Without a doubt, the months of October and November can be a bit overwhelming for any fan of video games. With A+ titles like Half-Life 2 and Metroid Prime 2 being released on an almost weekly basis (many even on the same day), making the choice of how to best spend one’s money on a college student’s budget can be a chore in and of itself. At 50 bucks a pop, it’s hard to get your gaming fix without making some tough decisions on which games to hold off on.
Thankfully, there is a solution to this dilemma: budget games. These titles, be they either brand new and released at a heavily discounted price or somewhat older, while not enjoying the attention that the big guns get around the holiday, provide an excellent alternative for the budget-conscious student. What follows then is a list of some great low-budget games this year. All the games are priced under $20, many of them brand new releases, but no more than about a year old.
ESPN 2k5 Series (Xbox, PS2)
While everyone and their mother was off paying full price for the latest Electronic Arts monster Madden 2005, Visual Concepts and Sega released what has been hailed by many as the magnum opus of football gaming: ESPN NFL 2k5. Superior in almost every way to its Madden counterpart (save for defensive playmaking), NFL 2k5 may quite possibly be the best $20 anyone could spend on a video game. With stunning visuals, enhanced running control and the ability to set up an entire NFL season played online, anyone willing to think outside the EA box found a treasure. Here’s a test: show someone unfamiliar with either ESPN or Madden both games and ask if they can tell which one cost $50 and which one cost $20. Odds are, they’ll choose ESPN.
But that was just the first of ESPN’s excellent lineup for this year. ESPN NBA 2k5, ESPN NHL 2k5 and ESPN College Hoops 2k5 have recently been released as well, each coming in at the budget price, providing gamers with an excellent alternative to the expensive EA flagship titles. In fact, calling the ESPN series an alternative isn’t exactly true: it’s the measure by which next years offerings will be judged. They’re just that good.
Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (PS2)
The third and final entry in the lauded Onimusha series shows just how far this “Samurai Resident Evil” clone has come over the years. Unlike the second title, Demon Siege returns players to command Samanosuke Akechi from the original, pitting him against the demons of the evil Nobunaga Oda. A bit of time travel and suspension of disbelief leads Samanosuke to 2004 France, where he meets up with Jacques Braun, portrayed by Jean Reno of the movie “The Professional,” who accidentally gets sent back to feudal Japan.
With updated combat, the series plays better than ever. Faster than the original two, Demon Siege also gets rid of the pre-rendered backgrounds of those, replacing them with fully polygonal environments. Far more intense than the somewhat slower first two, Onimusha 3 is a bargain for anyone looking to satisfy their demon-killing cravings. Just don’t expect it to be easy.
Katamari Damacy (PS2)
Every so often, Japan sends a tiny little gem across the Pacific that shocks and awes all that see it. This year, that game is undoubtedly Katamari Damacy. Taking on the role of the tiny Prince, your father the King of All Cosmos has gone on a hallucinogenic trip and accidentally destroyed all the stars in the sky, and now it’s your job to clean up his mess. Your task is to roll around the earth picking up anything and everything in your path. And by everything, I mean everything. Starting off with little more than nails and batteries, eventually your star-to-be will pick up skyscrapers and cruise ships. The gameplay is as absurd as it is simple, using no more than the two analog sticks to move your ball of stuff around the world. Clearly designed by individuals who have at one point or another partaken in the abuse of illegal substances, Katamari Damacy is the strangest game you will ever play. That is, at least until the sequel comes out next year.
Beyond Good and Evil (Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, PC)
While not a budget title per se, this year-old game is a delight for all the senses. Players take on the role of photographer Jade as she unveils a government conspiracy involving an alien invasion. While the story alone proves interesting enough to be worth the price of admission, the game itself is a spectacular feast for the eyes, with beautiful lighting effects and unique character design. BG&E utilizes multiple styles of play throughout, from standard action and adventure in the vein of Zelda to vehicle combat and racing, with a healthy dose of stealth and puzzle solving to boot. However, the big deal about the game is the glorious set pieces sprinkled around the quest: moments when the action that you directly participate in so closely resembles cinema that others watching may confuse the two. This was the most overlooked game last year, and its thrilling excitement still holds water a year later, making Beyond Good an Evil a diamond in the rough; if you can find it, buy it and you can be sure you have purchased a title worthy of any gamer’s collection.
Yager (Xbox)
Released a few years back in Japan, this title reached American soil a bit too late to prove fantastic, but is still a welcome diversion for any gamer interested in saving some bucks. Playing a bit like Star Fox with the attitude of Halo, the player takes on the role of freelance pilot Magnus Tide battling off tides of enemies to keep the peace. Featuring fairly good visuals on par with games released a year or so back, Yager is an enjoyable shooter combining heavy amounts of mindless arcade action and exploration, along with a healthy sci-fi story to go along with it. Switching between hovercraft and fighter modes in your spacecraft, the “Sagittarius,” creates an intriguing game dynamic as well as a thrilling visage for those who pay attention to the detail during the shift. While not the best shooter ever, and not even the best in its genre, Yager is still worthy of your consideration, particularly given that many other games are released regularly, costing more but doing less. Budget-friendly, Yager is a great alternative for those whose cash is tight.
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (Xbox)
A true shocker in every respect, Chronicles of Riddick is the first movie based off of a movie license to actually prove excellent. Serving as a prequel to both Pitch Black and the recent sequel, players control Riddick (Vin Diesel) as he attempts to escape from the most secure prison in the galaxy. Released over the summer, Riddick introduced normal mapping to the console world, allowing both its character models and environments to be extremely beautiful. Primarily a first-person shooter, Riddick also utilizes some role-playing elements, such as side-missions and character interaction, as well as stealth elements. Players can sneak up behind enemies, snap their necks silently and hide the dead body in the dark before anyone else notices. In addition, Riddick features an extensive hand-to-hand combat system, with different moves and combos as well as counter moves that allow instant kills. Few games satisfy violent cravings as well as this, as it allows you to grab the shotgun held by a guard, force it under his chin and pull the trigger all in one motion. Overall, Riddick is the most overlooked title of the year, and the fact that it can be found for less than $20 should encourage anyone who enjoys action titles to rush out and pick up a copy of their own.
