The Second Annual Coint and Plick Poll: ILG’s Best Video Games of 2008 - Part 3: The Top Fifteen!

Loved Madden 09. On the fly roster updates ftw.

Hated the gameplay compared to the older versions. Also, it had a habit of crapping out on me. Now that I've started copying games to my hard drive (best thing ever), maybe I'll give it another try.

Forks, the anticipation is driving me CRAZY, especially knowing that you have the results, and you're busy starting Schef gmail status update threads! ;)

Now that I've started copying games to my hard drive (best thing ever)

really? i thought the concensus on this was that it's useless.

really? i thought the concensus on this was that it's useless.

I've often had games freeze on me in the past, or run slowly, and it never happens anymore. Plus, it runs much quieter from the HD.

This is true. I was only able to play Fable 2 by copying it to the harddrive. And it IS much quieter.

#10: Wipeout HD (PSN) – 51 points – 5 votes – TOP PSN Exclusive
Official game site

http://www.threespeech.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/WipEout-HD--4.jpg

S1ocki: Guys this game is aweeeoeiwoeiwososome. JUST ONE MORE GAME JUST ONE MORE GAME

JeffLevine: ZONE ZONE ZONE ZONE
It's seems like it's a better game than I thought it would be and I thought it was going to be really good. So far, I'm amazed. Maybe the best looking game I've ever seen.

http://www.myps3.com.au/img/game/large/Wipeout-HD--3.jpg

HI DERE: I did one race and I am already in love.

Jamescobo: Plays as pretty as it looks, which I mean: come the fuck on.

http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/02/66/26692_WipeoutHD-05_normal.jpg

Ste: I really like it; I must admit I didn't right away as I was a bit rusty with the trigger turning and that first track was pretty tricky, but it didn't take long to get addicted to unlocking stuff. I just realized we're now playing Wipeout with better graphics than from the original PS Wipeout FMV that everyone creamed over at the beginning of the first game.

John Justen: This game is my first actual moment of PS3 envy right here.

Two way tie for #8.

#8: Dead Space (360/PS3) – 60 points – 6 votes
Official game site

http://thegamereviews.com/images/uploads/20080829_Dead_Space_01.jpg

John Justen: Really creepy. Like, convincingly and intensely and upsettingly creepy. Fantastic AI, great implementation of versatility in replay and Jesus Christ: can every other developer in the universe please pay attention to the HUD design in this plz plz plz
I think the shitty shitty demo probably did more to keep people from buying this than it did to enhance sales as it is totally unrepresentative of what makes this game great.

Roberto Spiralli: i QUITE METAPHORICALLY shit my pants playing it. Can't remember last time I was this creeped out by a game; kudos to the makers. I thought this was really superb. It became more of a shooter at the end with the game throwing more monsters your way to keep it tough, but I didn't mind so much. I’ll definitely play through again.

http://www.primotechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/deadspace.jpg

David R: What I want:
1) Ammo
2) A character that will STOMP on the fucking thing I want STOMPED
3) A character that will SWING at the fucking thing I want SWUNG AT
What Dead Space offers: NONE OF THE FUCKING ABOVE

http://blogs.ft.com/techblog/files/2008/02/dead_space_11.jpg

Will M: This is officially the first thing I've ever booted up on my new 5.1 and OMG THE SOUND

http://www.dasgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/deadspace1.jpg

Latebloomer: Seriously never thought a game about monsters in space would appeal to me on any level.

Cozwn: I haven't been this tense crossing an empty room since MGS1.

PostMortem

S1ocki: Not that the game's story isn't the most derivative Alien/Aliens/Event Horizon bite to begin with, but man does it go to shit in the end. Are you supposed to have read the comic book or watched the straight-to-DVD movie to figure out what the deal is with the climax?

Mordy: I finished the first two chapters and then decided I needed a break; it is very intense. I love the interface; it really raises the level of the stress when you can't jump out of the game to check your inventory. I hate using the store or a mod machine and wondering whether something is creeping behind my back. Especially because something often is.
I do feel like it suffers in comparison to Fallout 3. Obviously they are doing different things, but it still pales.

