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« on: December 22, 2007, 03:29:50 PM »
As is traditional now with Xmas upon us and the new year right around the corner, it's time for the annual best of gaming thread. Same rules as previous years, has to have been released in your home country within 2007.
And to kick off, I'll begin with my top 5 of 2007.
5. The Orange Box (Valve, PC)
Half-Life 2, the 2 episodes, Portal and Team Fortress. While not a fan of steam, you can't argue with the value for money here, even if it is a bit of a slap in the face to those that already forked out for episode one seperately.
4. Tabula Rasa (Destination Games, PC)
The newest game from Richard Garriott of Ultima fame, TR is a refreshing change from MMORPG's. For a start, it's sci-fi based rather than being another Mages and Dragons type affair and the combat system des away with the auto-attack method and instead functions like a first person shooter. Unlike the disaster that was the NGE for Galaxies, the system works for TR, though it's not identical to it. Stll early days for the game but huge potential awaits as the first big content patch is still to come.
3. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (EA LA, PC)
Mammoth Tanks, Commandos, tiberium, it's all there. A lovely return to C&C that does away with the complexity of its peers and does exactly what it sets out to do, deliver fun by the Tiberium harvester load. Several notable names in the cutscenes that don't take themselves too seriously but don't fall into a trap of being outright cheese.
2. Halo 3 (Bungie X360)
Third and final part of the story-arc, Halo 3 more than makes up the rather disappointing way Halo 2 ended. Several questions are answered, a few more are asked, and it leaves the universe open to see the Master Chief and co again down the line.
1. Mass Effect (Bioware, X360)
Simply stunning - not without its flaws, but none of them take the shine off a well constructed story and superb voice acting, some of which you'll remember from Knights of the Old Republic. Nice to see a sci-fi themed RPG in a sea of fantasy based stuff that invokes the spirit of Star Wars without losing its own identity.
Biggest disappointment: Bioshock (2K)
Sorry, but while a good game, I don't think it lived up to the legacy of System Shock. In fact I think even claiming it was the spiritual successor in the first place actually hurt it rather than helped. The whole copy protection farce didn't do it any favours either. I just found it to be rather lacking in atmosphere and thought a few of the design choices to be rather questionable.
Biggest Turkey: Hellgate: London )Flagship Studios)
Holy shit. That's all I have to say about that.
Picks for 2008:
(Beyond obvious stuff like GTA 4)
Fable 2
Army of Two
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