Jump to content
Hondo's Bar

Game of the Year 2008


The NZA

Recommended Posts

Hondonian_Seal_of_Approval.jpg

 

Last year - which was also insane around holiday time, as you'll recall - i didnt hesitate to call Bioshock my personal favorite. This year, its even harder, especially since ive yet to play GTA IV, Gears 2, Fable 2, and a few others commonly on such lists.

My personal best experiences came from Metal Gear Solid 4 and Fallout 3, though i did spend quite a while on Persona 3 as well. anyway, here's the top ones according to metacritic reviews, to help you out with contenders:

 

Metacritic’s Best Games Of 2008

 

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (98 — 360, 98 — PS3)

2. LittleBigPlanet (95 — PS3)

3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (94 — PS3)

4. BioShock (94 — PS3) and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (94 — PS2)

5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (93 — Wii) and Gears of War 2 (93 — 360)

6. Chrono Trigger (93 — DS) and Braid (93 — 360)

7. World of Goo (94 — Wii, 91 — PC / AVERAGE: 92.5)

8. Fallout 3 (93 — 360, 92 — PS3, 92 — PC / AVERAGE: 92) and Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Armor (92 — PC)

9. Rock Band 2 (92 — 360, 91 — PS3 / AVERAGE: 91.5)

10. God of War: Chains of Olympus (91 — PSP) and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (91 — PC)

 

All pretty solid across the board, dont know that Chrono Trigger should count since its basically a fun port with extra shit, but there it is. I played alla those except for World of Goo and GTA. Odd that God of War made it up but not Gears, but then again, they mightve had a cutoff date?

 

So, what're yours?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No Left 4 Dead?

 

believe it or not, one mag voted that one and it took some flack. people were saying that it didnt do anything new, etc, which could be interpreted that all the others are somehow giant balls of innovation? anyway, you gotta remember, the PC gaming kids swear they played this already with earlier valve-made Half Life mods, but since LittleBigPlanet, Gears 2 etc are heavily given their due for pushing co-op, i agree that it not even getting a name-drop as a contender is a gyp, and that's just my impression from the demo.

 

rox - yeah, jax is the same, guy got onto guitar hero, bought a 360 just for rock band and such. RB1 was a solid contender for best game of last year, i think. I have a hard time saying 2 does that for this year since its more like an awesome expansion, personally. i mean, i cant call it a new game till part 3 brings a ukulele instrument or some shit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

believe it or not, one mag voted that one and it took some flack. people were saying that it didnt do anything new, etc, which could be interpreted that all the others are somehow giant balls of innovation? anyway, you gotta remember, the PC gaming kids swear they played this already with earlier valve-made Half Life mods, but since LittleBigPlanet, Gears 2 etc are heavily given their due for pushing co-op, i agree that it not even getting a name-drop as a contender is a gyp, and that's just my impression from the demo.

 

rox - yeah, jax is the same, guy got onto guitar hero, bought a 360 just for rock band and such. RB1 was a solid contender for best game of last year, i think. I have a hard time saying 2 does that for this year since its more like an awesome expansion, personally. i mean, i cant call it a new game till part 3 brings a ukulele instrument or some shit.

 

I heard they were going to do some crazy thing like that... Did they ever bring out the turn tables.. Heard that was in the mix when I played RB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I discovered Monopoly. It rulez.

 

Here in Australia, we suffer from long delays.

 

(Rock band anyone?)

 

Did... Did she just make a gaming joke? Aw wow. Hot.

 

My top 5 for 08

 

5.Battlefield: BC

4.Saints Row 2

3.GTAIV

2.GEars of War 2

1.Fallout 3

 

Saints Row 2 was more fun than GTAIV single player, sure, but I don't think Yahtzee accounted for GTA online(though he may have mentioned it).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sorry, but if the top four don't have Fall Out 3, Dead Space, Rock Band2 and Bioshock, I call BS

 

FUckaDeadSpace and more importantly, refer to Nick's statement. Bioshock was 07. Hopefully 09 will see Bioshock 2 released(how cool would a 'legendary edition' equivalent be with a full-sized Big Daddy helmet?).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

heh, i dont think i want the bubble-helmet but itd be cool. id love some quality Rapture propoganda, though. even a Time "Man of the Year" with Ryan on the cover, seriously any of that'll do.

 

did you ever play/rent Dead Space? there's a demo up, you know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These aren't ALL the games I've played from this year, but here ae my faves... (never played Dead Space, Fall out 3, any of the Legos, Saint's Row 2):

 

Dragonball Z: Burst Limit

Spider-man: Web of Shadows

GTAIV

Gears of War 2

Left 4 Dead

 

This is Panch. He is an XBox gamer. For the year of 2008 we switched all his good, quality games for the kinda tripe neglectful, single mothers buy for their water-headed children.

