Brett's Top 5 games of 2008

This has been one of the most amazing years ever for video games. The sheer amount of great games coming out just in this quarter is staggering. It is impossible for any normal person to be able to play them all. Here are my personal picks for the best games of 2008 based on what I have played. This list is totally subjective and based strictly on what I enjoyed the most.

#5: Resistance 2 (Playstation 3)

Having enjoyed the original Resistance Fall of Man I expected to enjoy Resistance 2, what I never would have guessed in a million years was that I enjoyed it more than Gears of War 2 which it pushed right out of my top 5! R2 is a gorgeous game, which features an enjoyable single player campaign as well as a very robust selection of online modes. In a lot of ways it feels like a Sci-fi version of COD 4 which means I see myself playing R2 online for months to come.

#4: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Playstation 3)

I had only dabbled in previous MGS games. I liked the atmosphere and story, but the actual game mechanics always made me eventually quit. With the latest installment Konami westernized the control scheme getting rid of the clunky 32 bit legacy. I beat MGS 4 and loved every minute of it. The extremely long cut scenes, bizarre Japanese sense of humor and melodrama, aren't everybody's cup of tea, but for my money this game is a Masterpiece.

#3: Saints Row 2 (Xbox 360)

I really liked the original Saints Row, it was a bit rough around the edges, but could definitely hang with GTA San Andreas, actually being the first Open world game to have enjoyable combat. Saints Row 2 however totally blew me away. It just took everything that was good about the original and turned the volume up to 11. In my opinion SR 2 is a better game than GTA 4 for the simple reason that it has far better Game play than GTA 4. GTA 4 was a high concept looking for a game, and the thing that got sacrificed in the process was FUN... and one thing that Saints Row 2 definitely is is fun.

#2: Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)

My Review of this game pretty much says it all. 70 hours of gaming pleasure with plenty of stuff left to see when I replay it (which I will quite soon) Not to mention substantial Downloadable content just over the Horizon. Fallout 3 is a must buy.

#1: Valkyria Chronicles (Playstation 3)

If someone had told me a year ago that my game of the year would be a Japanese RPG I'd have told them they were insane. I quit playing that genre seriously with the Sega Saturn. The simple fact is that Valkyria chronicles is the single most pure gaming experience that I have had in years. It just does everything right, from the story, to the presentation, to the delicious gameplay. I cannot Overstate what a joy this game is to play, and what a breath of fresh air it is in the most stale genre of console game that there is. Anyone who has a PS3 should get this game.

HONORABLE MENTION:

Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)

Bigger and badder with some nice refinements but still fundamentally the same game. Shitty vehicle parts really annoyed me. Horde mode is awesome!

Left 4 Dead: (Xbox 360)

A total blast to play with friends, just wish the graphics were better.

Farcry 2 (Xbox 360)

Great visuals, extremely immersive. Innovative mix of FPS and open world. Having Malaria sucks. Not far enough in to judge much more than that.