So if we are doing 2008 now, then i think im going to vote for Left4Dead. This means i wont vote for Left4Dead 2, even though that the version i have sunk about 700 hours into since i chanced getting it on a steam sale once. Ended up totally loving it. Still play it now its so good. Only slight drawback is some of the unfriendly idiots who play it. But then thats not the games fault.
Game of the Year
- Thread starter civvver
- Start date
Loads of cool games from that era.
civvver
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Dang it! I messed up but the votes already tallied. Supreme commander released on windows in 2007, and xbox 360 in 2008. Can't believe I missed this, it would've been my 2007 vote over mass effect easily. It doesn't affect the tally though, still just one vote for it and ME doesn't win either way.
Supreme commander was basically the modern version of total annhilation. It was really sweet. What made TA so great back in the day was the resources and real physics. The terrain had hills and such and your weapons might actually be los or indirect fire, shoot up hills and such. Or missiles or rockets. It really changed how you played, having to actually get vision and lob artillery over front lines, or position bases far back on cliffs so units couldn't hit you. It was sweet.
The resources weren't just gather and spend. You mined metal and collected energy at certain rates and when you build something it had a total cost but also a time to build so the amount used was cost/build time. You wanted equilibrium so your resources always stayed constant. If you had excess resources you could assign more construction bots to speed up production. So having more was always better. You could store excess too as well to ramp up production in a pinch. It really changed the idea of normal RTS where you just collect and hoard resources all game and being able to change how fast you pumped out units without just building more barracks or whatever was huge.
Supreme commander kept all these features, made three factions and brought modern engine and graphics to the game plus some really huge maps. The campaign was quite good, and while I don't play multiplayer, the expansion still has a very avid online community. It's one of the best balanced RTS games out there, tons of fun and balance between building and research. Another thing that is just awesome, you can capture enemy construction bots and then start building all their units as well.
But on to 2008, it has some really superb titles. Mario kart Wii was just sweet. Better than the n64 version even.
Another title near and dear to me is Defense Grid: The Awakening. It didn't do anything too different than normal tower defense but something about how the towers work in combination I just love. I played like 50 hours on it, so fun and a ton of achievements which are fun to do as well. Many levels have extra hard modes and stuff. I once tried to get all the achievements but it's difficult.
However at the end of the day it's a clear choice for me. Dead Space is my game of the year.
It's far and away the scariest video game I've ever played. It's 3rd person but they kept the camera really close over the shoulder so a lot of the game you feel claustrophobic. Everything is tight and you can't see monsters until they pop out right in front of you. It's scary as hell. The story line is also really good, the start of an epic space novel pretty much and the hero is sweet. In the first one he doesn't talk at all which really makes you feel like you are Issac. The sequels are good too but Issac talks a lot so you feel more like you're watching something that engaging in it directly. It's hard to explain but the first is definitely the most engaging and scary.
It also has really good balance between action game and rpg game with enough stuff to search for and talents without becoming too rpg like and maintaining the streamlined action feel cus that's the kind of game it is. It's one of my favorites series, right up there with Mass Effect and Dragon Age and I'd suggest everyone check it out if you like action games at all.
Hmmm GTA4 is also 2008. Big title right there though I haven't played and all the steam messages now say the drm is junk and it's unplayable unfortunately so I probably never will play it.
Supreme commander was basically the modern version of total annhilation. It was really sweet. What made TA so great back in the day was the resources and real physics. The terrain had hills and such and your weapons might actually be los or indirect fire, shoot up hills and such. Or missiles or rockets. It really changed how you played, having to actually get vision and lob artillery over front lines, or position bases far back on cliffs so units couldn't hit you. It was sweet.
The resources weren't just gather and spend. You mined metal and collected energy at certain rates and when you build something it had a total cost but also a time to build so the amount used was cost/build time. You wanted equilibrium so your resources always stayed constant. If you had excess resources you could assign more construction bots to speed up production. So having more was always better. You could store excess too as well to ramp up production in a pinch. It really changed the idea of normal RTS where you just collect and hoard resources all game and being able to change how fast you pumped out units without just building more barracks or whatever was huge.
