Your Top Games of 2007?

[Stella Q]

Orange Box - I'd probably put all 3 new games into this list if they were released individually.

Worldwide Soccer Manager 2008 - I love management sims, and this was a great one.

AOE3 Asian Dynasties - Breathed new life into a great (but tired) game.

WoW Burning Crusade - Can't leave off a game that I've put 100+ hours into.

Europa Universalis III - Loved the first one and it's improved with every sequel. Epic, imo.

 

[alexhayter86]

In some kind of order:

Bioshock - I don't understand some of the negative backlash against this. Sure, the plot is very similiar to System Shock 2, but that doesn't stop it a fantastic narrative. Its also one of the most immersive games I've ever played. The first time I entered Rapture, something just felt really special about this game.

Call of Duty 4 - Ditto on the immersiveness. So full of class and so empty of flaws.

skate - Such a relaxing game that will always have a place on my shelf thanks to its replayability. One of the more rewarding games out there thanks to its fundamentally logical controls.

Colin Mcrae: DIRT - Was this game not totally overlooked by critics? Sure, it had no basically no multiplayer, but I've never felt more like I was actually racing in a game than in DIRT. The most beautiful and accessible racer ever made? Not being a huge racing buff, I can't really make that conclusion, but I know I loved this game.

Orange Box - Portal was cool, incredibly innovative, and had a great little narrative. But it definitely doesn't feel like a fully fledged game. Its been said alot, but its too short: it ends before you are really challenged at all. I def wouldn't buy the OB just for Portal. Episode 2 was pretty much all I expected it to be: not amazing, but solid. I was just happy to be able to play HL2 on a big screen.

Mass Effect - Certainly not deserving the 'best game ever' tag that certain publications have exclaimed of it, it nevertheless lives up to its many ambitious. Gets a little shit when your vehicle is climbing your 15th mountain of crap on planet Fuck, and you ask yourself "What the hell am I doing?"

FIFA 08 DS - Not exactly on par with its console equivalents, but its a great little bit of footie fun to have in your pocket. Has stolen a surprising amount of play-time from Zelda.

 

[PurpleRain]

Blah Blah Blah

I don't like you.

Agreed.

I actually thought that Mass Effect had a decent story and the voice acting was great but then everything else kind of failed. I would have bought the game otherwise. The Darkness was ok a decent attempt marred by a game destroying side quest bug.

I loved Mass Effect's story, probably why it's topped my lists at the moment. But yeah, the only part I don't really like are the levels which make you drive the vehical to where ever. They sort of annoy me.

 

[shadow skill]

Mako was the ultimate fail...I almost stopped playing when I first got into the Mako.

 

[PurpleRain]

Mako was the ultimate fail...I almost stopped playing when I first got into the Mako.

It just couldn't... handle. I still love the jump jets on it. that was fun.

 

[MrCuddleswick]

I was massively disappointed by Mass Effect, and also a bit by Halo 3.

COD4 was much, much better than I was expecting.

Earth Defence Force is another game that's a lot more fun than I was expecting.

The Orange Box - it's great value but Portal is the only genuinely surprising part of it. I've got The Orange box but I don't feel any great need to actually play it.

What else. Not sure.

I guess COD4 would be my top game of the year so far. Can't think of any game I've enjoyed more than it.

 

[alexhayter86]

wish I'd bought the orange box for pc... at least for portal and tf2: thanks to the online community those titles will have such long lives.
TF2 is barely playable on xbox live, in my experience.

 

[PurpleRain]

What's so wrong with Half Life? Everyone seems to only give the Orange Box credit just for portal. I thought Portal was a world of fun, but the main thing that grabbed me was Half Life 2 and the episodes.

 

[Socratdog]

What's so wrong with Half Life? Everyone seems to only give the Orange Box credit just for portal. I thought Portal was a world of fun, but the main thing that grabbed me was Half Life 2 and the episodes.

For me its the episodic content. I really like playing Half-life, but the episodic content just does not work well. Videogames shouldn't leave me hanging, I want closure.

My list in order:
Mass Effect
Orange Box
Assassins Creed

 

[Selka]

Bioshock is the best game of the year. It's a done deal. All the other supposedly great games that came out this year were kind of a let down. I have no idea why there is so much love for CoD4, I played about half of the single player and at least 4 hours of some multi-player, and all the while I kind of wish I was playing Halo 3. I love games that require stealth, planning, and spotting the enemy before the spot you (Ghost Recon series). I also love games that involve running around and shooting everything in sight (Halo series). I always found CoD4 to be in the awkward middle ground, not sure which one it wants to be. Something seems left out or lost in that game, as if it was trying really hard to reach some goal that wasn't really there.

