What Is Your Game of the Year? 477
It's that time of year again. Last year's response to our Game of the Year post was so enthusiastic that I thought it would be worthwhile to give it another go. So, once again, some of the Slashdot folks have come together to offer up our 'games of the year'. Scuttlemonkey, Scott Collins, Chris Brown, CmdrTaco, and myself have all put together quick blurbs about the games we couldn't get enough of this year. When you're through reading those, it's your turn to speak up. What was the game you couldn't put down? The next-gen consoles really came into their own this year; was it one of those games, or something for the PC? In your opinion, what was the best game of the year?
Slashdot Engineer Chris Brown: If you read game sites at all, by now you've probably had more than your fill of cake and Weighted Companion Cube jokes. But Portal remains one of the best games to come out this year, well worth the price of the entire Orange Box just by itself. It's a darkly funny genre-bender of a game, and every minute of it is enjoyable. The only thing a reasonable person could still wish for is more of it - it's a short game by anyone's standards. And Ellen McLain's brilliant voice acting as GLaDOS makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.
My only regret is not experiencing the game on my PC. The Xbox 360's controls are awkward and the general ambiance of the environments seemed pretty drab and washed out.
Slashdot Engineer Scott Collins:
My favorite game this year (outside of WoW, I'm required to admit) was something of a surprise. It started at a chili-dinner party when a friend pulled a deck of cards out and said "Let's play Fluxx." Everyone else seemed to know what was going on, so I didn't require any convincing. It turns out to be a pretty fast-paced card game where you play: 'Action' cards, such as 'Pick a card at random from another player's hand'; 'Keeper' cards which are assets you collect to win, like 'The Brain', 'The Toaster', 'Dreams', 'The Rocket', et al; 'New Rule' cards that change play, like 'Draw 4' which changes the initial game of "draw 1, play 1" to "draw 4, play 1"; and 'Goals', like 'Milk and Cookies' meaning that while that is the current goal, the player who has played both the Milk and Cookies Keepers immediately wins. It ends up being a very strange and fun mix, something like Nomic combined with Uno. But that's not the end of the story.
The game was so much fun that when I got home I looked up the maker, Looney Labs, to buy a Fluxx deck for myself. There I discovered Zombie Fluxx.Zombie Fluxx adds a new kind of anti-Keeper: the Creeper; while the Keepers are things like 'The Chainsaw', 'The Can of Gasoline', 'The Shotgun'; the Goals are things like 'I alone survived', where if you have a Friend (Keeper), and the Car, and no zombies --- and everyone else has at least one zombie, you win. I managed to play Zombie Fluxx with all of my kids at once. At Thanksgiving, we had a game with three generations playing (just regular Fluxx though; I don't think Grandma and Grampa are ready for Zombies). The decks are designed so you can easily combine regular Fluxx and Zombie Fluxx for an even bigger game (and easily separate them again).
Patrick "Scuttlemonkey" McGarry:
This year saw a rather violent shift in my gaming appetites, as I decided it was time to kick the World of Warcraft habit.Any game that required too much of my time was avoided like the plague.That being said, the Wii's Mario Galaxy turned out to be my perfect game this year. So long have I been engrossed in the massive "pretty factor" of games (Quake, Doom, F.E.A.R., Warcraft, EVE, Empire at War, etc) that try to impress users with graphics, huge storylines, or tons of options that I forgot how great it could be just to find a simple game that offers a little bit of distraction and fun. Mario Galaxy really is the ultimate realization of the Mario franchise so far. It offers all of the glory of a platformer while offering several new twists.The first major expansion beyond the normal Mario world was their use of 3D and gravity. Many surfaces in the game acted as their own planet, complete with gravity well and the ability to traverse all sides of the object. There are also many fun manipulations of gravity throughout the game.Mario Galaxy also takes advantage of many unique controls available on the Wii to really make the gameplay interesting, without being overly hard.
