Best Video Games of 2008

Well the year is almost over and I haven't finished my "Best of" series yet. And my delaying has again let my brother beat me to a post. Anyway, aside from movies, the other entertainment area that takes up lots of my free time is video games. I wanted to inform everyone about my favorite video games that were released in the previous year. Here are my rules:

1) Release date in this current year (by my count that equals 9 games...sort of)
2) I have to have played the full game, not a demo

Honorable mentions: I know I'm going to enjoy these games, but I just received them for Christmas. Which means I haven't really played the full game...yet, but I'm going to go ahead and start the list with them.

10. Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom - Honestly, I know nothing about this game but got it for Christmas. It's an action-RPG with online co-op play. So, I'll hit it up with my bro and see how it is.

9. Dead Space - My brother has played it and compared it to Resident Evil 4, which is easily one of my favorite games...ever. So, I'm really looking forward to it.

8. Fallout 3 - From the makers of Oblivion (also one of my favorite games), comes an action-role playing game (RPG) in a post-apocalyptic world. I've played the very beginning of this game and am enthralled thus far.

Ok, now the true countdown begins, as I have played enough of all of these games to make an accurate assessment.

7. Unreal Tournament III - A shooting game that is basically the same in single player as it is in multi-player. Primarily picked up so my brother and I could play against computer-controlled bots. Fun, but relatively average.

6. Fable 2 - Another action-RPG, but this one failed to live up to the hype. I wasn't a huge fan of the expression system (instead of a conversation system). The story was ok. The combat system was good, but still left much to be desired overall.

5. RockBand 2 - More of the same from the first RockBand game. An improved World Tour mode, and compatability with all RB1 songs made this a one stop shop for all things music. I'm a fan.

4. Rainbow 6: Vegas 2 - I honestly didn't realize that this had a 2008 release date until I looked it up for the post. I was a huge fan of the first game and equally enjoyed this one. No real tweaks over the original. A better advancement system and more customization, but a slightly poorer terrorist hunt mode. Still, I'm in for any Rainbow 6 game in the future.

3. Gears of War 2 - High expectations and easily met them. Probably the best single player story mode of any game this year. I loved the single player. However, the multiplayer just doesn't quite do it for me. I know it is similar to the original in this area, but I never was a huge fan either. Sadly, I still haven't ever gotten into a Horde mode, which is highly raved about.

2. Call of Duty: World at War - The CoD franchise returns to WWII, and I was excited. Solid single player levels, but a poor story. However, amazing online play. I love this game online. The upgrade and perk system from CoD4 is brought along and still impresses. CoD may easily become my favorite franchise ever if this quality keeps up.

And my favorite game of the year....

1. Left 4 Dead - I like zombies and I like shooting games, and now there is a game that puts them together. And does so near flawlessly. It holds up well as a single player game, but shines in co-op and versus modes. Even with only 4 missions/stories/movies, the AI system successfully keeps things interesting and different. The versus mode (with friends) has resulted in some of the funniest moments ever. Really hope they get some new maps out there without reqiuring much more of an investment.

There they are. Best games of 2008, and I'm really looking forward to a few games in the early months of 2009 (Lord of the Rings: Conquest and Resident Evil 5).

Until next time...enjoy your gaming....