2008 was an incredible year in gaming. It was the year where their was no drought for any one system; great and wondrous titles just kept coming out as the months went by. Early this year, our consoles were all privileged to play games like Devil May Cry 4, Lost Odyssey, and let’s not forget Rainbow 6 Vegas 2. It didn’t stop there, the summer came and it brought spectacular sequels with it. Xbox 360 owners got to play Itagaki’s final game for Tecmo; Ninja Gaiden II. PS3 Owners’ patience finally payed off with the release of Metal Gear Solid 4. But in reality of that fine summer, it was about how we were all joined together, xbox and playstation owners alike, to run to our nearest Gamestop and purchase Grand Theft Auto IV. Ohh but that wasn’t the miraculous part. The stars aligned and at the very same instant.. we all realized just how much it sucked (except for Spike TV who was drinking with Fifty and continuing to be Jack Black’s whore). But alas, the Summer left us with all those great titles (and Too Human I guess) and then the Fall came. And just like the Fall does every year, it released enough games that it knocked us right on our asses and jacked our wallets. I’m not going into every title because that would destroy the point of my upcoming ‘a look back at 08 article,’ but to summarize: it was fuxing awesome! With the release of Fable 2, Fallout 3, Dead Space, Gear of War 2, Resistance 2, Little Big Planet, Prince of Persia, and Jesus Christ Superstar; it was hard to hate either system. But who won this great game filled year you ask? Well, it’s obvious isn’t it? Microsoft and their Xbox 360 won this year.
Microsoft did this year what they do every year since 2006 (not 05, that blew): hit the consumers constantly with exclusive after exclusive, ways to expand upon those exclusives, exclusive ways to expand upon non-exclusives, great 2D arcade games, and of course their lovely promises (no, not promises like Alan Wake, but promises like, GTAIV DLC, Fallout 3 DLC, FFXIII for 360, etc). Let’s start this celebration off with the top 5 Microsoft DLC!
Coming in at number five is: Ninja Gaiden II’s Mission Mode DLC.
C-C-C-C-C-Controversy! I realize people are going to disagree with this becuase buying this was pretty much confirming you didn’t give a crap about Itagaki getting screwed over. In truth, I did give a crap. I gave a crap so much I would buy anything to make his final with Tecmo even better. This one download did just that. While it uses the same locations as found in game, it gives you extremely hard challenges to be done in each mission and that kind of unmeetable difficulty is what Ninja Gaiden is known for.
If you know how to count, I won’t have to say what number this is. Number [?] is escaping straight from bioware’s hat of empty promises: Bring Down the Sky for Mass Effect.
Ahh yes Bioware, we all remember you promised us multiple expansions to Mass Effect. Saying that we would be able to explore 100’s of new worlds that weren’t the disc. We all cheered. A year later we got nothing… Until that one great day where Bring Down the sky was made downloadable. I dug through my stack of games and managed to find the glory of Mass Effect. I opened it even less cautiously than I would Pandora’s box, put it in my disc tray… then an hour later I had to take it back out because 100%’d Bring Down the Sky. That’s a bit harsh though, it has a lot of good points about it. In this DLC you have to stop an meteor from blowing up a planet by destroying it’s thrusters. You go from engine room to engine room dodging mines, killing batarians, disabling the thrusters all the face the great choice at the end that leaves you begging for more. It isn’t as good as the main story, and could be a lot longer with more to do, but it is still fun and more than worth downloading if you own Mass Effect
In case I lost you above, we’re at number three and, while it should be higher, it goes to RockBand 2’s DLC
Ok, I don’t care who you are, whether you are the hardcore gamer, the casual gamer, or you’ve only player Viva Piñata, you all know Rockband is known for it’s strong DLC and Rockband 2 is nothing more but proving that rule for RB. It seems their is new DLC every week and it’s always amazing how they work it with every game type within that amount of time. Their is too much DLC to honestly pick from that I have to list it as one big category. However, it’s fairly expensive to keep up with all of it (a lot more than $10) which is why it isn’t going an higher on the list.
Number two on this list is quite recent and going to get me shot: It’s Gears of War 2’s Combustible Map Pack!
