montag

I'm looking to buy some cheap 360 titles for my son. He's only 9 but I let him play all the Halo games and Black Ops Zombies, with my supervision. We love split screen co-op but that's not a deal breaker. Here are the games I'm looking at and would love to hear which version of each offers the best bang for the buck.

1. Gears of War vs. Gears of War 3. I've narrowed it down to these two and they both can be had for about the the same price. Which offers the best split screen co-op experience? And also it appears they have a gore and language filter which is a nice touch.

2. Left for Dead vs. Left for Dead 2. He loves zombie games so I thought I'd look at this series. We tried the demo but I wasn't blown away but it could offer a good co-op experience. Are they dropping the F-bomb all the time in this series?

3. Crackdown vs. Crackdown 2. We've demo'd Crackdown 2 and, since it's so old, it sure doesn't seem like such a bad game for a kid. I know they both are pretty similar but, if you were to pick just one, whick would you chose?

Thanks for the input. Also if you have any other great co-op suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Michael Corvin

Stay away from Crackdown 2, it is a horrible, horrible game and pales in comparison to the first game. By all means, grab the first game as it's a blast. Avoid 2 like the plague.

vballboy51

l4d2 is a superior game, and you can get some DLC to give you the L4D1 levels. i'd go that way. No real bad language that i remember, pretty much just mindless zombie shooting fun. honestly i don't pay a ton of attention to that at this point though.

Gears are all good. improvements were made throughout the series, but the story all ties together. none of them are that expensive, you can get the first 2 + expansion for ~25 on amazon new

http://www.amazon.com/Gears-War-Trip...s=gears+of+war

also, i'd look into borderlands 1 if you are looking for an inexpensive game. most fun i had co op in a long time.

one last suggestion would be Portal 2. GREAT game, co op, no violence and a puzzle game to boot. i don't think you could go wrong there

Decker

What he said. The first was fun, the second was lame.

With Gears, all three are good and there's a heavy story aspect to them. I'd play them all in order and you can get a compendium of the first two games plus some MP map packs in a bundle quite cheaply now.

montag

Thanks for all the input thus far! Crackdown 2 is now off the list.

I've considered the Gears Bundle with 1 and 2 but from what I've read, Gears 2 is not nearly as good as 1 or 3 so I was going to avoid it. I'll give it a second look.

Borderlands is on my radar. How "mature" is the game play when compared to Halo 4 for instance?

Portal 2 seems like a great fit and I remember playing the original in the Orange Box. I'll see if I can find it used at a lower price point.

Decker

You heard wrong about Gears 2 -- it's great.

Borderlands is a more mature M rated game than Halo, with blood, gore and violence. I wouldn't play it with a child, but then again, I wouldn't play CoD with a kid either. If you deem CoD acceptable, this would be too. It's got some humor and the GOTY version has a Zombie expansion pack included.

wlj

Definitely L4D2, he will have a blast with that one.

RichC2

Gears 2 was my favorite of the series

orangecrush

Crackdown 1 can be found dirt cheap used. Same for Gears 1.

Games I'd recomend for anyone who likes games (and are appropriate for someone like your son):

Retail disks:
Lego Star Wars 1-3
Any of the Lego games, really. (many of the GoD versions will be on sale on 19th)
Sonic and All Stars Racing
Sonic Genesis Collection ($10 at Best Buy today)
Oblivion
Rayman Origins (GoD version will be on sale on 20th)

XBLA:
Pinball FX and the Marvel Tables
Pac-Man CE
Shadow Complex

XBLA games On Sale starting Tuesday:
Plants Vs. Zombies
Joe Danger 2
Peggle/Peggle Nights pack

starman9000

Still play L4D2, great game, but really needs to be played Co-op IMO. I don't remember the f-bomb, but there is some light swearing.

K&AJones

if you're ok with the language part then...

Gears 1 & 2 Bundle - some good co-op and action

Halo - Any of the older titles are fun and nothing comes close in terms of "Sci-Fi Space" stuff. The original that was made for the 360 might be a good start.

LFD Series - Cannot remember the filter for gore on this but it was really fun to play and more the merrier. Four players on this was a hoot and a tad scarry the first time around. the second is even better with all sorts of stuff to smack em'...guitars, frying pan, bats, swords, etc...

