[Lucien21]

Top 10 Games 2007

So what games floated your boat during 2007.

This is my list of my favourite games of 2007. You might notice a distinct lack of Adventure games, which apart from Sam and Max were seriously average in 2007.

Anywhoo….


10. Assassin’s Creed (PS3)

A game of mixed emotions and disappointment. Could it ever live up to Jade Raymond’s promises or was it over-hyped.

On the one hand the climbing jumping mechanics are superb and I never got bored clambering all over the various cities in the game. On the other hand the missions soon became repetitive and tedious. The combat was variable and it had one of the weirdest storylines of the year. Sci-fi memory machines and those damn Templers at it again.

A decent starting place and hopefully Assassins Creed 2 will have more mission variety.


9. Super Paper Mario (Wii)

A nice mix of platforming and RPG mechanics sees Mario and some pixels try to save the universe from Count Bleck. Switch from 2D to 3D seamlessly to good effect to solve puzzles, find hidden items and get round bad guys.

Apart from a couple of problems with camera angles and sparse graphics in 3D the graphics are pretty stylish and varied.

A pretty decent and funny storyline means there is a lot of reading in the game, but it is well written and fun to read.

Mario excels in what is certainly one of the funniest games of the year. The level with the nerd Gecko is hilarious.

Not as good as the previous Paper Mario games ,but still a blast.


8. Metroid Prime 3 (Wii)

The game that proves that the Wii and the FPS are a match made in heaven. The use of the Wii remote is perfectly implemented in this threequal. Move with the nunchuck and lock on, point and shoot to great effect with the Wiimote.

Gameplay switches between exploration, scanning the area for clues etc, and intense conflict. Some intense boss battles throughout keep you on your toes.

A great end to the trilogy.


7. Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass (DS)

Zelda gets a small reinvention on the DS system. A new control system means that Link is controlled with the stylus and touchpad. This makes for some great ideas like making notes on the maps, drawing the path of the boomerang etc which are all superbly implemented.

A direct sequel to Wind Waker it takes the cell shaded graphics of its big brother and squeezes it onto a handheld.

What follows is a standard Zelda game of dungeon exploration, puzzles and combat familiar to Zelda fans as you once again try to rescue Zelda.

Great graphics, a superb script, excellent use of the DS’s abilities all make for a fantastic game only hampered by the constant need to replay on of the early dungeons to unlock new areas (bloody annoying).


6. Call of Duty 4 (PS3)

Call of Duty games were in a rut, WWII becoming mightily boring as a FPS backdrop. So it was a great surprise when they moved the 4th game in the series to a modern conflict.

A superb script sees you moving from a ship on a stormy sea to Chernobyl and a Russia nuclear silo as you hunt down the terrorists and shoot them.

With a wide range of modern weapons at your disposal you can take out tanks with Scorpion rockets, shoot enemy with a silenced sniper rifle, take to the air in a AC-130 airship or call in helicopter gunships to provide cover.

The standout level of the game sees you sneak through the streets of Chernobyl in a guille suit and a silenced rifle and is possibly the best level in any game this year (except maybe the Cohen level in Bioshock)

The only drawback is that the single player campaign is seriously short, 6 hours or so. This is compensated for with a fun multiplayer level that will keep you occupied for weeks.

[Lucien21]

5. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (PS3)

The PS3 has it's first superstar. Nathan Drake part Indiana Jones, Part John Maclane, part Lara Croft and all round action star. Naughty Dog have come up with another set of memorable characters (Crash Bandicoot and Jax and Daxter now Nathan)

"Dude Raider" as the game has affectionally been nicknamed borrows from the Tomb Raider games with the Tomb Raiding Storyline and the athletic climbing and jumping sections. It also borrows the cover system from Gears of War and fuses the two elements together with some cool characters, a decent story and sublime visuals to make ONE HELL OF A GAME.

Nathan Drake starts off the game looking for the grave of Francis Drake (who he claims is an ancestor) with his buddy Sullivan and a sexy reporter Elena. Soon they come across Dead Nazis, Ancient Treasure, a lot of ancient ruins, Spanish Gold, a British Villian and a whole heap of henchmen.