“Wtf shadowjak!?!? This beat Rockband?!?! NO! NO WAY IN HELL!! I won’t stand for it!!! I’ll-” Shut up, sit down if you want read. my reasoning. I understand this game’s multi-player is a bit twitchy and glitchy. I understand the players ruin the matchmaking. But guys, this play list is like a forbidden fruit for Gears of War 2. In this playlist consists three maps that are fairly… great. In fact, they are better than majority on the disc. Next up, this playlist seems very exclusive right now, it is exclusive to those who don’t just run around chainsawing, it’s exclusive to those who aren’t two years old, and, most of all, it’s exclusive to people who don’t suck since apparently all the people who chainsaw are poor or stick to regular matchmaking. It is actually the most fun I’ve had with Gears of War 2 multiplayer and hopefully it stays that way.
Alright it’s time for the winner of this portion. I’ve been typing for hours now and I never thought I’d make it this far, but alas all good things must come to an end. Now, let’s announce this beastly winner of the best Xbox 360 DLC of 2008. The DLC taking number one is… HALO 3: LEGENDARY MAP PACK
I took this 3 minutes ago to show the chaos of Legendary maps, I win.
Halo 3 Legendary maps seems like a gigantic, valentine’s day esque, apology to those who complained about Heroic maps. Not only are these maps better in every way possible, but these maps came free with Heroic maps and Cold Storage, gave you a year of Bungie Pro, and updated forge to include visuals. Admit it, when you saw the darkness trailer you knew it would be incredible. For once, the hype was right.
The visuals make Blackout look sexay
The legendary map pack sales are still going strong today with constant new playlists for all of them. It is the best DLC you can get for $10 anywhere.
Best part of all those DL’s, is that 4/5 are xbox 360 exclusive. However, now we move on to a different category. While XBLA may not be as good of an arcade as PSN’s, it is still awesome and well known for great 2D/3D imitation titles. This year, it really shined and got plenty of great titles compared to the two it used to have. Microsoft did exactly what they needed to do for their arcade. Now let’s see which five shined through more (note: I am required by law to say I am one of those people that didn’t like Braid so it isn’t on here, sorz).
Coming to your hard drives for 800 MS points without the math included: Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved
This game perfectly mixes old and new without making the jump to new. GW2:RE plays exactly like an old style arcade game… or at least one I’d love to have had. Yet at the same time it brings in everything you’d expect from a new game, such as multiplayer, co-op, achievements, leaderboards, etc. It’s just pure mindless fun and so easy to just space out playing. It’s a good thing my 360 doesn’t demand quarters.
Number four is a personal favorite of mine from waaay back when. With it’s witty yet child like humor mixed in with old school slow platforming as well as the new Stop N Swop feature, it’s no wonder Banjo-Kazooie takes number four like a jiggy.
(ok I’m not going to give as many pics just because I made a bet with Project Sora I can finish this before 1:30am and it’s 12:17am)
Next up is a game I think would have won if it was a bit more difficult. Please welcome Megaman 9! You’ve got a new weapon! The Number 3 spot! In all seriousness, Megaman 9 shows us while the gens keep moving to bigger and better things, sidescrollers do not need to be extinct. This game is purely classic Megaman (except easier). The graphics are old-school, the villains are mocking the old school bosses, the gameplay is pure trial and error, and, all in all, it’s fun. Not too mention with all the DLC, if you have deep pockets, you’ll have an endless supply of fun dying of endless mode and expert mode.
ROCKMAAAAN! Rockman was a man I mean..he was a rocky man!.. or maybe he was just a rock but eitherwayhewasstill ROCKMAAAN! (if anyone gets the reference I will be impressed)
Number two is a game that would win if it secretly wasn’t an expansion; it’s Portal: Still Alive! Portal: Still Alive is basically Portal (a first person platformer where you jump through portals to complete the challenges) but with extra challenge maps and harder achievements. Overall, it’s still a ridiculously fun game and if you haven’t played the original Portal; DOWNLOAD THIS NOW!!!
D-D-D-DRUM ROLL! I LOST MY BET AND AM ABOUT TO ANNOUNCE MY NUMBER ONE PICK FOR XBLA! Not only do I believe this is the number one XBLA arcade game out now, but I believe it is the best to come out on the XBLA yet. Taking the number one spot for the Xbox Live Arcade is Castle Crashers!
Castle Crashers is a beat em’ up/arcade style/co-op action RPG type game made The Behemoth. It was originally for new grounds and came to the XBLA this summer. And even though it had the ridiculous price of 1200 MS points, it’s worth triple that. Castle Crashers is pure endless, mindless fun. You will spend hundreds of hours playing. Whether it’s the single player, unlocking all the characters, finding all the weapons and pets, playing the four player co-op over and over, playing competitively online, etc, the gameplay really can’t end. DLC for this game was promised; let’s see if it can win 09’s best DLC!