#8: Mario Kart (Wii) – 60 points – 6 votes – Top Wii Exclusive Game
Official game site

http://www.wii-games-wii.com/images/mario-kart-wii2.jpg

CraigG: Aside from Pro Evolution Soccer, this is the best fun to have with a bunch of friends round. It outdoes Pro Ev in that I can get my girlfriend to play this with me and my friends without ending up shouting at her for not knowing the controls. :)

http://www.trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/7374-MKart2.jpg

Webber: I find it very difficult to use the wheel and prefer to use a gamecube controller. The only problem with the gamecube controller is that it is almost impossible to do tricks/wheelies.

http://www.dabbledoo.com/ee/images/uploads/gamertell/mariokart_wii_wheel.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2377/2437432579_86cda5a78d.jpg

Zappi: After the initial disappointment, I really got into this. The single player is kinda useless and annoying inthat you have to play through it to unlock some stuff, but the online works really well. Downloading ghost data that other people have posted to race against is a great idea. I think the biggest change is the addition of trick jumps and ledges which you can get a boost from if you time it right - some are worth it and some aren't, so you really start thinking about different routes around the track. Oh and, yet again, fuck a blue shell… though the new thundercloud item is genius.

Forksclovetofu: Nintendo’s notion that giving the public what they want means reissuing the same game a zillion times over the course of a decade has rarely paid off better than with Mario Kart Wii. The minor improvements add up. To have more fun with a group of four people, you need to be high or naked. It’s good times.

#7: Burnout Paradise (360/PS3) – 64 points – 5 votes – 1 GAME OF THE YEAR vote
Official game site

http://ngnews.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/img_5916_burnout-paradise-11.jpg

Brilliam: More games need to steal this idea: make an engine that is SO GOOD that nothing feels like a chore.

http://endsights.com/wp-admin/images/burnout.jpg

John Justin: Seems like it's getting kind of slept on because ‘yawn another Burnout game’ but the open architecture is a great idea and all the free DLC makes it feel like Christmas all the time. Other game devs should wise up and realize that free DLC is the way to build continual sales into your product and to maintain your user base.

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1629/1197582996.jpg

S1ocki: There are some serious problems with this game--free-roaming racing just don’t make much sense-- but it's still fun to grab for an hour here and there.

Jamescobo: If Little Big Planet gives you a complete set of tools, Burnout Paradise gives you a closed system with nigh-unto-endless variables - a single city which can instantly be populated by other human players at the press of a single button. It's SimAnt at 200mph. It's great. Also big ups to the developers who keep supporting this game with free new content to this day; I just wish I could have been a fly on the wall when they pitched it to EA (for god's sakes). Also: LCD Soundsystem on the soundtrack!

http://www.g4g.it/g4g/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/burnout_paradise_ost_01.jpg

Jeff Le Vine: I love the graphics, especially now that they added a day night cycle, but the racing just sucks.

#6: Rock Band 2 (360/PS3/Wii) – 73 points – 6 votes – 1.5 GAME OF THE YEAR votes– TOP WII GAME
Official game site

Nhex: I don't own a current generation console besides the DS, so my picks reflect that for the most part - my time with next-gen games comes mostly from playing friends' machines during visits. That's why Rock Band 2 scores so highly, and the two Wii games that were quite fun but played less score lower down the list.

http://ps3.rocktheconsole.com/posters/rock-band-2.jpg

Mitch Krpata: The most purely fun game I played in 2008. Alone or with friends, for five minutes or five hours, it always leaves me smiling. The gameplay is just terrific. My drum skills are at the point where medium difficulty is a little too easy and hard difficulty is just about within my range. It seems like Harmonix has calibrated the difficulty levels exactly -- the toughest songs on medium seem about equal to the easiest songs on hard. It's a simple and logical progression for the low-talent drummer.

http://fidgit.com/rock_band_2_fees.jpg

HI DERE: I got my wife to start a band with me! She's playing bass and every now and then gets mad at me because on easy, the guitar parts are way easier most of the time.

Mr. Snrub: WHY DOES THE WII VERSION SUCK SO FUCKING BAD??? Screw it. I'm getting an 360 and buying that version. I don't care if it costs $550 or whatever.

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/rock_band2.jpg

Polyphonic: Disappointing. It's like they just released the first game with new songs, and even made it harder to unlock songs. Maybe it's better if you have the $300 drum kit but the regular new kit isn't much better than the old one and a lot of the early songs in the playlist kinda suck. Too easy even compared to the last one.

Ain't nothin' but the top five left!
Make your predictions here and I'll do the final reveal tomorrow night.

