2008 Gaming in Review

[Chase]

Honors, Disappointments, and General Thoughts.

Fallout 3 is undoubtedly my Game of the Year for 2008. While it is not without its faults, it is by far and away the most satisfying gaming experience of the year.

Notable honors to Braid (for making the platforming genre relevant in 2008), Left 4 Dead (for its emphasis on fun), Mirror's Edge (for trying; a good first attempt at a first-person shooter innovation), Battlefield: Bad Company (for its well-balanced, underrated online multiplayer), The World Ends with You (for its creativity), Patapon (for being Patapon), Call of Duty: World at War (for sating my Call of Duty cravings), Condemned 2 (for its unique controls and gameplay in a sea of FPSs), and Professor Layton and the Curious Village (for making me feel stupid).

My biggest disappointments of the year were Grand Theft Auto 4 (little innovation, mission structure feels archaic), LittleBigPlanet (while I appreciate the tools, the game is absolutely boring), Gears of War 2 (little innovation, broken online multiplayer), SOCOM: Confrontation (an online-only game that was unplayable for an absurd amount of time), Too Human (little to show for all the hype; hardly competent let alone innovative), and RTSs (some things are best left to PC gaming).

I have received complaints about my opinion of Gears of War 2, so let me explain.

More of the same is good---for games that are good, like Fallout 3 and Oblivion. No one wants more mediocrity. And that is what Gears of War 2 is: More of the same mediocrity. People complain that Metal Gear Solid is an interactive movie, but at least Metal Gear Solid features solid game mechanics. Gears of War is an interactive movie with simple, boring game mechanics. I equate the Gears of War series to the Legend of Zelda CD-i games. Gears of War, like the Legend of Zelda CD-i games, wowed gamers with graphics and animation, but when it came down to the heart of the game, its gameplay, it's just worthless.

[Jedi_Master_Clark]

I have to agree with that Fallout 3 has to be the game of the year. All those metal gear solid fans won't be playing MGS4 2 months after they beat. Fallout, you will. Yes people, it's that fun.

I have to agree with chase again on GTA4. For me, the game was just boring.

I have to disagree on zelda. That game is anything but worthless. I love the Zelda series.

[Donald M.]

I equate the Gears of War series to the Legend of Zelda CD-i games. Gears of War, like the Legend of Zelda CD-i games, wowed gamers with graphics and animation, but when it came down to the heart of the game, its gameplay, it's just worthless.

No one was wowed by the graphics and animation in the CD-i Zelda games. Even at the time, everyone knew those games were crap from top to bottom.

You've made your point though, you don't like Gears of War.

[Black Vespa]

i think Dead Space should be considered as one the better games of '08

[Donald M.]

i think Dead Space should be considered as one the better games of '08

And what do you know, it is!

[1WEBHEAD]

Honors:

Metal Gear Solid 4

I bought and played the first 3 MGS games a week before starting on MGS4 and I was blown away.

The graphics were astonishing, the new controls fit well, it brought up almost everybody from the old games, left no unresolved cliffhangers (I'm looking at you Halo 3!), it was action-packed, had alot of funny easter eggs, and was the phenomenal end Solid Snake deserved.

I really want to say that this was, without a doubt GOTY of '08 but I can't just because of the story. I love MGS but seriously, there is alot of bullsh*t you have to swallow from the previous games in order to not be completely confused or detached from the characters or story.

Never touched the online, but this game is the closest thing we have to an interactive movie.

Grand Theft Auto 4

This was my first GTA/Gangsta free-roaming game and I fell in love with the moment I set foot on Liberty City.

I can see where all the hate comes from towards this game but I personally found this game extremely entertaining. When I beat the game after putting in 60 plus hours into it, it felt more like an experience rather than a game that I would eagerly break out when I have friends over.

Sure the driving can be too realistic at times but I can't see how anyone can't admire how much work went into Liberty City and Niko.

From the chats I've had with Roman, my friends, dates and enemies, to the fake TV, internet, and hilarious radio talk shows and great soundtrack, I won't be forgetting my first visit to Liberty City.

Little Big Planet

For having the best DLC and being the most creative game to come out this year.

Sony and the PS3

Out of the big three, I say Sony came up on top. It seems that they have everything a gamer could want.

They had LBP, GTA4, MGS4, and Fallout 3 and it seems that these 4 are the top contenders for almost everybody GOTY pick. Sony keeps on improving on the PSN even though the Home beta is kinda boring, and it has all of it's bases covered when it comes to all kinds of gamers.

Disappointments

Dead Space

Jeez guys, it wasn't that scary. I mean, I haven't beaten RE4 yet but this is Halo 3/ Bioshock "scary". Maybe I got my hopes up too high when people said that it was as creative as Bioshock. The game looks great though, I will give it that, but thoroughout most of the game I'll find myself fetching 3 core keys/items backtracking and flipping switches.

The idea of enemies playing dead was kinda clever the first two times but how stupid do the game makers think I am when they place numerous "dead" guy down a long dark hallway?

If the game was just as badass as the last 3-4 chapters and they had Isacc develop into an actual character rather than remain a walking brick then yes, it would be GOTY material.

Is it bad? Nah, but I'm gad I snagged it for 30 bucks on Black Friday instead of 60.

NINTENDO

Super Smash Bros Brawl and Mario Kart Wii.

That's it. Those are the only two games I got for my wii and both were dissappointing.

