Game of The Year

Written by Scott Monday, 08 December 2008 18:54

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 Without further-a-do, here is the run down of the contenders for 2008 Game of The Year.

Contenders

LittleBigPlanet (PLAYSTATION®3)

A month ago this seemed like a given; LittleBigPlanet was the most innovative game ever created and was eye-wateringly cute with it. How could it lose? Well, it certainly managed to mess up a few things. It was set to be the best game ever created but the online side of things (which may be PSN related or Media Molecule problems) let the squad down. Connection/lag issues when playing with even just one person are prevalent and really detract from the gameplay. Along with it, the lack of the ability to create a map with another player (something you can do on Halo 3’s Forge mode, it must be noted) is just disappointing.

These things may be sorted in the future but as it’s no guarantee and since 2008 is drawing to a close, we can’t see it happening this year. Is it still one of the best games of this year? Oh hell yeah but its place on the top step of the podium isn’t as safe as it once predicted.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PLAYSTATION®3)

Hideo Kojima can never be accused of one to let his games come out un-announced; this game is no exception. With cinematic trailers going back what feels like decades, everyone knew what this game was about and what would happen when it arrived.

The game itself is a truly cinematic experience, with a story intended to draw the players in equally (or maybe even more so) with the gameplay. It is the latter however that seemed to be given 2^nd-hand treatment in this iteration of the saga; Clunky movement, compromised cover system and rather stupid AI plagued it. Still, if you are a MGS fan it is undoubtedly a success and you will all be calling for it to be GOTY.

Personally, us here at Daily Joystick felt that as a game, rather than a piece of entertainment it was lacking distinctly. It didn’t move with the same grace as other 3^rd person shooters such as Assassin’s Creed, Gears of War or Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and this is its biggest flaw. It could have been so much more – the “action” portion of the cover motto just didn’t deliver.

Fallout 3 (PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC)

A comparative sleeper-hit compared to the likes of Metal Gear Solid 4 and Grand Theft Auto IV, Fallout 3 comes of the back of Bethesda’s 2006 smash-hit, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion touting an even more epic narrative on a post-apocalyptic wasteland of Washington DC. Compared with Oblivion, Fallout 3 has a better rooted story-line, giving the player some elements from important stages in the character’s life then at the age of 19; they are set loose upon the world. Bringing in the voice talent of Liam Neeson and Ron Perlman, Fallout 3 certainly has the will of a game destined for great things.

Detracting from the more magic-orientated fantasy aspects of previous Bethesda games of the Elder Scrolls saga, Fallout brings First-Person shooter fans into the world of Role-playing with deep character development and quests that require a lot of forethought and moral decisions. It is the latter that really sets Fallout 3 apart from other games of 2008 as your actions have to be careful and do actually require some real thought from the gamer. Whilst not the longest RPG ever (with us completing the main quest, and adequate gallivanting in around 25 hours), it is the best one I have ever played. Fallout 3 deserves all the credit it gets. Perhaps some of the combat could have been honed a bit tighter and the VATS system (turn-based fighting) be used with more repercussion but those are small gripes with a very, very solid package.

Grand Theft Auto IV (PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC)

Has any game ever had more anticipated, watered-mouthed fans as Grand Theft Auto IV? Perhaps Halo 3 but as we completed that before release, some of the hype was lost on us. GTA IV moves the franchise from the hyper-realistic, overly colourful world of San Andreas and Vice City into the dark, seedy world of Liberty City for the 3^rd time in the series history. As protagonists go, Nico Bellic is (well, we found anyway) easy to relate to in a dry humour sort of way. The story aspect of the newest GTA game is certainly the strongest but in that, it also cripples the game. Let me explain: when you are busy doing missions for the likes of Brucie, Roman, Little Jacob and the others, we feel that the actual sandbox element has been left aside. Surely that is the biggest draw of a GTA game? To be able to do what you want, where you want and exactly when you want. Sure, you can still do the credit-crunch destroying task of getting a hooker then killing her for your money back…but we had that with GTA III. The franchise has taken a step back to try and solidify some of its core elements and I feel it’s gone too far back to basics removing the ridiculous element from the game. If I wanted to work as a taxi driver, I would go get me a Peugeot 406! Real life is the worst game ever, and everyone knows that, Rockstar knows it yet they bring forward many aspects from it that we don’t enjoy: endless travelling to where you need to be, mundane social activities and jobs you would rather a robotic vacuum cleaner do for you.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh on GTA IV. It is certainly no bad game and the online modes bring much enjoyment (for how many years have GTA fans wanted to destroy their chosen city with some friends?) but even those could have been fleshed out more. For example, we have very limited co-operative missions that could have been copy-paste jobs from the single player. There is one consolation for Xbox 360 players as The Lost and the Damned may bring back the GTA magic. Still, this is one of the best games of 2008 so it deserves its place here.

Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)

Whilst not the biggest leap ever in terms of sequels, Gears of War 2 brings an undeniable epic (pardon the pun, of course) experience to gamers. With gratuitous amounts of blood, testosterone and broken stuff, this game will put hair on your eyeballs. Graphically, it’s one of the best yet will brilliantly detailed environments and character models. The story in the sequel is more fleshed out but it is by no means a narrative masterpiece just yet. The Unreal engine 3, whilst having its own bugs (texture loading problems are still here, taking a front-row seat) has been updated incorporating soft-body physics and some destructible environments. These do add something to the experience but do not revolutionise the battlefield. It is the same old go around corner, Horde appear, you kill, next recipe but it works, so why change it? There are more enemies on screen this time around so it’s plain to see a lot of optimisation has been going on in the last 2 years. The new Horde Mode brings the generally competent AI into the multiplayer arena and is quite addictive.

Gears of War 2 is a great game but we just aren’t sure if it does enough to make it worthy of a 2^nd GOTY trophy, a whole 2 years after the original was released.

Call of Duty: World at War (PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC)

Call of Duty 3 was perhaps the biggest let-down in sequel history. Treyarch were set the daunting task of bettering Infinity Ward’s simply brilliant Call of Duty 2 (PC and Xbox 360) and to put it bluntly, the community felt they had failed. It was no bad game, it had a good narrative and a robust online mode but it lacked the feel of Call of Duty 2 and ultimately had not much replay value. This time around however, Treyarch have gone sneaky in using Infinity Ward’s latest engine (the one used to make Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare) to create COD5. This could have been either brilliant or down-right stupid, depending on just how different the game would be compared to 2007’s release.

As it turned out, the game worked. It was similar enough to Call of Duty 4 that it kept the faithful happy yet different enough to promote huge sales and transition over. The single player was one of the best in a WW2-themed shooter yet and the online modes were very deep and even more balanced than COD4 had been. COD5 is a perfect addition to any FPS fan’s library.

Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360, PC)

Valve are definitely sentimental in their love of the Source engine which has been used for every game they’ve released for what feels like 369 years (no more and no less, mind). Left 4 Dead utilises this too, as you would expect, and does so with great effect. The engine is starting to show its age on the graphics and gameplay mechanics front but that doesn’t remove any of the visceral fun from the game. Blasting through a dark corridor with a 12-bore (or gauge to the Americans reading) shotgun is most satisfying indeed to see their heads go perpendicular to their bodies. The zombies in this game are vastly different from those gamers may be used too; they no longer lumber around moaning “braaains”, these zombies jump at you like you’ve stolen their face and they want it back. There are many different types of zombie too, ranging from lowly grunts that chase you in a mortal game of tag to the Tanks that are just enough different from the Incredible Hulk to remove the risk of royalties needing to be paid.

The game has a simple preface and it is not ashamed of it. For once, the old acronym K.I.S.S (Keep it simple, stupid) really does apply here with a basic “go from here to here” mission objective. You can team up with friends online for some 4 player co-op action that is one of the most fun online game modes we’ve played in a long time. Turtle Rock studios has gone against the norm in creating a simple game for the most basic of human impulses: to blow zombies up.

Winner

(or should that be Winnaaaaaaaar?)

Fallout 3 (PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC)

This is the hardest year pretty much ever to decide Game of The Year and we felt that Fallout 3 brought everything to the table and none of it was broken. With superb graphics, tight gameplay, a simply splendid narrative and almost endless gameplay, it is not just GOTY 2008 but perhaps in the top 3 for Game of the Decade.