It has got to be Fallout 3, GTA IV, L4D, and Braid, but I can't imagine what the fifth is going to be. I'm probably missing something obvious.

SF2HD

Sounds about right, I think those must be the only ones left!

Sooo....

5. SF2HD
4. Braid
3. L4D
2. GTAIV
1. F3

Sound possible?

Lamp, Wii Fit was #34

im basically only crlt+f for my name tbh ````+_L but i was still pretty on-point imo who couldve predicted that ppl like fukkin rock band????

fuk braid imma get so enraged about this game btw u can all look forward to that

GRAH ALMOST DYING FROM WIPEOUT DESIRE

BUT i am getting xbox and dead space at the weekend probably, yay @ return to gaming!

i am glad i am aiding in facilitating you having less money

Braid was so excellent.

I don't think I ever made my mataphor about Rock Band on here, so I will give my two cents now: this game feels is like nachos.

You eat some, then you wanna eat more, and you eat and eat and eat until you realized you had too much... and you wasted precious stomach space on something that has no nutritional value and now you just have a stomachache.

My roomie and I split on RB and RB2 this holiday after Xmas, and while we played the SHIT out of it for a couple weeks, I haven't touched it since because I just feel liek I don't have THAT much time to play games, I'd rather play something that I feel isn't a massive (but fun) timesink. Like, I don't like listening to songs I don't particularly like and hitting buttons corresponding to those songs for hours on end. I mean, I DO like it, because it's fun, but I DON'T like it, because it REALLY gives me that "what the fuck am I doing with my life" gamer angst.

ha dude, if RB/RB@ makes you feel that way, never ever ever EVER start playing WoW

Also, do Mitch and Iroquois and all them actually read the site, or did they send in ballots? Or is it more that they just have good bites? I was gonna say "sound bites" but uh I guess they're not sound.

XP haha I DID play WoW for almost a year (pre-BC). At least in that game there was a sense of something lasting, which was making genuine friendships with some pretty cool people. Also, exploring new content is exciting when you play WoW. There's NOTHING in Rock Band. Not even that. I don't hate wasting time so much as I hate coming out of it with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING...

I can see how RB would seem that way if you didn't really dig the songs. I deleted a couple of songs that I hated from RB1 and now I'm pretty happy with what I have in RB2. I've been focusing just on lead guitar and so haven't really even begun to touch vocals or drums in RB2. It probably helps that I haven't binged on it b/c yeah I don't have much time to game either. Really I just put it on for a fun 30-45 minutes or so once or twice a week, and it's a great way to listen to a few songs I like. Plus I keep getting better at it so it gives that rush of improvement that a good RPG can give.

Also, do Mitch and Iroquois and all them actually read the site, or did they send in ballots?

I, uh, mailed out a press release about the poll to the gamer press that I read inviting them to mail in their ballots. Mitch and Iroquois did.

/guilty publicist

^nerd

My buddy has downloaded pretty much every good song for Rock Band, and imported all the songs from RB1. The game is especially fun if you enjoy singing, which I do. Friend has big Rock Band parties that are like smaller-scale karaoke nights, and sometimes people will pick up real guitars and play along with the songs. I try my best to sing harmonies when I'm on drums or bass.

When Rock Band 1 was first released, it seemed like it had skipped over a generation of music games. RB2 and GH:WT don't offer much improvements, so I guess it had.

5. SF2HD
4. Braid
3. GTAIV
2. L4D
1. F3

maybe? altho the l4d 360 exclusivity isnt going to help it, so maybe GTAIV moves to second?

which would be mordys list that he already posted, duh

uhm but Fable 2 is already the top 360 exclusive?

oh yeah. wtf?

oh duh it is available for PC isnt it

#5: Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix (XBLA/PSN) – 75 points – 6 votes - .5 GAME OF THE YEAR votes– TOP PSN GAME
Official game site

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/03/ssfiihdr_beta.jpg

Circa1916: Man, super addictive. It's hard playing with the Xbox controller, but I've learned you're better off just using the analog stick because that d-pad is hopeless. This is like 1000x better with a stick. Night and day. I'm actually hitting dragon punches regularly. Best fighting game netcode, like, ever btw. This cleaned up 14 year old piece makes most modern fighting games look pretty shitty.

http://www.dasgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/street-fighter-ii-remix.jpg

Guile combos

Cozwn: It's so addictive too; I've just gone like 0-20 against two guys in the lobby I'm in and I'm still really enjoying it...

