My Favorite Video Games of 2007

A landmark year for videogames. Most were not only good but classic. The most elevated way of passing the time I can think of. I was also tickled with how many new series I got into. Persona, Mass Effect, and Bioshock held their own against reliably good series such as Half-Life, Halo, Mario, Contra and God of War.

-Greg

Best Game of 2007 goes to…

1. Portal (along with Half-Life 2 Episodes Two)

~This is a triumph! I’m making a note here: huge success. It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction.~ That’s the opening from the farewell song in Portal. It’s also exactly how I felt about my experience playing it. It’s rare for new game comes along that introduces a new way of thinking, playing and enjoying the medium of videogames. The last one was Shadow of the Colossus in fact and that’s easily one of the best games ever crafted. Like that one, Portal strips away all the excess baggage, bytes, bombast and bloat and returns to basics by focusing on gameplay and gameplay alone. Okay, a ton of humor via the postmodern, mind-f’ing computer that mocks you –a prisoner– as you make your way through an industrial maze is also a noteworthy addition. How to describe it: simple, it’s a first person puzzle comedy in which a space/time tearing portal gun is used to get you from point A to B. Nineteen levels lasting around three hours is all you get. And all you’ll need to fall in love. Portal is the only game this year to think outside of the (Orange) box or companion cube if you will. And H-L ep. 2 is a flawless expansion game included in the best game deal of all time of which both are apart of: Orange Box.

2. Persona 3

Dismissed by the mainstream gaming community. You see, in addition to a super cool story about a team of students fighting shadow monsters during a “dark hour” where time stands still as Japan’s population turns into coffins… it’s a dating and highschool sim as well. My god, how dare they! I guess people have enough bad memories of those days to last them a lifetime so why spend “fun” time reliving it? Because we get to do so with a Katana blade and well placed gun to the head!

3. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

My sentimental favorite. For the first time in a long while I actually cared I was playing a Zelda game. Not being a huge fan of Ocrena, not being a fan at all of Mejora’s Mask, Wind Waker and Minish Cap, and being totally meh on the overrated Twilight Princess, it’s amazing to see how a return to the portable scene combined with some major new additions like stylist controlled gameplay resulted in one of the most fun and thoughtful titles of the year. The game ranks so high because the puzzles and action are entirely solvable without the aid of cheating and, more often than not, intuitive–a first for the series.

4. Super Mario Galaxy

In the midst of playing this fantastically realized, multidimensional game, I took this excerpt from an IM conversation with a friend.

  • Me: I’m sitting here, almost done with Super Mario Galaxy, thinking, what’s Mario’s relationship with Princess Peach? I mean, he must be in love, but he never seems to care about her in any capacity other than “saving” her.
  • and for that matter, what the F is bowser’s deal. does he want to killer her? if so why is he going to all the trouble to kidnap her? there’s issues there
  • Anna: maybe they’re cousins
  • but Princess Peach doesn’t look Italian
  • Me: “So, Mario, as you can see, I got big plans. And stomping you is at the top of my list!” he just said. Ahh, Bowser
  • Anna: yeeeah, Bowser just wants to mess with Mario. That’s why he captures Peach
  • Me: I don’t tink he does have big plans. the dude’s all talk
  • Me: so he gets the Princess… then what, does we want money, sex, what WHAT!!!!!! Damn you Bowser and damn your Bowser Jr/s
  • Me: hum, Jr., so is there as Mrs. Bowser, where’s he keeping her
  • Anna: So Peach is a princess and Mario is a plumber. She probably owes him money, but can’t pay because Bowser keeps kidnapping her. So Mario goes to save her so he can get paid
  • Me: and why isn’t Mrs. Bowser pissed that he’s all into this white human chick?
  • Anna: that makes sense. plus he gets a lot of coins along the way
  • Anna: and Bowser just likes to mess with Mario because he’s bored
  • Me: yeah, it’s a similar thing with Zelda and Link. I’ll never figure them out either
  • Me: and Gannon for that matter
  • Anna: I think they are friends though. Remember Sunshine? Weren’t they taking a vacation together?
  • Me: yeah, but Mario has needs I’m sure and Luigi just isn’t cutting it
  • Anna: you have to love the plumber brothers

Yes, yes you do!

 

 

 

5. Halo 3

And so it ends. Everyone is spooging over Bioshock and Call of Duty 4 but Halo (a game many felt was overrated) surpassed every FPS action game this year. The gameplay is perfect, the earth bound narrative and deep space conclusion spun a dazzling end to the series and, for once, even the multiplayer was fun for me. What I love about this series is how little it’s actually changed over the years. The core game remains the same yet continues to be as influential (and ripped off) as ever. As for the harsh criticism: Halo, like Woody Allen, is just taken for granted. If another company made this and slapped another name on it, it would have been celebrated more. But, hey, at least everybody bought it as it set the single day media record with something like $140 million in sales. Hoo-ra!

6. Mass Effect

Action gameplay. Sci-fi story. RPG style. Yee gods, what an accomplishment! This game’s highly stylized narrative is gripping from start to finish. Sure, it borrows from every great sci-fi film to date, it uses space stories in a way no videogame has never quite been able to do. I loved the third-person action and loved the story even more. Exploring space never got old for me. I even found myself visiting small planets just to read up on their atmosphere, temperature and element composition. Now that’s real sci-fi nerdness.

