Best Games of 2008 (so far)
Jul 10, 2008
2008 is half over, and it's already been a bumper year for great games. With store shelves crammed with standout hits like Grand Theft Auto, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and God of War for the PSP, you could be forgiven if you missed out on one or two of the year's gems. So if you're facing a boring summer, and that whole "going outside" thing's not sounding too appealing, here's what you should be playing, right...now.
GTA IV
Much has been written about this masterpiece, and some of it was even true. Rockstar's fourth crack at free-roaming car theft nirvana turned out heavenly, with gorgeous graphics and a world that felt more real than the real one. It catapulted Niko Bellic into the limelight as one of the best developed characters in video game history, further cemented the developer's reputation as a studio at the very top of its game, and probably offended your grannie, too. Hooray!
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Super Smash Bros. Brawl
What would you get if you invited every important Nintendo character in history to a pool party, drained the pool, locked the doors, then threw in an assortment of blunt instruments? You'd get Smash Bros. Brawl, that's what. Packing Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog and Metal Gear's Solid Snake -- as well as a positively exhaustive list of Nintendo stars -- this fast-paced fighting game gave us all sore thumbs for weeks. We forgave it, of course.
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Build-A-Lot 2
And while we recovered, this addictive building management game was just what we needed. Yes, the real estate market might be collapsing, repos are through the roof, and that nice condo in Palo Alto is worth a quarter of what we paid for it, but in Build-A-Lot 2 we were homebuilding masterminds, dagnabit. We renovated houses, we managed workers, we turned little backwater villages into upscale, high-value developments, and we built. A lot. Too.
GRID
Out of the ashes of the Colin McRae Rally series drove this inspired racer, and what a game it turned out to be. Fast, packed with exotic rides, and with 1080p visuals kicking out a sense of danger that's second to none, it was a real beauty. In fact, even the much-anticipated Gran Turismo 5 -- whenever it comes out -- is going to have to be rollin' pretty strapped to compete.
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Metal Gear Solid 4
What is it with this game? The story's impenetrable, the cut-scenes are interminable, and the action is decidedly intermittent. Nobody but a real, dedicated, and, one might almost say, obsessive Metal Gear Solid fan would enjoy it. Surprise, surprise: there are quite a lot of real, dedicated, and obsessive Metal Gear Solid fans out there. MGS4 shot off the shelves like Solid Snake goosed it. What do we know?
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>> See more of the Best of 2008 (so far)
(Page 2 of 2)
Not enough for you? Here's part two of our selections, kicking off with a godlike gem from Sony.
God of War: Chains of Olympus
For a series that focuses so heavily on large-scale action and immense scale, it was a real surprise that God of War translated so well onto the somewhat neglected PSP. Not only was it one of the platform's best looking games, it controlled brilliantly, and it's meatier than just about any other PSP game out there. If it doesn't turn out to be one of the best handheld games of the year, we'll eat our weight in ancient Greek food.
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Sins of a Solar Empire
True, it's not been a great year for old-fashioned computer games, but this best-selling space strategy game was one of its clear standouts. Developed by indie studio Stardock, this amalgam of Civilization-style strategy and real-time tactics was a huge -- and thoroughly well deserved -- success. It's pretty, beautifully balanced, completely different from the tired old RTS games we've all seen before, and absorbing enough to swallow hour after hour of happy play-time. Don't be put off by its geeky appearance; if the thought of a sci-fi computer version of Risk packing ten times the lasting appeal tickles your fancy, look no further.
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Space Invaders Extreme
Reworkings of classic arcade favorites are usually terrible, but we were pleasantly surprised (to say the least) by this intelligently designed and careful treatment of the original alien invasion game. It takes real talent to pack this many twists into such a well-known formula without producing a game that's gaudy or forced, but that's exactly what Taito came up with here. Don't miss it.
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Boom Blox
As movie buffs know, everything Spielberg touches turns to gold. So it was with Boom Blox, a Wii-exclusive experience designed in collaboration with the legendary filmmaker that involved slinging things at giant, precarious towers of blocks. Sort of like reverse Jenga, only with explosions, and chickens, and things. We loved it. You, inexplicably, didn't buy it. Why not?
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Jojo's Fashion Show
Fast-paced time management games are a dime a dozen these days, but Jojo's Fashion Show went a step further than most by actually letting you get your grubby mitts on the real products themselves. Who doesn't love putting together high fashion wardrobes, matching just the right pair of shoes with the perfect sunglasses, before hitting a local nightspot and...wait, we've said too much. Sorry. Back on topic, Jojo's classy presentation put us right on the set of Project Runway, but without those pesky judges slamming our style.