Screenshots :.
Matt's Top Ten 2008
Matt
18-12-2008
"Oooh, shiny!"
"Boom Blox was great fun"
"Damn you Layton - my brain hurts :-("
"Apollo Justice. Tee hee!"
"Dead Space scared me rather too much"
"Let Zombie mashing commence!"
"Fallout 3 was a good 30+ hours of time spent."
"Braid was rather lovely... and mentally taxing."
"Must. Resist. Urge. To. Play."
We’ve collectively arrived at the end of another year, then, with the usual last-gasp dash for Christmas presents and slightly awkward farewells to office employees you never made the effort to get to know in full swing. For Jay and myself it’s the end of a year of transition; starting from where we did, the current level of interest in the site at its young age is actually quite heartening. Thus, to thank our growing readership (that means YOU kiddo) here’s the first of our personal Top Tens for 2008, complete with a small paragraph explaining our choices. Jay is beavering away on his as I type these words, but for now let’s settle down and see what supersedes Portal as my official Game of the Year.
10: Boom Blox
Easily forgotten as the year went on, Boom Blox was, retrospectively, one of the Wii’s finest titles this year. Part elaborate destruction game part puzzler, EA and Steven Spielberg’s physics-based title saw you doing things such as trying to knock down as many blocks as you could within a certain number of throws of a ball, or trying to carefully lever blocks out of an increasingly precarious tower Jenga-style. The addition of comic animals such as monkeys was a plus, too.
Review
9: Professor Layton and the Curious Village
As much as I convinced myself that a game basically containing a string of logic puzzles would aggravate the living kazoo out of me, Professor Layton actually ended up being a really pleasant experience. This was probably in part due to it being presented in a lovely animated style with a classically English professor and comic bad guy who looked slightly like a more modern Dick Dastardly, but it was also a lot to do with the puzzles actually being, for the most part, good fun. That said, due to a certain series of bogglers I am never going to be able to look at a chessboard again without cringing.
Review
8: Dead Space
It might not have done anything particularly innovative, but Dead Space was a great example of a game doing something well tested and doing it very well indeed. Set on a giant space station that fallen curiously quiet, the game quickly set its stall out by scaring the pants off you with well-timed set pieces and unbearable moments of complete silence. The monsters themselves were particularly nasty too, coming across as some sort of insect/zombie hybrid that would make the skin of a waxwork model crawl. With Silent Hill missing the 2008 boat (and supposedly not being all that great :-( ), Dead Space filled the psychological horror gap in the schedule very nicely indeed.
Review
7: Ikaruga Live
Yes, yes – Ikaruga isn’t strictly a 2008 release, is it? Still, the re-release on Xbox Live earlier this year reminded me not only what a superb shooter it still is, but also left me in awe at the level I had previously been able to play the game at. Despite being frustratingly cack at it for a long period whilst I reacclimatised myself with the colour-switching mechanic and that I should focus on my ship and only briefly glance ahead, it never angered me and instead sucked me in, teasing me with the classic ‘one-more-go’ syndrome that it used to. A strict master it may be, but the sense of achievement is awesome.
Review
6: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
A mainstay of my DS throughout my fortnight in France, Apollo Justice carried on from where the Phoenix Wright series left off with more of the comedic, over-the-top courtroom antics mixed with hilarious cultural references and utterly bizarre characters and situations. What other game could feature the player finding out that a car had conked out due to some knickers being stuffed in the exhaust pipe? Exactly. In addition to this the game rounded itself off with a superbly clever last case that cleared up the nagging questions that had been sitting there throughout, leaving us all desperate to play the second instalment whenever it hits the shops. Make it soon, Capcom.
Review
5: Rock Band
Another title that isn’t strictly a 2008 release (curses to ridiculous delays in localisation etc etc), but seeing as we Euro folk only ended up getting our collective hands on it this year then it is able to be featured here. Rock Band was the first game I have ever played the virtual drums in, and whilst not exactly John Bonham reborn being able to rattle the pads whilst my flatmate riffed his way through song after song in the excellent career mode made the game one of the biggest time-fillers through the summer months. Coming home completely plastered from the local pub at 2am and jamming through Boston’s More Than A Feeling was probably my annual highlight, although the hangover the next day wasn’t.
