F13 Games of the Year

[Morfiend]

So, I was thinking that we should have some kind of Games of the Year for F13. Here are some categories go ahead and list your nominations. I will try to make some sense of everyone list in a few days time.

Best of

Game of the Year:

Best Art / Graphics:

Best Sound:

Best Story:

Best Multiplayer:

Worst Game of the Year:


GOTY By Platform

PC:

Xbox 360:

PS3:

Wii:


Opinion Categories:

Biggest Surprise (Why?):

Biggest Let Down:

[stray]

Admittedly, I haven't played that many. I will say though that Spore is the biggest letdown and Little Big Planet the best out of the ones I've played.

[schild]

Game of the Year: Dead Space
Best Art / Graphics: Dead Space
Best Sound: Dead Space
Best Story: Metal Gear Solid 4 (but honestly, this was a shit year for story) or maybe Persona 4 (haven't finished it)?
Best Multiplayer: Left 4 Dead
Worst Game of the Year: Impossible to gauge. Not a great year for gaming.

PC: L4D
Xbox 360: Nothing. This year was shit unless you liked easy RPGs or Gears of War.
PS3: MGS4
Wii: No More Heroes or My Life as a King, flip a coin.


Opinion Categories:
Biggest Surprise (Why?): Dead Space. (It was made by an EA studio and lived up to everything it promised and then some)
Biggest Let Down: GTA4

[Aez]

I only have a PC and a DS so yeah : Left 4 dead

[Moaner]

I'm gonna get laughed at.

Best of

Game of the Year: Resistance 2
Best Art / Graphics: MGS4
Best Sound: MGS4
Best Story: MGS4
Best Multiplayer: Resistance 2
Worst Game of the Year: Who knows...

GOTY By Platform

PC: Sins of a Solar Empire
Xbox 360: Who knows...
PS3: Resistance 2
Wii: Who knows...
DS: Shiren the Wanderer
PS2: Persona 4

Opinion Categories:

Biggest Surprise (Why?): Valkyria Chronicles.  (It was developed by Sega and didn't suck donkey cock like Bodil Jørgensen)
Biggest Let Down: Mercs 2 (How about we finish the game next time guys?)

[Sky]

Best of

Game of the Year: Fall from Heaven 2

GOTY By Platform

wat

Opinion Categories:

Biggest Surprise: Fallout 3. Bethsoft made a game that's fun. For the first time since Daggerfall.

Biggest Let Down: Spore. Good game, but they lived up to my fear and tried to make it too game-y. I want to go hang out exploring the universe and messing with planets and natives and I'm stuck dicking around defending planets and crap every minute.

I've only played a couple games this year. I was torn between FfH2 and Fallout 3 for GotY. I've been playing Fallout3 for two months and still interested in playing it. That's a heck of an accomplishment. I glanced over the "What are you playing" thread and I had gaming ennui most of the year...until Fallout 3 came out. Tough call, both are great games.

[Yegolev]

Best of

Game of the Year:
Fallout 3

Best Art / Graphics:
Braid

Best Sound:
Dead Space

Best Story:
Persona 4, even though I haven't played it.

Best Multiplayer:
Left 4 Dead

Worst Game of the Year:
srsly?  I have no idea since I don't play shitty games.

GOTY By Platform

PC:
Fall From Heaven 2

Xbox 360:
Dead Space

PS3:
Little Big Planet

DS:
Castlevania: Order of Eclesia

Wii:
Animal Crossing: City Folk

Opinion Categories:

Biggest Surprise (Why?):
Fallout 3, because Bethesda is a shit-filled short bus driven by talentless, three-fingered apes when one considers The Elder Scrolls series.

Biggest Let Down:
Never got my hopes up.  A winnar is me!

[schild]

Fall from Heaven is a mod, you fuckers.

Edit:

Biggest Surprise (Why?): Valkyria Chronicles.  (It was developed by Sega and didn't suck donkey cock like Bodil Jørgensen)

Oh snap, this is also a good answer.

[stray]

^ I think I need to buy it just to wash the taste of Fallout out of my mouth. Still need an RPG fix.


I know LBP is just a platformer, but it pisses me off in all of the right ways.

[SnakeCharmer]

GOTY:  Left 4 Dead
Best Art/Graphics:  Dead Space
Best Sound:  Dead Space, Left 4 Dead (tie)
Best Story:  They all pretty much suck, IMO.
Best MP:  Left 4 Dead
WGOTY:  Rainbow 6: Vegas 2

GOTY by platform:
No opinion

Biggest Surprise:  Dead Space, just wasn't expecting something that cool.
Biggest Letdown:  The Force Unleashed

[Yegolev]

Fall from Heaven is a mod, you fuckers.

We know, which should say a lot.  Besides, the underlying game is virtually undetectable.