Many games I have played recently really required a great deal of time to hone your skills to that "expert" level, and while that may be fine for a game with the scope of World of Warcraft, I shouldn't need that level of dedication for a simple platformer and Mario Galaxy delivers spectacularly. There were just enough challenges in the game to make it interesting but it was easy enough I could just pick it up and put it down whenever I felt like it without getting frustrated. The other major advancement Mario Galaxy has made was in cooperative gameplay. The new "co-star" mode makes it possible for you to include even the most staunch non-gamers in the Mario Galaxy experience. The co-star is given a cursor on the screen with which they can pick up power-ups, halt incoming enemies or enemy attacks, assist with stronger jumps, and even stun enemies for easy dispatch. Keep in mind that while all of these things are helpful if you happen to have a co-star, the game doesn't require you to have one, so that helpful individual can come and go as they please.
This makes it ideal for friends who drop by or loved ones that don't want to really jump in with both feet. All in all Mario Galaxy is a great casual game that can provide entertainment for just about any gaming appetite, definitely worth a look.
Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda:
My entry for game of the year is almost more about multiplayer gameplay. From fighters to first person shooters, there are just so many games out where I can invite a friend to join me, and then one of us crushes the other. Don't get me wrong, this is fun, but in many of those games, the person with the superior skill is bored while the less experienced player is defeated over and over again. It can get old.
Enter Rock Band. It might be the perfect party game. Someone drums, another plays bass, another lead guitar. And the most daring of any you takes up the USB microphone and goes nuts karaoke style. Instead of competing, you are a team. When one person fails out, another can bring them back by pulling off an overdrive move. And with the multiple difficulty settings, I can play on hard, while a friend plays on easy, and we can both be challenged and entertained.
It's hours of fun. It has problems: too many cords, not enough songs that everyone agrees on, and finding a spare guitar right now seems to be impossible. But each of those problems is addressable and doesn't take away from the fact that everyone can rock out for a few minutes. Everyone can be equals with a common goal and be challenged (well, maybe not people who have mastered expert mode, but I have no sympathy for you ;) It's got a steep price tag, but if you have 3 friends, it's worth it.
Michael "Zonk" Zenke:
My game of the year 2007 was decided during the 2006 E3 event.Mass Effect, at that point, was nothing more than a trailer about some space marine talking to an alien bartender. Years of patient waiting culminated for me in a 45 minute drive to the K-Mart in Portage, WI. Being able to buy a game a full week and a half before it releases generally is a special treat - moreso for me because of the chance to review the game before it came out. With a review in mind, I spent a full week leisurely exploring the world of Commander Shepherd, trying to stop Saren from carrying out his mad plot.
Over the course of that week, I was deeply, fully in love with the game. Yes, it's got some major flaws. The game's UI ranges from barely passable to amateur hour, and there are some honest frustrations to be voiced about character AI. Just the same, I was hooked, happily using the conversation wheel and Paragoning my way through the game's endless content. In some ways it reminded me a lot of Oblivion, my pick for last year's GOTY, in that the story fully drew me in. I've played Mass Effect quite a bit less than Oblivion; the exploration elements are just not as engaging.
But quality easily makes up for quantity, and my time with Mass Effect has been amazing. The moment that cemented this title in my personal hall of fame was actually the climax. Oblivion's ending is something of a 'whatever' - the joy there is in the journey. With Mass Effect, Shepherd's final confrontation with Saren is easily one of the most memorable gaming moments I've ever experienced. It's an incredibly fitting cap to the game's epic story and (somehow) actually makes me want to play through the whole thing over again.
Blemishes and all, Mass Effect is my game of the year for 2007. It reaffirmed for me the storytelling potential of western-style RPGs, and let me put to rest a burning anticipation I've had for quite some time. And, of course, now I can get ready for the next chapter in the series. When do you think Mass Effect 2 will be out?
Super Mario Bros. 3 (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Super Mario Bros. 3 (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Super Mario Bros. 3 (Score:4, Interesting)
Despite the fact that it's visually unimpressive now(and was not really that special then), it has a very compelling story, and fantastic dialogue. I actually cared about many of the characters in the story, and hoped for Good Things to happen to them. And there's some dark stuff too, which I like. Shame that more work wasn't done in the Planescape universe, it's a pretty interesting system.