Jamescobo: I've kind of fallen in love with the inscrutability of hardcore (or apparently even semi-hardcore) SFII players. Reading through reaction threads feels like reading Clockwork Orange again for the first time. Between this, Wipeout HD, Chrono Trigger, Mother 3, Space Invaders Extreme, and (I guess) Okami, 2008 might be an even better year for remakes than for 'new' games.

MPX4A: The online in this is great. Getting stuck in a lobby spectating a match ought to be boring, but scouting some flash guy winning in straight rounds and expecting to get caned, then playing him and winning is fun.

http://www.battleofdestiny.com/images/sf2hd_1.gif

Jamescobo: Best remaster since 'The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads'.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2319/2259566762_794c1dd06d_o.jpg

#4: Left 4 Dead (PC/360) – 102 points – 8 votes - .5 GAME OF THE YEAR votes
Official game site

Brilliam: This game was instrumental to my friends' ability to keep in touch once everyone moved across this giant, freezing country. Now, I'll be honest: this is a game best experienced in groups of four or eight. Once you throw strangers into the mix, it's less fun. But, when you play with a crew that you've been gaming with ages, and you know each other's weird gaming idiosyncrasies and you're forced to take care of each other while a sadistic AI attempts to bleed you out over the course of a dozen incredibly thoughtful set pieces, you end up realizing how awesome those gaming relationships can really be. My favorite gaming moment of the year was probably when Andy was charging ahead, and Angus was trying to be super-careful and thoughtful, and Travis was accidentally shooting everyone in the back, and I wasn't paying any attention and a smoker choked me to death. Even though we hadn't really displayed those tendencies in this game yet, it was so us. And it was great. Add to that some of the most thoughtful social satire in zombie-related media since Dawn of the Dead ('I miss the Internet,' the how-many-zombies-I-killed pissing contests, Zoey calling zombie bullshit) and you've got a game that was really worth the long wait.

http://www.aeropause.com/wordpress/archives/images/2008/05/left4dead-1.jpg

John Justen: Online is great, single player feels mostly pointless and included only as a means to online play.

http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/left4dead-mar1st.jpg

Nhex: My Left 4 Dead vote is based solely on the demo levels, which were damn good.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/LXrDKhaXZ/Left_4_Dead_Pics_20.jpg

JeffLevine: The co-op zombie apocalypse game we always dreamed of.

Mitch Krpata: Each playthrough tells a new and different tale. Left 4 Dead doesn't follow the traditional rules of survival horror — it's as slick and responsive a first-person shooter as you'll find — but it does make its resources scarce, in the classic genre tradition. Each player can carry only one health pack at a time, with the rare opportunity to find more scattered throughout the levels. At least once a game, you'll have to decide whether to give a spare health pack to a dying teammate or hang onto it because you know you'll need it later. One of the true pleasures of Left 4 Dead is discovering how other players answer these questions — and how you do.

http://bugssite.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/left_4_dead.jpg

Polyphonic: Maybe it's a little weird to put a game I've only played three times this high on my list, but this is a seriously impressive game. I tend to overrate games that provide great storytelling and atmosphere. This game has that in spades, and no game has ever been more tense, and few games have ever been as fun to play with friends.

Game Blog

I wish I liked shooters, L4D looks incredibly dope (and terrifying!)

So #3 and #2 had the same number of points and the same number of votes, but three people voted #2 as their game of the year. Which means...

#3: Braid (XBLA) – 104 points – 10 votes – TOP XBLA GAME
Official game site

Mordy: The greatest love story (after Violet: A Distraction!) this year came by way of a platformer that played with time. Also, this might not be a love story between the protagonist and the princess, but between a scientist and an atomic weapon. Either way, the game’s final moments (as the explosion goes off and time runs backward one last time) are understated and beautiful.

http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/12/braid.jpeg

Brilliam: In spite of there being a lot about this game I didn't like, I still loved a lot about it. I hate laundry-listing games, but the mechanics and the pacing and the art are all utterly top-notch. I LOVE Hellman's art style. What I didn't like was everything else about the presentation; the story, the text dumps, and even the setting left me a little flat. Still, no platforming game has been this incredibly well put-together. Blow might be a bit of a dick, but he knows how to think up insane puzzles, and that's awesome. I hope his next game doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth like this one did, because he's clearly an incredibly talented director.

http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/2/0/5/1/0/2/ss_preview_b2.jpg.jpg

CraigG: Just a wonderfully mellow, yet often frustrating platformer. I play this to relax after getting worked up over Fallout.

