Top 10 PC Games of the Year 2008

talk about far cry 2 being repetitive what about none stop killing of zombies in l4d that is so boring even thou valve did a great job on it. codwaw would never make my list sloppy job by treyark. my game of the year is crysis warhead and far cry 2 sits good at #5 to each his own guys

Crysis is below Far Cry 2?? FC2 is repetitive and boring compared to the Crysis action packed levels.

GTA4 is well placed there. if it wasn't for the technical problems, i won't mind it being number 2. it was more enjoyable than Fallout 3 or Mass Effect for me.

im no RPG fan, so only played Mass Effect through once, thought it was just an average squad shooter.

L4D totally deserves the number 1 spot, well done Valve.

Missing in the list is World of Goo.

where's World of GOO!!!!
shame Clear Sky didn't get into top 10, great atmosphere.

Can't argue with the list, however i'd put fallout 3 number 1, the first game for a while that i've been determined to finish and enjoyed playing from the start. I've only recently purchased LFD, and although i like the idea and style of it, i'm having trouble getting into it. Maybe it just isn't my cup of tea..

Agree that Far Cry 2 looks and plays great, but is hampered by the lack of atmosphere (a game world solely populated by mercs) and the repetitive missions.

All the games picked deserve to be there though. Good choices.

Originally Posted by impar
Missing in the list is World of Goo.

My thoughts as well!

fc2 shouldn't be anywhere near the top ten its a broken irritating mess of a game.

L4D however will keep me going well into the new year and beyond I suspect. Makes you realise that although there have been lots of high profile releases this year a lot of them have been quite disappointing.

A pretty weak year in gaming for me. Nothing I played this year really struck me as just an amazing game(I played all games in the top 10). Granted, two, L4D and Dead Space, of the top 10 aren't my cup of tea because I don't get into that genre much. The only games which I enjoyed out of the top 10 was Fallout 3 and Grid. The rest I felt could be passed over without much thought, especially WaW and FC2.

I don't know, if I wouldn't have watched my friend beat GTAIV I still wouldn't know how it ends. Although Audio Surf was a fresher experience, I still couldn't get into it.

:?:(

Tbh, i don't agree with the list at all, but then, i've only played 2 out of the 10 on the list.
Far Cry 2 was crap, and GTA 4 put me to sleep.
C&C Red Alert 3 would be in my top spot, but then, that would be bias, and i may as well now turn around and stand in the corner.

Still, i'm guessing this list comes from that poll we did a few weeks back yes?

Sam

Timing couldn't be better with L4D being on sale on Steam for ~£20 right now (UK price).
Nice to see AudioSurf in there too.

Hmmm... I like stories so I wouldn't put L4D first. I'd put Mass Effect and GTA4 abouve Fallout 3 too. I was great and all, but it lacked the soul and character of the aforementioned titles for me.

better go buy L4D, is it worth getting if ur net connection isn't really upto multiplay anymore? or would it be more fun co-op on the 360?

This list surprised me.

I expected there to be far more indie loving going on, but its very much a list of blockbusters. Where are World of Goo and Sins of a Solar Empire :(

About 2008 in general, I think its been pretty good. Not great. Not as good as we were told it was going to be, but then isn't that always the case? My problem is that this year more than ever I've found some games to just lack any kind of soul and character. Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 are the best examples - Rubbish dialogue, wooden combat, brainless stories and a complete lack of voice talent (except for the guy playing President Eden in Fallout 3), meaning the world presented to you feels completely unbelievable. So the titles that actually provide a sense of character have really shone for me - Left 4 Dead, World of Goo, Mass Effect, even Dead Space.

Thats why this list has surprised me I guess. Games that have been hyped and reviewed highly, but havent been received well from forum chatter, have scored highly. Is it that games that are supposed to be good, are good in the eyes of the public?

Sorry. Rant over.

Originally Posted by V3ctor
L4D - Just love it.... It's addicting, it made me leave TF2 :)

Great game from Valve

Exactly the same here.

L4d > all (at the moment ;))

Damn right L4D! Pre-ordered it 1 month and 15 days when it released on steam.

Originally Posted by MiNiMaL_FuSS
better go buy L4D, is it worth getting if ur net connection isn't really upto multiplay anymore? or would it be more fun co-op on the 360?

If you wanna play L4D, PC is the way to go.

Audiosurf is easily the best bang for bucks of 2008. My friend and I have a lot of fun beating each others records at this game. I currently hold the best mono record for SSH - Steel Dragon (Megaman 2) and he does for Tiesto - He's a pirate. There is just no way anyone could beat both our score in mono as they are perfect :D

I got L4D for christmas and so far the little I played has been awesome. It is much harder than I expected !

I haven't played CoD5 online yet because I haven't decided if I wanted to buy it or not (bought cod1,2 and 4) but the LAN coop games have been awesome both in the missions and the zombie mods !