Re:Super Mario Bros. 3 (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Super Mario Bros. 3 (Score:4, Funny)
Super Mario Bros. 2! (Score:3, Interesting)
I think one of the neat things about it is that pretty much everybody has played Super Mario Bros., so they know how the game works - and some will even remember it well enough that playing it again would hold no surprises - but not so many have played SMB2, so it's like a brand-new experience with the old favorite.
(For the record, I've got nothing against the game that was released as
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This is definately one of the most informative posts I have read all day. You must have played a dizzying amount of games this year to come up with the conclusion that Super Mario Bros. 3 is the best game ever.
Your backup choice for Game of the Year is equally inspired. Whatever Wii game you played at the mall is an unforgetable classic that will be played for years to come.
My choice for Game of the Year is Super Mario Galaxy [wikipedia.org]. The number of mindblowingly cool levels and aw
Re:Super Mario Bros. 3 (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Super Mario Bros. 3 (Score:5, Funny)
nethack (Score:2, Informative)
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hands down (Score:4, Funny)
#1 game (Score:3, Funny)
Bioshock (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:Bioshock (Score:5, Insightful)
Where Bioshock scored for me was that, for the first time since Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, it dared to treat adults like, well, adults.
Other games have "moral ambiguity" but, let's be honest, most of them are simply, "There's no right option here." Do you help evil but rights of the individual side A or do you help evil but common good side B? Do you side with guy A's story or guy B's story. And you're left with no real doubt that that's as far as they've thought it through.
Bioshock's genius comes from:
Not just "Do you harvest little sisters for more Adam or be 'good' for less?" but really pushes you to think: What am I doing by "saving" them? Am I just taking out their symbiotic host so they die anyway? How do I feel about killing them if I know either option kills them?
[SPOILER ALERT] When saved, they talk about getting sleepy and appear to climb in the vents to die. When it's later revealed that they really are just going "home" - it adds an aching emotional response if you chose to kill them for your own goals. The "good" ending taking that even further.[/SPOILER ALERT]
Now add in insanity storylines, deliberate murders of families, stories of holocaust survival, Ayn Rand type debates. Even better, much of this happens off screen. Sure, the Manhunts or GTAs of this world will kill a family in front of you and have politicians up in arms for something with next to no emotional impact. Bioshock can imply it, off screen, leaving it to resonate in your mind on a vastly deeper level.
I love GTA but it's candy violence and candy swearing. None of it means anything. It's like watching a Die Hard movie. Sure, it's "adult" but kids want to go and see it, and understandably so, because it's nothing but a fun adrenalin ride.
Bioshock on the other hand is like the Godfather or, yes, Lolita. None of the violence, none of the swearing is there for a quick and cheap thrill. It's there because it's absolutely appropriate to a storyline that engages your brain on a much higher level. It shows you uncomfortable concepts, it doesn't tell you that it'll all get better if you just shoot everything, but still takes you on an intense journey that'll stay with you.
And so, in the same way, Bioshock matters like great films matter. There are tons of Disney games. There are huge numbers of action movie games. There're a few, like Ultima Underworld that manage to be great ET or Bridge To Terabithia type (PG but really makes you think) games. It's incredibly rare in gaming though for there to be a non-gratuitous, truly adult in the sense that adults are trusted to think for themselves about darker concepts, games.
Bioshock managed that.
Yes, System Shock came close - which is why Bioshock is openly talked about as its spiritual successor. Even then, the medium's evolved and it's like comparing The Godfather to a great silent movie. So much more, technologically, can be added now - from detailed objects to animation flourishes, objects in the distance to quantity and quality of audio.
Deus Ex was also a great game. Again, time moves on and a modern DVD, filled with the kind of quantity and quality of content a modern game budget allows, will always surpass it. Yes, pretty graphics for pretty graphics sake is meaningless. But, when used well, all of these advances really do enhance your immersion in a game just as VFX in a movie doesn't save a lousy movie but massively enhances a great one.