Borderlands - the first is really fun and can last a good long time.May have some language issues but not nearly as gory as Gears & Left4dead.

Call Of Duty 2-3 - just cannot beat them them and great all-around shooter. For a war game the language and gore factor is really less than gears and Left4Dead. The COD World At War has four player and to me really captured the entire theater and fronts.

Rainbow Six: Las Vegas - this one was a real surprise for me since I've never played the games. A great combination of shooter, stealth and strategy. The first one is far better than the second. the two player co-op on this was really a blast to play.

ureal Tournament III - I may get flamed for this one but I thought it was fun. The AI bots can give you a run for your maoney. basically no storyline to it but the missions can be challenging. You can drop in and play short or long. You won't be bored

Army of Two - For two players it's really pretty good but not up there with gears, COD and Halo. Still a worth while look especially if you can grab it used around $5-8.00.

Bulletstorm - Language or what sense of it can be a issue here but this was shere fun and laughable. It's a good mix of arcade style and shooter but with a twist. It'll have to going back again and again to try bettering your score. Endless combos and good action. Even though i beat and traded it in, I would love to play it again.

TimeandTide

For a nine-year old? No. Agree on the Lego games, however. (Although my son grew bored with them after SW and IJ.)

To the OP, it sounds like our boys have similar interests. I play COD:MW3 split-screen with my son, and Halo 4 will be a Christmas present this year. (He loves Halo Reach and ODST.)

Check out Minecraft. My nine-year old son loves it, and plays it just as much as COD. (He plays co-op with a friend on Live.)

Also can't go wrong with MW2 (he prefers those maps to MW3's.)

If I had to choose between Gears and Borderlands, I'd go with Borderlands.

Crackdown is a good choice.

And because he likes zombies, you can't go wrong with Dead Rising (although there's no co-op, it might be fun to sit alongside and problem-solve with him).

This is the only COD that I wouldn't let my son play. The flame thrower sequence was too intense/grotesque, even for me.)

montag

Thanks again for the great response. I'll just add some commentary.

Minecraft: has it and plays ofton

Halo: Have CE (for 360) and Halo 4. Love the coop campaign in 4.

Lego games: have all the Star Wars, Batman, Indy games. He's grown bored of those games and has not played in a year.

I'm now torn between Gears and Borderlands.

I don't have much issue with shooting games as long as they are fantasy zombie/mutant/alien killing games. While I let him play Black Ops, it's Zombie mode only. While some might not agree with this approach, my son and I have discussed the issue and he is a smart kid able to seperate fantasy gameplay from real life. He is not allowed to simulate shooting others when playing outside with friends and he is not allowed to paly any of these M rated games without my presence.

starman9000

I'd get Reach and Halo 3 too if you like the others.

Splosion Man is a blast too.

orangecrush

How is Oblivion worse for a 9 year old than Dead Rising?

Decker

That sounds reasonable and well-reasoned. I'd lean towards Gears because you're only killing aliens in that game, while shooting bandits and such in Borderlands. Be aware : there are a LOT of F-bombs in Gears, so if language is a concern, that's not the game for you.

LosingMyMind

shumway

In Gears 2 and 3 there is a filter to reduce the gore and the language. I am not sure about Gears 1.

Deftones

I'd imagine it's worse in the sense that there's quite a bit to the game, which might be confusing to a 9 year old. I don't think he's talking about the actual content of the game, but rather the gameplay of it.

vballboy51

the counter argument is that borderlands is much more "cartoony" (the cell shading). again, we are all making justifications based off what we know, but he'll have to decide whats best for him and his son.

but yes, Gears they do swear up a storm. and Gears 2 was good, nothing to avoid there. made for a great trilogy

montag

Picked up Gears 1 and 2 and Crackdown for $11. Thanks all!

K&AJones

If you're concerned about Gears then read this....

Gearspedia - Content Filter feature

http://gearsofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Content_Filter_Feature

TimeandTide

Yes, this.

Sorry I wasn't more clear in my earlier post. The complex inventory system, the sheer scale of the game, the amount of dialogue one has to slog through are too much for a nine-year old.



Good parenting.

mhg83

Oblivion is not very violent unless you start the dark Brotherhood story. I think that was what caused the ESRB to re-rate it to M

Rex Power Colt-Robot Man

Viva Pinata.