Mario Galaxy continues the long trend of Mario games that will disappoint because the aren't as good as Super Mario Bros 3.
I haven't played the Orange Box, so I can't pass judgement.
Metroid Prime 3 = another decent enough sequel, but not GotY worthy
Halo 3 = same deal as Metroid Prime 3
Assassin's Creed = hard to keep interest in that game, since it's so damn tedious
Haven't played Mass Effect

So, to reiterate, the best game of the year is Bioshock, unless you count games that have come out on Virtual Console and XBOX Arcade, in which case Zelda: OoT wins it all, followed closely by Super Mario Bros 3, Super Metroid, and Castlevania SotN.

 

[richasr]

I got to say, there were some big disappointments, at least for me, Kane & Lynch is a horrible game compared to the hype and how it looked before release and also, Halo 3 was a bit of a let-down, maybe because it was hyped too much, I just felt the story was too short and wasn't very interesting, and the multiplayer just gets irritating after about half an hour.

These are my top games anyway.

Mass Effect
Assassins Creed
Call of Duty 4
FIFA 08
Crackdown
Bioshock
Football Manager 2008
The Orange Box
The Witcher

Assassins Creed, Mass Effect and BioShock especially. Never had a game i've just messed around on for ages (Assassins Creed, killing tons and tons of guards for no reason but fun), never had an RPG as good-looking or as wrought with choice and never had fun electrocuting people, freezing them and smashing them to bits, blowing them to bits with a shotgun, etc... FUN!

 

[Azile]

Well sure, it was a good year for games in general but looking back from here it's clear that there is really just one game that totally knocked the socks of everything else and that's Portal.

Other games that might deserve to be mentioned are BioShock, Team Fortress 2, Mass Effect and Hellgate London.

 

[Saltiness]

Mask of the Betrayer.
The Witcher.
Portal/TF2.
Beyond the Sword.

Really the only things that I found interesting enough to write home about. Bioshock was disappointing. The narrative wasn't that great, and the simple depth of character wasn't there when compared to something like Shock or even Doom 3's PDA system. The biggest thing it had going for it was it's environment, and it was great. The rest of it was just felt kind of uninspired.

Halo 3 was also shorter then a midget without legs.

I like raefon. He seems to have one of these cynical outlooks on video games which hasn't be crushed yet to simply not give a shit about anything yet.

Hellgate London

lol?

 

[SanitysRequiem]

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of The Lions
Mass Effect
Settlers of Catan (on 360 Arcade)
Mario Galaxy
Trauma Center: New Blood
Portal
Bioshock
Rock Band

Orange Box was the best value of the year, FFTactics has a special place in my heart, has for years, I bought a PSP exclusively for that game...and Silent Hill Origins. Which was great, but not best of the year great. Bioshock was the kind of single player FPS that I pine for and if performing surgery with a Wii zapper isn't gaming, I don't know what is. And Rock band because pretty much exclusively 'Won't Get Fooled Again' blowing a lung out screaming like Daultry is so excilirating on 6 shots of whiskey and a dozen donuts at 3 am.

 

[Azile]

Hellgate London

lol?

I know this might seem abit strange, but when you look past the initial troubles and bugs it was a genuinely good game, and still is.

 

[beoweasel]

Hellgate London

lol?

I know this might seem abit strange, but when you look past the initial troubles and bugs it was a genuinely good game, and still is.

Once you have it patched, Hellgate is actually fun, if you like dungeon crawlers, anyway.

 

[Okapi]

No one's mentioned Uncharted? That was the most fun I've had with a game in ages.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

TF2 is barely playable on xbox live, in my experience.

I understand the TF2 patch fixed that, but I haven't tried it myself.

Here's my personal top games of the year in no particular order; it's not a "top ten" because I don't buy a lot of games in a given year.

- Halo 3 (but yeah, I'm seriously biased there)
- Portal
- BioShock
- Crackdown

Other candidates that interest me but I haven't played yet:

- Assassin's Creed
- Call of Duty 4
- Mass Effect

And I'll throw in Psychonauts: XBox Classic edition even though it requires some serious shoe-horning to make it a "game of the year" for 2007.

-- Steve

 

[yonsito]

Galactic Civilizations 2: Dark Avatar.
At least that's what I've spent most time with.
Well, and Bioshock of course.