Mitch Krpata: Twisted my brain like a pretzel. This is a game in which everything comes together in perfect harmony. Whether it’s the hand-painted visuals, the oblique textual narration, or the darkening storyline, Braid casts a spell. During development, it got its share of attention for the sometimes colorful personality of its creator and sole designer, Jonathan Blow. Since its release, debate has raged as to whether Braid is an artistic high-water mark or pretentious wankery. But there’s no need to decide at this moment whether Braid is an important game. That’s for history to decide. Enough for now to say that it’s a damn good one.

http://www.themarriedgamers.net/MarriedGamersReviewBraid_C96E/braid_title_new.jpg

SPOILER:

Polyphonic: This is probably the most innovative game of the year, and the short time I spent with it was among the best gaming experiences I can recall. I have shown this game to so many people, many of them gaming neophytes, and everyone has been blown away by this game, and usually a little overwhelmed by it. It's a profoundly unusual experience to play this game, but to play it well is satisfying in a way that few games are. There are plenty of games that provide a test of your reflexes, but few that challenge your intellect as much as this game. One of the best puzzles of all time.

Jonathan Blow ‘09

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/braid-game-screenshot-xbox-360-arcade-big.jpg

#2: GTA IV (360/PS3) – 104 points – 10 votes – 3 GAME OF THE YEAR votes
Official game site

Mordy: This lacks the emotional punch of Fallout 3, or even the sympathetic protagonist of Violet: A Distraction, but GTA IV was still the most ambitious, mainstream game to come out this year. I have to imagine that forcing 13 year old trash-talkers to think about morality (and mortality) can't be bad. Maybe Rockstar is really a subversive Kantian think tank trying to trick kids into playing Mafia games that are really about the immigrant experience.

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/01/gta_iv_wanted_poster.jpg

Jeff Levine: Say what you will, it’s an amazing technical achievement.

http://www.xboxer.tv/GTA-IV_screen4.jpg

Iroquois Pliskin: The single richest, most culturally detailed and vibrant environment created for a video game, and one of the most ambitious as well, on a narrative level.

http://www.megaleecher.net/uploads/GTA4_XBOX.jpg

Polyphonic: A very disappointing game, especially after the embarrassing overpraise that preceded its release. But this is also the game I played the most this year, and it isn't without its pleasures. If the first GTA game released on the 360 is meant to solve the basic issues of marrying the GTA world with the physics and graphical capability of next-gen systems, hopefully the second game will provide the fun and depth that Vice City and San Andreas provided to the template of GTA III.

http://www.ps3blog.net/wp-content/uploads/gta4rollercoaster.jpg

Jamescobo: The Journey alone commands points all by itself.

#1 much deserves to win game of the year.

And, of course, it was really never even close.

#1: Fallout 3 (360/PS3/PC) – 266 points – 15 votes – 6.5 GAME OF THE YEAR votes– TOP 360/PS3/PC GAME
Official game site

Mordy: Somehow, Bethesda went from the quirky, though fairly generic world of Elders Scrolls, to the thematically rich, emotionally painful, and - fuck it - literary world of Fallout 3. No game ever moved me this year as much as Fallout 3 did. When I left Vault 101 for the last time, marching back into the wastes after reconnecting with the friends of my youth, I choked up. I found myself thinking back to the vault for the next hour or so, thinking back to what was forever lost, to what I'd never see again. Fallout 3 was full of these kind of gorgeous moments. An unexpected Town House excursion exposed beds full of skeletons and a still functioning robot. When turned on, he read a poem to the children's dead skeletons. The poem? Sara Teasdale's There Will Come Soft Rains. The Town House had no connection to any quest, no goods worth salvaging. But it was my most amazing moment of gaming in 2008.

The unofficial Forks Fallout 3 Soundtrack

http://thegamereviews.com/images/uploads/20081105_fallout3.jpg

John Justen: Absolutely no question that this is the best, most involving RPG I have ever played. This is the way to get people who don't like RPG's to take a second look. I really hope there is an achievement for obsessively turning on ham radios and opening toilet stall doors, because I’m pretty sure that I’m in the lead on that one. There really isn't anything that this game does wrong, music included.

http://savetherobot.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/fallout-3-2.jpg

CraigG: It's both exciting and daunting in terms of how big this game seems; I’ve barely made a dent in this after ten hours of play. It’s part of what really got me into gaming as a hobby.