 

Let's see if he notices...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was a tough year to decide what my top 5 games were. But after some thinking (and not having internet connection all day yesterday), I narrowed it down to these:

 

5. Dead Space

Dead_Space_ps3_box.jpg

This game came around the best time for me. Halloween. I was all alone at home and I just got it. Wow... This game is so not scary, but when all the lights are off and the surround sound is on mid to high... Ho. Lee. Shit. A change of underwear is part of the experience. It was great to play some survival horror in zero-G and it left me wanting more. I can only hope a sequel comes soon.

 

4. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

1203971760-Crisis_Core:_Final_Fantasy_VII.jpg

I'm sure one or two people played this game here on the forums and just forgot about it because it came out so early in the year. But I didn't. This was one of those times where I was so emotionally invested in a character whom before this game was known to exist for ages, but was never properly presented. This game showed just how great of a character the late Zack Fair truly was. A selfless individual who rose from nothing to make a name for himself in Shinra. Only to have everything taken away from him. His idol . His friend. And eventually, his life. And even in the face of death, all Zack wanted to do was go home and see his girl. Cloud Strife's got nothin' on this guy.

 

3. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

SSF_HD_Remix_Boxart.jpg

FINALLY. After a year and half since it was announced, it finally came out. I think I've put as much hours into this game as I have on the next two titles. And this game just came out a month and a half ago. Some of you know that i am a huge Street Fighter fan, but this game was definitely a mixed bag. The gameplay is excellent. Period. That's more important to me than the way this game looks.

 

So what about looks, that's where it falls on it's face. Yeah, it looks good in screen shots, but in motion... worffacepalmgb1ra1.gif

If you have it, look at characters like Akuma (hell, look at Ken and Ryu's idle animation). Unacceptable. That guy needs a do-over. A lot of the characters are out of proportion and even go off model. It was an overall sloppy job on the art side. See I love the anime thing alot, but if you're going to do that, do it right. Hell, I think they should have kept that classic Akiman look...kinda like this:

ryuidlewipbos4.gif

Again, gameplay, top notch stuff. All the tweaks and changes to some characters were excellent choices (Fake Fireball...too good!)

 

2. Metal Gear Solid 4 - Guns of the Patriots

MGS4_tipon_2D.jpg

I know what some of you are thinking. Why is it not my numero uno choice...Keep scrolling. Then scroll back up to read the rest. Ok good. now that you back, let me explain myself. First off, Goddamn. I thought it looked good on my SDTV, but when i put it on HD...Dude. Second, it's Metal Gear and it's the end of the road for one of the greatest video game characters ever. The gameplay was a major step up from the other metal gears and much more fun. There was definitely some variety ala Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 via Rex. Story was epic in scope, but shallow overall...entertaining for the most part. Oh and MGO was a blast for a bit. I have yet to get the expansion packs, but I will soon. The problem I had was that I kept thinking about MGS 1 and 3 (and how that ending was so great). See, they did such a good job force-feeding me nostalgia that it kinda backfired. I know I sound like I'm hating on the thing and it probably makes you question why it's even in my top 5. But when I start rambling about the little things, it's because I liked this game that much. I loved it when I first played it on June 12th. And I loved it when I beat it again on January 11, 2009.

 

1. LittleBigPlanet

LBPconsturctionpic.jpg

I know. I know...shut up. Yes, this is my overall game of the year. Why? It is a simplistic side-scrolling romp with the most adorable character in recent history.sackawesomefo6.png

From the beginning credits to the final boss, I had smile on my face the whole time. Beautiful levels and imaginative creations flood the senses when venturing in LittleBigPlanet not to mention the intuitive controls and simple gameplay make this a great pick-up and play game for anyone. But after a while, you begin to see how deceptively difficult it can be. But I was up for the challenge and aced all the levels in two days. I was just consumed by this game the whole time. And just when I thought I was done with the game, this happens:

thumb800x800_3178258459_43736c8228_o.jpg

All of a sudden, a new element is added to the game that changes the way you play it...and it is awesome. Having to shoot something is not new, but it made it feel like a new game. But remember, this game doesn't end with expansions and add-ons. To date, there are over 300,000 user-created levels out there and its not slowing down.

 

With more add-ons coming down the road like a 'First-Person' mod, this game will keep evolving all the way through 2009. Most other games stop once the credits hit the screen. This game started with credits as your first stage and game is still going...at least for me it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm kinda behind the times when it comes to games. It's funny, I have this reputation at work as this hardcore gamer type, yet the funny thing is, a bunch of my non-"hardcore gamer" friends already got their 360s, their PS3s, their Wii's....my newest console is a plain old Xbox. No 360, no Wii, no PS3, no handhelds....even my PC can only barely handle(if at all) any of the newer PC games.

 

So really, the only games this "hardcore gamer" played in 2008 were Diablo 2, WoW, a little Guild Wars, Fable(the first, not the second), and I think I may have dug out Hulk:Ultimate Destruction one night when I was in an irritable mood and just wanted to destroy shit. So, depending on how my vote counts, D2 was the game I played the most in '08 so for time spent playing, it wins, whereas if only '08 releases count, the only "new" game I got in 2008 was WoW's WotLK expansion, so it gets the vote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...