Consolation Prize

It seems to be traditional during the festive season to offer up some sort of list, whether it’s the “Best”, “Worst”, “Overhyped” or whatever adjective fits the agenda – well it’s my turn so I’m going to dish up my top 5 favourite games played this year.

There is, however, a small caveat – and that is to be considered for the list I must have at least played the game to completion this year. You will therefore notice that some high profile games like Fable 2 and Fallout 3 aren’t on the list, as even with the best will in the world there just aren’t enough hours in the day to play EVERY game that’s released in the mad rush towards Christmas. This isn’t a vapour-ware list of games I think should be worthy, but just a plain and honest list of games that I’ve enjoyed above and beyond my expectations this year.

5. Castle Crashers (Xbox 360 - Arcade)

There is something incredibly joyous about returning to the good old simplistic hack ‘n slash genre that is so representative of Castle Crashers. It’s as if the shackles have suddenly been thrown off and your inner child has suddenly been released and you’re free to play a game just for fun again - without worrying about “what it all means”. Castle Crashers wraps this shackle free gameplay up with some beautiful art design, adds a smattering of guttural humour and gives you a game that’s a joy to play time and time again.

Read what I thought of Castle Crashers here.

4. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

A piece of Nintendo hardware somehow feels incomplete if it doesn’t have the latest iteration of Mario Kart gracing its circuitry, and Mario Kart Wii retains the great handling and thoroughbred racing credentials that made the series famous. Nothing much really changes, but this time around Mario Kart features an abundance of characters, a great selection of circuits (both old and new), and a fantastic global time trial system and on-line play. As always Nintendo delivers a highly polished product that is hard to put down and brings out the competitive instinct in everyone.

Read what I thought of Mario Kart Wii here.


3. Dead Space (Xbox 360)

It was only released recently but it didn’t take long before Dead Space became one of my favourite games of the year. This Sci-Fi survival horror game may seem like an amalgamation of every movie you’ve seen but arguably the gameplay was still top notch. It ticked all the right boxes in my book, providing an atmospheric and nerve wracking experience that shouldn’t be missed. It’s a shame that it mostly got suffocated by the mass of big-hitters that were released during the same period, but hopefully a scheduled sequel should still be in the works.

Read what I thought of Dead Space here.


2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360)

Although it felt like it started to lose its way slightly towards the end, for the majority of the time Grand Theft Auto IV was an amazing experience. There were plenty of draw dropping moments that took place within the stunning beauty of Liberty City – perhaps the best digitally realised city to ever grace a console to date – that kept me hooked and pushed me on to the bloody finale. The game’s dynamics may not be too far removed from the tried and tested formula of previous incarnations; but the darker, moodier, protagonist Nico Bellic was, in my opinion, the best lead of the series and brought a much needed emotional depth of character to the franchise.

Read what I thought of GTA IV here.


1. Half-Life 2 – Episode Two (Xbox 360)

I may have been late to the party, playing this almost a year after its release as part of the sublime The Orange Box collection, but what a party it was. The escapades of Gordon Freeman never fail to impress and Episode Two delivered in spades. It had everything one could wish for in a game; moments of drama, elements of suspense, well scripted dialog, and superlative action sequences. It can stand proudly among the echelons of gaming’s elite, and the fact that the episode only lasts for as little as five brief but glorious hours does in no way diminish it’s brilliance. This is one definitely not to be missed by any gamer!

Read what I thought of Episode 2 here.

If I were to write a list like this there would hardly be enough 2008 released games to legitimze it!

I was completely disappointed with Mario Kart Wii being a 1.5 of the previous game. Even though I love the series dearly, I have no intention of picking that one up.

Castle Crashers looks so completely awesome, and your inclusion of Half-life just makes me want to get home and finally play through this series.

My list would have Rock Band 2, Gears of War 2, and A Kingdom for Keflings on it, but I’ll have to think about the other 2 spots.

@Jigsaw hc - Rock Band 2 has only recently come out over here and I’ve not had the chance to check it out. I have played through Gears of War 2, but only the single player campaign, which I found to be slightly disappointing. I really need to check out the multi-player side.

@Daniel Primed - I thought Mario Kart Wii was definitely better than Double Dash (which I didn’t really get on with), and probably MK 64 (which I’ve many fond memories of). I don’t think Nintendo will ever radically alter the series, and I’m not even sure how they could without taking it in a completely different direction - but then it wouldn’t be Mario Kart anymore.