Dead Space is a console game, you should have put Dead Space on the 360.

I'm gonna get laughed at.

Yep.  You forgot Haze.

[schild]

Fall from Heaven is a mod, you fuckers.

We know, which should say a lot.  Besides, the underlying game is virtually undetectable.

Dead Space is a console game, you should have put Dead Space on the 360.

I played Dead Space on the PS3. I try to keep console best ofs to console exclusives. Otherwise it's a pointless category.

As for FFH, IT'S STILL A MOD, DON'T CARE HOW COMPLETE IT IS! SNARL.

[Rasix]

Best of

Game of the Year:  Metal Gear Solid 4

Best Art / Graphics:  Metal Gear Solid 4

Best Sound:  Metal Gear Solid 4

Best Story:  Metal Gear Solid 4

Best Multiplayer:  No vote.  I don't play a lot of multiplayer except MMOs and I solo a lot in those.  

Worst Game of the Year: I don't buy or play games that would win this.


GOTY By Platform

PC: Fallout 3

Xbox 360: Fable II (bad year for the 360, IMO)

PS3:  Metal Gear Solid 4

Wii:  No More Heroes


Opinion Categories:

Biggest Surprise (Why?):  Fallout 3.  I was somewhat expecting a total fuck up.  Instead the worst thing I got was a bad main plot and dumb sidekicks.

Biggest Let Down:  Grand Theft Auto 4.  While this game may excel on technical merits and have done good things with moving to a coherent story, it's just not very fun.  Dark, brooding and overall, unwelcome to return once you leave it.  I fear the grit is here to stay, but a more lighthearted approach and an attempt at evening out the difficultly would do wonders for the next one in the series.

Metal Gear Solid 4 was a masterpiece.  I don't even remotely care for the series. I watched my brother play the first one and word of mouth was so bad on 2 and 3 that I didn't even consider purchasing them.  I just bought this with my PS3 after playing for a couple hours at schild's house.   It's a little long winded at the end, but the claims that it's nothing more than an interactive movie are off base.   It's fun, well paced, beautiful in all aspects, moving, etc etc and just meticulously crafted. Without Metal Gear Solid 4 the top of my list would likely have something different for every category.

[Samwise]

IT'S STILL A MOD, DON'T CARE HOW COMPLETE IT IS! SNARL.

Left 4 Dead is effectively a fancy Half-Life 2 mod, even if it's being marketed and sold as a distinct game.  Strike it from your list.

[stray]

Metal Gear Solid 4 was a masterpiece.  I don't even remotely care for the series. I watched my brother play the first one and word of mouth was so bad on 2 and 3 that I didn't even consider purchasing them.  I just bought this with my PS3 after playing for a couple hours at schild's house.   It's a little long winded at the end, but the claims that it's nothing more than an interactive movie are off base.   It's fun, well paced, beautiful in all aspects, moving, etc etc and just meticulously crafted. Without Metal Gear Solid 4 the top of my list would likely have something different for every category.

If you still have a need for more MGS, I'm sure MGS2 can still live up to the task. I don't know where you got the idea that it was crappy, but it's fairly similar to the new one.. just less whizbang, of course (I still haven't played much of 4 yet btw.. just fucking around.. so I don't know how to compare the two exactly - but from the looks of it, the underlying gameplay is similar.. and many of the features that are in 4 were introduced in 3).

[Hindenburg]

Game of the Year: Persona 4

Best Art / Graphics: Prince of Persia

Best Story: Persona 4

Worst Game of the Year: Eternal Poison


GOTY By Platform

PC: The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

Xbox 360: Saint's Row 2

Opinion Categories:

Biggest Surprise (Why?): World of Goo. Physics simulator that didn't outlast it's welcome.

Biggest Let Down: Tie. Armored Core: For Answer; Warhammer Online.

[stray]

How could you even have any hopes for a game called Armored Core: For Answer.

[Jain Zar]

So, I was thinking that we should have some kind of Games of the Year for F13. Here are some categories go ahead and list your nominations. I will try to make some sense of everyone list in a few days time.



GOTY By Platform

PC:

Xbox 360:

PS3:

Wii:

No Portables? No PS2?
Not bothering.

[Rasix]

WAAAAAAAH.   

Could add them yourself, you crazy fuck.

PS2: Persona 4
PSP: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core
DS: Don't own one.
iPhone: Not a platform, really. The katamari game is fun.

See, not so hard.

[Strazos]

Rasux got it for me...don't be a baby.


Art/Graphics: Dead Space
Sound: Dead Space
Story: Persona 4
Multiplayer: Was TF2 this year? If not, NHL 09 (even with the fucking flaws)
Worst: Oh geez...MK vs DC?

Biggest Surprise: Either Dead Space because I don't particularly like the genre, or Persona 4 for somehow being better than Persona 3.

