2007: Year of the Game Awards
It's been a hell of a year: We discovered the origins of the newest member of Greek mythology, finished the fight, fought in the most realistic war ever to grace our emerging art form, and started a ma' fuckin' Rock Band! Needless to say it would be an extremely excruciating process to determine exactly which of these experiences stood out as game of the year. So, I've decided not to. For the first time in my short history of doing these lists I'm going to give you something different: The Year of the Game. I believe the medium has distinguished itself above and beyond all others this year and thus should get to celebrate that without paying too much attention to rank. So I will give these games awards based on what exactly makes them great and break them down into sections based on their ratings, but in no other particular order (with a few extra awards not pertaining to software). Without further ado.
The 10's:
Mass Effect - Best Story (tie), Best Soundtrack
Remember the last 30 years that George Lucas and a legion of fans spent detailing every aspect of the Star Wars universe and building a Sci-Fi mythology unlike any other (through movies, novels, art books, animated shorts, and fan fiction)? Well, Bioware has spent the last 4 years creating the ground work for a series of games that might just be able to take that behemoth on. The beta testing for Mass Effect was done on the original xbox with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the original IP Jade Empire. Beautiful worlds and systems were created for those games, but mistakes were made, tweaks were needed and have been fully implemented in this debut 360 release.
You assume the role of Captain Anderson, a military representative of the Alliance (name for the human faction occupying the galaxy), and soon to be the first human ever granted the rank of Spectre. Spectre's are individuals granted vigilante status by the Council (a group composed of 1 representative from each of 3 alien factions) and are expected to accomplish their missions around the galaxy by whatever means necessary. Thus you will have more control over the direction and destiny of your character than you have ever been allowed in a game before. Choose either to treat people with kindness and respect, force your opinions and ideas down their throats, or somewhere in between. You will develop meaningful relationships and maybe even fall in love. Even with all of the great things about Mass Effect, possibly the most enthralling is its room for expansion in the future. Its first chapter paves the way for an even more epic adventure that could beat the pants off of anything we've ever seen. This is one adventure not to miss.
Room for Improvement:
Not much, though it would be nice to have more systems in place to track your status across the galaxy. There is really no way for you to know what clusters, systems, and planets you have already visited unless you keep track of this for yourself. Also, there is room for some more creativity in Achievements and some better balance could have been used in that area as well. Finally, I would like to see a little more variety in the interior environments of the side quest planets. Though, none of these small gripes is enough to taint what is otherwise one of the greatest science fiction journeys we may ever embark on.
Call of Duty 4 - Best Graphics, Best Multiplayer
Only the dead know the end of war, and you will know the end of war a lot in the first essential installment to the Call of Duty series. By dropping the dead-horse beaten World War II era and focusing on a war that mirrors the one we face today, Infinity Ward has crafted a game about war that finally matters. The skirmishes are fast and visceral and not all of the men who enter them with you are going to be leaving with you. CoD 4 doesn't pit you as the lone wolf who is going to turn the tide of the war, yet it also doesn't slow you down with team management options. The men beside you are more than capable of handling themselves, and your time would be best served in moving forward the front line to complete your objectives. The game doesn't glamorize war and in a few instances it will move you, perhaps even horrify you. CoD 4 sets a new standard for any game that attempts to tackle the subject of war.
And once the war is one a whole other battle awaits. CoD 4 features the deepest multiplayer that I have ever seen in an FPS and thus is setting standards here, as well. You will make your way up a ranking system by gaining experience from a wide variety of actions. Moving through the ranks will unlock weapon upgrades, new modes, new challenges, and new perks. The perks system allows you to choose from a range of attributes and actions in 3 different categories. Examples include Martyrdom (dropping a final grenade before you die) and Last Stand (allowing you to pull out a pistol for a few seconds before death). Aside from Perks, there is another system inside of combat that rewards you for not dying with different levels of called in support. All of this makes for an experience you won't be likely to walk away from until Infinity Ward's next installment in the series.
Room for Improvement:
While Call of Duty 4 does have the most realistic war gamers have ever taken part in, it is lacking in one particular area: Collateral damage. Civilians make very few appearances in the game and if you do happen to kill one the game just scolds you and starts you over at the last checkpoint. Next time the developer would do well to implement civilians into the combat in way that doesn't play their part in the war down.
Half Life 2: The Orange Box - Best Package, Most Original Game (Portal)
"This was a triumph/ I'm making a note here, huge success/ it's hard to overstate my satisfaction." It's really hard to put it much better that GLaD0S did in those opening lines from Portal's closing song Still Alive. In an industry that seems to want to turn gamers upside down and shake every last cent from their sagging pockets lately, Valve took a different approach: Pack three unique games and two expansion packs for their award winning Half Life 2 all on one disc and for the price of one standard game. There is so much awesome bursting from the seams of this collection that it almost seems unfair to rate it along with stand alone games, but who cares?
While Half Life 2 and its two unique episodes packed on this disc are fantastic and Team Fortress 2 (while I've not yet had the chance to play it, personally) is said to be one of the most fun competitive multiplayer games out there right now, the real gem here is Portal. It's been a long time since a unique puzzle game has come out that didn't have to do with stacking blocks or gems or some other random item in some line or cluster until the game speed became too fast to keep up. In fact, I think Portal is the most original puzzle game I've played since the Lolo series on the original NES (check your Wii Virtual Console). The concept is simple: You are given control of a portal gun that can create one blue and one orange portal, step through one and come out the other. The trick comes in learning the way these portals work with physics and gravity and making your way through the mind bending test chambers in a Cube like experience. Portal forces you into a different way of looking at the world around you and thoroughly tests your wits in the process. If you were only to purchase one game from 2007, it would be hard not to recommend The Orange Box. Its quantity and quality are impossible to ignore!
Room for Improvement:
Ummwould it be greedy to ask for more?
