Too Human

Too Sucky. Worth: $0
based on 360 demo

Duh.

What a piece of crap! It's very colorful and swooshy, (like Japanese action games), but it's just mindless button-mashing with no sense that I'm actually performing what's happening on screen (like Japanese action games). Maybe the full game has a good story, but I'll never be able to tell you about it because I won't play this game until I've passed into the Great Beyond.

The Darkess

Gangster from the Black Lagoon. Worth: $10
based on 360 demo

Just unique enough.

You're a low-level thug in a New York crime family. You shoot pistols at other gangsters. You drive big Caddy's around a dark urban American landscape. If you've never played a video game before this might be enough to hook you. For an older gamer like me, this "been-there, shot-that" premise wouldn't hold my interest for more than one second.

Unless you added something unique. Something like, oh say, giant hell-spawned tentacles to mangle rival gangsters. And gosh, let's throw in a gaggle of little demons with which to infiltrate secured areas and generally wreak havoc.

Now you might be on to something.

It's still not worth much, but it's worth more than zero. As of this writing, this game is nine dollars, used. The price has plummeted so quickly I question whether the demo displays the only good ten minutes of the game. The users reviews are very strong, and they don't read like publisher plants. Perhaps this game is a just an overlooked sleeper like Psi-Ops was.

Dark Sector

Leaves a pleasantly metallic taste in my guts. Worth: $15
based on 360 demo

Mm dark, mm-hmm.

It looks like Gears of War (monochromatic and spooky) but plays like nothing else.

The game handles well, good camera, good controls, nice musical touches, and it looks amazing in high-def. The devs put most of their time into creating a great new weapon and creating great evisceration animations to watch as you slice and dice your way through whatever the hell this story is about.

The glaive boss! The glaive!
This multi-bladed throwing star is the game. But is it enough to carry an entire game? Definitely not for sixty bucks (update: I've seen it for $18 used as of Sep 15 '08). It's unique enough that it would be fun to play for a while, as long as the price is right.

The Bourne Conspiracy

The bored conspiracy. Worth: $0
based on 360 demo

The game plays like you're controlling a puppet with half the strings cut. Avoid this like a dog with rabies.