Mitch Krpata: The most fully realized game world since Crackdown, at least. I've yet to play it for less than three hours at a time.

http://osmoothie.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/fallout-3.jpg

Hack Boy

http://fallout3.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/screen20b.jpg

Interactive map

http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/03/10/31053_Fallout3-01.jpg

Circa 1916: Awesome so far, despite weird little things. Animation is awkward and comical sometimes. Combat can get a little wonky. I killed a guard with one bb to the chest (?) and enemies don't really react to getting shot. Only 3 hours in. Spent most of my time wandering around a town chatting with people and I can't wait to get back to it. Scarily addictive and ridiculously fucking awesome so far. I've already logged 20 hours and I haven't even really touched the main quest yet. The sidequests are mostly excellent and feature a surprising amount of different outcomes. The game feels huge but not stretched thin. The replay value is ridiculous. I'm super impressed overall, it's worthy of the Fallout name. Every time I fire this up I become more and more enamored. This has got to be the best RPG of the 00's. Eh?

Forksclovetofu: Now that I just got past my first (wounded) deathclaw and marauded the shopping center, I got to say this is so addictive and fun and engaging. Improved Oblivion basically with a much more agoraphobic and nihilistic setting. I've been real happy with the pirate radio on the PIPboy. The further I get into this game the more vast it feels. Just got a house with requisite robot butler and am on the third chapter of Moira's crazy book and am ready to take some time off from that particular quest batch. I can't walk out the door without some oddball thing happening: robot firing lasers at me, three man merc hitsquad after my bounty, giant crab men chasing me down the street, fire ants that breathe actual fire, mine infested bridges... it's always something new! I am regularly struck by how uncomfortable I am killing folks who've set up little shelters under bridges or in utility sheds; they see me running up the hill with an assault rifle and of course they're going to start firing. Then I kill them and take all their stuff. And _I_ get the good karma?
I ran into a shitload of freezes getting by some mirelurks and then more when I was going to rivet city. Weird music/sound hitches. A spot where the world geometry came apart and threw me into a black hole. At least five cases where I've run into divots of rough terrain that I simply couldn't extricate myself from. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason and it comes and goes. But I can't stop playing! The carrot for me now is to visit all the places on the map that the wanderer perk opened up. I'm going through by quadrant and the main hassle is fear of running out of ammo; the alien blaster has been a real consistent life saver and I don't think there's any more ammo to be found for that weapon. As soon as that starts to wear, I'll certainly head to the end. I'm expecting to be done with this game in the first week of the year and then put it in lukewarm storage in anticipation of the DLC. Still finding surprises round every corner tho! Button Gwinnett robot! Nukalurks!

Fallout Hacks galore

Roberto Spiralli: i definitely agree with the scarily addictive tag. First time in a long time that I've done that thing where i thought 10 minutes had past and it was an hour. When I first arrived at Megaton and did my early exploring it really did feel like I was just back playing Oblivion, but the more I play, the less I find I can rely on the tactics and the approach I used playing that game. I am also going the ponderous/exploratory route. I lack the self-discipline to stop myself being distracted by everything I wander across so the main quest hasn't seen much love.

Jim: OK, I have killed so many people already. This is a buggy piece of shit. Just jumped off the bridge that goes over the river in the south-east going across to DC and the second I hit the water it crashed. Jesus Jones. There's plenty of games I've enjoyed playing more, but I've notched up 37 hours in a week and despite now having it crashed eleven times and corrupting a save game I'm still persisting at it. Actually if I was to enumerate all the lame things in this game that pissed me off, it would sound like I disliked it, but that couldn't be further from the case.