God of War II - Most Compelling Lead, End of an Era Award
After the Gods strip Kratos of his newly gained status as the God of War after a power hungry rampage, he seeks revenge on Mount Olympus. Only two happy to aid him in his quest are Gaia and the other Titans who have their own issues with the Gods. After master game designer David Jaffe let go of the reigns of his original triumphant tale of vengeance, I feared for the fate of the sequel. However, his understudy, Cory Barlog brings his owns strengths to the table. The combat system in God of War 2 has been revamped to create a more seamless fighting experience. Instead of having to wait for a break in the action to switch weapons, all weapons and magic can be switched on the fly and without breaking a combo chain. Also, new additions to Kratos inventory like Icarus' wings add even more verticality to the combat. The overall enemies are more varied and the number of boss battles is upped considerably, with a good mix challenging to the mind and the thumbs. While the new story doesn't have the same impact as the original, it is equally well written, throughout. God of War 2 was a difficult review for me, as it teetered right on the edge of a 10 and a 9.75. Though, in the end, I think its nice tightening of the overall combat (the true heart of God of War) was more than enough for it to retain its seat on the throne.
Room for Improvement:
While most of what Cory brought to the table was improvements, he doesn't have the same knack for level design as Jaffe does. There are times in levels where you will spend a few minutes wondering where to go next, which never happened when Dave was at the reigns. Also, along with the significantly higher boss count come a couple of duds. However, now that even Cory Barlog has left Sony I don't hold out much hope Kratos' debut on Sony's hard to program for PS3.
9.75 - 9.5:
Metroid Prime Corruption - Best Wii-mote Integration
Leave it to Nintendo to do their part for the environment by gutting all unsold Gamecube hardware and shoving the contents into a new package along with half a gig of flash memory and a wireless internet card. Add a new controller to the mix and poof, instant next gen console at a budget price. As the first of the big N's star franchises to completely harness the new power of the Wii, Metroid Prime Corruption (the third in this series, and umpteenth in the franchise) was supposed to show us just how much more powerful the system was than its predecessor. It did so only by adding support for 16:9 widescreen and progressive scan (480p), which I guess is beside the point.
The real draw of this installment in the series is the integration with the first console device to mimic the speed and precision of a PC mouse in an FPS (or First Person Adventure, as Prime would be more accurately described). In this mission the game is extremely successful and even more so due to the added functionality of the Wii remote and nunchuck. This motion sensing combination allows you to pull levers and move switches with true to life gestures of your hand. You can also use Samus' signature grapple beam to rip of enemy shielding with a quick jerk of the controller. These new features, though a short list, add quite a bit to your overall feeling of being part of this world. Other improvements in the game, such as the ability to get a more detailed map of each of the games planets, make hunting down every last item and upgrade much less frustrating than it has been in previous installments. Outside of these it is business as usual, but this list of upgrades_along with the best level designs in the series_make Corruption the ultimate game for Metroid fans. Statistics tell me that if you own a Wii you probably already have this game, but if you don't, what the hell are you waiting for?
Room for Improvement:
Though the Wii controls were perfectly in this setting, a significant dumbing down of enemy A.I. in comparison to games like Halo or Call of Duty is required to achieve this. I still wonder if this isn't more of a failing of Nintendo themselves in the design of the Wii-remote, than that of the game designers. Also, as par for the series, there is a significant amount of backtracking in Corruption, which is only worsened by the need to travel back and forth between planets.
Super Mario Galaxy - Best Level Design
The great granddaddy of modern video games. There have been studies that have shown that Mario is recognizable to more people than Mickey Mouse. Of course, that could be because Disney doesn't rush to stamp Mickey's face on any crap that goes out the door (Hello Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games). Still, we've always been able to count on the basic Mario series to continuously deliver us a good time and this time Mario has achieved his greatest feat to date! The basic concept behind Mario Galaxy is pretty obvious from the title: Mario in space. Using that theme Nintendo has crafted some of the most imaginative levels in the history of game design. You will constantly be toying with gravity and jumping from small planet to large planet to is this actually a planet? The basic gameplay is hasn't really changed since Mario 64, but in many ways Galaxy is the spiritual successor to Mario's last NES hoorah Super Mario Bros. 3; as it has donning different suits throughout the game to take on new abilities. The game is also very lengthy, but allows you to tackle it in bite sized sections, a treat for casual and hardcore gamers alike. After the slight misstep that was the Gamecube's Mario Sunshine, Galaxy is a return to form and a breath of fresh air. Now if we can only convince Nintendo to sequel the game before the Omega Gameshpere!
Room for Improvement:
By refusing to use a traditional controller for the Wii, instead opting for "innovation" (something none of Nintendo's flagship titles have used more than sparingly), Mario is again stuck with a camera that never quite works as well as you'd like it to. Also, for a system that pushes family involvement, the co-op here is kind of a lame duck.
Halo 3 - Best Co-Op Multiplayer (tie), Best Level Editor
Finish the fightand finally, Halo 2.5 is released upon the world! It can be kind of hard to think of Halo 3 as a true sequel when it only clocks in around 5 hours on your first play through. But it should be noted that for the most part those are 5 pretty fantastic hours chock full of the largest scale battles in the series to date. 3 picks up where 2 left off with Master Chief separated from Cortana and diving headfirst towards Earth. This will be humanity's last stand against Truth, the Brutes, and the Flood. If they cannot stop the Halo from being fired it will mean the extermination of their entire past, present, and future. The extinction of at least one entire race, and who's to say how many others. But c'mon, do you really think the MC is down with all that? Hells na! So thankfully he and the Arbiter (and a couple of other nameless companions, if you have 4 players) will be armed to the hilt with the most loaded selection of weapons, vehicles, and now, equipment ever! The game is a blast to play, especially on co-op, and the varied and epic battles will keep you coming back to the campaign again and again. However, the real meat of this experience lies elsewhere.
That being in Forge, the newest addition to Halo's online competitive multiplayer. While you cannot build your own levels from the ground up in Forge, you can add plenty of new features to them. You can place weapons, vehicles, and equipment wherever you want them and create your own custom game types. Bungie has already beefed up this experience with a new level crafted specifically for Forge and a host of new items in the first downloadable map pack for the game. Since this is an expansion that costs money and not everyone can have, I normally wouldn't mention it, but considering Halo's internet heavy structure and the possibilities this opens for the future_I couldn't resist. This new mode along with the other small tweaks here and there and the new additions to Halo 3 overall make this the best online experience the game has delivered to date. You would be a fool to miss it!
