No matter your favorite genre or console of choice, most players can agree 2008 was a great year for video games.
The year as a whole may not compete with 1998 - a year that included the release of some of the greatest games of all time, such as "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time", "StarCraft", and "Half-Life" - but 2008 received some amazing titles of its own.
I present my personal favorite games of the year to those behind with last year's releases who may be looking for somewhere to spend some post-holiday cash. These titles were some of the best games of 2008.
10. "Professor Layton and the Curious Village"
Nintendo DS had yet another great year, but it was "Professor Layton" that captured my heart the most. Packed with charm and puzzle-solving gameplay, this is a game I highly recommend. I hope Nintendo will bring the sequels from Japan to the United States as soon as possible.
9. "LittleBigPlanet"
Where this amazingly charming platformer really excels is in its potential for user-generated content. Unfortunately, Sony has been fairly draconian in their moderation policies, taking some of the best stuff down and preventing "LBP" from being higher on this list.
8. "Gears of War 2"
If all a player wants is outstanding action, he or she could certainly do worse than "Gears of War 2." With outstanding visuals, great gameplay and easily one of the best multiplayer experiences of the year, "Gears 2" is an improvement over the original in every way.
7. "Burnout Paradise"
Reinventing the series by taking the gameplay to an open-world format, developer Criterion has made what is easily the best "Burnout" game yet, which makes it one of the best racing games of all time in my opinion.
6. "Braid"
This puzzle game is intriguing for a variety of reasons. It's downloadable (currently available on the Xbox Live Marketplace), 2D, and was mainly created by one guy. If its highly addicting time-manipulation puzzles aren't enough, "Braid" does something few puzzle games ever attempt. It weaves an interesting story that, when faced with the final moments and realizations, make the player say, "Holy crap!"
5. "Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts"
A title you may not find on a lot of "Top 10" lists from other gamers, "Nuts and Bolts" completely rebuilds the "Banjo-Kazooie" series with surprisingly good results. Moving away from item collecting and towards vehicle building, "Nuts and Bolts" is an extremely fun experience I think has been severely overlooked, especially considering its $40 MSRP.
4. "Fallout 3"
Staying mostly true to the premise of being able to be anyone and do anything, "Fallout 3" lets you explore an expansive post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. in search of the character's father. Players can choose to follow an interesting story or simply spend your time stealing bottle caps from innocent civilians while making choices that include saving a town or setting off a nuke to blow it up.
3. "Dead Space"
A game truly greater than the sum of its parts, "Dead Space" is a masterpiece that takes the best aspects from games such as "Resident Evil 4" and "Bioshock" to create what will hopefully be one of the best new series' to come along in some time.
2. "Metal Gear Solid 4"
Some may argue that "MGS4" isn't as much of a game as it is a Blu-ray movie, because players spend as much time watching cutscenes as he or she does sneaking around buildings and gunning down soldiers. But the story in "MGS4" is well worth the time spent watching, and it is a very fitting end to a character who has one of gaming's most iconic figures for the past decade, Solid Snake.
1. "Grand Theft Auto IV"
If someone had told me a year ago my favorite game of 2008 would be a "Grand Theft Auto" game, I would have called them insane. I've never before been a fan of the series, which is known to the public more for its controversial content involving sex, crime and violence.
"GTA IV," however, took the series into an extremely serious direction, weaving a plot that rivals crime movie classics such as "Goodfellas" while creating strong emotional ties from the player to the game's characters, which makes certain story-altering choices along the way more difficult.
Combine that with stellar open-world gameplay, outstanding voice acting and fantastic writing, and I think you have the best game of 2008,if not one of the greatest games of all time.
So, those are my opinions on the top titles of last year. Disagree? Feel free to express your own thoughts on www.DailyToreador.com.
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