which might be why, unlike many people, I have a hard time looking at Lara as a sex object) and getting this game resparked the interest in the franchise that I lost by playing Tomb Raider 4 on the Dreamcast (....just don't do it). Its a wonderful franchise, and its persistence is generally why Underworld is number 9 on this list.

Number 10: Fatal Inertia

Sonic and Knuckles in metal form

     The bottom of this list seemed to be the hardest position to figure out. In the end it came down to this game and the infamous Perfect Dark: Zero. What made me choose this Unreal powered futuristic racer was one simple question; which game gave me more satisfaction per amount of frustration. I came up with this solution by realizing that although I probably have sinked many more hours into PDZ (mostly due to the lovely bot matches) I generally enjoyed this game a lot more. Even though I never finished the career mode, I never had to stop a higher difficulty playthrough due to a damn bridge not loading (nice coding Rare).
     Fatal Inertia is a fairly basic futuristic racer. The gameplay relies heavily on combat, not unlike what is found in the popular wipeout series. A key separation between this and its contemporaries is the organic environments that can be an advantage and hindrance to your racing. There is also some nice customization features to be found in the four different types of ships, each of which have interesting sets of advantages and disadvantages.

reminds me of crimson skies

    "Fatally Average" is how IGN felt about this game, and personally I feel that may be a little harsh, but not by much. This was the first exclusive Xbox futuristic racer since 2002's disappointing "Quantom Redshift". Unlike that game however, this was not a Microsoft developed game, nor did it have former developers of wipeout on its team. Rather, it was made by "Koei", known for Dynasty Warriors,Dynasty Warriors, and Dynasty Warriors (thank you X-Play for that joke). Overall, the game was fortunate enough to avoid the big issue Redshift had, in that this game is actually playable throughout the entire experience. It also avoided Redshifts selling point in that the Audio/Video presentation isn't the best for the time. You can also tell the game clearly wasn't complete, as graphical pop-ins are extremely clear, glitches show up from time to time, and the controls clearly don't make use of the controller properly.

Magnet Cluster was always my personal favorite

     I purchased this game at Gamestop used for around $5 in late August of 2011. I also bought PDZ and Enchanted Arms that day (pretty nice variety I gotta say). One really sweet memory I had with this game was it being the first game I hooked up to an HDTV about a month after I bought it. I played on a 20in Standard Definition TV for the first 9 months of owning my 360 (though I did get to play on an HD one briefly in July of that year). Seeing the colors in this game flourish made me get a bit more respect for it. Of course, once I saw games with far more coats of polish at that LCD screen I saw the game for what it truly was, but even then it had its own charm. As I mentioned earlier, I never ended up unlocking everything in this game, as it was one of those "get into a groove for a few days and then put it down for a month or two" games for me. I remember getting into grooves around a year after I bought it and then in late winter of 2013. I believe it also ended up being the final game I ever played on my 360 before I sold it to Gamestop. All in all, I ended up having one good time with this mediocre but charming little racing game.