Online still sucks and I'm still waiting for Nintendo to "focus more attention to the hard core gamers" like they promised back at E3.

Now I'm not against the casual stuff that they do like Wii Fit and Wii Music. It's business. Nintendo knows where it's bread is buttered but would it kill them to give us something to look forward to next year after giving us nothing during the holiday seasons.

---

Still playing Fallout 3 but still too early to tell how exactly where it stands on my top ten video games of all time list.

[Treqqor]

I got an X-box with Gears of War for Christmas. First next gen console.

LOVE the game to death. I did not think I would, but the bags under my eyes because of the past few nights prove otherwise.

I played and finished Braid. It was neat, but by the end, it left a bad taste in my mouth. HATED the "story" element, and some of the puzzles frustrated me.

My gaming habits otherwise are a little limited.

Oh. Finished Portal, too. LOVED it.

[BYC]

All I need is Rock Band and Rock Band 2.

[Venom]

Without a doubt the best game I bought this year was Metal Gear Solid 4. It was one of the main reasons why I bought a PS3. The whole game just felt so epic and true to the Metal Gear franchise. I really felt connected to Snake on his final journey. The game was so emotional at times I was very close to crying. It's literally the best game out on the PS3 at the moment. Overall it was the best game this year, it's the best game on PS3 and it's the second best Metal Gear Solid game after Metal Gear Solid 1 on the PS1.

Mirror's Edge was another great game that I bought. It was a fun and really challenging game and definitely in the top three hardest games that I've ever played. The story's fairly easy when you get the hang of it, but it's the speedruns and time trials that make the game challenging.

Gears of War 2 was definitely the best X-box 360 game this year. It was so good that I like it better than the first one and Gears of War was a bloody awesome game. It was bigger, the story was longer and most of the achievements were offline this time. What more could you ask for.?

The only game that let me down this year was Grand Theft Auto IV. It wasn't a terrible game, but it wasn't a great game either in my opinion. I just found it really overhyped. To me anything that has Grand Theft Auto labelled on it will sell just for the sake of it. I find it so funny how GTA started out as an unpopular 2D controversial game to a popular 3D controversial game.

[jessecuster3]

Honors, Disappointments, and General Thoughts.


My biggest disappointments of the year were Grand Theft Auto 4 (little innovation, mission structure feels archaic), LittleBigPlanet (while I appreciate the tools, the game is absolutely boring), Gears of War 2 (little innovation, broken online multiplayer), SOCOM: Confrontation (an online-only game that was unplayable for an absurd amount of time), Too Human (little to show for all the hype; hardly competent let alone innovative), and RTSs (some things are best left to PC gaming).

I have received complaints about my opinion of Gears of War 2, so let me explain.

More of the same is good---for games that are good, like Fallout 3 and Oblivion. No one wants more mediocrity. And that is what Gears of War 2 is: More of the same mediocrity. People complain that Metal Gear Solid is an interactive movie, but at least Metal Gear Solid features solid game mechanics. Gears of War is an interactive movie with simple, boring game mechanics. I equate the Gears of War series to the Legend of Zelda CD-i games. Gears of War, like the Legend of Zelda CD-i games, wowed gamers with graphics and animation, but when it came down to the heart of the game, its gameplay, it's just worthless.

What didn't you like about the gameplay? In addition, this game was leaps and bounds better than the 1st one. There are at least two levels that absolutely stand out as vastly improved from the previous game. Plus, how could you call the multiplayer broken? If you aren't a 3rd person action fan, than yeah, I can understand not liking the game, but to dismiss it when it is clearly one of the best of its type out there is just plain silly.

[Dizzy D]

The original came out in Japan about 2 years ago, but this year Persona 3 (and FES) came out where I live and so far it has been taking up most of my gaming time and eagerly looking forward to Persona IV (which knowing PAL release dates I probably should be able to play it in half a year or so if I'm lucky.)

[Chiasm]

Game of the Year: Fallout 3 with an asterisk to Oblivon

I'd never played Oblivion til this year so really its my game of the year but I know it doesn't count since it came out before this. As such Fallout 3 gets it for being a near perfect game.

Disappointment of the Year: Madden 09

I can usually count on the Madden game to give me quite a bit of entertainment but this game was broken right out of the box with severe bugs that made the franchise mode unplayable. It was nearly a month before a patch came out and by then I just didn't care anymore.

[Superfro]

Fallout 3 is hands down my favorite disc game of the year. Braid would be my top downloadable game choice.

My other top faves of the year are (in no particular order): Left 4 Dead, Rock Band 2, Gears 2, GTAIV, Dead Space, Burnout Paradise, Bully, and Little Big Planet.

[Alex]

[QUOTE=Superfro;8169981 Braid would be my top downloadable game choice.

[/QUOTE]

Agree on Braid, loved it to pieces.
I'm going to have to be the jerk and say i didn't care for little big planet.
It's got awesome development tools, but i think i still like buying games so i can play them, not buying games so i can make a game, and then rely on other people to make the game, people who will rarely come up with something better then what the pros can do.
The biggest problem with it is shown in this youtube video i found
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAUtbAELIG4
Theres way too much of that, awesome dude, you remade a level from another game, you and a million other people are remaking levels from other games.

If you could channel that energy in making something that contained a new idea, like maybe....something the guys who made this game would have done, i'd be happier.