Room for Improvement:
With these being the last game in the series, I'm not even sure we're going to have to worry about improvement. However, the length to the single player campaign definitely disappoints here. It didn't have to be the longest game in the series, but I certainly wasn't counting on the shortest. Also, the countless unskippable sections with Cortana or The Gravemind slowing down the action to yak at you are mildly bothersome the first time through, but just obnoxious after that. Multiplayer, however, if flawless as far as I can tell.
Rock Band - Best Peripherals, Best Concept (tie)
If ever there were a name for a game that pretty much says it all, I shouldn't have to tell you that Rock Band is the one. Harmonix made a name for themselves with the first two installments in the Guitar Hero series along with publisher Red Octane. After the release of Guitar Hero II, Red Octane (along with the Guitar Hero brand) was purchased by Activision and Harmonix was purchased by MTV. The latter two set out on a quest to see the ultimate music rhythm simulation realized--a game that would put rock stardom within the reach of every man, woman, and child who ever had a twinkle in their eye.
The special edition packaging of Rock Band comes complete with a peripheral set including a guitar, microphone, and drums. You can set upon a solo tour focused around any one of these instruments or you can pull your head out of your ass, get some friends together and finally live out your ultimate high school fantasy (sans groupies, of course)! Band World Tour mode is the meat of the game and actually simulates a real world tour. You will travel to some of the most notable venues in different cities around the world and play a variety of set lists, even including charity events. While the basic character customization in the game is pretty simple, there is an in depth editor for creating tattoos, face paint, and band logos. Also, in addition to the 58 songs included on the disc, Harmonix is releasing at least 3 new tracks a week for purchase as downloadable content which you can be added to your set lists along the tour. It is pretty much impossible for me to put into words how much of a blast this game can be when everything comes together, but put faith in the fact that for pretty much anyone who enjoys music in any capacity this is 170 dollars that will not be missed!
Room for Improvement:
The biggest problem with Rock Band by far is the fact that the rest of your band cannot perform without the originally established band leader. This also means the person tied to said band leader is not permitted to switch characters and thus, instruments, at any time during the tour. Tired of guitar and want to try your hand at drums? Well, then it's time to think about starting a new band. Also, even though the game is intended for multiplayer, it would be nice to see the single player campaigns beefed up a bit. Finally, with the few character creation options available, it is kind of hard to craft a unique avatar. What's up with no face mapping support for cameras?
Crackdown - Best Co-Op Multiplayer (tie), Most Fun
If you wandered into a burger joint expecting to down a delicious pizza you would probably slouch out quite disappointed. Along those same lines if you're to slide Crackdown into the disc tray of your Xbox 360 looking for a meaty, involving story you're probably going to have your finger on the eject button in no time. That's because Crackdown is nothing more or less than the most free roaming open world sandbox game ever created. The only missions you are tasked with are a number of assassinations delivered to key gang leaders and crime bosses. These can be tackled at any time and in any particular order, but you wouldn't be missing anything if you never completed them at all. That's because the heart of Crackdown is in its attribute progression system that allows you to become faster, stronger, jump higher, drive better and all around have more fun with in the three distinct sections of Pacific City. Pick up a bus full of people and chuck it into the ocean, go ahead, they won't mind. Matter of fact, throw a car into the air and use a rocket launcher to see how long you can keep it off the ground. Or maybe you'd like to scale the tallest building in the city and then challenge yourself with landing in the small pool of water near its base. No? Build the biggest Hollywood explosion you can imagine by stacking a pile of cars, trucks, and fuel barrels in the middle of a crowded intersection? Or perhaps you would like to do all of these things and more but would prefer to do so with the company of a friend? Crackdown is really just a giant playground that allows you to run from swing set to jungle gym while deriving the maximum amount of enjoyment. Do you still want pizza?
Room for Improvement: I think the only real things that could be done to improve this experience are a bigger and better city and a co-op that allows for more than 2 players.
9.25 - 9:
Bioshock - Best Concept (tie), Best Story (tie)
Although I have previously expressed disgust at the level of hype built up around Bioshock, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy my romp through the crumbling underwater utopia that was Rapture. And if for no other reason than the fact that Ken Levine has inspired more people to care about the story in their games, Bioshock could be the most important game of 2007.
The feature that I enjoyed the most throughout the game was the use of Gene Tonics. In a variety of categories you were allowed a certain amount of slots to equip the tonics that attuned your character most to your individual play style. I, personally, enjoyed boosting my characters ability to be the living daylights out of anything that moved with nothing but a pipe wrench. I cannot explain to you the immense amount of pleasure I got from this activity_you are free to be scared, now. Also, there are very interesting relationships built up between the characters in the game (through the use of audio diaries), particularly the power struggle between Rapture creator Andrew Ryan and gifted opportunist Frank Fontaine. The city itself has a very distinct classic feel which makes you wish you could have seen it before its decay. While I still feel that Bioshock was put on a pedestal it did not fully achieve, I look forward to seeing where the series will be taken in the future.
Room for Improvement:
When put up against games like Halo and Call of Duty, the FPS controls aren't nearly as tight as they could be_which would have been nice considering Rapture has a population to rival Dead Rising's "zombie genocider" achievement. The story also kind of loses its momentum in the last third of the game. Last, but certainly not least, if they leave anything resembling a hacking mini-game out of the sequelit will not be missed.
Skate - Most Intuitive Controls
For the last ten years Tony Hawk has terrorized property both public and private without anything resembling a rival (unless your counting Metal Gear Solid skateboarding *shivers*). So it is with balls the size of Jupiter that EA Black Box steps into the arena with Skate. I was extremely skeptical of this challenger from the very moment I heard tale of its gimmicky "flickit" controls. After all, what on earth could you possibly do to combat a decade of polish and revision?