I liked the mix between platforming and action although it's more weighted towards the action end than any of the Lara games. There are some stunning set pieces including my favourite, the race through the jungle with Elena driving as you use the mounted gun to keep the pursuers at bay. Other set pieces like the jet ski level is less successful.

The locations are varied and extremely lush (except for a drab base level near the end).

The animation and graphics are stunning for the most part and are really brought to life with some superb voice work for the main characters.

It also uses a reward system which is very familiar of you have an Xbox 360. The "Achievements" are doled out for finding treasures along the way or for killing a set amount of enemy with specific weapons or tactics (I got the 100 headshots one pretty fast). Pretty good incentive for playing it again.

A superb game from start to finish. Watch out Lara there is a new guy in town.

4. Portal (Xbox 360)

It comes as part of the Orange Box which with Half Life 2, 2 short episodes, Portal and Team Fortress 2 is certainly a nomination for best value for money package of the year.

Portal was a small puzzle game that has outshone the rest of the games on the box and has become an internet icon. The weighted companion cube and the cake have become instant stars.

Work your way through some ingenious puzzles rooms with only an exit and entry portal to help you out.

Short and oh so sweet. A hilarious commentary and some cake.

Funniest game of the year.


3. Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

Breathtaking scope, a huge cast of characters and plenty of missions and side quests to get stuck into. It is a huge immersive RPG that spans an entire universe. Reminiscent of KoTR without the constraints of the Star Wars licence.

Fantastic dialogue system which is backed up with compelling narrative and a great storyline make this a joy to play.

However there are more than a few technical issues with the game that I think reduces it’s enjoyment (The drive on my launch day 360 is straining to keep up- I had similar problems with Oblivion disk read errors). The seriously slow elevators masking loading screens and the fact that the textures load in after the screen appears is just annoying and consistently reminded me I was playing a game. This is the reason that the 360 should use the hard drive as standard. The PS3 version would probably be more stable and I will probably buy Mass Effect 2 on that system.

The combat system can be a tad cumbersome, but workable. The inventory system too fiddly

Superb game held back to 3rd by technical issues.

2. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

It’s a mii Mario!

Mario takes to the stars in a sublime game that explores a horde of imaginative and varied “galaxies” to save Princess Peach from Bowser once more and collect 120 stars along the way.

Circular planets, variable gravity, races on stingrays, a Bee mushroom and hours and hours of fun to be had exploring the bright colourful worlds of Mario.

The best Mario game since Mario 64 turned Mario into a 3D world the added Wii controls are perfectly implemented. Definitely a huge improvement on Mario Sunshine.

An almost perfect game.

1. Bioshock (Xbox 360)

My favourite game of the year without a doubt. Exploring the underwater world of Rapture is a artistic dream.

My only reservation is that the regeneration tanks make it far too easy and death meaningless within the game. I'm sure if you didn’t mind regenerating a billion times it's perfectly possible to complete the game using just the wrench (Except for maybe the end sequence when you can't regenerate)

SS2 is one of my all time favourite games so the fact that this is a carbon copy doesn't detract from it's compelling narrative. The big shock twist that comes 3/4 of the way through is sublime in making you look back at your previous actions in the game. Not since System Shock 2 and Knights of the old Republic has there been such a fun twist in the story.

A delight from start to finish.

[QDream]

I liked only 3 games in 2007

Half life 2 ep 2, COD4 and Sinking Island (which I'm playing atm)

[TangentBlack]

A good list of games there since I think I can agree with most of them. I found myself steadfastly busy with games for most of the year and was generally satisfied with most of them. Here's to another great year of gaming in 2008!

[MoP]

The end of the year brought a wave of fresh air to the (pretty much uninteresting to me since the demise of Troika) RPG genre in The Witcher and NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer. Both delivering an enthralling story, quality writing (polish version of TW) and most notably a serious dose of choices&consequences. The Witcher stands out thanks to it's interesting setting as well.

Those are the only games from 2007 I've bought...

