Dalai's 2008 awards thing... game of the year.
By Dalai 11 Comments
Hey, it's 2009 and we're all still here.
Well, it's finally over... 2008 has been a terrible year for some, but gamers embraced the year with open arms as the industry churned out several breakthrough hits and a slew of wonderful sequels. Games of all shapes and sizes, from the biggest companies to the smallest indie developers, all had their chance to shine in 2008. This year, many games were in the running for the best game of 2008... and I had a hard time choosing the winner up until recently.
So now, here are the nominees for the hell of it!
The "Game of the year." Award (Game of the year): World of Goo
In January, I predicted that Maxis would be connected to my personal game of the year. And no surprise, that was actually true... the problem was that I chose the wrong game. Spore was my early pick for the coveted GOTY award, which ended up as my most disappointing game, and as early as November, I was ready to give it to either Grand Theft Auto IV or Braid. But somehow along the way, World of Goo managed to eclipse every game this year in terms of pure fun and enjoyment. If I had to describe the game in one word, I'd go with flawless.
2D Boy, which consists of one guy who used to work for Maxis and another guy who also worked, did the unthinkable and created the most polished, most fun, most satisfying game this year. Most people choose the big, epic games as their best game of the year, but I had to go with something that is perfect from start to finish, even if it's not as deep or as long as GTAIV, MGS4, or Fallout 3. World of Goo became my game of the year for a variety of reasons: spectacular art direction, great game mechanics, stellar level design, plenty of variety, humorous commentary from the Sign Painter, excellent music, a heartwarming story, and an emotional ending... yes, I do know they're just simple goo balls, but there was a great message of hope and you're really pulling for those goo balls to break away from oppression. World of Goo exceeded way beyond my expectations and there's a chance it exceeded yours if you gave the game a chance.
I know World of Goo isn't the popular choice for this category, but you can't deny the game's gooey charm. And I'm prepared for anything you throw at me!
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