It turns out all you have to do is completely reinvent the wheel! Skate works on a premise so simple that my 4 year old son can pick it up and begin enjoying it within minutes. You simply use one of the face buttons to kick off and get the board up to speed with either of your feet and then manipulate the right analog stick to control the movement of your feet on the board and the left analog stick to control the overall balance of your body. The shoulder buttons can also be held down to activate the ability to spin or flip in mid air. So, in order to do an Ollie (the most basic trick in skateboarding) you simply pull down on the right stick to move your feet towards the back of the board and bend your knees, then "flickit" up to thrust your knees straight and your front foot forward. Flicking diagonal in place of up will cause you to do a kickflip and flicking in a semicircle will result in a shovit. All other tricks are just variations of these. With this basic knowledge in mind you set out in the city of San Vanelona to make a name for yourself. There simply is no more natural way to enjoy the sport of skateboarding without stepping outside and getting some scars of your own.
Room for Improvement:
While the games realism in your goal to get recognized in some of the worlds premier skateboarding mags is nice, some of the wackiness and advanced features (such as building your own skate spots) of the Tony Hawks series are definitely missed. Also, while the controls feel completely natural, when you are asked to do some specific tricks it can be difficult to make them do what you want them to do.
Assassin's Creed - Most Cinematic Combat, Most Inventive
And so we reach the final game on the list. I have to admit to throwing the games into a little more order than I originally intended, but bygones. Given the amount of new ideas that are being attempted here and the hardware pushing world of the game, it would have been hard to imagine Assassin's Creed not pulling up the rear. The team at Ubisoft Montreal (lead by producer Jade Raymond, see below) was given a mandate to define action adventure gaming for the next generation. In that task, they mostly succeeded.
You begin the game in a time set in our near future (2012) in the clutches of a corporation not unlike the X-files Syndicate. They have trapped you in a loft with two individuals whose job it is to use an experimental machine to extract your ancestral memories by having you relive them. Over the course of the game you will learn more of the intent of this corporation, as well as the intent of these two unique individuals. However, the majority of the game takes place in your memories during the Crusades in the year 1191. You play as Altair, an assassin sent to silence the enemies of your master and maintain a "free" way of life for the people by keeping a powerful item out of the wrong hands. The unique gameplay interface works by mapping a certain part of your body to each of the four face buttons. Your head is controlled by the top button, while your legs are controlled by the bottom. Your empty hand is controlled by the right and your weapon wielding hand by the left. In addition to this you can switch between high and low profile modes (like running verses walking) by holding or releasing the upper right shoulder button. Context is handled by the game. While this might seem like a confusing control setup at first, the more you get used to it the more you will come to understand it (if not always love it). The basic structure of the game has you going to three beautiful and unique cities and conducting investigations to get to better know your target. Once you've learned enough you can go to the local assassin's bureau and get a license to kill. Combat in the game is a beautiful experience both for the player and anyone who happens to be watching and it needs to be, since you'll be engaged in it quite often. Overall Assassin's Creed is an excellent introduction to what promises to be an extremely interesting series. While I've played better games this year, I don't anticipate to the sequels to any as much as this one.
Room for Improvement:
The bulk of the problems with the game emanate from its misinterpretations of your intentions in important situations. For example if I'm running from the guards to towards a building with a ladder propped up against it, common sense would denote that I would prefer to climb the ladder rather than try to scale the wall of the building. The game often doesn't see it this way. Fixing this nagging issue that in many cases has a chase lasting twice as long as it needs to would go a long way towards bettering the game. Also, a wider variety of investigations for the individual assassinations wouldn't hurt.
Disappointment of the Year:
Microsoft Customer Service
RROD; if you own an Xbox 360 this is an acronym you are probably very familiar with. It stands for Red Ring of Death and like cancer, if it hasn't happened to you, it's more than likely happened to someone you know. Microsoft recently extended the warranty of the RROD to three years, but the consequences of the disorder go much further than a little lost time with your game machine. Another very recent technological abbreviation is DRM, which stands for Digital Rights Management. This affects any content you purchase over the internet, including music from itunes or books from Amazon. It allows the corporation licensing you the information to limit your use of it. On the Xbox 360, it means that when you download content online it attaches it to the profile and system that you first download it on. So when you get your "refurbished" system back from Microsoft's repair center you can only access the content when connected to the internet and only on the profile that purchased it. Meaning if any of the other members in your family were sharing access to this content under different profiles, they are now out of luck. It's the equivalent of buying a movie from Wal-Mart that could only be watched with a special pair of glasses only prescribed to the person who purchased it. In other words, it's bullshit. And in order for digital media to eventually have a chance of overtaking physical media on a wide scale, it is something that needs to be fixed. Good luck on the customer support line trying to get this content backI've been at it for months.
Game Journalist of the Year:
Geoff Keighley
Not only did Geoff Keighley start the best new podcast of the year with Game Trailers "Bonus Round" in addition to his hosting duties on Spike TV's Game Head (now GameTrailersTV) and his usual freelance work, but he also co-founded the most important addition to game journalism in 2007: The Game Critics Awards. Similar to Robert Christgau's music awards_the Pazz & Jopp (get it?)_in structure, the site invites critics from around the industry to get together and decide what the years best and most influential games were. In Keighley's behind the scenes interviews with those inside the industry, he takes a no holds bard approach, often getting insider information that other journalists don't. His approach is a step in the right direction for game journalism and hopefully a sign of things to come.
The "I Just Can't Get No Respect" Award:
Jade Raymond
It can be hard being a white male in the world, because you pretty much have to admit that everyone else has it worse than you. Even if you are one of the seemingly few who would like to see this power imbalanced changed, you would be hard pressed to be able to do anything about it. Jade Raymond is an attractive woman in an industry mostly run and adored by horny men anywhere between the ages of 10 to 35. So it's no real surprise that when she became the spokesperson for Ubisoft's new game Assassin's Creed, many people became quite a bit more enamored with her than the game. If you can't see how this would be frustrating for someone who tries to take there job seriouslyyou're an asshole. I know John Gabriel's Greater Internet Dickwad Theory is hard to ignore, but is it too much to ask for an industry that itself has trouble garnering respect as a valid entertainment medium to pull its collective head out of its collective ass and lead the world in the assertion that people of different gender and race than the typical white male can be just as, if not more, competent than we are?!