[Terramax]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

1. Bioshock (Xbox 360)

My favourite game of the year without a doubt. Exploring the underwater world of Rapture is a artistic dream.

My only reservation is that the regeneration tanks make it far too easy and death meaningless within the game. I'm sure if you didn’t mind regenerating a billion times it's perfectly possible to complete the game using just the wrench (Except for maybe the end sequence when you can't regenerate)

SS2 is one of my all time favourite games so the fact that this is a carbon copy doesn't detract from it's compelling narrative. The big shock twist that comes 3/4 of the way through is sublime in making you look back at your previous actions in the game. Not since System Shock 2 and Knights of the old Republic has there been such a fun twist in the story.

A delight from start to finish.

I can't wait to buy this game. I'm gonna buy myself a second processor for my PC so I can play it at maximum graphics first though.

That being said, I have found shooting those flying choppers in the demo quite irrating. I don't know why but I just can't seem to hit them very well. I'm not the worst FPS gamer around, but it's a bit of an achilla's heel for me.


My fav (or ONLY game I feel like worth mentioning this year) has been Sega Rally on the PC. It plays exactly like the original Saturn version, but with heavily upgraded graphics and really intense racing sessions.

Some have really slammed this because it's not a simulation racer but this is missing the point. So it's not Colin McRae? Why would we want an immitation anyway?

So they don't feel like 'real cars'. Not everyone wants to spend 20 races just to get to grips with one car before having to spend 20 races getting to grips with another.

It's been only too long since I've had a game where I can enjoy having quick 15 minute sessions once or twice a day.

Also, the AI are a right bunch of buggers. They ram me off the edge, drive in front at the most inconvenient of times and and never dumb down. This game is HARD.

I don't play racers all the time, but whilst with Ridge Racer I complete about 5-10 championships before I start finding the AI hard, Sega Rally took me 5 attempts at the first Championship in order to get 1st place on all three tracks.

What I can't understand is IGN downrated it saying that the AI was almost non-existent. Did America get a different game to me or something?

I can safely say this game is actually gonna last me more than 5 days.

P.S. sorry for the waffling.

You might notice a distinct lack of Adventure games, which apart from Sam and Max were seriously average in 2007.

Agreed. Sam and Max in particular was the most average adventure I've played in years. I hope they add more depth to the second series.

[kuze]

4. Portal
Everything has already been said, I don't want to waste my breath.

3. Gears of War
Finished it recently, had a great time. Short, brutal, entertaining.

2. The Witcher
Currently playing. I agree with MoP, it has a great story and setting, I enjoy it alot.

1. CoD4
Awesome ride. Guns, explosions and executions like in a movie. Best game of 2007.

The only 2007 adventure I played was Overclocked, but it certainly doesn't deserve a spot in the top ten. It was boring, uninspired, while the idea behind it was somewhat interesting the game just did not deliver.

[TiAgUh]

Off-Topic:
Why, for example, instead of "Portal (Xbox 360)" not put "Portal (360,PS3,PC)" ?? (etc)
It just seems you're saying it's a 360 exclusive or something like that, imo.

[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by TiAgUh

Off-Topic:
Why, for example, instead of "Portal (Xbox 360)" not put "Portal (360,PS3,PC)" ?? (etc)
It just seems you're saying it's a 360 exclusive or something like that, imo.

I have a feeling that's the system he played it on.

[samIamsad]

Well I'm kind of running a bit behind, which isn't such a bad thing, actually. Other than a couple of budget releases I didn't buy anything except for Bioshock and Football Manager 08, so...

Dangerous High School Girls In Trouble!™ (Gonna try that demo for sure).

Originally Posted by Terramax

I can't wait to buy this game. I'm gonna buy myself a second processor for my PC so I can play it at maximum graphics first though.

Second processor? If you bought a new PC rather recently I wouldn't worry about much. As with most games out there, it's heavily video card bound. The game is very fine with just about any 70$ dual core processor out there at the moment (and is fine with one of the more competent single core CPUs as well), a video card suiting your desired screen resolution is what you should be really thinking about.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6177688/p-7.html (take note how only the one single core processor falls a bit behind)
http://www.gamespot.com/features/6177688/p-6.html (the important stuff)

[Lucien21]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

I have a feeling that's the system he played it on.