Biggest Letdown: Mirror's Edge, because it was supposed to be awesome, but it was....not. More free-form play, please.

[Hindenburg]

How could you even have any hopes for a game called Armored Core: For Answer.

Here's the names of a few AC games:

• Silent Line: Armored Core
• Armored Core: Nexus
• Armored Core: Ninebreaker
• Armored Core: Last Raven
• Armored Core: Formula Front

From also did a game called Metal Wolf Chaos, and is releasing Ninja Blade in january. Bad names are a god damn tradition for them. When a fan looks at something like For Answer, which is the excuse From made for naming a game/expansion pack AC:4a, they don't even bat an eyelash.

[stray]

Yeah, but the new title is purely Engrish. What was the dialogue in the game like btw? I don't remember the last one seeming so rushed.

[schild]

I like From, but they're so hit or miss that if they ever made a masterpiece, I'd be truly surprised.

[MisterNoisy]

Overall:
Game of the Year -  Fallout 3
Best Art / Graphics - LittleBigPlanet
Best Sound - LittleBigPlanet
Best Story - Nothing stood out story-wise for me
Best Multiplayer - Saint's Row 2
Worst Game of the Year - Insert any of dozens of shovelware Wii titles here

By platform:  (I only counted platform-exclusives here)
PC - Sins of a Solar Empire
Xbox 360 - Gears of War 2
PS3 - LittleBigPlanet
Wii - No More Heroes
DS - Professor Layton and the Curious Village
PSP - No idea, since there was jack-shit released for PSP

Opinion Categories:
Biggest Surprise - EA spends serious time and money pushing two new IPs...
Biggest Let Down - ...said new IPs are ignored by pretty much everyone...

[Hindenburg]

What was the dialogue in the game like btw?

Appeared to be well translated. Didn't see any engrish, but AC's story has always been about corporate warfare, so, y'know, trite, irrelevant shit.


Also, didn't Dead Space sell well?

[FatuousTwat]

IT'S STILL A MOD, DON'T CARE HOW COMPLETE IT IS! SNARL.

Left 4 Dead is effectively a fancy Half-Life 2 mod, even if it's being marketed and sold as a distinct game.  Strike it from your list.

Snap.

[MisterNoisy]

Also, didn't Dead Space sell well?

I'm pretty sure Dead Space and Mirror's Edge both failed to meet sales expectations (particularly given the amount of money they spent pushing both titles), though the latter much more than the former.

(Edit:  Grammar)

[stray]

I usually like horror games, but I'm just not in the mood for it, so haven't bought it. The demo is intense... I didn't think I could put up with hours of that. 

[Velorath]

Game of the Year:  Left 4 Dead

Best Art/Graphics:  Dead Space

Best Sound:  Dead Space

Best Story:  ...

Best Multiplayer:  Left 4 Dead

Worst Game of the Year:  Pretty much any MMO I guess.


PC:  L4D

360:  Culdcept Saga edges out Fable II

PS3:  LittleBigPlanet

Wii:  Boom Blox


Biggest Surprise:  Dead Space.  I went into it expecting to like it.  I wasn't expecting it to set the bar for immersion though, with the HUDless interface.

Biggest Let Down:  AOC, because the parts of it I liked I thought were great, so it was that much more disappointing when it turned into a complete mess after the first 20 levels.

[Venkman]

Best Sound: Deadspace
Best Multiplayer: COD4. Because it didn't die off in Dec 07.
PC: Spore. Not necessarily just for me but because in my house this is truly a transgenerational gender-unbiased experience.
Biggest Surprise (Why?): Fallout 3 (haven't liked an RPG in ages), Mass Effect (should have liked this one more than I did). And Mirror's Edge. I didn't think I'd like it but ended up loving it.
Biggest disappointment: No More Heroes. I bought this entirely because schild loved it, and it would become the first of a few games that made me realize just how divergent our tastes are. Too much homogeny of opinion sucks though

I played Dead Space on the PS3. I try to keep console best ofs to console exclusives. Otherwise it's a pointless category.

Why? Exclusives are going the way of the dinosaur unless the Wii magically stops selling and the PS3 magically starts. Besides, I wonder how Dead Space could be considered an "exclusive" when it was also a (non-crappy actually really well delivered) PC game too?

I'm pretty sure Dead Space and Mirror's Edge both failed to meet sales expectations (particularly given the amount of money they spent pushing both titles), though the latter much more than the former.

Gamasutra agrees.

[Daeven]

Game of the Year: Master of Magic 2: Fall from Heaven. Yeah its a mod. Deal.
Best Art / Graphics: Dead Space
Best Sound: Dead Space
Best Story: Fallout 3 - the Bob subplot. Just because it is a tie in to the first to games. Otherwise... I've got nothing here.
Best Multiplayer: Left For Dead
Best Mod: Fall From Heaven
Honorable Mention: Fallout 3, because IMO they captured the setting. Now to mod out the main plot line and to turn it into a Warhammer 40k RPG or something.

