Bradley Metrock
President, Score Holdings LLC
General Manager, The Score of Cool Springs (4091 Mallory Lane, Suite 124, Franklin, TN 37067)
December 2008
Industry watchers will look back at 2008 as one of the biggest years in video gaming history, in terms of both the quantity and quality of new video games released to the marketplace.
Not only did the Apple iPhone emerge as a brand-new gaming platform all its own (which would’ve had two entries, Fieldrunners and Rolando, on this list if it were the Top 15 Games of the year), but Sony’s PlayStation 3 bounced back from a difficult 2007 with a strong lineup in 2008.
The Nintendo Wii continued its market dominance, thanks mainly to a software title that’s not even a game – Wii Fit – while the Nintendo DS distanced itself considerably from the Sony PSP as the must-have handheld system.
And last, but certainly not least, the Xbox 360 surged in 2008, thanks to a barrage of blockbusters and a successful upgrade of its already best-in-class online system, Xbox Live.
Without further ado, let’s get to the Top 10 video games of 2008!
10. Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360): One of several brand-new franchises to surface on the Xbox 360 this year, this survival-horror game forces four-player teams to work together to move from building to building as they attempt to flee the city from hordes of zombies.
9. MLB ’08: The Show (PS3): Simply the best baseball video game ever made.
8. Braid (Xbox Live Arcade): In a year where indie video game development exploded, Braid stood tall as the best indie game released on any system this year. Forget guns and gore - this brilliant platformer arms the gamer with time itself as the weapon of choice against the forces of evil. Bring your brain, not brawn, to advance through what some might call the smartest game of the year.
7. Dead Space (Xbox 360/PS3): Like the #10 game above, Dead Space is another new video game franchise that gamers should expect to spawn sequels for years to come. Stranded aboard the USS Ishimura, Dr. Isaac Clarke battles all kinds of nightmares out in space as he unravels an ancient mystery, giving gamers an engrossing experience they won’t soon forget.
6. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360/PS3): The latest installment in this controversial franchise is the greatest selling product in entertainment history, selling 3.6 million copies in one day, and grossing more than $500 million in revenue in its first week on sale.
5. The World Ends With You (DS): In an incredibly strong year for the Nintendo DS handheld system in terms of quality titles released, The World Ends With You crushed the competition. This deep role-playing game, inspired by elements of Japanese youth culture, features one-of-a-kind gameplay centered around “psych pins” which have a variety of attributes in battle. A must-play for DS owners.
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii): No franchise has a more loyal fan following than Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers series, guaranteeing that Brawl would be an immediate best-seller. What no one expected was the depth of the gameplay, from the plethora of unlockables buried in the game to a brand-new Adventure mode added to the mix. This is the most replayable game released in 2008.
3. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3): Some critics have decried the final installment of the heralded Metal Gear Solid franchise as more movie than game. All that really means is that the same critics simply wish, like all the rest of us, that the game never would have ended.
2. Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360): Gears of War 2’s gritty, epic campaign, combined with its action-packed, precision-tuned multiplayer, creates an undeniably strong package that would have coasted to Game of the Year honors in most other years.
1. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360/PS3): Gamers have been waiting for this one for almost a decade since Fallout 2 was released, and developer Bethesda Softworks certainly did not disappoint. This may be the largest game ever created, dwarfing the massive Grand Theft Auto IV in scope, and every one of the game’s hundreds of locations beg to be discovered. The combat system is superbly conceived, the story is imaginative and remarkably well presented, and the game’s world truly feels alive. An artistic masterpiece as much as a video game masterpiece.