It's been a hell of a year: We discovered the origins of the newest member of Greek mythology, finished the fight, fought in the most realistic war ever to grace our emerging art form, and started a ma' fuckin' Rock Band! Needless to say it would be an extremely excruciating process to determine exactly which of these experiences stood out as game of the year. So, I've decided not to. For the first time in my short history of doing these lists I'm going to give you something different: The Year of the Game. I believe the medium has distinguished itself above and beyond all others this year and thus should get to celebrate that without paying too much attention to rank. So I will give these games awards based on what exactly makes them great and break them down into sections based on their ratings, but in no other particular order (with a few extra awards not pertaining to software). Without further ado.
The 10's:
Mass Effect - Best Story (tie), Best Soundtrack
Remember the last 30 years that George Lucas and a legion of fans spent detailing every aspect of the Star Wars universe and building a Sci-Fi mythology unlike any other (through movies, novels, art books, animated shorts, and fan fiction)? Well, Bioware has spent the last 4 years creating the ground work for a series of games that might just be able to take that behemoth on. The beta testing for Mass Effect was done on the original xbox with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the original IP Jade Empire. Beautiful worlds and systems were created for those games, but mistakes were made, tweaks were needed and have been fully implemented in this debut 360 release.
You assume the role of Captain Anderson, a military representative of the Alliance (name for the human faction occupying the galaxy), and soon to be the first human ever granted the rank of Spectre. Spectre's are individuals granted vigilante status by the Council (a group composed of 1 representative from each of 3 alien factions) and are expected to accomplish their missions around the galaxy by whatever means necessary. Thus you will have more control over the direction and destiny of your character than you have ever been allowed in a game before. Choose either to treat people with kindness and respect, force your opinions and ideas down their throats, or somewhere in between. You will develop meaningful relationships and maybe even fall in love. Even with all of the great things about Mass Effect, possibly the most enthralling is its room for expansion in the future. Its first chapter paves the way for an even more epic adventure that could beat the pants off of anything we've ever seen. This is one adventure not to miss.
Room for Improvement:
Not much, though it would be nice to have more systems in place to track your status across the galaxy. There is really no way for you to know what clusters, systems, and planets you have already visited unless you keep track of this for yourself. Also, there is room for some more creativity in Achievements and some better balance could have been used in that area as well. Finally, I would like to see a little more variety in the interior environments of the side quest planets. Though, none of these small gripes is enough to taint what is otherwise one of the greatest science fiction journeys we may ever embark on.
Call of Duty 4 - Best Graphics, Best Multiplayer
Only the dead know the end of war, and you will know the end of war a lot in the first essential installment to the Call of Duty series. By dropping the dead-horse beaten World War II era and focusing on a war that mirrors the one we face today, Infinity Ward has crafted a game about war that finally matters. The skirmishes are fast and visceral and not all of the men who enter them with you are going to be leaving with you. CoD 4 doesn't pit you as the lone wolf who is going to turn the tide of the war, yet it also doesn't slow you down with team management options. The men beside you are more than capable of handling themselves, and your time would be best served in moving forward the front line to complete your objectives. The game doesn't glamorize war and in a few instances it will move you, perhaps even horrify you. CoD 4 sets a new standard for any game that attempts to tackle the subject of war.
And once the war is one a whole other battle awaits. CoD 4 features the deepest multiplayer that I have ever seen in an FPS and thus is setting standards here, as well. You will make your way up a ranking system by gaining experience from a wide variety of actions. Moving through the ranks will unlock weapon upgrades, new modes, new challenges, and new perks. The perks system allows you to choose from a range of attributes and actions in 3 different categories. Examples include Martyrdom (dropping a final grenade before you die) and Last Stand (allowing you to pull out a pistol for a few seconds before death). Aside from Perks, there is another system inside of combat that rewards you for not dying with different levels of called in support. All of this makes for an experience you won't be likely to walk away from until Infinity Ward's next installment in the series.
Room for Improvement:
While Call of Duty 4 does have the most realistic war gamers have ever taken part in, it is lacking in one particular area: Collateral damage. Civilians make very few appearances in the game and if you do happen to kill one the game just scolds you and starts you over at the last checkpoint. Next time the developer would do well to implement civilians into the combat in way that doesn't play their part in the war down.
Half Life 2: The Orange Box - Best Package, Most Original Game (Portal)
"This was a triumph/ I'm making a note here, huge success/ it's hard to overstate my satisfaction." It's really hard to put it much better that GLaD0S did in those opening lines from Portal's closing song Still Alive. In an industry that seems to want to turn gamers upside down and shake every last cent from their sagging pockets lately, Valve took a different approach: Pack three unique games and two expansion packs for their award winning Half Life 2 all on one disc and for the price of one standard game. There is so much awesome bursting from the seams of this collection that it almost seems unfair to rate it along with stand alone games, but who cares?
While Half Life 2 and its two unique episodes packed on this disc are fantastic and Team Fortress 2 (while I've not yet had the chance to play it, personally) is said to be one of the most fun competitive multiplayer games out there right now, the real gem here is Portal. It's been a long time since a unique puzzle game has come out that didn't have to do with stacking blocks or gems or some other random item in some line or cluster until the game speed became too fast to keep up. In fact, I think Portal is the most original puzzle game I've played since the Lolo series on the original NES (check your Wii Virtual Console). The concept is simple: You are given control of a portal gun that can create one blue and one orange portal, step through one and come out the other. The trick comes in learning the way these portals work with physics and gravity and making your way through the mind bending test chambers in a Cube like experience. Portal forces you into a different way of looking at the world around you and thoroughly tests your wits in the process. If you were only to purchase one game from 2007, it would be hard not to recommend The Orange Box. Its quantity and quality are impossible to ignore!
Room for Improvement:
Ummwould it be greedy to ask for more?