Kingfish: Found Hubris Comics last night, and the text adventure in the basement. I like having the Explorer perk, as it reveals every single place; I feel like I'm cheating but I'm not! Huzzah! The guys at Obsidian and Bioware would have probably done a better job of strengthening and filling out the story bits for the quest, but for a big-budget/blockbuster title, I'm happy with what we got. Needs more funny, but it does wonders in expanding the world and backstory. Not only do you get to see more of their ruined society, you get to investigate museums to see how their ruined society spun off.

http://static.bethsoft.com/blog/DSCN2607.JPG

Cozwn: The water mechanic doesn't feel properly developed enough for it to have any significant or meaningful impact on the way you play the game and so the way you interpret its meaning - however I do agree that the end of the game does undermine a lot of what's gone before (inasmuch as its somewhat redemptive)... for me, it's the finality that jars (I know, right? the game has to end) as so much of the game is about the world and its inhabitants scratching through but for the most part slowly wasting - memories wasting, and bodies wasting physically (psychologically, and emotionally)... I would have preferred something a little more elliptical, less obvious, more elision less bang.

http://kaiju.net/junk/fallout3kulture.jpg

S1ocki: It's kinda crazy how much I THINK I've done, but you guys are all talking about weapons and techniques and shit I've never even heard of yet!!

Zero Punctuation Review

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Goole: i don't really have much to say except this game is awesome and it's taken over my life.

Whew! Finally done! I'll do a few parting words on this monster in a day or two. In the meantime, discussion?

Even more than when I first played it, F3 stands out as the game of the year (and as Circa 1916 suggests, maybe the decade). I remember things from it in incredibly powerful ways -- as vivid as a stunning passage of literature, but with the phenomonological element of having played it rather than just read it. I remember what it feels like to stamp through tunnels, or to fight supermutants in the planetarium, or when I first came up to the Capital and the soldiers were there with a Deathclaw in a transport cage. At this point, if someone asked me why I play video games (a question that, to be satisfaction, has been decreasing over the last few years), I'd have to point to F3. It conveys an artistic experience that can't be found in another medium. And unlike, say, Braid, the ludic and narrative elements actually work together to create the experience. It's not like you have to sift through the mechanics to get at the story. The mechanics are the story. It's a story about walking through a vast wasteland with only some amazing music to keep you company.

I agree with everyone who said the main story isn't as good as the rest of the game (tho the simulation vault is an A++ unforgettable experience), but maybe that's important. Trying to ascribe teleology to the post-apocalypse is inevitably meaningless and vapid. Beckett had it right in Endgame. There is no story when the world ends, just the waiting. That fact that F3 evoked Endgame for me says it all there -- no other game in history has ever had this effect on me.

Excellent job, Forks, this was enjoyable!

for real. i didn't vote and i don't think i played any games this year, but i really enjoyed the rundown!

Yeah forks, great work you've done here, awesome stuff! Definitely drove some interest towards a lot of stuff I hadn't considered much of that I'm going to try to catch up with some during this year.

Lemmi ask Street Fighter voters a question; Do you recommend the game to someone who played the original, but doesn't have a ton of nostalgia for it? Does it work as its own game?

yeah this was great, thanks! I just bought Braid last night (yay sale) and already I can see why it's rated so highly. And I have Fallout 3 waiting when I'm ready to take on another monster, soon. I will be playing catchup for a while.

right i'm going to get fo3 again + patch and become fucking GOD at it, thanks ilg

after playing geometry wars a bunch more i want to rescind my snarky asteroids comment i made earlier. it is a really great game.

lol this took SO MUCH TIME

but c'mon, you gotta admit...you wish it was still happening!

i got fallout for christmas and still haven't opened it :(

OK Play Fallout 3 now.
couple tips for the beginning of the game.

1) at the beginning you can change your test results (where you put your skill points)... so take the test anyways, for laughs
2) put your Charisma at 1. You don't need charisma in fallout 3 since you can save and reload whenever you have to convince someone in speech
3) don't put any of the 6 other things Endurance, Strength, Luck, Perception, Intelligence, Agility at 10. You can raise it to 10 late by collecting +1 bobbleheads.
4) get 35 skill points in explosives early on the game so you can disarm the bomb at Megaton.
5) for the quest Moira's Wasteland Survival guide at Megaton City, do all the optional subquests and when you return to her to give her your information... choose the speech options that say strength or endurance (given you have enough strength or endurance to choose those options). The reason for this is that once you complete her book you get a perk that is dependent on whether you did the optional subquests and what answers you tell her. (strength and endurance answers give you the best perk). The quest perks that are worth getting are all here

Really that is all there is to say. You should look in the Fallout 3 Manual at all the skill perks you can get whenever you level up so that you know what kind of character you want to build beforehand. My character is high in S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats and will have all the Damage Resistance points possible. I also specialize in V.A.T.S.

Other than all this there is no reason why you should feel overwhelmed to pick up and play this game.

