I find that an increasing amount of people these days aren't satisfied with the same old crap that other people are playing. I understand also that many of you Halo and COD4 fanboys out there are perfectly content with you're parties of killing the newbies on xbox-live. I'm here to address those who are just looking for an easy going, fun game to turn to when everything else is boring. I'll have a series of articles covering these games but I'm going to start with one group of games in particular....
Party Games:
It's become increasingly clear to me that people dont like to game alone. So here are the top 5 party games that I would suggest you look into if you have friends to play them with.
Rock Band
Rock Band is probably my favorite party game of all time (debatably). It covers a mass array of different interests. Weather you like punk, rap, classic-rock, you name it Rock Band has it. If you're afraid your harsh vocals will drag down the band you can try you're hand at bass, guitar, or drums. While Guitar Hero 4 (soon to come out) will also feature drums, I highly doubt it will have the same impact as the amazing amount of work that went into designing the Rock Band drum set. Over all I it's a great game to pull out when you and you're friends are sitting around BORED.The Mario Party Series
While I'm sure some of you think I'm in poor taste and I'm oldschool for even looking at these games, give me a chance to explain. With the insane multiplayer games at the end of each turn, add the intensely simple nature of the game and you have yourself the makings of possibly one of the greatest party games of all time.The Halo Series
I'm willing to bet that a lot of people would try to debate with me on the placing of this one, but ever since videos featuring the game came out and people started making money off of them I became increasingly disappointed with the fanbase of these games. MOVING ON, I feel that dispite all of the people who are relative jerks on xbox-live in this game it's still fun. The game itself just plays smoothly and it feels natural. I doubt anyone even reading this can honestly say that they haven't gone over to a friend's house to kill some jackals, brutes, grunts, and hunters all while playing on the ever so difficult legendary setting. The overall popularity places this game at more popular than God therefore earning it #3 on my party game list.Call Of Duty 4
Again the debatable placement of this game leaves a lot up in the air. But the online gameplay and the Co-op story mode in this undoubtedly make it one of the most fun multiplayer games ever. The split screen alone won my heart when I get 7 kills in a row and am allowed to summon a helecopter to my aid to mow down all my enemies while I contently sit there with my trusty sniper and watch the havok. The game itself offers a wide variety of classes witch you can (in xbox-live) make your own custom one or in split screen you can choose one based on your personal taste. Weather you're a run-in-and-shoot-anything-that-moves kind of person or you like to hang back with a sniper rifle and settle things from a distance, you'll find an odd satisfaction watching that terrorist hit the ground after you pump him full of lead.Guitar Hero 3:
Definitely not as good as Rock Band, yet still you feel like the biggest bad ass on the planet after you hit a continueous string of hammer-ons. This game is vastly popular and people like to say how they beat Through the Fire and Flames on Expert (and if you say that you're either a liar, a cheater, or a mutant with 6 arms) but even if you aren't tearing up a Dragon Force song on expert the game itself is still fun to play with your friends. While the battle mode in a single move will utterly cripple your opponent it's still fun to have the satisfaction of knowing you're playing notes to the same rythm as some of your favorite guitarists.
