8 Great Xbox 360 Games

By Lev Grossman

MADDEN NFL 06 The 300-LB. linebacker of sports franchises, Madden shoulders its way onto the 360 in fine form. Its designers have wisely chosen not to mess with success, using the 360's extra power to add detail instead: better weather effects, realistic sweat and more trash talk. But it's not all window dressing. The play calling has been improved, and look for sweet new moves from the players, as well as some extra-crunchy tackles.

DEAD OR ALIVE 4 Let's not overthink this: good-looking people kicking each other's buttocks one-on-one, Fight Club style, in high definition. Is there really much more to life? The game play is not cutting edge, but Dead or Alive 4 may be the most visually impressive game on the 360, with fluid animation, wild new martial-arts styles, luscious lighting effects and insanely detailed background environments. And those fighters: really, really good looking.

PETER JACKSON'S KING KONG That's one handsome monkey. Jackson, director of the new movie, was heavily involved with this taut, visceral tie-in, which has players creeping through the dino-infested jungles of Skull Island like the puny humans they are. And if you get bored with being small, you can, yes, play as the big guy himself.

NBA 2K6 Watch the jersey: when a player comes down from a dunk, it floats and settles around his bod the way a real uniform would. That's the kind of wildly realistic touch that makes NBA 2K6 a Kobe-size leap forward. And it translates into game play. You get more control of your player on the floort -- he way he jukes and jives to break free of a defender or shadow an attacker. You're not just triggering preset animations; you're also right there in the game. And that's where you want to be.

PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 3 Blink and you will miss some of the beautiful touches hidden in this classic racing game, like the perfect smeary reflections on the hoods of the sexy-curvy high-end sports cars. But the real fun in PGR3 is the way it rewards stylish, risky driving, power slides and such with extra points. You'll be gone in waaay less than 60 seconds.

KAMEO: ELEMENTS OF POWER Kameo is the name of a flirty little fairy who lives in a surreal, candy-colored never-never land. She doesn't look as though she could take on an Olsen twin, let alone the monsters marauding through her homeland, but fortunately she can transform into 10 different elemental warriors, including a flower with a very nasty attitude. Psychedelic and Zelda-esque, Kameo is the most distinctive of the 360 launch titles. It's the closest you will get to dreaming with your eyes open.

CALL OF DUTY 2 War: What is it good for? Apparently, inspiring relentlessly intense, astonishingly immersing video games. Slog and slug your way through the trenches, deserts and ruined cities of World War II while beautifully rendered snow and deadly Nazi grenades drop gently onto your helmeted, hunkered-down head. The Xbox 360's extra horsepower makes possible huge, frighteningly authentic battlefields and brutally unpredictable game play. You're never sure when a panzer will come charging right through that wall you're hiding behind.

QUAKE 4 It's based on the gorgeously photo-realistic Doom 3 software. It runs on the muscular new Xbox 360 hardware. It features concert-hall-clear audio effects (listen to those tinkly brass shell casings bounce!) and the ultrafast, hyperviolent futuristic military combat that made the Quake franchise a thing of legend, including classic death-match action and some brand-new elements--vehicular combat and squad tactics--thrown in for good measure. Well, space marine, is there a problem? Sir, no sir!