Review
4: Left 4 Dead
A few weeks ago this might have been vying for top spot, but alas in the time since then I have discovered that I have a distinct aversion to Versus mode. The Campaign mode of which I am such a fan puts you and three mates into a truly fantastic siege mentality where it’s all for one and one for all, you and them against a horde of marauding zombies. Working your way through each chapter helping each other battle the odds against you is one of the finest multiplayer experiences in gaming today, and I am sure when they fix the BLOODY OVERPOWERED MELEE ATTACK ARRGGHHH on Versus that will be more enjoyable too.
Review
3: Fallout 3
As the opening strains of The Ink Spots’ I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire suggests, I really didn’t want to cause too much destruction in my time with Fallout 3. Sadly, I ended up doing so anyway. Venturing around Bethesda’s latest open-world RPG was as pleasurable a task as I have been given this year when it comes to reviewing games, with countless locations and subquests to discover should you take time away from trying to find your Father. It was so good, in fact, that I decided to start playing again right after I had completed it the first time, which for me is as rare as Jay saying no to a meat pie and pint for lunch.
Review
2: Braid
This almost, almost made number one. Developed by Indie bod Jonathan Blow (a nice chap if our brief email correspondence is anything to go by), the game was a 2D platformer with a whole load of clever time-bending mechanics packed in to make collecting the 50 jigsaw pieces a thought-provoking pastime. On top of this, the game looked utterly beautiful and carried a lovely whimsical tone that left a lasting impression and many unanswered questions long after the final – brilliant – last level had concluded.
Review
1: Alone in the Dark
Nah, just kidding.
1: Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved
More addictive than pickled onion Monster Munch and more colourful than a bag of Skittles (hellooooo product placement), Geometry Wars 2 rocked, plain and simple. With six different modes that each offered their unique take on the old Asteroids formula and multiplayer co-op and adversarial options, most of my summer was spent sitting with a look of complete concentration on my face as I continually tried to keep my high scores above that of Jay’s. Simple to learn, difficult to master and impossible to put down, everyone owes it to themselves to at least give it a go once.
Review
Three that missed the boat
Grand Theft Auto 4
Not sure why, but despite my initially overwhelming positive attitude to it I found myself going rather cold on it quite quickly. Perhaps it lacked the charm of the previous three titles, perhaps the constant bother of having people phone me to arrange social meetings annoyed me, but for whatever reason it went back on the shelf a few weeks after release and there it stayed.
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
Almost made it in, but for similar reasons to those above it missed out on the top ten. It wasn’t that Rare’s new spin on the series didn’t work – it did, and it was enjoyable enough, but as time wore on the more of a chore it seemed to become.
Metal Gear Solid 4
I let Jay take the reigns for the review of this as he’s much more into Metal Gear and the surrounding story than I, but when I eventually got round to playing it I found it to be… well, pretty normal as far as the game went. Sure, the cinematics were utterly awesome and told a compelling story, but I finished the game not being quite sure if the balance of movie and story had been correct.
10: Boom Blox
Easily forgotten as the year went on, Boom Blox was, retrospectively, one of the Wii’s finest titles this year. Part elaborate destruction game part puzzler, EA and Steven Spielberg’s physics-based title saw you doing things such as trying to knock down as many blocks as you could within a certain number of throws of a ball, or trying to carefully lever blocks out of an increasingly precarious tower Jenga-style. The addition of comic animals such as monkeys was a plus, too.
Review
9: Professor Layton and the Curious Village
As much as I convinced myself that a game basically containing a string of logic puzzles would aggravate the living kazoo out of me, Professor Layton actually ended up being a really pleasant experience. This was probably in part due to it being presented in a lovely animated style with a classically English professor and comic bad guy who looked slightly like a more modern Dick Dastardly, but it was also a lot to do with the puzzles actually being, for the most part, good fun. That said, due to a certain series of bogglers I am never going to be able to look at a chessboard again without cringing.
Review
8: Dead Space
It might not have done anything particularly innovative, but Dead Space was a great example of a game doing something well tested and doing it very well indeed. Set on a giant space station that fallen curiously quiet, the game quickly set its stall out by scaring the pants off you with well-timed set pieces and unbearable moments of complete silence. The monsters themselves were particularly nasty too, coming across as some sort of insect/zombie hybrid that would make the skin of a waxwork model crawl. With Silent Hill missing the 2008 boat (and supposedly not being all that great :-( ), Dead Space filled the psychological horror gap in the schedule very nicely indeed.
