Your "Game of the Year"

[ProfessorChaos]

Well, it's that time of year when all the magazines, shows, websites, etc are making their argument for their "Game of the Year" selections, so I thought I'd open a thread where we can post our opinions. So if you had to pick JUST ONE game for GOTY, what would it be? We'll allow for one honorable mention, but don't post up like six different games and write a paragraph about each(...then this'll just turn into one of those threads similar to the "older movies/hidden gems" thread which at time seemed more like a "favorite movies" thread...) So, for me: Game of the Year=Fallout3. (I know I just got it and all, but I can already say that I'm gonna spend lots of time with this one. The first RPG I've gotten into in YEARS) Honorable Mention would have to go to GTAIV, for all kinds of reasons found in other threads. So, who's next?

[CoinReturn]

Left 4 Dead (360) followed closely by Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PS2). Both are worthy of buying their respective systems just to play them. Unless you've got a PC in L4D's case.

[Danny]

id say a toss u between fallout and valkyria chronicles.

[Tricky]

I havent played many of the big titles of the year, but out of the ones i have played Far Cry 2 is certainly one of the best!its not perfect due to a few niggling things like rapidly respawning enemy checkpoints & the fact you come under fire from everyone you come across apart from in the few ceasefire zones.But other than that the game world is beautiful & entirely believable,the gunplay is spot on,enemy AI is intelligent & at times quite suprising (as well as sometimes quite dumb) & the atmosphere is great. I'd like to give the new brothers in arms game a shot,that may also be up there in the game of the year stakes. As for 2009,im expecting operation flashpoint 2 is going to blow the competition away!ive been waiting a long time for that game!

[3pidemiC]

I'd Say... A toss up (right now) between Dead Space and Far Cry 2 and CoD:WaW.

[blind2d]

Noodle: Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts! 2D: Dead Space.

[capncnut]

Yup Fallout 3, even though I have yet to start it proper. I had a few hours on it at a friend's house and was blown away, can't wait to get on it. Left 4 Dead is a close second.

[EvilNed]

Fallout 3 without a doubt. Played it for upwards 25 hours, and I've done and seen maybe 20% of what the game has to offer. So yeah, deeeefinetly Fallout 2. Second place: STALKER: Clear Sky. It has the creepiest, most rundown atmosphere of any game I've ever played and just continues on the succesfull traditions from the first game.

[MinionZombie]

I'll probably say GTA IV - but with Gears of War 2 running a close second for a brand new game (I'm currently playing it at the moment, only early into it mind you). Honourable mention to COD: WAW which actually did rather well considering it's made by Treyarch who dropped the ball with COD3, and have to constantly live up to the superior Infinity Ward. I've not had the chance to play STALKER: Clear Sky yet - STILL - I've had it sat there on my desk since Sep-effing-tember, but haven't been able to play it yet (my existing rig wasn't up to the task, and my new one is having trouble when it comes to playing games without freezing at the moment - still trying to figure that one out). As such, I've also got a copy of last year's Crysis - but again, not been able to play that yet. Other newer titles would be Battlefield: Bad Company, which was good fun, although occasionally the difficulty settings are a bit unbalanced, but a good slab of explosive fun. Saints Row 2 was fun, but the balancing was ALL OVER THE F*CKING SHOP - seriously, some tasks were immensely easy, others were immensely difficult ... plus the variety of bugs, glitches, freezes and crashes. When it worked though, it was a good bit of fun. Still haven't gotten onto Fallout 3 yet though, but want to. Episode Two was enjoyable stuff, and Portal was an interesting game as well. Tony Hawks Proving Grounds was fun, but also annoying at times, and I preferred Project 8 personally. I think a lot of other games I played this year were technically from 2007 (including some I've mentioned above), there's not enough time to play all these games dagnammit!

[kidgloves]

Left 4 Dead WITH FRIENDS is pure gaming heaven. FIFA09 is the best one yet. Haven't played much Fallout yet due to L4D Fable 2 was excellent while it lasted but haven't returned to it yet. Left 4 Dead for me easily

[SymphonicX]

Can we spice this up and also give a worst game of the year too? Favourite Game of 2008 - to be honest...not one game really deserves it. Fallout 3 was OK, not the amazing experience it was made out to be...GTA4 was beyond embarassing, a total travesty. Left 4 Dead was great but it has so many issues and the lack of truly good single player destroys the game. CODWAW I haven't played. LittleBigPlanet was great but NOT a game of the year. Midnight Club LA was brilliant but again, not the best ofthe year. Spiderman: Web of Shadows was great, but again, not amazing. Dead Space, again good game, but nothing spectacular there. Force Unleashed = overhyped. Saints Row 2, whilst a complete improvement on the "other" game...well....still needed a LOT of work - still a good attempt. GOW2, boring as hell...sick of that game now. Worst game of the year goes to GTA 4 for me. That one bordered on offensive. So all in all, I think there's been a lot of great games - but we haven't had a COD4 this year, not by a long shot. Instead we've been inundated with overhyped, bog-standard games that don't make you rush back to the system eagerly awaiting another play through. There's been no R6, no Cod, no halo, nothing really worth getting wet over. But still, a very good year for games overall - so really game of the year goes to all the above apart from GTA4....a shame, but I'm holding out hope for next year and Killzone 2.

[MinionZombie]

Well we all know that Symph is completely hetero for GTA IV (i.e. the opposite of hellsing's favourite chestnut of "flaming for" ). I've just finished Act 2 of Gears of War 2 - and f*ck me this is a fun game. So far there's none of the annoying faff that would very occasionally crop up, and the difficulty levels are balanced far better thus far. The graphics are even better, the scope is grander and even more awe inspiring, the weapons are glorious, the enemies are great fun to hack in half with a chainsaw, the level when you're literally inside a giant worm thing is fantastically gory fun ... *gasps for breath* ... that city falling into the underground was awesome - and a nice way to mix up you being underground for basically an entire act - the Cole Train is hilarious, Fenix is a proper gamer-controlled awesome bad-ass (voiced by the dude who does Bender as well, fact fans). Yep, I rather enjoyed Gears of War - but Gears of War 2 beats its ass, the story is improved, the game is improved, the graphics are better, the scope is far more impressive - generally, I'm about ready to give the game a great bit fuzzy cuddle. ... Despite GTA IV's flaws, I did have a considerable amount of fun with it, and invested about 100 hours into it, so I obviously got a lot out of it. So really, I'd have to say it's a toss-up between GTA IV and Gears of War 2 for me, for game of the year. Next year - gee, lemme guess, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Yeah, methinks so.

[3pidemiC]

Next year - gee, lemme guess, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Yeah, methinks so. Battlefield 2142: Part II? Let's hope not.

[MinionZombie]

Battlefield 2142: Part II? Let's hope not. I've never played BF2142 ... was it gash, then?

[Tricky]

Next year - gee, lemme guess, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Yeah, methinks so. I reckon not,i think flashpoint 2 is going to seriously destroy the competition for best military based game of 2009,and probably ever!i dont know if you ever played the first one,but although it looks dated now,it had an atmosphere that has never been recreated in another game since!if this new one has the same feel to it,while using an upgunned version of the colin mcrae DiRT engine,it will be pure military gaming heaven!the run & gun arcade style of the CoD series will have to take a back seat to this bad boy thats 360 footage,the pc version will be even more kick arse!