Best Video Games Of 2008

 

I would describe myself as a mild gamer. Keep in mind, I rock the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PSP. So all the games on my list reflect these platforms. Also, I enjoy mostly RPG’s, Platformers, 3rd person action type games. So, while the zombies look better every year I’m not really into splattering BRAINS and strategically dismembering spooky space creatures and basking in the most satisfying gore ever. That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with just wanting to shoot stuff sometimes, it’s all good…just not my cup o’ tea. The great strength of the business these days is that it is catering to everyone, something I’ve seen both in the games and in the people who play them. The video game industry has never been more reliable in producing high-quality mass entertainment for a variety of audiences with a variety of tastes. Three years into the current generation of game systems, developers are ceding nothing to other entertainment media in terms of high-end production values and overall attention to detail. In these hard economic times there is NO BETTER bang for your buck. (Editors note: I have accepted minor input on these choices from friends and enemies alike and they have given their “two cents” when asked or otherwise).

Little Big Planet
There isn’t anything else like LBP on any system, anywhere. A powerful creative tool that puts unlimited potential in the palm of your hand. This game is lightning in a bottle. It reinvents how video games are played. A gamble that live up to the hype and feels like a birth of a revolution.

MGS4: Guns Of The Patriots
I didn’t play or even own this game (yet!) With that being said I’m told that nothing comes close to this masterpiece. Some have even said that this one will stand through the tests of time and will still be referred to as perhaps the pinnacle of storytelling in videogames. I know, I know…I’m off to the gamestop.

GTA4
Liberty City has never felt so alive. The best “open world’ game yet and the finest title of the series. It's amazing that a sequel that keeps the core gameplay concepts of its prior incarnations can do so much to change itself into something new. If all games were all this good, no one would ever leave the house.

Honorable mention(s)
Fable 2 (epic in scope & sound and completely absorbing), Prince Of Persia (It’s not very long but long enough) & Fallout 3 (think ‘Oblivion’ with guns).