All this week, Gamervision’s writers will be listing their five favorite games of 2008.  These aren’t necessarily the best games of the year, they’re the ones that made the biggest impression on us, kept us coming back the longest, and most affected the way we think of, see, and play games.  These are the titles that will influence what we play and how we view the gaming landscape over the coming year and beyond.

Make sure to check us out next week when we announce our “Best Ever of 2008 Awards,” where we name our picks for the best in every genre in gaming, along with a few superlatives for other achievements in gaming.  It all leads up to our presentation of our “Game of the Year” on January 2, so keep checking back with us for our assessment of the best of the year in gaming.

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For me, 2008 was all about experimentation.  No, not the kind you do in college, where you test the effects of various chemicals on your bloodstream, or the kind where you figure out which type of sexual partner you really want, but the kind where you try new types of games you’ve never had much experience with.  Between classic RPGs like Chrono Trigger, mind-bending puzzlers like Echochrome, handheld tactics games like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift, and genre-straddling platformers like Braid, I broadened my gaming horizons this year more than any other.  Of course, that doesn’t mean I abandoned my standard genres; I still managed to get in plenty of hours of sports, action and fighting games.  In fact, I probably logged more hours gaming this year than any previous year of my life, making it harder than ever to pick my five favorite games of the last 12 months.  Amidst the literally thousands of games released this year, and the hundreds I played extensively, these are the five that best captured my imagination.



Fallout 3

As a longtime fan of the Elder Scrolls series, I was instantly intrigued by the prospect of Fallout 3.  At first glance, the title looked like Oblivion with guns, and if that’s all the game turned out to be, I would have been perfectly happy with it.  Fortunately, Bethesda had way more up their sleeve, and managed to produce what is probably the best western RPG ever made.  With its massive world, unique combat mechanics, over-the-top violence, robust character building and totally convincing post-apocalyptic setting, Fallout 3 kept me coming back more often and for longer stretches of time than any other title this year. It also made a die-hard Elder Scrolls fan into a die-hard Fallout fan.  Struggling for survival in the Capital Wasteland is an experience that never gets old, and the moral and ethical dilemmas the game raises not only make Fallout 3 one of the most thought-provoking games in recent memory, it also gives the game nearly infinite replayability. 


Grand Theft Auto IV

It would be almost silly to leave GTA IV off of this list.  Instead of quickly hacking out a hi-def sequel to GTA San Andreas, Rockstar went the extra mile and crafted one of gaming’s true epics.  The rags to riches story of Russian immigrant, Niko Bellic, is a tale that resonates with anyone who believes in the American dream, and it’s told with brilliant direction, superb voice acting, eclectic and the trademark sense of humor that made the GTA series what it is today.  There also happens to be one hell of an action game in there, as well.  GTA IV took everything that worked from the previous three installments, replaced the previously clunky combat mechanics with tight, responsive controls, set it in perhaps the most realistic virtual city ever created, and threw in one of the year’s most entertaining multiplayer experiences (what other game makes you crack up laughing almost every time you die?) and ended up with a title that will be played and remembered for years to come.


Ninja Gaiden II

When the Ninja Gaiden franchise was resurrected for the original Xbox, gamers rejoiced at the opportunity to play an extremely fast-paced, violent action title featuring legendary 2D ninja character, Ryu Hayabusa.  The title was well received by both fans and critics, but both complained about the same issue; difficulty.  Few action games in the modern era can match Ninja Gaiden’s brutal level of challenge, and just as few are as exciting and memorable.  Fortunately, Ninja Gaiden II is just as much fun, and leads to significantly fewer broken controllers.  It’s visually impressive, frenetically paced, and features sublime controls and combat mechanics.  Best of all, the game can be finished by most decent gamers.  It may not be the most technically stunning game, nor the most innovative, but it is an action game on par with its predecessor that’s accessible, bloody and fun as hell.  What more is there to ask for?


NHL 09

Since the days of the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, I’ve played every single NHL game that EA has produced.  And I’ve played them each a whole lot.  I’ve also played many of the hockey offerings that 2K have produced.  Add in the many hours spent with Blades of Steel and Ice Hockey for the NES, and I can confidently call myself an expert on hockey video games.  Last year, EA scored a big-time goal with their excellent NHL 08 title, crafting a more realistic hockey experience than anyone had ever seen.  As good as last year’s game was, this year’s version cross checks it into the boards, leaves it laying flat on its back, gasping for air, and scores a natural hat trick on it with its eyes closed.  Everything that was good last year is great this time around.  With picture perfect controls, gorgeous visuals, wickedly smart opponent and teammate AI, and one of the most innovative game modes ever conceived, Be-A-Pro mode, NHL 09 feels more like the sport that it simulates than any other sports game I’ve ever played.  Every year, this series improves over its already excellent predecessor.  Judging from this year’s offering, it’s going to be really tough for EA to one-up themselves in 2009.

 
Professor Layton and the Curious Village

You won’t often find me playing cutesy games.  Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon and Wii Music are nowhere to be found in my house for a reason; I’m a man, dammit!  I like manly games like Gears of War, God of War and pretty much anything else “of War.”  So what the hell is Professor Layton and the Curious Village doing welded into my DS?  Well, for one thing, it has a European cartoon art style that I fell in love with immediately.  More important, though, are the seemingly endless puzzles that populate the game.  While the idea of distributing water into different pitchers to make them all the same volume may not sound like a great video game, let me assure you; it is.  The DS is made for short play sessions, and Layton is designed to take full advantage of this.  Of course, that’s assuming you play one or two puzzles, then go about your business.  The problem is that the puzzles are so engaging and, at times, brain-bendingly challenging, that you’ll be hard pressed to put the thing down.  In the grand tradition of games like Tetris, The Sims and World of Warcraft, Professor Layton and the Curious Village invariably makes gamers say “just one more” over and over and over.  If only it were that easy.

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This concludes Gamervision's writing staff's five favorite lists, but make sure you're here next week when we give our official year-end awards for just about every genre in gaming, as well as some other "Best of 2008" awards.  Then, on Friday, January 2 2009, make sure to check out Gamervision when we announce our Game of the Year for 2008!

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