Best Game of 2007
This year, especially the latter half of it has been a big one for gamers. Halo 3 made its long-awaited appearance on the Xbox 360. Bioshock was a bit of a surprise hit with its grim, art deco design and creepy atmosphere. Mass Effect from BioWare is a great scifi RPG. Call of Duty 4 with its frenetic pacing and fun experience system online… these are all worthy contenders.
But, I think the title that has left the biggest impression on people, and the one that I have enjoyed the most is Portal included on Valve‘s The Orange Box. A first-person puzzle game built around the titular portal device, the user is a subject in an experiment who must maneuver through a series of increasingly-difficult rooms. The graphics, while not mind-blowing, are sufficient while the sound design is absolutely brilliant. The computerized voice guiding you through the experiments is wonderfully kooky.
So if you haven’t played Portal, go pick up your companion cube and get at it. (the rest of The Orange Box ain’t bad either)
3 Comments
My top games of the year in order:
Call of Duty 4 (I rate it highest for the combo of great SP and solid MP)
Bioshock (One of the top SP games of all time)
Orange Box (Clearly the best value of the year, Portal was a hugely enjoyable surprise, disappointing MP. If I hadn’t already played HL2 on the PC this would have gotten my top vote)
Halo 3 (Somewhat done that before SP, begrudgingly enjoyable but not groundbreaking MP, simply the best MP lobby system in the game world regardless of system, including PC.)
Honorable mentions:
Forza 2
PGR4
Posted by Boondoggler on 17 December 2007 @ 6pm
I wish there was an edit button. When I posted my list, I hadn’t played COD4 MP in quite some time. I’ve been playing a bit more Halo 3 MP lately. I jumped into a COD4 MP game a couple days ago, and I have to say that the COD4 MP really just isn’t very good. In comparison to Halo 3, COD4 MP is way too chaotic, and it seems very difficult to team up with one or more folks and play together as you die so often without even seeing who kills you, and then you spawn way too far from the folks you were trying to team up with. Having said that, I still LOVED the SP campaign of COD4, I just wish it was longer.
I’m creating my own edit button and revising my list:
Bioshock is my game of the year. Followed by:
Orange Box
Halo 3
COD4
Honorable mentions:
Forza 2
PGR4
Now I have to go play some more Rock Band with my kids, damn it’s fun!
Posted by Boondoggler on 22 December 2007 @ 9am
yeah, there’s an edit button if you have an account. I’ve disabled account creation to try to limit spam.
Anyway, I agree with your revised assessment. I’ve been getting a lot out of Halo3 and look forward to some Virtua Fighter 5 when I get back.
CoD4 didn’t really appeal to me. I didn’t even really get into the single player game. I find the pacing frustrating and the use of Saddam-alikes with red berets and moustaches somewhat vile.
Posted by boolean on 22 December 2007 @ 1pm