Picks of 2008
Originally written for the Cranky Gamers UK blog…
Burnout Paradise (PS3)
Burnout Paradise’s open world gameplay was a blast of fresh air for the series and successfully combined a solid solo racing experience with seemless online multiplayer. Initially great value for money, it was the game that just kept on giving. Criterion’s “Year of Paradise” saw the retail offering totally transformed by the addition of new online challenges and events, a day and night cycle and the introduction of motorbikes.
Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)
This four disk opus was my favourite RPG of the year. Managing to deliver a story both epic and intimate, it’s a game that had grown men weeping over their Xbox controllers. The strong narrative will enable most players, even those usually frustrated by JRPG conventions, to overlook any minor technical niggles and the fairly standard gameplay. Completing this title is forty hours well spent.
Civilization Revolution (Xbox 360)
Achieving the almost impossible challenge of distilling the essential elements of the classic PC strategy game into a cool console cocktail, this release deserves the “Civilization” moniker. Even in its slimmed down form, this turned-based game of world domination is still capable of eating into your free time like a famished piranha. Stock up on the morning coffee. You’ll be spending some late nights with this one.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
Although little more than a collection of brainteasers, this story driven package with clever twists on classic challenges kept my wife glued to our DS for a week. With sales figures that prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a demand for more cerebral entertainment, the game’s greatest puzzle still remains unsolved… Why did it take so long to reach us in Europe?
LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
Forget the locked down, tightly controlled, commercialised world of Playstation Home – nothing showcases the community potential of the PS3 better than LittleBigPlanet. Level design tools and gameplay fuse together to inspire the player to take on the role of creator themselves. It’s one of the few Playstation exclusives this year that managed to both turn the heads of Xbox 360 fanboys and also fully reward those who chose to pledge their allegiance to Sony’s monolithic machine. LittleBigPlanet may have seemed a little forgotten and unloved these past couple of months, pushed aside by noisier releases offering instant gratification, but it’s a game that you’ll potentially be putting back in your console for years to come.
Tags: Burnout Paradise, Civilization Revolution, LittleBigPlanet, Lost Odyssey, Professor Layton
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January 2nd, 2009 at 5:26 am
Read this the other day on CG:UK. My first thought was “Ruh-roh” ‘cos none of these are on my list (though LBP will likely be soon enough). Then again, I haven’t played four of them (or at least nearly enough of them) so that may well be why. I’ll get round to them once I learn how to stop time.
January 2nd, 2009 at 10:46 am
Thanks for the comments.
I just checked out your end of year list and there were only three games on there that I’ve actually played as well. Probably a case of different gaming tastes… I don’t play many shooters. Fallout 3 would’ve made it onto mine if I’d warmed to it quicker and I was also trying to balance things out and pull from each of the formats I’d played on.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Nice picks, although shamefully I haven’t played any of these (with the exception of the Burnout Paradise demo). What I’ve seen of the games has certainly impressed me though – I’ve even got a copy of Lost Odyssey somewhere, but I haven’t had time to play it.
Nice to see you’ve made some choices more original than the standard bandwagon-jumping answers of GTA IV, Fable II, Fallout 3, etc. I haven’t seen Civ Rev in any other 2008 Best Of lists, despite being a reportedly great game!
February 10th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Good to see Civ Rev on someones list. That game gave me the best week of gaming of 2008.