Now I am very curious in trying GTA4 and see if the style improved at all since GTA3, the last GTA i tried

EDIT: IMO World of Goo doesn't belong on the top 10 list anyway. I would rather see Fantastic Contraptions there :D

I may be pouring rocket fuel onto the fire here, but I did not much care for Left 4 Dead. I found it repetitive, confusing and somewhat pointless. As such, in my mind, Fallout 3 should have made the top spot - closely followed by Mass Effect and The Witcher.

Just my two cents...

How come you people are still killing zombies? L4D and CoD:WaW??? Come on!!! How many nazis, Japanese, zombies or nazi-zombies (the worst) you think a game has got to have in order to be good???

For me innovation is the key here... and I will only speak about the games I've played so far

Dead Space
CONS: Same old story, monster closet AI, no multiplayer whatsoever, way too scripted, designed to be played with a gamepad. ZeroG, slow motion and lift mechanics feel more like bonus features than real useful stuff
PROS: Beautiful visuals, creepy audio (especially on 5.1), extra gore!

* Even though I got this game as a gift (I wouldn't purchased it otherwise) I'm really enjoying it. It's like Doom/Quake 4 meets Bioshock. The whole claustrophobic feeling makes me come back all over again... but not too much though

Warhead
CONS: washed out version of the CryEngine 2 (it almost look console-ish), not as open world as they claim it to be, the over-powered (almost unbalanced) Nanosuit makes the game a walk on the park (even in delta mode), adds nothing to the Crysis story
PROS: still a beautiful game, highly action-packed, Psycho really knows how to work that suit

* For me the original Crysis it's a lot better, Warhead feels like more of the same. However, once you see Psycho kicking ass from the very beginning of the game, you'll feel like Nomad on steroids

FarCry 2
CONS: it's a little too big (even for a sandbox game), lack of prone or lean movements show it's console-ish background, kind of repetitive (although I think most of the duplicate objectives are designed for us to explore the whole sandbox before the REAL missions). Don't get me started on the multiplayer... specially with my CoD4 and BF2142 background (REAL Multiplayer games)
PROS: Amazing Crysis-like visuals, REAL open world > endless strategic value, night-day cycles and weather effects. Challenging AI (in the hardest difficulty setting)

* Personally I've been having lots of fun with this game... The DUNIA engine is quite impressive and it has a huge effect in the gameplay. Yes, it has repetitive objectives but those are for you to get to know the whole sandbox before doing the REAL missions (APR or UFLL only). Personally, I've master a lot o guerrilla tactics (roadside bombs, hit and run, night stalking...) that have made the whole experience a lot more deep and rewarding.
Think Crysis without the suit

GRID
CONS: It's a tough game to race...
PROS: Awesome visuals and physics. Love that semi-arcade feeling

* HUGE improvement over the poorly-ported DiRT

The following games I've not played yet, but I will eventually.

CoD5
As I said before, WW2 is long gone... W@W feels more like a movie-based game than a FPS. Either way is a CoD game and I will play it eventually. Nothing to comment on the lame zombie fragfest...

GTA4
I was planning to purchase it until I read all the awful reviews... Almost the same specs as Crysis are required but with half the visual quality. If I play this game, it will be thanks to BitTorrent... Nuff said

Fallout 3
Haven't played the previous games so I'm not that crazy about it. Also I'm not an RPG fan
Graphics looked good... last year

Audiosurf
Fun, re-playable and I can play it with my girlfriend


I won't even bother with the other 2 games in the list...

Originally Posted by Redbeaver
great choices!

i would rank dead space a little higher, GTA a little (or a lot) lower, and FarCry at bottom 10. i love it, but it can get repetitive quite a bit. great story tbh and a harsh reality i can relate to. dead space was near perfect... if only i can jump.... lol


but L4D........


..... damn i need to buy it.

whats this story in farcry 2 i keep hearing about, i kept playing it and had no story line for 6 ****ing hours?

Originally Posted by Sark.inc
whats this story in farcry 2 i keep hearing about, i kept playing it and had no story line for 6 ****ing hours?

You go to africa to hunt down some weapons dealer that armed both sides in a local conflict.

thats the entire story, there isn't anymore except smallish pieces that "justify" your current mission.

Good count guys, but GTA 4 was in both the most dissapointing and the the top 10 lists?

I gotta try audiosurf, it looks like fun. Valve deserves the top spot. Those poeple can make a game right, hands down.

For me it's been one game only - The Witcher (EE)

I know it came out in 2007 and technically can't qualify but damn it's a good game!

I still can't see the big deal behind L4D. I played it a week and put it on the retired games shelf.

it's been a poor year for RTS games...

Originally Posted by jvb
it's been a poor year for RTS games...

Oh God yes!!!! CivIV Colonization was good but nothing special.

Originally Posted by UrbanMarine
I still can't see the big deal behind L4D. I played it a week and put it on the retired games shelf.

L4D isn't a good game to play alone i must admit.
But it's versus mode is somewhere between superb and fantastic! It's pure strategy. Serious. It isn't caotic as TF2, so, u need more planning before acting.
As for the solo play, it's a good for passing time. Tis good if you need to wait like 40 mins for something like waiting your girlfriend dress up.