Supreme commander kept all these features, made three factions and brought modern engine and graphics to the game plus some really huge maps. The campaign was quite good, and while I don't play multiplayer, the expansion still has a very avid online community. It's one of the best balanced RTS games out there, tons of fun and balance between building and research. Another thing that is just awesome, you can capture enemy construction bots and then start building all their units as well.
But on to 2008, it has some really superb titles. Mario kart Wii was just sweet. Better than the n64 version even.
Another title near and dear to me is Defense Grid: The Awakening. It didn't do anything too different than normal tower defense but something about how the towers work in combination I just love. I played like 50 hours on it, so fun and a ton of achievements which are fun to do as well. Many levels have extra hard modes and stuff. I once tried to get all the achievements but it's difficult.
However at the end of the day it's a clear choice for me. Dead Space is my game of the year.
It's far and away the scariest video game I've ever played. It's 3rd person but they kept the camera really close over the shoulder so a lot of the game you feel claustrophobic. Everything is tight and you can't see monsters until they pop out right in front of you. It's scary as hell. The story line is also really good, the start of an epic space novel pretty much and the hero is sweet. In the first one he doesn't talk at all which really makes you feel like you are Issac. The sequels are good too but Issac talks a lot so you feel more like you're watching something that engaging in it directly. It's hard to explain but the first is definitely the most engaging and scary.
It also has really good balance between action game and rpg game with enough stuff to search for and talents without becoming too rpg like and maintaining the streamlined action feel cus that's the kind of game it is. It's one of my favorites series, right up there with Mass Effect and Dragon Age and I'd suggest everyone check it out if you like action games at all.
Hmmm GTA4 is also 2008. Big title right there though I haven't played and all the steam messages now say the drm is junk and it's unplayable unfortunately so I probably never will play it.
Looking through a couple lists of games from 2008, I can't find a single one I played to any appreciable degree. I did play the first part of The Witcher last fall, and it was enjoyable, but since I haven't yet finished it (or even played most of it, probably), I can't really vote for it yet. I considered picking up Sins of a Solar Empire, which is perhaps the most prominent strategy title I found from '08, but have yet to do that.
But thinking a bit about what I was playing in the '09 - '10 timeframe, I remembered Burnout Paradise, and while it didn't come out on PC until '09, its initial PS3/360 release was in early '08. And I did play a good amount of that. Pointless? Kind of, but it was also a lot of fun. And while the menu navigation gave away that it was a console port, it actually has good mouse + keyboard controls. Which is far less of a given than it should be with racing games. So it's my vote for 2008.
Which in turn reminded me of Trackmania Nations, and its expansion/successor Trackmania Nations Forever, from 2006 and 2007 respectively. I'd still favor Medieval II and EU3 over them, but they were my preferred racing games before Burnout.
But thinking a bit about what I was playing in the '09 - '10 timeframe, I remembered Burnout Paradise, and while it didn't come out on PC until '09, its initial PS3/360 release was in early '08. And I did play a good amount of that. Pointless? Kind of, but it was also a lot of fun. And while the menu navigation gave away that it was a console port, it actually has good mouse + keyboard controls. Which is far less of a given than it should be with racing games. So it's my vote for 2008.
Which in turn reminded me of Trackmania Nations, and its expansion/successor Trackmania Nations Forever, from 2006 and 2007 respectively. I'd still favor Medieval II and EU3 over them, but they were my preferred racing games before Burnout.
Lohrenswald
世界的 bottom ranked physicist
Can't remember many games from 2008 so I'll vote CivRev lol
it's between that and spore, basically
it's between that and spore, basically
civvver
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Spore isn't bad, most people hate it cus the expectations were so high and it failed. But on its own I enjoyed it. CivRev is horrid, no, just no!
When do you guys want to do 2009? 2008 is not garnering a lot of enthusiasm. I think 2009 will be pretty anti climatic voting though... thinking of one particular fantasy title...
When do you guys want to do 2009? 2008 is not garnering a lot of enthusiasm. I think 2009 will be pretty anti climatic voting though... thinking of one particular fantasy title...
2009 looks pretty interesting. Tomb Raider: Underworld, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut and Grand Ages: Rome all came out this year, as of course did Assassin's Creed II and Dragon Age: Origins... I really liked both of the last two.
Lohrenswald
世界的 bottom ranked physicist
Kinda tough call.