6) if you don't want the people asking for water to die outside Megaton and Rivet City, be nice to them even if you don't have purified water.

7) there are 2 people in megaton who might accidentally kill themselves.. there is nothing you can do about it I believe (unless you have the pc version)

the great thing about this game is that you don't have to plan ANYTHING if you don't want to (I sure didn't!) and you'll still end up with a powerhouse by games end.

and yeah, i'm kind of excited for next year.
Decided that I'm going to leave it open to any game the voter personally PLAYED in 2009, not just the one's released this year. That should make it accessible to anyone who gamed in '09, not just the hardcore. It also means that Sewer Shark could win GotY 2009 and who can argue with that?

I still would like a list just for 2009 games, though, because I really like finding out about those games in the 70-40 range that I might otherwise not hear about.

well 2009 is beating 2008 with a bat so far (even the SUMMER has games coming out ffs) so I'm pretty sure even grandmas and people who actually leave the house should be spoiled for choices come voting time. maybe make it a special bonus question like the least-fun-game-experience question on last year's poll?

What's so hot this year?

that sounds like a thread actually.

"couple tips for the beginning of the game.

1) at the beginning you can change your test results (where you put your skill points)... so take the test anyways, for laughs
2) put your Charisma at 1. You don't need charisma in fallout 3 since you can save and reload whenever you have to convince someone in speech
3) don't put any of the 6 other things Endurance, Strength, Luck, Perception, Intelligence, Agility at 10. You can raise it to 10 late by collecting +1 bobbleheads.
4) get 35 skill points in explosives early on the game so you can disarm the bomb at Megaton."

5. jump out of window, smash face on concrete, spend several hours in emergency room considering error of your ways

I know some people just play the game to beat it. I play the game to slaughter it. And if you think my tips suck than maybe you blew up Megaton and don't have a house to live in and are taking it out on me.

I forgot one more important tip
8) Get the comprehension Perk as soon as you can. It lets you get twice the amount of skill points from skill books. Would be a waste to get it after you read a bunch of skill books.
If you print out a list of where all the skill books are, it would be good to cross them off. I never did this though.

9) Your like 30 and your spending you're time complaining about video games on a forum full of other 30 yr olds and sprinkled with the occasional gay teen. Guess what I'm gonna be doing when I'm 30. Let's just say first I'll get up out of a 5000$ bed in my waterside mansion on the east coast of japan, awoken by the light of the rising sun that glorious island is nicknamed after. I'll gently lift myself out of bed so as not to stir my beautiful eastern european pale skin dark hair small boobs wife and go to my huge walk in closet. I'll come back out moments later wearing a really expensive italian suit. Strolling down the corridor I come into a room with glass cases full of the trophies of my achievements. I proudly look at all of them and then move into the next room, it's the room with a wall-sized HD display and walls upon walls of DVDs, mostly Anime but with a few Western classics throuwn in there. Jealous yet? Next I move into the kitchen and have my servant make me a breakfast, its usually pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream, but today... lets go healthy. Just a few slices of apple, Servant. Thank you. How delicious. Now I'm strolling into the living room about to make for the door so I can go out and enjoy my day at Comiket, but in the corner there I see something. I walk over by the 5000 dollar gaming rig, its turned off for now but later tonight I'll be playing Prostitute Farm Online, max settings and DirectX12. I begin to turn and make for the door again but then i stop and look at the black monitor screen (no less than 40 inches, btw). I just laugh. And laugh and laugh. I'm laughing because the guy who was 30 when I was a 17 year old pathetic yix poster is still a yix poster, meanwhile, I'm living the literal dream. All because I shoot for the top. Deal with it, bitch. YCS.

naw, you're okay, just bustin' your balls.

10) pale skin dark hair 'big' boobs wife

Just a few slices of apple, Servant. Thank you.

What the hell is Yix

I've had a copy of fallout 3 just sitting and waiting for me for like 2 or 3 months now... but I'm a little scared of the commitment.

also, I've been playing crackdown, which is a little old hat but great! pretty sure I don't even need to bother w/gta 4 bc this ditches lots of the annoying stuff and let's you jump over buildings instead.

you know i think i like the annoying stuff in GTA4 but yes, how i would love to be able to jump buildings like in crackdown. would love a sequel...

oh man how sadly not true loving a crackdown sequel would turn out to be

i know :(((
my brother got a copy to review for his website and gave it to me once he was done. i played it for an hour and never went back.