Yes, once again four out of the five are exclusive and they are all fantastic titles; especially for ten dollars. I mean, I wipe my ass with ten dollars because of this high paying job working for the demon gaming kraken (if you ask where, please press ALT+F4 immediately). Anyway time to move onto the real list. The top five Xbox360 games of 2008!
NUMBER 5!: Ninja Gaiden 2
Sick, sadistic, bloody, violent and I can’t stop playing it. Ninja Gaiden II is Team Ninja’s final venture into the Ninja Gaiden universe and damn is it good. While the plot makes absolutely no sense (and not in the awesome Psychonauts way, but in the Final Fantasy XII way), the gameplay is where this game is ridiculously fun… once you get passed the camera of course. NGII is honestly my type of game in all aspects. It is challenging, it doesn’t go through a bunch of retarded tutorial levels, it’s bloody, it’s addictive, it’s fun, it starts controversy nowadays, and it’s exceptionally violent. This game succeeded in leaving a permanent blood stain on my Xbox where Gears of War could not and it was well worth it.
Beautiful… I think I just came alittle.
NUMBER 4!: FABLE II
Not really a surprise this game ended up on the list. Fable 2 is the second game in the franchise. It was created by Lionhead and is the only game I’ve played that opened with my character getting shat on by a bird. This is a humorous and damn near perfect WRPG (though not as creative as another on this list; spoilers ahead!). That’s a strong word to use in the gaming industry, but I use it here without regret. The gameplay is completely pick up and play. I could be in a comma for three years, come back, and still know how to play this game. The story is very well presented for a WRPG and the choice system is very good, though not on par with Mass Effect. And to add to all that, this is a great game for those with ADHD!.. No really! While in real life you get shunned for being able to get distracted so easily, in this game you get rewarded for it. Randomly when entering a new town you will want to try out the jobs, get popular, buy items, get a house, get drunk, commit some crimes, check out extras, and then maybe check out the main quest. My only problem with this game is it has very dated co-op (everyone uses the one camera) comparative to a side-scroller’s co-op. Also, it is short… really… really short. I honestly think Portal has some lengthy game time compared to this. However, I plan on writing a review for this game once I play the Knothole island expansion (I need to confirm my theory first) so I will not give away too much. Check it out near the beginning of February!
NUMBER 3: PRINCE OF PERSIA
Ladies and gentlemen: the new Prince of Persia!
Ok, I think that odd sound we all just heard was the sound of some of my staff shitting themselves. Let me explain readers: I nominated PoP for overall GOTY. For those that haven’t quite grasped the shocking part yet, it is third on this list meaning not the best. My reasoning is that while it is great, it is not the best I’ve played all year. So why did I nominate it for GOTY? Because it takes a stand against today’s market by not being a ‘realistic’ shooter and does what we all wish was happening more; the revival of old franchises we used to be addicted to. While that’s a dream that is well met, they do their best to keep up with the gen as well. The game features a brand new Prince, who isn’t a Prince, protecting Elika as she heals the lands. The game does this with very well done platforming stages to get to what is called the sacred grounds. Each platforming stage is completely different from the last and the farther you get, the longer each part is making you get tossed back farther (since you can’t die). The combat we all know from the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time games is not completely lost, instead it is more strategic and focused completely on one on one battles. The quick kill system is here, but more subtle. Instead you can stop an enemy from spawning by going through a platforming part fast enough. It all gets the job done to get you to the final level which is done remarkably well by escaping the boss while seeing it all through his camera; turning the game into a side scroller (basically an ode to the original Prince of Persia games). After that is the perfect bitch-slap of an ending amounting to one of the best games I have played this year. Buy it now.
NUMBER 2: GEARS OF WAR 2
“REEEAVER!!!” No, you know what Marcus that got annoying after the first two times. Shut up.
Umm…wooooow… I-I umm… named this second? Ohh man… OHHHHH man that was not a good idea. I’m going to get hate mail, a lynch mob is going to form led by Cliffy B. This isn’t going to end well.
