Now that 2007 has come to a close, it's time to look back at the important things in entertainment. However, since I missed most of the good movies of 2007 (No Country For Old Men, Juno, 3:10 To Yuma, et cetera), I guess I will just cover video games.
2007 was a good year for video games, albeit lackluster or disappointing in several ways. The bad: Games like Halo 3, Heavenly Sword, and Lair all sucked; Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Home, Metal Gear Solid IV, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Too Human all got pushed back to 2008; and PlayStation 3 got a lot of bad ports. The good: It marked the first full year of all three consoles competing on the market, a lot of nifty news and twists, and a bunch of games gaining and losing exclusivity. Let's also not forget the sweet games that hit all three this year. Let's go over them.
XBOX 360
- Mass Effect
- BioShock
- Undertow
- Alien Hominid HD
PlayStation 3
- Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
- Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
- Warhawk
- Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Wii
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
- Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
- Link's Crossbow Training
Multi-Platform
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- The Orange Box
- Rock Band
- Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
A note before I continue: I don't care about Rock Band, but its quality is commendable.
As with any look-back, it is necessary to note the superlatives. As far as the multi-platform games go, Call of Duty 4 takes the cake. I don't even like first-person shooters or war games, but this game is done with so much thought and attention to detail that anyone will love it. The story can be a little confusing at times (who am I playing as right now?), but it doesn't really matter. It's also worth noting that this game runs perfectly on both PS3 and 360. Most multi-platform games this year ran like garbage on the PS3, and it began to reflect a poor image of the PS3. Infinity Ward showed that It wasn't a bad console, just bad developers that wouldn't take the time to get it to work.
XBOX 360 had a good year, with BioShock and Mass Effect leading the race. I have to go with Mass Effect because, despite its plethora of technical issues, it exceeds many expectations that many folks had. BioShock, for me, was just a good shooter, if you like to play alone. I don't. So, BioShock was interesting, but not for me. Mass Effect compelled me to play through it twice in two weeks.
PS3 had a good year, though not as good as many were hoping for. The two games that stand out for me are Ratchet & Clank and Uncharted, though Warhawk shouldn't be ignored either. Many people are going to side with Uncharted, because of its newness and graphical shock. However, I've got to go with Ratchet & Clank, which hasn't been getting the attention it deserves for its impressive length, overall polish, and lack of demons.
Wii didn't go to well for real gamer fans, but did for everyone's parents who just want to box on Wii Sports. Two games blessed us, however: Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3. While both are great, Galaxy takes the cake, and then bakes a new cake to taunt Samus with. Super mario Galaxy is probably the best game Nintendo has made since Super Mario 64. It's a shame he isn't on a more powerful console.
So now it comes down to the big question: What's the best? Mass Effect, Galaxy, or Ratchet & Clank? An RPG, an adventure, and a shooter, all set in space, where one travels about to various unique planets and completes completely different kinds of objectives. How do you choose which is the best of such different games? In terms of length, there's two ways to go: To the end and to the 100% mark. To the end, Mass Effect is probably the shortest. To completion, Mass Effect is probably also the longest. In terms of story, Mass Effect comes first, and Galaxy dead-last. When it comes down to polish, John Shepard obviously trips at the start line, and Mario and Ratchet have a Chariots of Fire-style showdown, with the Italian pulling just barely ahead. With whatever way you break it down, you can configure one to be better than the other in some fashion.
So, what do you guys think? Mass Effect, Galaxy, or R&C? Or do you think, "Fuck them! Call of Duty 4!" Let me hear your thoughts.
Arkuni
The Orange Box ... always ^^
Everything about HL2E2 is just so perfect in every way.
Portal is a super cool sidekick
Team Fortress 2 is a long awaited game.
But CoH4 is REALLY close, but the fact that the story is just so simple makes it lack behind.
Bioshock is just like HL2E2 (nearly), but the fact that it is so short (no additional add-ons), makes it lose.
That's my 2 cent ^^
KupaMan
The thing with The Orange Box is that it's basically two mini-games and an online mode that doesn't work very well. Half-Life 2 and HL2: Episode 1 aren't new, just thrown in to complete the package (which makes for a great deal, but still). So the new stuff is just HL2: Episode 2 which is pretty short and Portal, which is pretty short. Team Fortress is decent and it looks great, but it has a lot of issues. Like KwikToon says below, The Orange Box is mostly a game for the Half-Life fan-base.