The original Destroy All Humans was a fairly entertaining romp through classic 1950’s sci-fi clichés where alien probes, mind reading, and pop culture references made for a pretty funny game. It was rather shallow, however, and the jokes and gameplay wore out their welcome surprisingly quickly. That was fine for one game, but here we are a few years and two sequels later and DAH just isn’t interesting anymore. Read our full review of Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon right here.

Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon Review (X360)

Image © THQ

To wrap up our 2008 Xbox 360 Games coverage, we borrowed an idea from NeoGAF where you describe a game with one sentence. Some are funny, some aren’t, but all of them are like super secret inside jokes that no one will understand unless they played that particular game, and that makes it fun. If you have any jokes or ideas about the Xbox 360’s 2008 lineup you’d like to share, send them in (or leave a comment on this blog post) and we might add them to the list. Here are some examples:

Dead Space – Doesn’t this huge basement make the spaceship kind of bottom heavy?
Left 4 Dead – You know you shouldn’t, but you always spook the witch anyway.
LEGO Batman – It isn’t a “Dark Knight” game, but it’ll do for now.

Click here to read the rest.

Our Top Ten Xbox 360 Games of 2008 list is out of the way, but the awards don’t stop there. We also have picks for Developer and Publisher of the year, Most Overhyped, Most Underappreciated, and more. We didn’t worry about Best Graphics or Best Music or specific genre awards, however, because those categories would have mirrored our 2008 Top Ten list anyway, so we focused on other categories instead.

2008 Xbox 360 Special Awards

For the last several months, we have been mulling over an article by Kieron Gillen at Rock, Paper, Shotgun where the concept of end of year top ten lists was analyzed. Read the article here: Steps Towards An Elitist Critic Future. Basically, the article discusses the current state of end of year lists, how helpful they are (if at all), and what they could be if reviewers and/or critics actually had the guts to post what they were passionate about. It is a great article, and is highly recommended reading.

It was with that article in mind that we put together our list of the best Xbox 360 games of 2008. Quality was important, obviously, and all of the games on the list scored at least an 8/10 or better in our reviews. At the same time, we didn’t worry about sales data, popularity with the masses, or hype. We picked the games that impressed us with unparalleled polish or fresh ideas. And we picked games that, when our “work” was done and the reviews for other games were written, we kept going back to again and again to play for fun. And if that isn’t a pretty darn good way to choose, we don’t know what is.

Click here to see About.com's Top Ten Xbox 360 Games of 2008.

This week's Xbox Live Arcade title is a little slice of heaven called Dash of Destruction. It is the idea that won the "Doritos Unlock Xbox Challenge" from a while ago where you could submit ideas for a game. What was that award winning idea?

"Blast your way through cities as a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex, as you chase a speeding Delivery Truck full of tasty Doritos. Or, try zooming in and out of the T-Rex's path of destruction as the speedy Delivery Truck in search of your Doritos drop-off points."

If that doesn't get your blood pumping, in particular the first part, I don't know what will.

In all honesty, it is kind of bad. It is a simple, throwaway title that you'll play for 20 minutes and then forget about. At least you'll rack up 200/200 Gamerscore in that 20 minutes, so it isn't all bad. Best of all, it is absolutely free since it is basically an interactive Doritos ad, so there is no harm in giving it a shot.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts represents a pretty significant risk for Rare and Microsoft. It is a bright, cute, cartoony game on a system full of dark grisly shooters. And it is a very different game than what fans of the previous Banjo-Kazooie games might be expecting. But, just like the studio’s Viva Piñata before it, this risk paid off in the form of one of the best looking, most creative, and most fun games on the Xbox 360. Find out more right here in our full review.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Review (X360)

Image © Microsoft

Prince of Persia makes the jump to next-gen with a re-imagining of the franchise. There are no Sands of Time here, and instead there is a new Prince and a new world to explore all wrapped up in some of the most gorgeous and unique looking graphics we’ve seen in a long time. Every aspect of the game has been polished to a high shine, and Prince of Persia is truly one of the best games of the year. Find out more right here.

Prince of Persia Review (X360)

Image © Ubisoft

Tomb Raider Underworld is easily the best Tomb Raider game yet. But it is not without some issues. It really speaks to the core experience, though, that we shrug off a wonky camera and occasional glitches and happily continue playing in spite of them. As it stands now, Tomb Raider Underworld is a game that is pretty much an extra layer of polish away from being one of the best games of the year. Good, but not quite great. Find out more right here in our full review.

Tomb Raider Underworld Review (X360)

Image © Eidos

With three fairly good real-time-strategy games already under its belt for the Xbox 360, EA LA pretty much has the genre nailed down on the consoles. Its latest game, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, tweaks the already finely tuned gameplay to near-perfection and pairs it with unique and fun to use factions to create an amazingly well crafted RTS game. It also offers a bit more depth and challenge that C&C3 offered, which is much appreciated. Find out more right here in our full review.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Review (X360)

Image © EA

Zombies (zombie-like creatures at least) and co-op shooting, is there anything better in the world of videogames? Point me towards the undead, give me a gun, and get the heck out of my way. Left 4 Dead delivers a co-op/survival experience with relatable characters in realistic “Main Street, USA” locations and captures the essence of the best scenes in every zombie movie ever to create an amazing experience you’ll want to play again and again. Find out more right here.

Left 4 Dead Review (X360)

Image © EA