Worst Game of the Year: Conan. Warhammer. Any MMO really.

Biggest Surprise (Why?):  World Of Goo. It's fun. Go buy it you jaded fucks.
Biggest Let Down: GTA 4.

[UnSub]

I'd love to play, but unfortunately I won't be playing many of these games until post 2008. Dead Space is certainly on my list though. The only title I can even consider for some of these is The Witcher: Extended Edition, but I don't think it deserves "Best Story" without me having played some of the other titles.

Biggest Disappointment: WAR. It was meant to be DAOC evolved; turned out to be full of second system design flaws and a complete lack of understanding of how players act and react in a game world.

Biggest Surprise: The number of big mergers and take-overs that occurred. 2008 was definitely a year of consolidation. I mean, if you said to someone at the start of the year, "Activision will merge with Vivendi, Bioware will be bought by EA and Infogrammes will buy out Atari and Cryptic" you'd have been laughed at.

[schild]

I played Dead Space on the PS3. I try to keep console best ofs to console exclusives. Otherwise it's a pointless category.

Why? Exclusives are going the way of the dinosaur unless the Wii magically stops selling and the PS3 magically starts. Besides, I wonder how Dead Space could be considered an "exclusive" when it was also a (non-crappy actually really well delivered) PC game too?

Please. As long as companies like Naughty Dog exist and the big 3 keep keeping studios internally, exclusives will never stop. Best console game is a chance to point out the best 1st party/2nd party title on a specific console. Wasting it on a cross-platform title is something I'd expect from Gamespot.

[Rasix]

Biggest disappointment: No More Heroes. I bought this entirely because schild loved it, and it would become the first of a few games that made me realize just how divergent our tastes are. Too much homogeny of opinion sucks though

No More Heroes has to be one of the bigger "love or hate" games I've ever played.  I'd always recommend someone to play it, just never buy it (if that makes any sense).  It's just too odd and two basic/repetitive for some. 

Honestly though, I didn't know you still gamed.  I thought you were more of the Nebu type only playing the newest MMOs.  Also, Mass Effect was a 2007 game. Just like COD4. lols.

Please. As long as companies like Naughty Dog exist and the big 3 keep keeping studios internally, exclusives will never stop. Best console game is a chance to point out the best 1st party/2nd party title on a specific console. Wasting it on a cross-platform title is something I'd expect from Gamespot.

Which they did: both the PC/360 awards were cross platform. I only put Fallout 3 because honestly, 2008 was a crap year on the PC for me except for WoW and older titles (I try not to give awards to WoW, even here).  For whatever reason, L4D didn't resonate with me at all.

Looking back at my gaming library, and what I haven't traded back in,  I own very few non-exclusives.  None on the PS3, none on the Wii, one on 360.  Heh.

[schild]

Which they did: both the PC/360 awards were cross platform. I only put Fallout 3 because honestly, 2008 was a crap year on the PC for me except for WoW and older titles (I try not to give awards to WoW, even here).  For whatever reason, L4D didn't resonate with me at all.

If an FPS is cross platform PC/360/whatever, I basically consider it exclusive to the PC. I'm just saying, glorifying the great 1st party games on Consoles is a rare opportunity considering the sort of knob that's slobbed over stuff like GTA, Capcom Title X, etc. For example, next year RE5 may be the game of the year, and I may very well give it game of the year, but I'll try to find something else for the 360 and PS3.

Biggest disappointment: No More Heroes. I bought this entirely because schild loved it, and it would become the first of a few games that made me realize just how divergent our tastes are. Too much homogeny of opinion sucks though smiley

I'm going to go on a straight ego head-trip here and say that my tastes are simply wider than yours. Of course, had you asked "should I buy No More Heroes?" I'd have told you no, no one should buy No More Heroes. You either love Suda51/Grasshopper or you don't. And anyone who didn't know who they were (which would be pretty apparent by the appearance of "should I buy") simply shouldn't be buying it. It's not the kind of game I'd bring up in the store when someone says "Hey, what's fun on the Wii?"

Of course, typically I'd just reply to that last question with "Get a PS3 or a PC and stop dicking around."

Edit: To be fair, some people liked No More Heroes that hated Killer 7, maybe it's partly because it really does stand out on the Wii or maybe because it's accessible and super easy and they suck at games so becoming the worlds #1 killer felt really awesome to them, whatever reason though, at least it sold better than his previous stuff. But that really only helps folks like me who hopes Suda51 keeps going off the deepend. Whereas everyone else is going to be totally burned by whatever he makes after No More Heroes 2.