So, we've got a level of meaningful adult content that's rarely been in any prior game. We've got advances in the medium that allow those earlier ideas to be more richly realized.
Beyond that though, you're listing three games (if we ignore sequels) in 15 years. Even if we accept it does nothing new, one utterly engaging game in all of those ways, every four or five years, means it more than merits adoration - even if it isn't utterly unique.
Re:Bioshock [SPOILERS] (Score:4, Informative)
Unless you've played System Shock 2, that is. Ken Levine can use the phrase "spiritual successor" all he wants, but the story was System Shock 2.1.
Warning: Here Be Spoilers
There are so many elements that are almost directly parallel between the games:
That said, I still enjoyed the game, because it was fun and well-executed. The art direction provides an incredible sense of place, with its underwater setting, Art Deco architecture, and Junkyard Wars improvised weapons. The root conflict is certainly more interesting. Ryan and Fontaine are both megalomaniacs at heart, regardless of their faux-religious veneers. (Notice how Fontaine countered Ryan's escalating Ayn Rand-like rhetoric by smuggling in bibles and rosaries to help recruit the disillusioned working class?) That's a better hook than SHODAN's scheming to get the Von Braun to the remains of Citadel. They did add new game play elements, like the Big Sister/Little Daddy dynamic, crafting, and photography research. And who can forget Sander Cohen?
But that still doesn't do anything for my disappointment in the similarities. I saw the Atlas/Fontaine switch coming from a mile away, because I remembered Polito and SHODAN. I was hoping that Levine would surprise us old SS2 fans with a different plot twist. (I will give him credit for tricking us into thinking that Atlas' "wife" and "son" would be parallels of Suarez and Siddons from SS2.)
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SS2 was particularly engaging because you needed to be careful about how much ammo you use, how many nanites you spend (because you needed the things for anything from purchases to weapon repairs), which weapon you use when (because degradation might mean the thing breaks down when you need it least
Re:Bioshock (Score:5, Funny)
13 times.
While I was naked.
Rock Band (Score:2)
Re:Rock Band (Score:4, Informative)
And I agree that Rock Band is the game of the year... I've had the game going multiple times with a crowd of friends over, and there are constantly four people playing it. They've definitely taken the music game genre to a new level.
Most Popular (Score:4, Funny)
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That was pretty popular, but there was a cross platform game that was way more popular. It was called "Console Fanboi".
Call of Duty 4 (Score:3, Interesting)
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but lets break it down, besides some unknown reason why you didn't like Halo 2, what do you have against the third one? Personally, I'm not quite sure what you found "lame" about Halo 2
Stupid story line, uncompelling hero, lousy physics, ridiculous looking monsters, ugly blocky terrain, horrible vehicle control, linear levels, offensive game save system... just off the top of my head. The best I can say for it is, if you haven't been exposed to a decent shooter then maybe you could be impressed.
The QA game (Score:4, Funny)
You score 5 points every time you reduce a developer to incoherent frustration*, 10 points when you "suddenly notice" a flaw in the requirements causing a project to be re-engineered at the last minute and 20 points when you break a production system and successfully lay the blame on someone else.
*Double if they're on the autistic spectrum and temporarily lose the ability to communicate except in grunts and howls.
Re:The QA game (OT) (Score:3, Insightful)
You, sir, show a level of dedication that I find quite frankly a bit frightening. I applaud you for it while simultaneously hoping you are not near me in meatspace.
nannymud (Score:2)
Laser Game! (Score:5, Funny)
For differing system types: (Score:3, Interesting)
Console -- Mass Effect. Great looking and sounding game, with a fun real-time combat system and a cool space-opera story.
Portable/handheld -- FFXII: Revenant Wings. They said that RTS could not be done on a portable. Then came the DS and Square.
Puzzle Quest (Score:2, Interesting)
I've spent more hours playing Puzzle Quest for my DS than I care to mention, and I haven't even finished yet.
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And there will be... cake... (Score:5, Insightful)
So Portal hands down, with BioShock in a good solid second place. I can't find out until after Christmas what I'll place in third, because that's when I'll be getting the rest of the games I was hoping to try this year.
