Game of the Year 2008

I wanted to to my own special kind of article revolving around my personal Game of the Year for 2008, but alas, not surprisingly I never got around to it.

So I will throw down the goods and offer a little bit of commentary on three different games that three different sites have crowned Game of the Year.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - GameFAQs Poll of the Day

Obviously the best game for the Wii last year (also, I have not played No More Heroes, so for me it's obvious). Sadly, to name another decent Wii game from last year, I think of only Mario Kart Wii and Guitar Hero: World Tour. WiiWare and Virtual Console games don't count for me.

But Brawl offers the most out of any game the Wii has ever offered. Infinite hours of gameplay come out of the best fighting game I have played. The expanded character selection is solid, especially with newcomers like Solid Snake and King Dedede (I don't care much for Sonic). Gamers can mock the Wii al they want, but surely they will agree the Brawl is the finest local multiplayer game to be played; better than playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

The vote was incredibly close in the two final polls that were used to determine the Game of the Year. About 2,500 votes separated Brawl with MGS4 in the first poll (Fallout 3 the other game), and in the final vote, 4,000 votes (4 percent) separated the two. This selection for Game of the Year might be the best considering the gamers chose it, not editors.

Fallout 3 - IGN.com

I actually went out and bought this game, seeing its potential early on from the preview articles and I played a bit of the original Fallout over the summer to try to geta good feel for the setting. Fallout 3 plays much different from the original, and that I think makes it much, much better.

Although you won't commit as many hours into Fallout 3 as I eventually will accumulate with Brawl, I still have commited about 40 hours into one character in Fallout 3. I don't think I have traveled to half of the places that the Wasteland has to offer. Now that a Trophey patch has been added for the PS3 version, it begs me to start all over again and try a whole new approach.

IGN really surprised me on this one, and even stated that despite two games receiving a perfect 10 in 2008 (Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4), the editors got the most out of playing Fallout 3, and I cannot disagree with them that Fallout 3 has the most to offer any gamer in terms of character development and story progression. I look forward to a replay during the summer.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Gamespot

MGS4 had Game of the Year written all over it before it was even played. Before it was even released. Before it was even officially announced. Gamers knew that the bar was going to be raised with Solid Snake's final chapter. I was not disappointed. I bought a PS3 for this game.

Never have I been so enveloped by the way a story was told. My emotions were effected with each new deveopment, and I could honestly not wait to see the next cutscene, and then play some more, and then to see another cutscene. An amazingly paced game with environments sculpted perfectly for its style of play. Graphics? I should not need to say anything.

The editors described their take on this game beautifully. They could say something about the game that made it great, but then had to say another moment, and another moment, and another. From Snake running through streets as Geckos crash all around him; Raiden's duels with Vamp, so emotionally fueled; the point where it seems Ocelot has won by taking over the system; A MOTHER FUCKING BATTLE BETWEEN METAL GEAR REX AND METAL GEAR RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow.

This is it folks, Metal Gear Sold 4: Guns of the Patriots is my Game of the year for 2008. Why am I not replaying it right now????