The Top 9 Games of 08, thus far…

I like lists. Lists are fun, they are usually a good read also, though one hardly ever agrees with them. But maybe that is the fun in them, that as a reader you are constantly going “well I would put this here, and that there, and this dude is a freakin’ idiot.”

So, first, I must throw out some caveats to my list here. Number one is that I haven’t played every game released this year, I don’t get stuff sent to me for free, so I buy what my budget allows. This means that games that I would have probably enjoyed like Grid and Ninja Gaiden 2 were skipped over because of random things like my muffler falling of for no reason. Money is stupid. Also, I don’t own a Wii. I used to, but after 6 months of not using it I sold it to a friend. So there are no Wii games on this list, but check out this lens for tons of info on the top Wii games. Lastly, the Blu Ray drive on my PS3 decided to break and make me cry about 2 weeks before Metal Gear Solid 4 came out. So, the game that probably would be number one, is nowhere on my list. Hopefully I’ll get to play it sometime in the coming months (I need to buy a new PC before fixing the ps3…. ugh!). And finally, I decided to go with just games that came out in boxes, in stores. One of the games was downloadable (GT5:P), but it also came out in stores, so it qualifies for this list. Sometime soon I plan on doing a top ___ list of the best downloadable games out so far this year.

So here is the world according to Mort. Also, I’m sure I forgot stuff, so feel free to tell me or even post your own lists in the comments section!

1. MLB 08: The Show (PS3)

Pros: Probably the best looking and playing baseball simulation ever created. The animation systems are so fluid and varied that even after 162 games you will be seeing new stuff. Every aspect of the game is tight from the controls to the cameras to the wonderful AI to the locked in at 60fps heavenly smoothness.

Cons: The online play is terribad. The game contains the same glitch from last year where certain routers will just plain ol lock the game up. And even if you do have a router the game can agree with the online play is choppy at best and completely unplayable at worst.

Verdict: On my shortlist of best *offline* sports games ever. But I’m a huge fan of online play, so its terrible showing there is a disappointment. But those feelings of sadness and loss fade once you fire up the single player game. If you have a PS3 and any interest in baseball I highly recommend it.

2. Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox 360, PS3)

Pros: The game is flat out fun. From blowing up buildings to chopping down trees to sniping someone halfway across the map to the holy crap the writing is actually funny…. it’s just fun. I played through the single player game twice, something I rarely do. And the online play is very solid, with the Gold Rush mode adding a new wrinkle to the attack and defend game archetype.

Cons: Some of the servers are laggy, but it’s easy enough to change servers. There are also numerous complaints about how you can only use voice chat with your squad (4 guys) and not your whole team. It’s also a head scratcher as to why this game shipped without Conquest Mode, the staple of the Battlefield series, but that will be released as a free download on August 7th.

Verdict: There are actually quite a few people that absolutely hate this game. I, obviously, am not one of them. The game does have issues, the single player isn’t the deepest, the multiplayer needs more modes and maps (which are coming…). I understand all of that, but when I put this game in my 360 and play I have a really, really, really good time. And that’s what I want out of a game over anything else.

3. NCAA Football 2009 (PS3, Xbox 360)

Pros: After a couple years of fairly weak offerings, EA has finally come out with a next gen football game that is worth the $60 price of admission. The star of the show is the online dynasties in which you and 11 other friends can take control of teams and compete for the BCS championship. I am currently running a dynasty over at TheFanboys.com and I think I speak for most of us involved when I say it is an absolute blast. It is further helped by a huge upgrade to their netcode, which was dodgey at best last year, but the game plays butter smooth this year. Offline, the game is solid, but nothing new or groundbreaking to report.

Cons: I guess the cons are found in the offline game, and also with some fairly serious glitches. Offline, the Dynasty mode is solid but not revolutionary or even very evolutionary in any way. And the mode whose name I can’t think of right now where you create a player and then play all your games as only him is a shadow of its former self. How this mode was more fleshed out and deeper last gen than it is this gen… I have no idea. On the glitch front, there was serious glitches with custom rosters, but a patch released this morning was supposed to fix that. Also, on the gameplay side of things you will see some suction catches from time to time, as well as uncalled clips. And lastly, the kick and punt coverage is absolutely horrible, but this is something EA said will be addressed in its next patch, due out sometime in August.

Verdict: Almost the opposite of MLB 08, this game is extremely entertaining online and fairly mediocre offline. That’s not to say offline is a complete waste, the dynasty mode offline is as strong as ever, but it really hasn’t moved forward in any meaningful ways in a few years now.

4. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (PS3)

Pros: GT5P is everything fans of the Gran Turismo franchise hoped it would be. The graphics are amazing, the physics are much improved, the online play while fairly limited plays smoothly. This game was meant as just a taste of what is to come when the full version of Gran Turismo 5 is released and on that front it is a complete success. Some people call it a glorified demo, but that is short changing it quite a bit. There are more tracks and cars in the game than some fully released racing games have come out with.

