Best Games of 2008

I guess I'm making it a tradition to start these lists on the second Monday of the new year. I thought it was a good year for games, a lot of people were disappointed by some of the bigger games but I didn't have much of a problem with any of them. A couple big ones I didn't get around to included Gears of War 2, Resistance 2 (still gotta play the first!), and Mirror's Edge. Sam and Max had the second straight year of funny, enjoyable episodic adventures, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames was fun but sadly unpolished, and Price of Persia was an interesting reboot that didn't quite live up to its heritage.

Best of 2008

7. Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty (PS3)


Many faulted it for its brevity, but that's really the point - I'd love to see more of my favorite series have more manageable and economic installments now and again, especially when they're so affordable and allow newcomers to get a taste without a huge investment. Not as good as a full, "real" Ratchet game, but not many things are.

6. Bionic Commando: Rearmed (Multi)


I don't even have nostalgia for the original NES game, but I didn't need it - the arm makes the combat and platforming some of the most fun I've ever had with a side-scrolling game, it looks and sounds awesome, and it's pretty funny too.

5. Fallout 3 (Multi)


Did we ever get official word from Fallout's insane fanbase on whether Bethesda's take on their favorite series really was the abomination they assumed it was from the beginning? Whatever the case, even though it may just have been The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with a coat of post-apocalyptic paint, that's enough to keep me interested for a long time.

4. Braid (360)


Lots of download only games were great this year, but this one definitely takes the cake. The combination of wonderful production values, unique and mind-bending gameplay, and at times brilliant storytelling make it definitely worth playing however you find a way to.

3. Left 4 Dead (PC)


I haven't played it as much as I would have liked, although that always seems to happen with me and primarily multiplayer games. But when you are playing it, it can be one of the most thrilling shooter experiences imaginable, and the presence of your friends backing you up just makes it better.

2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Multi)


These last two games both got a lot of backlash, but screw that, they helped make for one of the best non-Fall gaming seasons ever. A lot of people prefer GTA's freedom and wackiness over their attempts at something more, and for them there are games like Saints Row 2 and Crackdown. But the direction they took with the first current gen entry in the popular series was probably the one they needed to take to keep it ahead of the curve. It's still a lot of fun to screw around, but it's nice to see someone trying to do more with the medium.

1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)


Yeah, Kojima went a little overboard trying to explain every loose end, turning nanomachines from an interesting plot device into a joke. But for the most part it's the most fun to play that MGS has ever been, it's nice to see a famous game character's story actually come to a real end, and it really doesn't hurt that the game looks amazing. I'd be lying to myself if I said it wasn't my favorite game of 2008.

Notable Exception

LittleBigPlanet (PS3)

I was enjoying this game quite a lot and it most likely would have made the list, but under absurd circumstances I accidentally broke the disc and couldn't get a new one in time, and I don't like speaking definitively on a game when I haven't seen all it has to offer.