I enjoyed Spore for a relatively short while and haven't been able to get back into it. Feels like a drag the last times I've tried playing it.
Same goes for CivRev, but CivRev is special to me because it's the first civ game I played, so it got me into the main series, which then got me into computer games instead of consoles.
but eh you're right, spore's better, changing vote to that
My estimation of civ rev has increased after reading this. If it has been responsible for you joining the PC master race, then that is no bad thing
trader/warrior
Deity
2008, the only candidates for me I could find would be EU: rome, GTA IV and Spore.
...
EU: Rome it is, I guess.
2009 looks only slightly better for games I played TBH. There's Hearts of Iron III, Empire Total War, Tropico 3, Cities XL... All games that entertained me but all disappointing as well.
...
EU: Rome it is, I guess.
2009 looks only slightly better for games I played TBH. There's Hearts of Iron III, Empire Total War, Tropico 3, Cities XL... All games that entertained me but all disappointing as well.
civvver
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Wow that sucked I wrote like 5 paragraphs on why Dragon age origins is so awesome and then windows tried to reset and closed my browser. 
I'll try again, abridged version. It's a sweet game, has a great mix of leveling, combat, lore, storyline. It has memorable characters. Some of the interaction systems like approval and romance are a bit antiquated and comical cus you always try to suck up with your responses, but overall the character interactions are meaningful. It has spot on mix of side quests vs main story. It's definitely not an open world but there's plenty to explore and do.
Downside is the itemization kind of sucks, there's not enough items and certain stats are way better than everything else like +dmg on items vs +agility.
Another major downside is it forces you into tank + healer + dps party setup. Which is kind of ok but you only encounter one healing mage in your questing so she almost becomes default member for every engagement, unless you want to convert the only other mage you find for your party from dmg to healer, or roll a healing mage yourself. Tanks are easier to find, more options.
I'll try again, abridged version. It's a sweet game, has a great mix of leveling, combat, lore, storyline. It has memorable characters. Some of the interaction systems like approval and romance are a bit antiquated and comical cus you always try to suck up with your responses, but overall the character interactions are meaningful. It has spot on mix of side quests vs main story. It's definitely not an open world but there's plenty to explore and do.
Downside is the itemization kind of sucks, there's not enough items and certain stats are way better than everything else like +dmg on items vs +agility.
Another major downside is it forces you into tank + healer + dps party setup. Which is kind of ok but you only encounter one healing mage in your questing so she almost becomes default member for every engagement, unless you want to convert the only other mage you find for your party from dmg to healer, or roll a healing mage yourself. Tanks are easier to find, more options.
gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
To be fair, mages were pretty broken in DA:O.
Wow that sucked I wrote like 5 paragraphs on why Dragon age origins is so awesome and then windows tried to reset and closed my browser.
Get the Lazarus add-on. I will continue shilling it every time someone posts something like this.
gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
(no joke that's actually really [sexual act including women, but not necessarily] useful add-on)
I would vote for Anno 1404.
I would vote for Anno 1404.
AnthonyBoscia
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For 2008 Left 4 Dead, World at War, GTA IV (with all its flaws), and Bionic Commando Rearmed were all great. It took me a while to warm up to CivRev, but a quick, aggressive, two-three hour game was just what I needed at the time, and you could hand the controller off to your buddy on the couch and have homemade succession games. I picked up a cheap copy of Fallout 3 but still haven't gotten to it. Also Saints Row 2, which I didn't get until like 2014.
But for 2008 my pick is definitely Sins of a Solar Empire.
But for 2008 my pick is definitely Sins of a Solar Empire.
civvver
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Eh they ran out of mana super fast. If you had a dedicated healer that's all they could do and dps mages were almost worthless against strong bosses. I thought cunning rogues were pretty broken, their dmg was nuts. But healing mages were required for most encounters. It made me tire of wynn pretty fast.
My Elf wizard (Elementalist/Shapechanger) had a really difficult time at the Landsmeet. My spells weren't cutting the mustard, so I had to assume elemental form and just beat the boss battle then.
Arcane Warrior was pretty strong. All-but-invincible (could comfortably solo even on Nightmare), with decent damage. Not the most exciting build to play though.