I'm confused (Score:3, Interesting)
I mean, you spend the whole game learning to think a little bit differently about spacial orientation, how can you accept just being dropped into the fire without a fight?
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I still sing the "Still Alive" song to myself at work.
"Now these points of data/make a beautiful line.
And we're out of beta/and releasing on time!"
We do what we must because we can!
Board Games (Score:2)
Even before I saw the Shire... (Score:2, Interesting)
And my wife and I were happy to leave WOW, after friends from EQ1 begged us to come onboard, then to be told we were not "ready" for the raids they held was a bit of a bummer. What aboring grindfest. I am still having fun taking my 4th alt in LOTRO through the level 30 content.
n00bs (Score:2)
ETQW ftw!
Excellent Linux support too!
ET>*
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FreeCiv 2.1.1 (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously, our family just loves FreeCiv [freeciv.org].
-l
Mass Effect (Score:4, Informative)
This year Mass Effect has similarly strong competition from Bioshock, Halo 3, and Mario Galaxy (as far as "regular," non-Guitar Hero-type games go), but it managed to really draw me in the way Oblivion did. I haven't been this into a game since Gears of War and FFXII, and it's been a year since then ^^
Mass Effect's story is decent enough on the surface (your character is badass and everyone knows it so you are sent to take out another badass -- simple but cool) and it really shines in the details. Very real character development takes place. You get attached to them. I do wish they had a bit more "presence" during combat, the way your teammates in Gears do, but that's a small complaint.
The character models are fantastic, and the visual design of the game in general is quite good. The ligthing and shadows are sometimes very bad, and texture loading is very noticeably slow, but that rarely distracts, which is important.
The flow of one mission to another, the way subquests are introduced and progressed -- it's all quite immersive.
In short, Mass Effect is the closest I've come to feeling like I'm controlling a movie or miniseries. (Oblivion felt like I was playing a spinoff of Hercules The Legendary Journeys, which was sweet, hehe.)
Oh, also the "world" Mass Effect introduces is cool and easily one of my favorite in sci-fi now.
My top 10 - and a few other picks (Score:5, Interesting)
10) Odin Sphere (PS2) - wonderfully quirky little RPG/brawler combo, with 2d graphics that put some next-gen titles to shame and probably the best game soundtrack of the year.
9) God of War 2 (PS2) - epic in scale, utterly exhilerating to play, the perfect demonstration that you don't need a fancy gimmick controller to make a game's controls immersive. Probably the best looking game that will ever hit the PS2.
8) Call of Duty 4 (PC) - I hated the previous installments in the series, but this one is much, much better. Unlike most other "military" shooters around, this one has a pretty good plot. The combat is probably the most satisfying we've seen from an fps this year. It's too short, but it's a lot of fun while it lasts.
7) Bioshock (PC) - yeah, I know, it wasn't quite the Second Coming of Gaming that some of the early reviews made it out to be. The atmosphere, concept and sheer flexibility of the combat system, however, still mean it was a great game.
6) Command & Conquer 3 (PC) - I went into this prepared to hate it (I loathed C&C2 and Red Alert 2), but this was he game that, for me at least, put the fun back into the RTS genre. Stupidly fast-paced, it delivered the kind of adrenelin rush that you don't expect from an RTS. Moreover, with the gratuitous use of FMV cutscenes, it left most other offerings this year in the dust in terms of production values.
5) Crysis (PC) - The combat doesn't quite match up to Call of Duty 4's, but the sheer scope of Crysis is incredible. Even compared to Farcry, the sheer number of ways you can tackle each mission is staggering. If it weren't for the incredibly irritating floaty mission in the alien base, this would have been a contender for number 1.
4) Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360) - Still no release date in sight for Gran Turismo 5, but I don't care any more. This is the best "realistic" racing sim I've seen on any platform, ever. A few more tracks would have been nice, but I guess we can hope to see that in the sequel.
3) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 - With a hideously dated game-engine and a repetative combat system, this might seem an odd pick for so high up on the list. However, with the superb production values, the great writing and the innovative "everyday life" dynamic, this was my favourite Japanese RPG of the year.
2) Portal (PC) - Let's be clear, this game was too short. But there's no point crying over every mistake, you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake.
1) Mass Effect (Xbox 360) - My game of the year, by some distance. Bioshock show just what they can do when they step out of the shackles of other people's content. It took me a while to get into this game, as the sheer size of it was a bit intimidating. However, there's no denying this is the deepest, best written, best produced and just-plain-all-around-jaw-dropping game of the year. The combat rocks, the characters are memorable and the game mechanics are intuitive.
Now, a few games not quite in my top 10, but which also impressed me a lot this year (in no particular order):
Ar Tonelico (PS2) - The ultimate guilty pleasure. I really shouldn't like this, but I couldn't help it.
Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - Too short and unoriginal to make the top 10, but still engrossing.
Resident Evil 4 (Wii) - One of the few Wii ports to be genuinely enhanced by the control system.
Final Fantasy 3 (DS) - This is how you do a remake.
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (PSP) - Another excellent remake.
Heavenly Sword (PS3) - Thoroughly overshadowed by God of War 2, but still decent.
And now, the disappointments...
Supreme Commander (PC) - It pains me to write this, because I had a lot of hopes invested in this game, but it just reminded me how much things had moved on since Total Annihilation. A good effort, but it felt slow and (dare I say it) a bit boring compare
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Super Mario Galaxy / Halflife 2, Ep2 (Score:2)
Halflife 2. Ep 2 looks amazing. My PC isn't a dedicated gaming PC, but fairly new, and I did splash a bit extra on the graphics card. It's fun and it has a few good places where a literally twitched and dodged, when something jumped me. You need to be in the game to do that. Was a bit short through...
Mario Galaxy hands down (Score:5, Informative)
I just sincerely hope this won't be the last actual 'traditional' (platformer) Mario game we'll be seeing on the Wii. Mario Sunshine was pretty much the only one on the Gamecube, Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64, and Mario World for the SNES, but NES got SMB 1, 2, and 3. I realize it takes a lot to put out one of these games, but I really don't want to be playing any Princess Peach, Wario, or Luigi games or any of these knock-offs. They're great in their own right, but really you wish you were playing a new Mario game. I realize too much could water down the franchise, but it definitely won't get tired if there's a new one every 2 or 1.5 years. Come on, Nintendo! I want as much Mario as I can get!
Mass Effect, no doubt (Score:2)
It's pretty rare that I bother to "savor" a game - but that's exactly what I'm doing. I know I'm about to go to the last planet, so I'm running around completely all the side quests first. They're definitely weaker than the core missions, but it's nice to have some extra bit of world to immerse yourself in.
This is easy (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously... UT2004... (Score:4, Insightful)
Age of Empires III Asian Dynasties (Score:2)
Just one? Here's a list. (Score:2)
PC:
BioShock. I know many people will disagree, but the story and setting of BioShock made it a blast to play. Loads of fun from start to finish.
DS:
Zelda, Phantom Hourglass. I'm currently about 3/4 finished with the newest Zelda rendition and I'm having a hard time putting it down. The control scheme to
My Games of the Moment... (Score:2)
Ratchet&Clank (Score:2)
Loads of fun, gorgeous visuals, beautiful environment, stylish characters, amusing mini-games, and fun for the whole family. This was a game where I would get home from work and my kids would say, "Dad, can you play Ratchet and Clank?"
Stalker (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm just so sick of Fantasy. I'm sick of elves, magic and special potions. I'm sick of WW2. Bioshock, while good, was not real to me, it just seemed over the top; to far fetched, sensational and psedu-scientific. A little make believe is ok, but spouting fire and lightning bolts from your hands because of a genetic enhancement potion stopped being intriguing to me. It just seems ridicules as I approach 30.