God of War II - Most Compelling Lead, End of an Era Award
After the Gods strip Kratos of his newly gained status as the God of War after a power hungry rampage, he seeks revenge on Mount Olympus. Only two happy to aid him in his quest are Gaia and the other Titans who have their own issues with the Gods. After master game designer David Jaffe let go of the reigns of his original triumphant tale of vengeance, I feared for the fate of the sequel. However, his understudy, Cory Barlog brings his owns strengths to the table. The combat system in God of War 2 has been revamped to create a more seamless fighting experience. Instead of having to wait for a break in the action to switch weapons, all weapons and magic can be switched on the fly and without breaking a combo chain. Also, new additions to Kratos inventory like Icarus' wings add even more verticality to the combat. The overall enemies are more varied and the number of boss battles is upped considerably, with a good mix challenging to the mind and the thumbs. While the new story doesn't have the same impact as the original, it is equally well written, throughout. God of War 2 was a difficult review for me, as it teetered right on the edge of a 10 and a 9.75. Though, in the end, I think its nice tightening of the overall combat (the true heart of God of War) was more than enough for it to retain its seat on the throne.
Room for Improvement:
While most of what Cory brought to the table was improvements, he doesn't have the same knack for level design as Jaffe does. There are times in levels where you will spend a few minutes wondering where to go next, which never happened when Dave was at the reigns. Also, along with the significantly higher boss count come a couple of duds. However, now that even Cory Barlog has left Sony I don't hold out much hope Kratos' debut on Sony's hard to program for PS3.
9.75 - 9.5:
Metroid Prime Corruption - Best Wii-mote Integration
Leave it to Nintendo to do their part for the environment by gutting all unsold Gamecube hardware and shoving the contents into a new package along with half a gig of flash memory and a wireless internet card. Add a new controller to the mix and poof, instant next gen console at a budget price. As the first of the big N's star franchises to completely harness the new power of the Wii, Metroid Prime Corruption (the third in this series, and umpteenth in the franchise) was supposed to show us just how much more powerful the system was than its predecessor. It did so only by adding support for 16:9 widescreen and progressive scan (480p), which I guess is beside the point.
The real draw of this installment in the series is the integration with the first console device to mimic the speed and precision of a PC mouse in an FPS (or First Person Adventure, as Prime would be more accurately described). In this mission the game is extremely successful and even more so due to the added functionality of the Wii remote and nunchuck. This motion sensing combination allows you to pull levers and move switches with true to life gestures of your hand. You can also use Samus' signature grapple beam to rip of enemy shielding with a quick jerk of the controller. These new features, though a short list, add quite a bit to your overall feeling of being part of this world. Other improvements in the game, such as the ability to get a more detailed map of each of the games planets, make hunting down every last item and upgrade much less frustrating than it has been in previous installments. Outside of these it is business as usual, but this list of upgrades_along with the best level designs in the series_make Corruption the ultimate game for Metroid fans. Statistics tell me that if you own a Wii you probably already have this game, but if you don't, what the hell are you waiting for?
Room for Improvement:
Though the Wii controls were perfectly in this setting, a significant dumbing down of enemy A.I. in comparison to games like Halo or Call of Duty is required to achieve this. I still wonder if this isn't more of a failing of Nintendo themselves in the design of the Wii-remote, than that of the game designers. Also, as par for the series, there is a significant amount of backtracking in Corruption, which is only worsened by the need to travel back and forth between planets.
Super Mario Galaxy - Best Level Design
The great granddaddy of modern video games. There have been studies that have shown that Mario is recognizable to more people than Mickey Mouse. Of course, that could be because Disney doesn't rush to stamp Mickey's face on any crap that goes out the door (Hello Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games). Still, we've always been able to count on the basic Mario series to continuously deliver us a good time and this time Mario has achieved his greatest feat to date! The basic concept behind Mario Galaxy is pretty obvious from the title: Mario in space. Using that theme Nintendo has crafted some of the most imaginative levels in the history of game design. You will constantly be toying with gravity and jumping from small planet to large planet to is this actually a planet? The basic gameplay is hasn't really changed since Mario 64, but in many ways Galaxy is the spiritual successor to Mario's last NES hoorah Super Mario Bros. 3; as it has donning different suits throughout the game to take on new abilities. The game is also very lengthy, but allows you to tackle it in bite sized sections, a treat for casual and hardcore gamers alike. After the slight misstep that was the Gamecube's Mario Sunshine, Galaxy is a return to form and a breath of fresh air. Now if we can only convince Nintendo to sequel the game before the Omega Gameshpere!
Room for Improvement:
By refusing to use a traditional controller for the Wii, instead opting for "innovation" (something none of Nintendo's flagship titles have used more than sparingly), Mario is again stuck with a camera that never quite works as well as you'd like it to. Also, for a system that pushes family involvement, the co-op here is kind of a lame duck.
Halo 3 - Best Co-Op Multiplayer (tie), Best Level Editor
Finish the fightand finally, Halo 2.5 is released upon the world! It can be kind of hard to think of Halo 3 as a true sequel when it only clocks in around 5 hours on your first play through. But it should be noted that for the most part those are 5 pretty fantastic hours chock full of the largest scale battles in the series to date. 3 picks up where 2 left off with Master Chief separated from Cortana and diving headfirst towards Earth. This will be humanity's last stand against Truth, the Brutes, and the Flood. If they cannot stop the Halo from being fired it will mean the extermination of their entire past, present, and future. The extinction of at least one entire race, and who's to say how many others. But c'mon, do you really think the MC is down with all that? Hells na! So thankfully he and the Arbiter (and a couple of other nameless companions, if you have 4 players) will be armed to the hilt with the most loaded selection of weapons, vehicles, and now, equipment ever! The game is a blast to play, especially on co-op, and the varied and epic battles will keep you coming back to the campaign again and again. However, the real meat of this experience lies elsewhere.
That being in Forge, the newest addition to Halo's online competitive multiplayer. While you cannot build your own levels from the ground up in Forge, you can add plenty of new features to them. You can place weapons, vehicles, and equipment wherever you want them and create your own custom game types. Bungie has already beefed up this experience with a new level crafted specifically for Forge and a host of new items in the first downloadable map pack for the game. Since this is an expansion that costs money and not everyone can have, I normally wouldn't mention it, but considering Halo's internet heavy structure and the possibilities this opens for the future_I couldn't resist. This new mode along with the other small tweaks here and there and the new additions to Halo 3 overall make this the best online experience the game has delivered to date. You would be a fool to miss it!
