2007 was the year that established the 360 and PS3 as my go to platforms, but 2008 really got momentum going properly with a slew of incredible releases. The PC declined greatly in terms of the attention I was giving it, and I barely touched Nintendo at all. It was a year where what a game could be was changing, and my horizons and expectations were altering as I transitioned from school to college. A significant life year alongside some very significant games.
I loved the Elder Scrolls and didn't know what to expect from this, but as soon as I spent a few hours with Fallout 3 I was in love. Its world is vast, bleak and completely immersive. Yes it lacked the deep character driven plot of Bioware games, but Fallout was a more whole experience in terms of what it allowed its players to do. General freedom to roam and discover your own tales in this world, with a fabulous sense of humour and some truly spectacular moments all served to crush any setbacks from minor bugs or technical issues. Fallout 3 remains at the pinnacle of the RPG genre to this day, and is one of my favourite games of all time.
Metal Gear Solid 4 had the most refined gameplay in the series till this point, with all the over the top add-ons that I have come to expect from the series. It also had copious amounts of cutscenes and story, but it was the way it paid tribute to the series as a whole, all the nods and acknowledgements and the neat way it wraps up the story that makes it the experience I craved. The characters get the justice they deserve, and all in a respectful and beautiful way. Personally I would have preferred a more final ending note, but Metal Gear Solid was close to narrative perfection for me and was among the most satisfying gaming experiences ever if you had played the other games in the series. And you needed to in order to know what was going on here. One mark against it was the length of the installation for the game, but that doesn't hold it back from its potential. Here's to You.
My much beloved childhood favourite series Final Fantasy may have devolved into painful mediocrity by this stage, but Lost Odyssey was there to pick up the pieces. It was a Final Fantasy game in all but name, with gorgeous music, a powerful story, some genuinely heart-breaking side story content and a fantastic turn based combat system with layered mechanics to differentiate immortals from mortals. It got a hard time in the games media for being too imitative of other JRPG's, but for my money it was the best one in years, and shows the lie that a modern Final Fantasy game could not have large indoor environments with good graphics. The real Final Fantasy XIII and a masterpiece of its genre.
Gears of War had done a lot of things right, but its sequel did them all again and then improved on pretty much everything. Gears of War 2 had a better campaign, a much stronger focus on story and characters, an exciting soundtrack and improved shooting with better and more varied enemies. The AI was still devilishly good at times, with a great challenge curve and fully functioning co-op. The multiplayer was also fantastic, competing directly against Halo 3 for my attention and actually standing a chance! Gears of War 2 remains my personal favourite in the series to this day, and that is saying something.
Horror games were struggling at this time, but Dead Space was a shining beacon for the genre. Yes it had a lot of shooter elements, but this was the finest survival horror game I had played since Resident Evil 4, and for my money it was better! Stunning graphics, a really gripping storyline, gruesome and genuinely frightening enemies and a claustrophobic environment that WILL get you all combined with the haunting sound and music made Dead Space a complete treat. Stunning game.
While it did not live up to the grand promise of the first game, Fable II was a better experience. With a lovely setting, very unique look and a continued sense of humour, this was a wonderful and nicely paced game to explore and experience. The last "boss" was a major disappointment, but I felt the overall game did a lot with the setting and generally made good on some of the problems with the original. The combat was also a bit more varied and a lot of the darker elements of the setting were nicely retained.
The first Condemned was a gem of a game that basically told a horror story set in a decrepit inner city environment with serial killers. Condemned 2 took that concept and made it full bum wars, and I loved it! The level of violence and satisfaction that the melee combat provides, the increased importance of the cult elements and the additional horror focus as well as the general cynical mentality of the games world all just struck a cord with me. It does get quite silly at the end, but besides that it was a complete triumph for Monolith. I am still waiting for a sequel...
So besides Half-Life I never had a huge amount of time for Valve games until Portal. I didn't even like Team Fortress 2 all that much. Left 4 Dead changed that pattern and completely gripped me from the first time I played it. Sublime game design requiring smart team work, a powerful variety of zombie enemies and a general mood of doom but also humour made this one a fantastic game. It remains probably the most complete cooperative multiplayer experience I have played to date.
The reboot that this series needed so badly, and what a beautiful one it was. Prince of Persia is like a water colour painting in motion. Simple, elegant gameplay that puts the focus on platforming and a series of bosses. Gorgeous areas to explore. A surprisingly touching story with a world reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus. Prince of Persia had a lot going for it, and people who were upset about the "not dying" thing were foolish.
Call of Duty 4 was a watershed moment in the shooting genre, and Treyarch had a lot of expectation to meet with the release of World at War a mere year later. These expectations were unfair from the start, and naturally World at War failed to meet them. Returning to WW2 at the very time when it had fallen from grace as a setting, World at War provided a gritty campaign with a take on the setting that is underappreciated. It was mechanically snappy, unafraid to set a dark tone, and the multiplayer maps were often fantastic. My gripes were its over-scripted nature (something the whole series would suffer from going forward), its lack of a proper difficulty curve (grenade spam was a cheap way to make the game harder) and its lack of shine compared to Modern Warfare.