Playing something that really challenged me, based on a real area, with very realistic weapons and a gritty post-apocalyptic atmosphere was refreshing. I also enjoyed the depth and detail. The translations for all that is said in Russian reveal some very interesting dialog. The almost endless buildings to hunt around in and the 7 different endings to try gave the game more replayability than most. The amount of different equipment to use led to lots of debate and online discussion of strategy.
It was buggy, but in terms of breaking new ground, I think it gets overlooked when compared to the more sensational BioShock.
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Munchkin! (Score:5, Interesting)
For anyone who hasn't played, think D&D. Now throw everything else out the window. Get a bunch of people, and try to get to level 10. Everyone will be real helpful to each other until someone reaches level 5 or so, and then it gets ugly. Redirect attacks, curse people, change their gender, take their pants, completely screw them over to the point of no return.
Best game for me this year, hands down.
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Well, I hate to tell you this, but that's kind of the point in Munchkin. You need to have the best character possible in order to survive all the things getting in your way, be it monsters, or your party members.
You say that as if the two are mutually exclusive. Most professional sports involve competition, and can be q
AC (Score:4, Interesting)
Wii Sports (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd even go as far to say that if Wii Sports was not bundled with the Wii at launch, the Wii probably would not be the runaway success it is today.
Still playing Elite on my C=64 (Score:2)
Seriously, CoD4 is my game of the year at this point. I can't get into the single player but the multiplayer simply owns.
For single player it has to be Portal. Sure, it's not a hard concept and it's pretty short but it's a neat idea for the fantastic engine it's built off of and the end credit song is worth any minor frustration you may experience during gameplay.
Oh, and the cake is pretty damn good.
Lord of the Rings Online. (Score:2)
Mass Effect (Score:2)
Half-Life 2: Ep. 2 (Score:2, Informative)
Alien Arena (Score:2)
GH II (Score:2, Interesting)
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance (Score:2, Insightful)
My game(s) of the year (Score:2)
My console game of the year is Call of Duty 4 (yes the game is also on the PC, but I played it on the Xbox 360). My review for that is here [blogspot.com].
I played a lot of portable games this year but nothing really that new, mostly catching up on things. Two games of note were Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime and Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (review [blogspot.com]). Both good games but nothing I can say is game of the year quality.
I also traditionally pick a
Open Arena (Score:2)
Hellgate: London (Score:2, Troll)
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Second Life (Score:2)
Thank you Scott! (Score:2)
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I like Fluxx for it's stupid-simple play, zombie fluxx (which I just recently got to play) does make it a bit more complicated, but not enough so that you've gotten bogged down with rules.
Unfortunately I haven't ventured out to any of the new/replacement game shops in my area to see what new and interesting board games they have around.. i need to do that..
The witcher (Score:5, Informative)
Civ 4 (Score:2)
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So you're nearly done with your first full map?
I like Civ altho I haven't had a lot of time in Civ IV yet and the thing that always gets me is the endless micromanaging in earlier Civs. I like playing huge maps in Civ III because I hate my neighbor's capitol city being 12 whole squares away from mine but on big maps you get tons of cities.
Tons of cities = tons of units.
Tons of unit = micromanagement.
I was really hoping this formula was going t
Scott, dude ... check out Stoner Fluxx... (Score:3, Informative)
ChipWits II (Score:2, Interesting)
Program bots with graphic chips. A revival of a 1980's classic.
Yeah, I wrote it. But it's still my favorite game this year. So sue me.
Super Mario Galaxy (Score:5, Insightful)
This game has brought back everything that I used to enjoy about video games back in the 90's console era (NES/Genesis/SNES/TG16) - joy, frustration, a sense of wonder, and an as-of-yet unresolved addiction. (10 more stars to go!) The control scheme took all of 30 seconds to master. The graphics, while not super-detailed, are incredibly smooth (with the exception of some underwater bits). The score is spectacular - haunting, epic, whimsical, and nostalgic as the need arises.
I bought the game on release day (while on vacation), somewhat on a whim - thinking "It can't live up to the hype", "Hopefully it will have good trade value" and "At least it will give me something to do after I finish Guitar Hero III". So far, I've probably put 60 hours into SMG, and perhaps six hours into GH3.
