Left 4 Dead

With the advent of FPS' came a realization which has stuck with us for decades; shooting things in the face is fun. Multiplayer FPS' came along and we developed that realization a bit; shooting things in the face with friends is fun.
So perhaps Valve didn't need to come up with such a brilliantly executed, entertaining, polished and well balanced game to keep me entertained. But they did anyway.

It's hard to put a finger on what makes this game what it is, whether it's the thrill of being charged by a horde of rampaging infected, the delight of running in to the group of desperate survivors as a boomer and vomiting all over them, or the fact that the co-operative play is so well designed that you are not only at the mercy of a thousand zombies, but of your friends too. It's a perfectly rounded package that's going to keep me coming back for years.

Note to self: Don't inquire about horse armour again.

Fallout 3

I'm a big Fallout fan, so you might think I'd be huddled in a corner crying about how Bethesda stole its name and stuck it on an Oblivion sequel. I'm not. I'm too busy exploring an epic wasteland dropping mini-nukes on super mutants, chatting with the inhabitants of Megaton and getting way too irradiated for my own good. Fallout 3 totally is 'Oblivion with Guns', and it rocks.

While the Oblivion engine is showing its age compared to that in free-roaming games like GTAIV and Far Cry 2 it's easy to look past thanks to the engaging characters, missions and overarching storyline which make it a thoroughly enjoyable and long-lasting game.

EVE Online: Empyrean Age & Quantum Rise

Yes, I know, EVE Online was release 5 years ago in 2003 - but CCP's latest additions to the ever-expanding universe of New Eden, Empyrean Age and Quantum Rise give me a nice excuse to throw it in the mix.

EVE Online, as the name suggests, is a sci-fi MMO which, in contrast to the typical MMO formula, is devoid of walking avatars and instead concentrates on a massive player driven economy, confining players to their spaceships. Everything in the universe is controlled by player corporations (the EVE equivalent of guilds), from the manufacturing of items and spaceships to be sold on the market, to the ownership of massive sections of space. As a result, you might log on one day to find the price of a certain ore has shot up due to a war between corporations in a distant part of space. It's all very exciting. The explosions are cool too.

"Gulp.", said Cpt. Picard.

Sins of a Solar Empire

One of the most overlooked titles of the year, Sins of a Solar Empire is a space-based RTS on an epic scale. Sins' slower pace provides a nice change from the typical RTS, supporting tactical thinking as opposed to twitch based micro-management so the game never feels formulaic, providing a different experience each time, even against AI.

Even though the game lacks a single player campaign (that's not to say single player skirmishes aren't great fun), as with most RTS', the gameplay really shines in multiplayer, whether you play cooperatively, or versus. The nature of the game means a single match can last many days, which is where the useful ability to save in-progress multiplayer games comes in handy. It's a game I've been coming back to over and over again and I still haven't hit the fleet size limit...

Spore

Rated W for 'WTF?'

Perhaps a controversial choice, Spore was a letdown for many, so much hype, such little delivered. Just another 'The Sims' perhaps - exactly what EA and Maxis was planning for, no doubt. It's paid off - eclipsed only by The Sims 2 and World of Warcraft in PC sales charts, Spore has proven to be a massive seller. We'll be seeing expansions for many years to come - you have to hand it to EA and Maxis - they know how to breed a cash cow.

Personally, I think it's great. I love making stupid creatures and sending them out in to the wild. I enjoy terraforming planets in to a weird and wonderful shapes. I admire the amazing ease and power of the editors. I could spend all day making fat insectoids and making them dance. But I'm strange.

"Fancy bathroom..."

Mass Effect

I only bought it on the PC so for me, it was a 2008 release. Bioware have always been one of my all-time favourite developers - if there's anyone that can prove games can work as 'interactive fiction', it's the team that brought us Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Neverwinter Nights. Mass Effect highlights this forté by bringing us yet another epic tale, this time with a third-person action twist.

From the moment I set foot in The Citadel (the games' main hub ship/city), I couldn't put this game down - it constantly feeds you new locations to explore, new side quests to unlock and a whole host of characters with unique and interesting personalities to talk to. The action is nothing special, but it doesn't need to be when the narrative is so strong.

Far Cry 2

Shoot things, set things on fire, repeat.

Understandably, a lot of people hated this game, with it's large barren landscapes, constant attacks from hostiles (i.e. everyone) and repetive missions. I thoroughly enjoyed it. At the start of the game, after playing through an extended tutorial sequence, you are simply presented with a message telling you that your target is out there somewhere, find him. From then on, you take up missions from one of the two factions' leaders, or do side-quests for friends. Typically, these aren't anything special - find documents, destroy something, kill someone - the usual.

So why did I enjoy this game? Because no other game has matched the experience of driving through an enemy checkpoint, only to have them jump in a car resulting in an epic chase across beautiful African landscapes - often resulting in a knife fight as you dive out of your burning car to find your rusty guns have jammed. There's something about this drama that makes this game what it is - it was just great fun to play. Oh, and you can open the editor and make giant chains of explosives. Which is nice.

Apparently I unlocked the "Played too much Warhammer" achievement.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Why, you ask, is this MMO on my top games list, but not Wrath of the Lich King? Warhammer may come across as 'just another WoW clone' - which it might be, to a certain degree - who wouldn't want a slice of the WoW pie? But it's more than that - it's taken the WoW formula and added more fun to it - epic battles to control keeps, great PvP combat and the best invention in any MMO ever, The Tome of Knowledge, the sole reason I haven't got much work done recently...

It's not perfect. Some mechanics and ideas are broken, it has some stability and performance issues, and there's a definite problem with zone and server balance - these can and no doubt will be fixed - hopefully before it loses too much momentum.

Grand Theft Auto IV

Pedestrians + Taxi = Party

It's a 2008 top games list. How can I not include it? You've no doubt heard the praise the game has received all too many times. Rockstar have once again pushed the boundaries on what a free-roaming game can be, bringing Liberty City and its inhabitants to life right in front of your eyes as you complete missions, making friends, making enemies, and losing both. The exploration, drama and action all blend together in to an experience which is really hard to fault.

Honourable Mentions

The World Ends With You - Yet another compelling, intriguing world in a mini package.
Deadspace - Creepy, dark, gory, fun.
Rock Band 2 - It's more damn guitars 'n drums - which is so much fun with friends.
Prince of Persia - Beautiful visuals and smooth platforming brings this franchise back to where it should be.