Room for Improvement:
With these being the last game in the series, I'm not even sure we're going to have to worry about improvement. However, the length to the single player campaign definitely disappoints here. It didn't have to be the longest game in the series, but I certainly wasn't counting on the shortest. Also, the countless unskippable sections with Cortana or The Gravemind slowing down the action to yak at you are mildly bothersome the first time through, but just obnoxious after that. Multiplayer, however, if flawless as far as I can tell.
Rock Band - Best Peripherals, Best Concept (tie)
If ever there were a name for a game that pretty much says it all, I shouldn't have to tell you that Rock Band is the one. Harmonix made a name for themselves with the first two installments in the Guitar Hero series along with publisher Red Octane. After the release of Guitar Hero II, Red Octane (along with the Guitar Hero brand) was purchased by Activision and Harmonix was purchased by MTV. The latter two set out on a quest to see the ultimate music rhythm simulation realized--a game that would put rock stardom within the reach of every man, woman, and child who ever had a twinkle in their eye.
The special edition packaging of Rock Band comes complete with a peripheral set including a guitar, microphone, and drums. You can set upon a solo tour focused around any one of these instruments or you can pull your head out of your ass, get some friends together and finally live out your ultimate high school fantasy (sans groupies, of course)! Band World Tour mode is the meat of the game and actually simulates a real world tour. You will travel to some of the most notable venues in different cities around the world and play a variety of set lists, even including charity events. While the basic character customization in the game is pretty simple, there is an in depth editor for creating tattoos, face paint, and band logos. Also, in addition to the 58 songs included on the disc, Harmonix is releasing at least 3 new tracks a week for purchase as downloadable content which you can be added to your set lists along the tour. It is pretty much impossible for me to put into words how much of a blast this game can be when everything comes together, but put faith in the fact that for pretty much anyone who enjoys music in any capacity this is 170 dollars that will not be missed!
Room for Improvement:
The biggest problem with Rock Band by far is the fact that the rest of your band cannot perform without the originally established band leader. This also means the person tied to said band leader is not permitted to switch characters and thus, instruments, at any time during the tour. Tired of guitar and want to try your hand at drums? Well, then it's time to think about starting a new band. Also, even though the game is intended for multiplayer, it would be nice to see the single player campaigns beefed up a bit. Finally, with the few character creation options available, it is kind of hard to craft a unique avatar. What's up with no face mapping support for cameras?
Crackdown - Best Co-Op Multiplayer (tie), Most Fun
If you wandered into a burger joint expecting to down a delicious pizza you would probably slouch out quite disappointed. Along those same lines if you're to slide Crackdown into the disc tray of your Xbox 360 looking for a meaty, involving story you're probably going to have your finger on the eject button in no time. That's because Crackdown is nothing more or less than the most free roaming open world sandbox game ever created. The only missions you are tasked with are a number of assassinations delivered to key gang leaders and crime bosses. These can be tackled at any time and in any particular order, but you wouldn't be missing anything if you never completed them at all. That's because the heart of Crackdown is in its attribute progression system that allows you to become faster, stronger, jump higher, drive better and all around have more fun with in the three distinct sections of Pacific City. Pick up a bus full of people and chuck it into the ocean, go ahead, they won't mind. Matter of fact, throw a car into the air and use a rocket launcher to see how long you can keep it off the ground. Or maybe you'd like to scale the tallest building in the city and then challenge yourself with landing in the small pool of water near its base. No? Build the biggest Hollywood explosion you can imagine by stacking a pile of cars, trucks, and fuel barrels in the middle of a crowded intersection? Or perhaps you would like to do all of these things and more but would prefer to do so with the company of a friend? Crackdown is really just a giant playground that allows you to run from swing set to jungle gym while deriving the maximum amount of enjoyment. Do you still want pizza?
Room for Improvement: I think the only real things that could be done to improve this experience are a bigger and better city and a co-op that allows for more than 2 players.
9.25 - 9:
Bioshock - Best Concept (tie), Best Story (tie)
Although I have previously expressed disgust at the level of hype built up around Bioshock, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy my romp through the crumbling underwater utopia that was Rapture. And if for no other reason than the fact that Ken Levine has inspired more people to care about the story in their games, Bioshock could be the most important game of 2007.
The feature that I enjoyed the most throughout the game was the use of Gene Tonics. In a variety of categories you were allowed a certain amount of slots to equip the tonics that attuned your character most to your individual play style. I, personally, enjoyed boosting my characters ability to be the living daylights out of anything that moved with nothing but a pipe wrench. I cannot explain to you the immense amount of pleasure I got from this activity_you are free to be scared, now. Also, there are very interesting relationships built up between the characters in the game (through the use of audio diaries), particularly the power struggle between Rapture creator Andrew Ryan and gifted opportunist Frank Fontaine. The city itself has a very distinct classic feel which makes you wish you could have seen it before its decay. While I still feel that Bioshock was put on a pedestal it did not fully achieve, I look forward to seeing where the series will be taken in the future.
Room for Improvement:
When put up against games like Halo and Call of Duty, the FPS controls aren't nearly as tight as they could be_which would have been nice considering Rapture has a population to rival Dead Rising's "zombie genocider" achievement. The story also kind of loses its momentum in the last third of the game. Last, but certainly not least, if they leave anything resembling a hacking mini-game out of the sequelit will not be missed.
Skate - Most Intuitive Controls
For the last ten years Tony Hawk has terrorized property both public and private without anything resembling a rival (unless your counting Metal Gear Solid skateboarding *shivers*). So it is with balls the size of Jupiter that EA Black Box steps into the arena with Skate. I was extremely skeptical of this challenger from the very moment I heard tale of its gimmicky "flickit" controls. After all, what on earth could you possibly do to combat a decade of polish and revision?
