Our Blog: 5 Games to Get You Through the XBox Live Downtime

Microsoft told us in advance that they would be taking down the Xbox Live service today for approximately 24 hours for maintenance.  They even cautioned us to temper our expectations, letting us know that we would not be seeing the new Xbox Live experience as soon as the service popped back up.  We appreciate the heads up Microsoft, but what are we supposed to do in the meantime?

Some fanboys will gladly point you in direction of their console of choice, either the PS3 or the Wii.  But this assumes that we have the other consoles or that we want to spend the money on another system.  This also overlooks the simple fact that your Xbox 360 will still play just fine, just not online.

What we have decided to do in preparation for this day is to pick five games that we have not paid enough attention to because we have been playing Call of Duty 4 , Halo 3 , GTA IV , or any other game online with our friends.  We will be spending our day with them and we will tell you why you may consider doing the same.  This list is also applicable in the event of an internet outage or if your free XBLA membership ran out.

1. Lego Batman - (videos )

I reviewed Lego Batman just the other day and since writing the review I have had even more fun with the game.  This is a game that allows you to feel like you are accomplishing something every time you play it.  Today would be a great day to play through this game and then go back through it to get all of the achievements and things you missed the first time through.  You can also get your friends that stop by involved with the drop-in/out feature.  Another characteristic that makes today the day to play this one is that it has no real Xbox Live features anyway.

2. Brothers in Arms - Hell's Highway - (videos )

This game is getting decent review scores around the internet and the television ad campaign may have propelled some of you to hop into yet another WWII based game.  If you are like me, you might have gone into the multiplayer mode first thing.  If you did, then you likely realized that trying to play this game online with your friends is not fun.  The campaign experience is where this game holds enjoyment.  Today would be a perfect day to beat this game and put it away for ever.

3. Gears of War - (videos )

Everyone is anticipating the sequel due out in a couple of months.  Gears of War 2 is undoubtedly going to be a hit, but there are likely several people out there that will be cheated of the whole experience because they have not played through the original.  Today would be a perfect day for those of you that have never played through the game entirely to take the time to do so.  For those of you like me that have beat the game, maybe you take today to go back and play it to brush up on the story.  Think of it like going back and watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy again right be fore you go see The Hobbit.  The difference in this case is after November there really will be very little reason to pick this game back up again for anything other than nostalgia.

4. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - (videos )

The reasons for playing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed are very similar to the reasons for the Lego Batman pick.  This game is centered in a universe that carries a large fanbase already.  Fans of Star Wars have flocked to this game and reviews have been pretty solid for the most part.  This game is intended to be a single player experience and nothing is missed in the experience with the online service being down.  Star Wars video games have been hit or miss for me over the years but this one is pretty fun in my opinion.  I really enjoy using the force to throw items at enemies, it never gets old for me.

5. Grand Theft Auto IV - (videos )

Many of us have probably already put in enough hours in on GTA IV that may make this pick seem as though it does not belong.  The main reason why I chose this game is because in all of the time I spent on this game, I never came close to doing everything there is to be done in the game.  There are so many side-quests, achievements, easter eggs, and all of the crazy things you can do.  I for one stopped short in my quest to 100% the game and may take the opportunity today to wrap it up.  The game will be getting a pretty heavy DLC update later in the year and getting back in touch with it now might make that experience more enjoyable as well.

Honorable Mentions:

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - COD 5 is coming, don't brush aside the awesome campaign of COD 4
• Rock Band 2 - might be a good time to get some of those songs knocked out before the flood of songs begin, remember they promised 500 by the holidays
• Soul Calibur IV - plenty of single player options out there that may have been overlooked due to the multiplayer online features
• Madden 09 - here is a chance to practice against your non-virtual friends or the computer so that when you take it back online tomorrow you don't keep getting crushed by the people that are actually good at Madden.