Correct.

Some of the games are for multiple systems I just put the system I played it on.

[JemyM]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Bioshock and CoD4 have been my favorites this year. But I have not had time to try Witcher, Mask of the Betrayer, Crysis and Portal yet.

I have mixed feelings with the console ports such as Jade Empire, Gears of War and Halo 2.

[SoccerDude28]

Below are my favorite games this year based on the games I got to play and finish:

Few Remarks:
- Some critically acclaimed games that I am not including because I didn't get the chance to play them yet are: Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Heavenly Sword, Rock Band,Metroid Prime 3,Crysis, Witcher, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
- I haven't finished Mass Effect yet so I also can't include it. But after a very good introduction, I was very disappointed with the repetition of the side missions. I hope it gets better towards the end.
- It seems that repetition is the new trend in next-gen gaming. Mass Effect suffered from it, and than Assassin's Creed takes it to the next level. What a disappointment. I would rather have 5 hours of unique gameplay(look at Portal for example), then 20 hours of doing the exact same thing. Games are supposed to be fun and should never be a chore.
================================================== ========

8- Ratchet and Clank: Future Tools of Destruction (PS3): R&C is as fun as ever, and this next-gen iteration looks drop-dead gorgeous and plays brilliantly. It has the best weapons of any R&C game yet, and the same old zany humor. My only complaint is that it sticks too much to the comfort zone that it feels like a better looking R&C instead of a whole new experience. Since the original was such a great game, it is not a terrible thing in this case, but I would have liked to see a lot of new gameplay mechanics.

7- Picross (DS): I never expected to like this game as much as I did, but I remember how my 10 hour flight passed by in a jiffy thanks to this brilliant addictive puzzler. If you find Sodoku remotely enjoyable, don't miss on this gem.

6- Half Life 2 : Episode 2 (PC): Half life has always been the FPS for the rest of us, and Half Life 2 : Episode 2 kicks it up a notch with new exciting gameplay and a cliff hanger of an ending.

5- Uncharted Drake's Fortune (PS3) : A hybrid between Tomb Raider, Gears of War and Indiana Jones, Dude Raider is a shining star in the slim library of AAA PS3 titles.

4- Zak and Wiki: The Quest for Barbaros Treasure(Wii): Don't be deceived by the crappy name of this game. This is the evolution of adventure games. All it needs is Tim Schafer characters and Story, and it would probably be one of the best Adventure games ever made.

3- God of War 2: The opening 5 minutes of Gow 2 are better than a lot of full retail games. A truly great successor to one of the best PS2 games.

2- Portal(PC): As far as innovation is concerned, no game comes close to Portal this year. The fact that it is also tons of fun to play, and has a funny script and the best ending credits of any game this year is just the icing on the cake (which is a lie).

1- Super Mario Galaxy (Wii): Assassins Creed designers, please take a cue from Mr Miyamoto. Games are supposed to be FUN and repetitive boring missions is not my idea of a good time. Super Mario Galaxy keeps bringing new gameplay elements throughout the 20+ hours of gameplay it takes you to finish the game. Game of the Year no competition.

[TiAgUh]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

5- Uncharted Drake's Fortune (PS3) : A hybrid between Tomb Raider, Gears of War and Indiana Jones, Dude Raider is a shining star in the slim library of AAA PS3 titles.

(AAA Exclusives (8.5-10))

360 (2 years):
BioShock; Mass Effect; Gears; Halo 3; Forza 2; PGR 3; Viva Pinata; DOA, Saints Row, Prey, FightRound3, VF5Online. (Bio and Gears are also available for PC, but whatever.)

Wii (1 year):
Super Mario Galaxy; Zelda; Metroid; Super Paper Mario; Trauma Center (AAA? dunno); Zack&Wiki, Rayman.