Having played all of the other Mario games to some degree (I never owned an SNES, but played a fair bit of SMW) only SM64 has been as much of an addiction as SMG. (My virtual console copy of SM64 hasn't been played in almost a month.)
I also recently got a used copy of Rayman Raving Rabbids. It has been an enjoyable game thus far, although the control is sometimes lacking (the 'slam the outhouse door' minigame is very inconsistent).
Diablo II (Score:2)
Blizzard better release some proper game, I'm staring to look really anachronic
Footyman (Score:3, Interesting)
Sauerbraten (Score:2, Interesting)
I haven't noticed a single open source game listed yet (but I haven't exhaustively searched either), so I thought I'd offer the one that's been dominating my time lately:
http://sauerbraten.org/ [sauerbraten.org]
Sauerbraten is a fast-paced FPS with a number of game modes, maps, and a fun community of players. They typically put out a new release once every quarter, with the "Winter" release scheduled to arrive sometime this weekend. The best part for me is that I can hop online for a 15min game and I actually feel like
Please, not Flux (Score:5, Insightful)
If flux is your favorite game, you really need to see what else is out there. The game is so random, the decisions you make are pretty much irrelevant. The fact is a friend of mine played against his cat, and lost! [boardgamegeek.com]
There are a ton of good boardgames out there: From Descent to Agricola, with oldies such as Carcassonne, El Grande or Tikal.
As far as videogames go, I've played pretty much every nominee, and Mario Galaxy is head over shoulders above the competition. Mass Effect did nothing KOTOR hadn't done better years ago. Better writing, better characters, better inventory system, better AI. The romance arcs were so absolutely lame they had me longing for Baldur's Gate II. Bioshock has a great story, but it's a pretty average shooter. Half of the plasmoids are pointless, and there's not much enemy variety as the game goes along. Portal is much better, but it is very short. Rock Band is better than Guitar Hero, but they did screw up with the manufacturing problems, and the lack of career online mode is disappointing.
It's Galaxy's year.
My list (Score:2)
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Score:3, Interesting)
Seth
Desktop Tower Defense (Score:5, Informative)
And it got worse, when they released the Multiplayer version at http://www.casualcollective.com/ [casualcollective.com].
One more deserving mention... (Score:3, Insightful)
Talisman
http://www.blackindustries.com/?template=TM&content=talisman-history [blackindustries.com]
Burn me at the stake. (Score:3, Insightful)
Compared to Super Mario Sunshine, SMG is very linear. Yes, you can do the galaxies in pretty much whatever order you want, but they chose to have more galaxies in favor of more options in the individual levels. There was no searching for stars in the main area - they just dropped a hungry luma in your lap when you achieve a certain goal. There is absolutely no need to challenge yourself to get coins. They replaced the red coins in SMS with purple coins and saved all those levels for the end. The levels themselves were very linear and didn't provide for any exploring. All in all the game was much less challenging.
"but if you have 3 friends" (Score:4, Funny)
Super Mario Galaxy (Score:5, Informative)
Metroid Prime 3 (Score:5, Insightful)
I've got a little TIP for you! Get the POINT? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Metroid Prime 3 & Rock Band get no love... :( (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll confess I haven't played Portal yet, but Metroid Prime 3 was my GOTY pick for a while. Eventually it got over thrown by Mario Galaxy, then by Rock Band 360 (which has been pl
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MP1 with MP3's control scheme would be wonderful.
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I'm gonna chuck in a vote for Hitman: Blood Money as well. I saw an ad for it in Germany last summer, and was super excited. It had all the fun stuff of its predecessors and a WHOLE lot more. Very sneaky. Excellent soundtr
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Would you really want to play much more of those puzzles in a single-player campaign? Personally, I thought Portal was of an excellent length -- and the writing, sound design, etc. probably benefited a great deal from the lack of pressure to produce a 50-hour epic in this case. Between the advanced maps and the challenge maps you can certainly get quite a few more sessions out of it, too.
Most of the companion cube plushes are gone, sadly -- but the site says there are a few left if you want to make a dona
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