IGN’s Top 25 Xbox 360 Games

IGN decided to throw together another one of their “best games of all time” lists, though this time they focus specifically on Xbox 360 titles. Among the 25 listed, you’ll find Lost Odyssey, Borderlands, BioShock, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3… and Mass Effect at the #1 spot.

Mass Effect on Xbox 360 is not a perfect game. It has technical problems. It has a repetitive and shallow side-quest system. Its combat system at times feels awkward and underdeveloped. Then there are the issues with the interface and plenty of other rough edges. Yet despite all that, when I sat down to play Mass Effect, I didn’t do anything else until I’d explored the entire world and seen the end credits roll. BioWare crafted such an engrossing game here that I was motivated to interact with every non-player character I came across with the kind of determination I hadn’t felt since Planescape: Torment. The credit for the sense of immersion I felt while playing goes to the writing, to the high caliber voice acting, and the overall world design that combines a convincing artistic style with a broad fictional backdrop and the best soundtrack in recent memory. It was an experience where I didn’t obsess about statistics or my morality gauge or any of the traditional RPG systems meant to distract attention from the core experience. Instead, I just concentrated on role-playing. Considering how many other products of this type try to compensate for their lack of character with overly complex crafting mechanics and non-combat diversions, I found this streamlined, story-focused approach refreshing, and without a doubt one of the most memorable experiences that can be had on an Xbox 360.