Bullet Points @ timlongo.com

Ok, yeah, it is six months late but hey, I’ve been busy. I wanted to stay committed to doing my own version of Games of the Year (or rather Games I Played Last Year - GIPLY) and call out not the best games that came out in 08 but the best games I actually played in 08, no matter their release date. So to stick with my promise I’m going to still post about that for 2008 even though it is almost June. I deserve any crap anyone gives me for being this late. Remember that (if you read the post for 2007) these games are the games that impacted me the most and I am taking the tact of choosing games that I played but may have come out at any ol’ time as to not just talk about all the other top picks that everyone else did in January. So to Jump right in…

METAL GEAR SOLID PORTABLE OPS
3BR (Three Bullet Review)

• HIT: All the things I loved about the Metal Gear Series but with a tactical army building element as well.
• HIT: Higher polish and production values than I’ve seen on some 360 games.
• MISS: Slightly over complicated controls for a PSP which by-in-large were not needed.

I would never in a million years think I would be putting a PSP game on the top of this list. I didn’t even think I’d own a PSP during 2008 let alone become a huge fan of the MGS series. For those who have been following “Operation Shadow Moses” where I played all the current MGS games to date within a month (1 and 2 in two days) when I finished the PS2 games I really wanted more. So I went out, bought a PSP and got Portable Ops to continue where MGS3 left off story-wise. I went in with low expectations being on the PSP but the army building elements reminded me of some weird Japanese version of Jagged Alliance. I was playing the same good old Solid Snake but also building my own army and deplyoing them all over South America. It was a devilishly interesting way to shift the franchise and the production values were typical Kojima in that they put some current gen games to shame, even on the handheld. They tried to do a bit too many things with the “controller” on the PSP seeing that complicated mechanics are hard to execute on that damn thing, (cramped hands and fingers) but other than that it was the surprise of the year for me.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
3BR (Three Bullet Review)

• HIT:One of the more immersive shooters with a stark sense of place I’ve played in a long time.
• HIT:A great open world structure pushed into areas that some western big budget competitors boasted but never could execute on.
• MISS: Potentially too hard-core for its own good with certain very unforgiving and punishing design choices.

This one was an honorable mention last year but at that time I had just played a bit of it and wasn’t yet sure. I played STALKER throughout 08 and as I thought it was just going to be a distraction while I wait for Fallout 3 it turned out to be an amazingly well done and at times terrifying game. For a small Eastern European developer (see my post about “The Other East” for related commentary) GSC Games does a wonderful job on a small budget and staff in giving me a new take on a genre that I was growing fatigued of. The alien feel of a wholly Eastern European esthetic combined with well done and tension building underground “horror” elements kept me playing way more than I had anticipated. The open world structure added to the sense of a grounded and naturalistic flow to things. Repetition in missions and too many unforgiving “old school” design choices which seemed to want to be forgiven just because they were for a hard core crowd just can’t be ignored anymore. Plus, after the fact, reading the original book it was based on as well as the famous movie gave me even more appreciation for the full experience they accomplished. I feel like even on release this game was overlooked and it is unfortunate that it didn’t get the support it needed. They did do a sequel and more are coming I think, so over time maybe it will become a strong series.

LEGO STAR WARS SAGA
3BR (Three Bullet Review)

• HIT:Boiled down pick-up and play fun with an E-rated familiar shell.
• HIT:Cooperative (semi-asymmetrical) same-screen play designed into the experience.
• MISS:Ridiculous and difficult puzzles which sometimes feel totally out of place from the rest of the action-based game.

Ok, so this one may not really be fair because I’m playing with my daughter and that probably has a barring on how much fun I’m having, but this game is really well done at its core regardless. Though it is a game that people have talked a lot about over the years, I missed the boat and only picked it up last year to play it with Lia as a first entry point to the SW Universe. Turns out I like the game in general for its simple and accessible controls and loads of things to look for and collect and destroy. I think everyone and their mother has played this, so no need to go into detail, but there is just something intriguing about how they discovered a somewhat unlikely mixture of things to make a game out of and how in hindsight it is actually a perfect combo. As I’ve been reporting on playing with Lia, there is nothing like watching your 6 year old child take down an AT-AT for the first time by herself.

Well, there are my picks for the top GIPLY. Maybe it isn’t the best concept for a GOTY list, but I just don’t tend to play at the same pace as the rest of the industry these days so I just play what I want to play in any given year. So who knows what the pool to draw from will be in 09. I will say that one of the BIG games I did play during 2008 and was actually chosen by many as their real GOTY was Fallout 3. Hands down, as far as big titles that came out that I played in a timely fashion, Fallout lived up to all my expectations and more. It really does deserve all the praise and I look forward to playing the DLC. As a huge fan of the series, a big thanks to Bethesda for not fucking it up.