What's worth playing on XBOX LIVE??

[Fivespot]

I'm going online 1/1 or so with my BOX. I was on last year for a few months when Live first launched, but got pretty busy and had to give it up for awhile.

Last time around, I mostly played Unreal Championship & Mech Assault. Unreal frustrated me a little since lag was an issue. Mech Assault was always a blast. I also played Ghost Recon a little bit.

So far this time I've boughten (to be ready when I go live):
Crimson Skies - haven't played yet
Top Spin
ESPN Football
RTCW
Mech Assault - after I buy the LIVE kit / comes free with it

How am I doing with this list? What am I missing and should buy? Please lend me a hand here. Its been awhile and last time I was on live, their weren't so many options.

[Darwin]

<div class=\"smallfont\">
So far this time I've boughten (to be ready when I go live):
Crimson Skies - haven't played yet
Top Spin
ESPN Football
RTCW
Mech Assault - after I buy the LIVE kit / comes free with it

How am I doing with this list? What am I missing and should buy? Please lend me a hand here. Its been awhile and last time I was on live, their weren't so many options.</div>

You've already got a very strong lineup. Wolfenstein is a game that can be played for months and not get boring. It's one of the best online games I've ever played.

You may want to consider another excellent FPS: Rainbow Six 3. Good single player, awesome multiplayer. And the gameplay is different enough from Wolfenstein to warrant owning both. Also, you can play all the single player missions online as multiplayer cooperative play. Plus Rainbow Six also has team elimination, elimination, and sharp shooter (a mode where you respawn after you die).

As far as racing in concerned, MotoGP 2 is the current king. We've been playing this for months and have all sorts of leagues and various groups. This game ain't going nowhere anytime. Also, the new Project Gotham 2 is out and is quite impressive on Live.

Most Live gamers end up playing 2 or 3 games faithfully online for periods of time. It's hard to consistently play all these games. You really aren't "missing" anything based on what you have. Wofenstien and ESPN football alone will offer you hundreds of hours of Live play.

[Fivespot]

Excellent. Thanks for the help.

I'm having some difficulty learning RTCW but haven't yet spent a few hours or more playing it - its a little different than Unreal or Quake or the like.

ESPN Football is pretty fun and I'm enjoying it more than Madden 2004 (thankfully, since EA is dissin the XBox Live).

How's the optimatch mode in football, or does it have something along those lines. I hate when they can't get matchups even (too many butt kickings)?

I'll have to try Rainbow Six 3 - is it similar to Ghost Recon? I already plan on purchasing Ninja Gaiden and Project Gotham 2. NG is supposed to be Live but I'm not sure if it will just be like Prince of Persia where you log in but its not truly Live (just allows friends to contact you for a live match while playing single player POP). Plus DOA Online is looking like a great purchase for Live in the future. And Doom.

Whats up with Unreal 2, anybody know anything about that game and how gameplay may differ from UC?

[Tappy_Tibbons]

RTCW is like crack online.

Also, try Crimson Skies. Rent it first though.

[Gadfly2317]

You said you haven't played Crimson Skies online yet. Have you played it much, or tried out multi-player? If you like that, you'll love it online. I know squat about xbox live, Crimson Skies is the only game I've spent a large number of hours playing on Live, so I can't compare it to other games, but I enjoyed it a lot. I thought I was really good at the game 'till I got online with it.

[Oscar_Of_Waldo]

<b>Project Gotham 2</b> is great, and a real time sucker. People just don't race the same as the computer, so should I say, the Computer just does not race like people. Very different.

<b>Midtown Madness 3</b> also has some neat modes, that make no sense racing with the computer. Some of the "Car Tag" games are a blast ... the computer reacts different when you scream down the road at 80 MPH, do a J-Turn and head back into the pack when playing the "tag games." One word of caution ... this approach works great with older players, who drive; they will steer to miss you. Kids will blast on, straight into you.

[Fivespot]

I bought PGR2 last week and are loving it. I still aren't online, but can't wait to play this one there.

I especially are excited with the online leaderboard instant accessibility and online ghost cars from the track time leaders. Is the online racing good in this game? The last online racing game I played was on the Dreamcast; Daytona. I was disappointed with that online experience. Only 4 drivers going in circles - whoopee.

I haven't played MM3 for more than a few minutes. I tried it at a friends and didn't like having to memorize a level in order to hit certain checkpoints within a certain timeframe. Its seems like it could have potential online (IMO) but I didn't enjoy level 1 in single player mode. I probably should give it another try.

I also picked up Midway Arcade Treasures and that game also has an online leaderboard.

[Darwin]

<div class=\"smallfont\"> Is the online racing good in this game? </div>

The online racing part of PG2 is very good. Up to 8 players per game, and smooth play. All of the tracks in the single player game can be used online, as long as the host has that track unlocked. You can use any car that you have unlocked, although 2 cars are already unlocked from each category. (And if you win in a track that you don't previously have unlocked, you then unlock that track).

Online play allows for 2 modes. Exhibition mode: you don't earn Kudos, but the host can turn on/off collisions, and set the number of laps. Kudos Mode: set number of laps, and you accumulate Kudos. Your online ranking is based on your total online Kudos. Also, you are given a ranking for each track, depending on your best kudos score for that track. Also, when your total online Kudos reaches a certain preset point, you gain one more level and get Kudos Tokens (also called Car Tokens) to buy more cars.

The host can also select the car class that each gamer chooses from, to make the racing closer. Or, the host can allow for any car choice.