PS3 (1 year):
Ratchet & Clank; Uncharted; Warhawk; Resistance: Fall of Man; Ninja Gaiden Sigma; Motorstorm; Folklore (i wont count UT3 since its coming also for 360).

Sorry for the nitpicking But people should stop saying stuff like that .

[Lucien21]

Sorry for nitpicking

AAA game means games that have almost unlimited budgets and are media events.

Nought to do with the review score and more to do with budget and expectations.

[TiAgUh]

^ Oh ok sorry, thanks.

Link

There is a debate that takes into considering several aspects that AAA titles should have. Some of the most common qualities that AAA titles should have (according to some experts) are:
- High-quality
- Broad market
- High sales
- Large teams
- Big budget
- Polished audio-visual direction
- Perfect technical and artistic execution
- Playable & fully enjoyable within the first five minutes of play
- Exhaustively testes
- Bug free
- Great usability
- Continous, balanced entertainment from beginning to end
- Great graphical user interface
- First place in the markets, and great marketing
- Hype

Some of the qualities are more arguable than others (like playability in 5 minutes). Some argue whether AAA titles should have certain budget or certain amount of sales.

In general, AAA refers to a game of the highest quality.

[Terramax]

Originally Posted by samIamsad

Second processor? If you bought a new PC rather recently I wouldn't worry about much. As with most games out there, it's heavily video card bound. The game is very fine with just about any 70$ dual core processor out there at the moment (and is fine with one of the more competent single core CPUs as well), a video card suiting your desired screen resolution is what you should be really thinking about.

I want to play the game on maximum settings. Also, when I buy extras for the PC, I something a little hight up that'll last me a while.

I want to play other games as well as Bioshock. I know it's pretty average experience, and pretty rascist, but I'd like to play Crysis with max graphics too.

[Ninja Dodo]

My picks for this year would have to be:

Portal - Best Overall Game

Team Fortress 2 - Best Artistic Direction

Bioshock - Technical Achievement (the water), Most Interesting AI (Big Daddy and Little Sisters) and Most Important for managing to have an original setting, tackle deep philosophical ponderings thematically and still be successful (paving the way for others, no doubt)...

Best Indie to Mount & Blade which is a seriously cool RPG where you get to roam around as a medieval knight on horseback. The cavalry combat really makes this game. At times it feels like you're in one of those Total War battles (if not on quite the same scale).

Now on to all the games I missed (after I finish playing Okami)...

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by Ninja Dodo

Best Indie to Mount & Blade which is a seriously cool RPG where you get to roam around as a medieval knight on horseback.

I tried that once and found it to be a pretty underwhelmingly empty experience, maybe that's just me as the game appears to have gathered quite a bit of a following. :/ Need (and always wanted to) to re-check that as maybe I just hadn't figured out how to have fun. As for indies, Battle For Wesnoth caught my attention recently. It's fun and it's easy on the eyes as well, the only thing that bugs me a little is the round limit in the campaigns... appears to be a pretty artificial way to increase difficulty, or something. Anybody playing that online?

Cave Story kept me occupied at the beginning of 2007, though that's technically not a 2007 game as well.

Originally Posted by Terramax

I want to play the game on maximum settings.

Yes, but even today's entry level CPUs won't struggle with that, check those benchmarks. As far as gaming is concerned, on average the significance of CPUs has decreased a lot in recent years, video cards are where its at. There is no PC that can run Crysis all too well on maximum settings at the moment, btw. The game was programmed to not only scale to yesteryear's and today's but tomorrow's machines as well. As a result, even on rather medium settings it looks technically more apt than most of everything out there. Still, if you want to, wait a little longer then, as a lot of peeps interested apparently do.. according to recent news the sales figures haven't met expectations so far. In the US it sold less than 100,000 copies in the first month after its release. Seems like those advanced visuals came at a price this time...

[Marrow]

Didn't buy any games released this year, but if I did, I would have gotten Final Fantasy VI, Etrian Odessy and Hotel Dusk Room 215.
not to sure if this one came out this year or the year before but Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja, it could have won such awards as the most barbaric game and the game that has the worst death penalty (if only such awards existed).