Review
7: Ikaruga Live
Yes, yes – Ikaruga isn’t strictly a 2008 release, is it? Still, the re-release on Xbox Live earlier this year reminded me not only what a superb shooter it still is, but also left me in awe at the level I had previously been able to play the game at. Despite being frustratingly cack at it for a long period whilst I reacclimatised myself with the colour-switching mechanic and that I should focus on my ship and only briefly glance ahead, it never angered me and instead sucked me in, teasing me with the classic ‘one-more-go’ syndrome that it used to. A strict master it may be, but the sense of achievement is awesome.
Review
6: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
A mainstay of my DS throughout my fortnight in France, Apollo Justice carried on from where the Phoenix Wright series left off with more of the comedic, over-the-top courtroom antics mixed with hilarious cultural references and utterly bizarre characters and situations. What other game could feature the player finding out that a car had conked out due to some knickers being stuffed in the exhaust pipe? Exactly. In addition to this the game rounded itself off with a superbly clever last case that cleared up the nagging questions that had been sitting there throughout, leaving us all desperate to play the second instalment whenever it hits the shops. Make it soon, Capcom.
Review
5: Rock Band
Another title that isn’t strictly a 2008 release (curses to ridiculous delays in localisation etc etc), but seeing as we Euro folk only ended up getting our collective hands on it this year then it is able to be featured here. Rock Band was the first game I have ever played the virtual drums in, and whilst not exactly John Bonham reborn being able to rattle the pads whilst my flatmate riffed his way through song after song in the excellent career mode made the game one of the biggest time-fillers through the summer months. Coming home completely plastered from the local pub at 2am and jamming through Boston’s More Than A Feeling was probably my annual highlight, although the hangover the next day wasn’t.
Review
4: Left 4 Dead
A few weeks ago this might have been vying for top spot, but alas in the time since then I have discovered that I have a distinct aversion to Versus mode. The Campaign mode of which I am such a fan puts you and three mates into a truly fantastic siege mentality where it’s all for one and one for all, you and them against a horde of marauding zombies. Working your way through each chapter helping each other battle the odds against you is one of the finest multiplayer experiences in gaming today, and I am sure when they fix the BLOODY OVERPOWERED MELEE ATTACK ARRGGHHH on Versus that will be more enjoyable too.
Review
3: Fallout 3
As the opening strains of The Ink Spots’ I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire suggests, I really didn’t want to cause too much destruction in my time with Fallout 3. Sadly, I ended up doing so anyway. Venturing around Bethesda’s latest open-world RPG was as pleasurable a task as I have been given this year when it comes to reviewing games, with countless locations and subquests to discover should you take time away from trying to find your Father. It was so good, in fact, that I decided to start playing again right after I had completed it the first time, which for me is as rare as Jay saying no to a meat pie and pint for lunch.
Review
2: Braid
This almost, almost made number one. Developed by Indie bod Jonathan Blow (a nice chap if our brief email correspondence is anything to go by), the game was a 2D platformer with a whole load of clever time-bending mechanics packed in to make collecting the 50 jigsaw pieces a thought-provoking pastime. On top of this, the game looked utterly beautiful and carried a lovely whimsical tone that left a lasting impression and many unanswered questions long after the final – brilliant – last level had concluded.
Review
1: Alone in the Dark
Nah, just kidding.
1: Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved
More addictive than pickled onion Monster Munch and more colourful than a bag of Skittles (hellooooo product placement), Geometry Wars 2 rocked, plain and simple. With six different modes that each offered their unique take on the old Asteroids formula and multiplayer co-op and adversarial options, most of my summer was spent sitting with a look of complete concentration on my face as I continually tried to keep my high scores above that of Jay’s. Simple to learn, difficult to master and impossible to put down, everyone owes it to themselves to at least give it a go once.
Review
Three that missed the boat
Grand Theft Auto 4
Not sure why, but despite my initially overwhelming positive attitude to it I found myself going rather cold on it quite quickly. Perhaps it lacked the charm of the previous three titles, perhaps the constant bother of having people phone me to arrange social meetings annoyed me, but for whatever reason it went back on the shelf a few weeks after release and there it stayed.
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
Almost made it in, but for similar reasons to those above it missed out on the top ten. It wasn’t that Rare’s new spin on the series didn’t work – it did, and it was enjoyable enough, but as time wore on the more of a chore it seemed to become.
Metal Gear Solid 4
I let Jay take the reigns for the review of this as he’s much more into Metal Gear and the surrounding story than I, but when I eventually got round to playing it I found it to be… well, pretty normal as far as the game went. Sure, the cinematics were utterly awesome and told a compelling story, but I finished the game not being quite sure if the balance of movie and story had been correct.