One more day until 2008 wraps. So, it is time to review my year in gaming. This is in no way a comprehensive look at the year in video games, mainly because I wasn’t able to play half the games that came out this year. No, it is just my look back on the year and what I liked and what left me a bit unsatisfied.
One more thing, this only covers games that came out in the 2008 calendar year, eventhough I spent a shitload of hours playing titles like Call Of Duty 4 and Ratchet & Clank during the year. I don’t want to blur the lines between the years, just sticking to actual 2008 titles. On that note, lets get crackin’.
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 - This was an easy one. There was no game in 2008 that I was (was? try am!) more addicted to than Retro Evolved 2. They took an amazingly fun, classic gameplay mechanic and turned it into a robust, infinitely replayable gaming experience. It invoked so many
responses from me; elation to get a hard achievement or beat a personal highscore, frustration (meaning controller slamming) when I would fuck up or make a stupid move and die. I don’t know how many times my wife told me to calm down while playing this game. Plus, in sequence, ranked 490 in the world. Yeah, that’s right. And no, there was not only 500 people ranked…hundreds of thousands! It’s the best world ranking I’ve ever had at anything. By far! Play this game.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - First, I’m a huge fan of the series. MGS and MGS2 are two of my favorite games of all time. MGS3 has my favorite boss battle of all time, the one against The End. However, I just couldn’t get into MGS4. I couldn’t. I feel like I’m just missing something. It got a frigging 10 on Gamespot. What the hell is wrong with me? With that said I think this comic at Penny Arcade reflects exactly how I feel.
Three games fall into this category for 2008. These games did what they did, and they did extremely well. They all kept my interest for huge hourage and all three were well worth the $60 price tag.
Burnout Paradise - I’m still very much playing this game as it is a long one, and the races/obstacles become pretty damn hard as you near the end. But, the cars are awesome, the gameplay is fun and rowdy, and I still haven’t tried Bikes expansion for whatever reason. This was my first experience with the Burnout franchise and I’m mad at myself for not trying it earlier.
Dead Space - This game made me think of about 4 or 5 other games. The mechanics feel like Resident Evil 4, a slower, more methodical shooter. The environment reminds me of Quake 4, especially the cutscenes that happen in a glass room. The weapon upgrade system reminds me of Bioshock and Final Fantasy X. And, of course the main character reminds me of Mr. Bubbles from Bioshock. Even the ability to slow shit down reminds me of something, but I can’t quite figure it out. It’s like they had a brainstorming session about some of the more popular games recently, took the best mechanics from each and came up with a brilliant original IP. I can’t believe this came out of EA.
Gears of War 2 - Not much changed from the first, but what really had to change? The one big thing that changed is balance in the multiplayer. I can actually hold my own online with randoms this time. That was impossible last time around. I’m glad they didn’t monkey with it too much. It was a great time the first time around, and they just polished it up and made it just that much better. But, from now on they should go to an episodic format, which they won’t. As with Halo 3, Gears 3 will not change much as well, and turn people off. Think about episodic releases guys.
Left 4 Dead - To be fair, I haven’t given this game much time yet. I played through the first scenario in single player mode though, and I was a bit bored and didn’t have a desire to fire it up again. This weekend I plan to take it online with some friends, maybe it will be more enjoyable. Who knows. All I know is that I love zombie related stuff. I love the movies, the Resident Evil series, and I had high hopes for this one. The biggest problem with it is a lack of suspense. I was never on edge, never scared once. That’s not the essence of zombie stuff.</li>
PS HOME - Not much to say. I was at the GDC keynote two years ago when Sony announced it. I predicted boredom then (I said something about how we will be able to wait in virtual lines to play games!). So, can I really call this a let down if I saw it coming?
De Blob - De Blob is just a lot of fun. The control schemes are a bit repetitive, but it doesn’t matter as it is still enjoyable. This is what I expect from Wii games.
MLB 08: The Show - The best baseball game I’ve played since MLB 99. I still didn’t make it through a full season without simming some games, but it was still quality baseball. One thing Sony, fix the damn crash related to specific wireless router conflicts. That’s just silly.
Rez HD - It wasn’t really what I expected, not sure if I really expected anything, but it was still fun. Not much I can say about it. Just give it a try if you have a couple of bucks to spare.
That’s it. I played a few others that I was completely indifferent to. I played them once, was bored and never picked them up again. I didn’t feel disappointed, just passively forgot about them. So, they aren’t worth bringing up in this column.
Finally, as with every year there were a few games I didn’t get to in 08 that I’m penciling for 09. Resistance 2 and Condemned 2 were both on my radar. Unfortunately so were Resistance and Condemned when they came out. So, there’s four games. Then there is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. A mediocre rating (average around 7.5) knocked it down a few priority pegs. Same goes for Lego Batman, but I hope I get to both. And, off the top of my head for 2009, the only game that immediately comes to mind is Resident Evil 5. It’s about time, it’s only been like four years since the last installment.
Happy New Year!