It turns out all you have to do is completely reinvent the wheel! Skate works on a premise so simple that my 4 year old son can pick it up and begin enjoying it within minutes. You simply use one of the face buttons to kick off and get the board up to speed with either of your feet and then manipulate the right analog stick to control the movement of your feet on the board and the left analog stick to control the overall balance of your body. The shoulder buttons can also be held down to activate the ability to spin or flip in mid air. So, in order to do an Ollie (the most basic trick in skateboarding) you simply pull down on the right stick to move your feet towards the back of the board and bend your knees, then "flickit" up to thrust your knees straight and your front foot forward. Flicking diagonal in place of up will cause you to do a kickflip and flicking in a semicircle will result in a shovit. All other tricks are just variations of these. With this basic knowledge in mind you set out in the city of San Vanelona to make a name for yourself. There simply is no more natural way to enjoy the sport of skateboarding without stepping outside and getting some scars of your own.
Room for Improvement:
While the games realism in your goal to get recognized in some of the worlds premier skateboarding mags is nice, some of the wackiness and advanced features (such as building your own skate spots) of the Tony Hawks series are definitely missed. Also, while the controls feel completely natural, when you are asked to do some specific tricks it can be difficult to make them do what you want them to do.
Assassin's Creed - Most Cinematic Combat, Most Inventive
And so we reach the final game on the list. I have to admit to throwing the games into a little more order than I originally intended, but bygones. Given the amount of new ideas that are being attempted here and the hardware pushing world of the game, it would have been hard to imagine Assassin's Creed not pulling up the rear. The team at Ubisoft Montreal (lead by producer Jade Raymond, see below) was given a mandate to define action adventure gaming for the next generation. In that task, they mostly succeeded.
You begin the game in a time set in our near future (2012) in the clutches of a corporation not unlike the X-files Syndicate. They have trapped you in a loft with two individuals whose job it is to use an experimental machine to extract your ancestral memories by having you relive them. Over the course of the game you will learn more of the intent of this corporation, as well as the intent of these two unique individuals. However, the majority of the game takes place in your memories during the Crusades in the year 1191. You play as Altair, an assassin sent to silence the enemies of your master and maintain a "free" way of life for the people by keeping a powerful item out of the wrong hands. The unique gameplay interface works by mapping a certain part of your body to each of the four face buttons. Your head is controlled by the top button, while your legs are controlled by the bottom. Your empty hand is controlled by the right and your weapon wielding hand by the left. In addition to this you can switch between high and low profile modes (like running verses walking) by holding or releasing the upper right shoulder button. Context is handled by the game. While this might seem like a confusing control setup at first, the more you get used to it the more you will come to understand it (if not always love it). The basic structure of the game has you going to three beautiful and unique cities and conducting investigations to get to better know your target. Once you've learned enough you can go to the local assassin's bureau and get a license to kill. Combat in the game is a beautiful experience both for the player and anyone who happens to be watching and it needs to be, since you'll be engaged in it quite often. Overall Assassin's Creed is an excellent introduction to what promises to be an extremely interesting series. While I've played better games this year, I don't anticipate to the sequels to any as much as this one.
Room for Improvement:
The bulk of the problems with the game emanate from its misinterpretations of your intentions in important situations. For example if I'm running from the guards to towards a building with a ladder propped up against it, common sense would denote that I would prefer to climb the ladder rather than try to scale the wall of the building. The game often doesn't see it this way. Fixing this nagging issue that in many cases has a chase lasting twice as long as it needs to would go a long way towards bettering the game. Also, a wider variety of investigations for the individual assassinations wouldn't hurt.
Disappointment of the Year:
Microsoft Customer Service
RROD; if you own an Xbox 360 this is an acronym you are probably very familiar with. It stands for Red Ring of Death and like cancer, if it hasn't happened to you, it's more than likely happened to someone you know. Microsoft recently extended the warranty of the RROD to three years, but the consequences of the disorder go much further than a little lost time with your game machine. Another very recent technological abbreviation is DRM, which stands for Digital Rights Management. This affects any content you purchase over the internet, including music from itunes or books from Amazon. It allows the corporation licensing you the information to limit your use of it. On the Xbox 360, it means that when you download content online it attaches it to the profile and system that you first download it on. So when you get your "refurbished" system back from Microsoft's repair center you can only access the content when connected to the internet and only on the profile that purchased it. Meaning if any of the other members in your family were sharing access to this content under different profiles, they are now out of luck. It's the equivalent of buying a movie from Wal-Mart that could only be watched with a special pair of glasses only prescribed to the person who purchased it. In other words, it's bullshit. And in order for digital media to eventually have a chance of overtaking physical media on a wide scale, it is something that needs to be fixed. Good luck on the customer support line trying to get this content backI've been at it for months.
Game Journalist of the Year:
Geoff Keighley
Not only did Geoff Keighley start the best new podcast of the year with Game Trailers "Bonus Round" in addition to his hosting duties on Spike TV's Game Head (now GameTrailersTV) and his usual freelance work, but he also co-founded the most important addition to game journalism in 2007: The Game Critics Awards. Similar to Robert Christgau's music awards_the Pazz & Jopp (get it?)_in structure, the site invites critics from around the industry to get together and decide what the years best and most influential games were. In Keighley's behind the scenes interviews with those inside the industry, he takes a no holds bard approach, often getting insider information that other journalists don't. His approach is a step in the right direction for game journalism and hopefully a sign of things to come.
The "I Just Can't Get No Respect" Award:
Jade Raymond
It can be hard being a white male in the world, because you pretty much have to admit that everyone else has it worse than you. Even if you are one of the seemingly few who would like to see this power imbalanced changed, you would be hard pressed to be able to do anything about it. Jade Raymond is an attractive woman in an industry mostly run and adored by horny men anywhere between the ages of 10 to 35. So it's no real surprise that when she became the spokesperson for Ubisoft's new game Assassin's Creed, many people became quite a bit more enamored with her than the game. If you can't see how this would be frustrating for someone who tries to take there job seriouslyyou're an asshole. I know John Gabriel's Greater Internet Dickwad Theory is hard to ignore, but is it too much to ask for an industry that itself has trouble garnering respect as a valid entertainment medium to pull its collective head out of its collective ass and lead the world in the assertion that people of different gender and race than the typical white male can be just as, if not more, competent than we are?!
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thanks again!