7. Bioshock

Overrated but still a staggering achievement. Like the Deus Ex series, this is an all-around game universe–not in size but in feeling. The conception and design are as top shelf as videogames get. The art deco art direction, captivating story (minus the suck-ass “would you kindly” third act) and gameplay are perfect and I loved the total dedication to atmosphere and concept. A finely crafted game experience, but I if I have to hear “kill your cravings at the circus of valueeeee” one more time…

8. Contra 4

It’s basic but basic is all anyone ever wanted from the Contra franchise. A franchise, mind you, that has faltered in every console incarnation since Alien Wars on Super Nintendo. This is a return to form parexcelance. When a friend asked me if it is any good (they played the craptastic PS versions I guess) I told him that the harder this game got, the harder I did! Then he look at me funny. Continuing right where the SNES game left off, 4 is a a pure, unadulterated Contra experience that is second only to the NES Contras–which, whoo-hoo, are unlocked after you beat this tough-as-nails game.

9. Crysis and Call of Duty 4

Will you look at that… PC games aren’t dead after all. These two high(est) intensity games could go toe to toe with their console brothers any day. First off, I loved the way Crysis blends sci-fi themes, furrious and fun bio-upgrades and hardcore jungle combat. And, second, loved the way CoD4 took a tired genre and franchise (military games, WWII games, Rainbow Six stuff, etc.) and crafted it into something I actually care about: running and gunning greatness with an undeniably topical edge. Finally we actually get to fight Arab terrorists in a videogame!

10. God of War II

The worst thing I can say about God of War II is that it’s not God of War I.

also fantastic…

TMNT (GBA)

Go ahead and laugh. Laugh that I’m playing a Game Boy Advanced game and laugh even harder at the fact that it’s a Turtles game based on a so-so Turtles CGI movie. Get past that and you’ll find a kick ass old school fighting game that will breath new life into your old Game Boy Advance. Throw them trash cans, go wild with Leo’s dual swords and eat pizzas as if your life depends on it… because it does, they’re power-ups. Everyone is talking about Contra returning to its glory days (see below) but I was even more thrilled that Turtles returned me to the days of the TMNT Arcade smash-ups.

Planet Puzzel League

I don’t know about you but a good portion of my summer was spent sitting in a hot room, full of dog hair and dust balls, playing online bouts of PPL and getting my ass kicked by those damn Asians with their damn blocks. And at night, when others were smoking, drinking and doing other things ending in “ing,” I had inescapable dreams about matching up insane links of combos. As a life-long fan of Tetris Attack, seeing it come back did me good. Now, I’m not including it in the top ten but that’s only because the changes to the core gameplay, brilliant as they are, are too nuanced to qualify it as an entirely new game. Instead, it’s just a perfected game which is even better.

Pokemon Diamond

At this point they should just call it Pokemon Bling. Now, I don’t know the first thing about a legend of Pokemon past but I was able to pick up this game and get into the feaver.

Random Laud-Outs

  • Best System of the Year: Nintendo DS had a good year, as did PS2 (yes, PS2!!!) but Xbox 360 had it’s first great year thanks to Halo, Mass Effect, Orange Box, Call of Duty 4 etc.
  • Worst System of the Year: That’s an easy one: PS3.
  • Biggest “Wow!” Moment: The nuke goes off in Call of Duty 4 as you attempt to escape the carnage by crawling to no avail.
  • Biggest “Wow!” Moment #2: All the Orange Box thrills. Portal’s ending and, of course, end song as well as Half Life 2 Ep. 2′s… well, whole filmic experience.
  • Worst Trend #1: Online gaming continues to rule… and ruin. Sigh, gaming was made for antisocial pricks like me. I play because I don’t want to deal with other pricks. Especially smug little jerk offs on X-Box Live. When I play Halo I don’t want to feel like I’m in f-ing high school.
  • Worst Trend #2: Nintendo for still not getting enough Wiis to the public. I have a theory that they don’t want to get the Wiis out because once everyone has one they’ll realize the system is overrated and only has about three good games.
  • Worst Trend #3: Sitting around all year with my joystick up my arse, then having to wait till Nov and Dec to play dozens of titles. Winter break shouldn’t be so much work! At least this year’s Ninja G and GTA are coming out in the summer, WHERE GOOD GAMES SHOULD BE RELEASED.
  • Worst Trend #4 Kids endlessly sitting around Best Buy playing one MUSIC GAME after another.
  • Worst Game:… which isn’t Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess. A bloated game with graphics that would have been average on the Gamecube. Oh, but worse than that was Gears of War. Ugh, I hated it. So overrated. As was the virtual DNA reality stuff in Assassin’s Creed.
  • Sleeper: Persona 3 came under the radar, stayed under the radar, collected only a few fans but made quite an impression to those few of us.

Note: Okay, my final set of awards are usually reserved for audio commentaries and top TV series of the year. I’m going to wait till the end of the TV season to do that.