Cons: The price tag of $40 is about $10 too much, in my humble opinion. While I feel the game is more than a glorified demo, it is still less than half the game GT5 will be. So why are we paying for more than half the price? Also, while the online racing is fairly smooth, you cannot create custom races, which kills any community aspect of the game online. Hopefully this will be remedied in the final product.

Verdict: While slightly pricey for what it actually contains, it is still incredibly fun and incredibly deep and will give you hours and hours of enjoyment. Let’s just hope that us GT5P owners get a price break on the final game. Yeah, right.

5. Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360, PS3)

Pros: The city itself is the star of the show here. Liberty City is an amazing recreation of New York City and is filled so many small details and such great life in the AI of the citizens. While the graphics aren’t mind boggling, they are solid for a game that needs to render so much. The controls also received an overhaul and are much tighter than previous games in the series, but still aren’t as good as other shooters on the market. Online play was also added, and many people raved about it, but personally other than some laughs I had while blowing up friends in the lobby, I found the online play to be too unfocused and rather boring.

Cons: Well, I already covered the problems with the online play… so moving on from there, my major complaint about GTA4 is that I just didn’t get into the story. I thought the main character was mediocre and rather uninteresting, and his idiot cousin was annoying and made me want to punch myself in the face whenever he talked. The game also just didn’t do much new on the gameplay front. The true fun in the game is still just driving around the city and causing mayhem.

Verdict: I was hoping for a more engaging story and better and more varied missions, and I didn’t get them. What is delivered is a completely amazing city with a completely mediocre GTA game happening inside it. But, for many people a completely mediocre GTA game is still pretty damn good.

6. Age of Conan (PC)

Pros: With an intuitive and fun combat system (for melee classes) AoC shot right into #2 slot in the MMO subscriber rankings this May and June. And the combat is great fun, there is no doubt about it. But as the game goes on you make your way towards the cons….

Cons: The game is clearly not finished. Clearly! Levels 1-20 are amazing and in its own way a game within itself, with an engaging story line and great quests and gameplay. But then you reach 20 and leave the island of Tortage and you begin your slow decent into crapsville. Levels 20-40 have a decent amount of content and some interesting places to visit, but it doesn’t have the polish that levels 1-20 did. Once you reach level 40 the train completely skids off the tracks as the game devolves to you grinding the same mobs over and over for days on end to level up to an endgame completely lacking in content. Like I said before, the game is clearly not finished.
Verdict: In 6 months to a year from now I think AoC could end up being a great MMO. But as of right now it isn’t. Though, I will say that the game is worth the price of admission just for playing levels 1-20. I got more than my $50s worth out of doing that alone. And if the game ended there I may have been happier.

7. Rainbow 6 Vegas: 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)

Pros: While not groundbreaking or revolutionary in any way, R6V2 is a very solid tactical shooter that has a lot of appeal for fans of the genre. Particularly fun are the online and offline co-op modes. I played through the single player story with a friend in splitscreen and we had an absolute blast. I also spent many nights with fellow nerds doing Terrorist hunt and the like online.

Cons: The adversarial modes online are very hit or miss, and I actually feel like there is too much and it lacks focus. The games with respawns are filled with spawn campers who kill any inkling of fun you might be having. The games with respawns turned off are better, and could be a good time, but it is dependent on finding a host who likes similar settings to you.

Verdict: R6V2 is exactly what everyone expected it to be…. more Rainbow 6. It doesn’t break new ground, but neither does it fail to be exciting. A solid shooter for those who like a more tactical killing spree.

8. Burnout: Paradise (Xbox 360, PS3)

Pros: The gameplay in Burnout: Paradise is as good and fun as ever. The over the top speed and arcade action with massive pileups and destruction lead to a really fun, visceral ride. The online play is also seamlessly built into the single player game making it easy to hop in and out of races.

Cons: Burnout decided to go with the open city approach for the first time, instead of premade tracks. Some people liked the move, I did not. I didn’t hate it, but I felt like I spent an awful lot of time wandering around, which is fine for a game like World of Warcraft, but not so much for an arcade racer. But, when you finally do find a race that you are qualified to be in, the action is good.

Verdict: The open world makes the game lose the focus of what makes Burnout so special… the ability to just pick up and play it quickly. But, once you get used to the setup it remains a fun game, but personally I feel like it is a step back for the series.

9. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds (PS3)

Pros: HSG has always been about fun golf with solid physics and zany characters. And I say zany because I don’t like the word zany, and neither do I like anything described as zany. It’s not that I’m against them making weird characters, they are a staple of the series, but many of them are just plain corny and not creative in the slightest. But despite that, other than an occasional hiccup, the rest of the game is wonderful. It plays and looks great and has some great courses and the online play adds a layer of depth the series desperately needed.

Cons: Zany characters. I mean seriously, you guys have the ability and creative freedom to create some truly unique golfers but instead stick to tired giant headed stereotypes with annoying voice work. Also, the lack of voice chat online is a downer.

Verdict: Despite the few problems the HSG series has always been fun to play and this game is no exception. The 50 player online tournaments is probably where the most fun lies. But the single player with all of the unlockable content is also quite addicting.