You need to check Ghost Recon Advance Warfigther 2, I loved the online experience of this game(I think is wayy better than Halo 3), ES is good, but the plot as people said is kind of boring, you should give at least a rent. Another titles no one mentioned is Project Slypheed, If you like space shooters you should give a try, I liked it a lot. If you like fighters you should check DOA 4(and it is cheap)

Since everyone is already covering full-price games, here's a list of must-have Xbox LIVE Arcade games:

Carcassone, Alien Hominid, Geometry Wars, Bomberman Live, EXIT (just released and very addictive), Puzzle Quest, Super Puzzle Fighter II, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Pac Man Championship Edition. I'm also partial to Golden Axe, but that's more of a nostalgia/niche thing.

for me personally it's the Orange box, just completed it and gotta say it's the best game i've ever played. For me personally it makes halo 3 look so linear, absolutley fantastic

Stranglehold is a FUN title, but short and the graphics aren't cutting edge. I just finished it... Find it used or discounted. Far Cry Instincts/Predators is a great deal. It is two games (a remasterd Xbox game plus a new 360 game) for about 25 bucks. You may be able to find it cheaper...

Call of Duty 2 can be had for about 15 bucks used and is a great game.

Call of Juarez is another neat title that I think is under appreciated. Graphically it's pretty good and I like the old west style. I think a lot of reviewers didn't like it because it uses old revolvers and such and isn't all sci-fi alien shooting and such. Another budget title.

I'll try to think of a few more...

Also, I recently started a thread in the MS forum titled "what games do you want to buy for your 360 or something along those lines... Look it up and most every good game is mentioned (current and near-term)

Hopefully, the second ioi allows mods to sticky various pages, I'll create a new masterthread for gaming sugguestions.

Dead Rising
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Crackdown
GRAW 2
Rainbow 6: Vegas
Splinter Cell: DA
NFS
Forza 2
PGR 4
Eternal Sonata
Lost Planet
Madden 08
Guitar Hero 2
Kameo
Call of Duty 4
*Geometry Wars
*Boom Boom Rocket
*Worms
*Uno
*Spyglass Board Games
*Aegis Wing (Free)

These are games that you should buy/rent or trade in other games to get. Those noted with an asterisk are XBLA games.

GEARS OF WAR...HANDS DOWN!!

The game never got hard.  All you need is the hunter chick I forget her name. Give her the +boost item and its super easy mode. I beat the game and still only got 120 achievement points. Never made it to group lvl 6 either. Very disapointed they must save most of the points for rare shit or for playing it over. 

Welcome to shooter land ;P lots of fun stuff to paly.(We need some western RPGs)


Condemned: Of the early games its the one that stuck out the most to me. Combat was a bit repeditive but fun and has a creepy vibe. Has a few moments that will make you jump.
GRAW: This is a must if you like tacticle shooters.
GRAW 2: Fun as well but way to short on the single player campaign.
Fear: If you have not played it on the pc(only played the DEMO 360) its worth a look but the controls are kinda gimpy when comparing the 2 versions great game though.
FC Instints Preadator was OK. I never played it on PC so I have no point of reference. Its very long for a shooter.
Prey:Enjoyd this one.Some interesting gameplay mechanics and a fair story.
The Darkness: I really enjoyed this one, decent length with a good story. The level design reminded me of Vampire: Bloodlines its overdoes vulgarity though.
Call of Duty 2: If your not tired of WWII shooters fun and compelling.
Meadal of Honor Airborne: MY favorite WWII shooter to date. Play this one evern if your tired of WWII shooters!
Lost Planet: A fair game IMO worth a rent but not a buy unless its cheap.
Chromehounds: Only if you love Mech Games This one dissapointed me a bit but I had fun with it. Online deathmatch was fun but I found the "war mode" dissapointing.

You already said yor getting Gears. I loved the gameplay mechanics. Its a bit short and the story was way underdeveloped. Very fun game though. Halo was a lot of fun as well but the AI is dated. It was nice to have an ending for the series. Loved the story and gameplay in Bioshock. I found the Character models art style to be dissapointing though. 


I found these games to be dissapointing. By that I mean I quit playing because I foud them boring which is pretty sad cause I try to finish even mediocre games when I buy them.

Perfect Dark Zero: Massive dissapointment. It had a few interesting levels but I found myself hating the game mor eand more as I progressed and lost interest altogether.
Splinter Cell Double Agent: IMO its time to retire Splinter Cell.
TES Oblivion: fair to note that I had fun with this one. It just didn't live up to the hype to me. Not as good as Morrowind. Level scaling and poor story/mission structure ruined it for me. IF you like how Bethesda does RPGS you'll like it.


MY currently out still to Play list:

COD 3
Rainbow Six Vegas
Conan(I liked the demo for some reason typically dont like this type of game)

I'm getting these 2 first though:

Assassins Creed
Mass Effect

As to live it varies by game. I have not played a game on it that is simular socially to WOW if thats what your getting at. Of the few 360 games I played on live I enjoyed Chromehounds the most. I hated COD2 online. I ended up cancelling my live gold account cause I just dont use it enough to justify it. Then again I typically prefer a single player experience. Although I absolutely loved Battelfield 2 and 2042. Before thoes the only thing I really got into shooterwise online were Mechwarrior 2 and Starsiege those were a blast back in the day.

Have fun with your 360!