In all seriousness, I do love this game. Back when I first saw the ‘Bare Your Teeth trailer,’ I fully accepted the words bigger, better, and more badass and thought it’d the be corwned GOTY while demolishing Metal Gear Solid 4 and the crappiness of Grand Theft Auto [Clone] IV. I was off by a little. The promise of bigger, better, and more badass made by Cliffy B was spot on to an extent. The scale of everything is definitely bigger. The enemies are definitely bigger, better, and more badass. The story certainly meets the promise with powerful scenes (such as freeing Tai). Overall, the single player and co-op campaign meet that promise quite nicely. Actually the only word to really describe this campaign is the companies name: Epic. The campaign isn’t the only thing that meets the promise of ‘bigger, better, and more badass’ amazingly; their is also Horde mode. Yes, the lovely horde mode. 50 incredibly difficulty waves of locust to face you and up to four friends. Honestly, I was a little disappointed by this mode because I expected things like you and your four friends against a Brumak at the end or something, but for what it is, it is actually just as the studio calls itself; Epic. In fact, it is so epic a month after it was announced Treyarch announced CoD:WaW’s Nazi-zombie mode. However, this getting number two obviously means it gave me a little bit of disappointment in my heart and that disappointment is in the multi-player. I have four complaints to address here. 1. Improve upon matchmaking or ditch it. Sometimes match making is ideal and performing greatly; other times however it takes longer than Halo 2 to get into a game. Before it was to make an easy party system and to get rid of host power. I was fine with it then, but now with the recent update they gave host their power again so wtf was the point of the horrible matchmaking? 2. Fix your shotgun. I have no problem with you slowing it down to be more tactical. I do mind however how much of random damage it does. I swear before every shot my shotgun does a dice roll to determine the damage. Sometimes at sniper distance, it will one hit kill a target at full health. Yet sometimes at close range it’ll do hardly any damage. 3. Why did you change the chainsaw to not lower when shot? 4. WHY THE FUCK DID YOU MAKE IT SO THE CHAINSAW DOESN’T LOWER IF THE PERSON IS SHOT?!?! Seriously Cliffy B, what the hell made you ditch that feature? It was perfect how someone couldn’t just run up and chainsaw you… BUT NOW THEY CAN! Honestly, all it has done is taken those who do suck at the game and made it so instead of admitting they suck and get better at it; they now hide behind their chainsaw. I swear to the almighty Valkyries I want to cut off the right thumb of each of those n00bs and you Cliffy B and replace them a 3inx3in piece of paper. Why? So that every time they go to press that B button, their new thumb just slips off and they cry trying and knowing they have the ability to chainsaw, but they just can’t do it!… What? I have thought about this many a times.
Yes, I was a tad harsh, but GoW was one of my favorite games of all times. It needed harsh critique. However, it is still a great game and I recommend it any day.
Look at me Cliffy B, I can be awesome without a chainsaw!
NUMBER 1 XBOX 360 GAME OF 2008: FALLOUT 3
Fallout 3 is a game that I must publically apologize too. I, shadowjak, knew from the very beginning that I would love this game and knew it’d be my vote for GOTY even before playing it. But alas, I gave up on it early and went to play Prince of Persia which gets my vote. However, the other day I went back to Fallout 3 and finished it. I must say, this game is a work of absolute genius and Todd Howard should be given a Nobel Prize. First off, before even opening it this game is Pandora’s Box. Just imagining the thought of over eighty hours of gameplay with complete freedom seems like it would end my Xbox to play. But it didn’t. From the very first instant as playing as an infant you notice it mixes up gameplay more than any other game on the market, and it does so on the fly. With the press of a button you can switch from FPS, TPS, or VATS (basically when a turned based RPG meets strategic dismemberment). Another thing you’ll notice is this game’s complete creativity. Fallout 3 is like Todd Howard stole Tim Schafer’s mind and used it to write these messed up levels. A perfect example would be the tranquility lanes level. This level puts you in pre-WWII 1950’s simulation mixed with perfection. In this level, you are slaved to a psycho scientist named Betty who likes to kill these people. You can either listen to her, become the neighborhood slasher and get freed or activate the failsafe and have the Chinese Army invade and kill everyone and free you. The game is incredibly creative, but it can also have fairly powerful and epic moment. The first time you meet the Enclave is the prime example. What really amazes me is that this game actually lives up its promises on the back of the box. This game has almost complete freedom; you can join the brotherhood of steel, nuke a town, give water to the poor, shoot the poor, assassinate a highly respected figure-head, buy a slave, become jesus christ, etc. It really does allow me to whatever I please and that is something Bethesda has done amazingly well here.
Fallout 3 is a game that builds upon the creativity we all used to love and welcome as gamers while at the same time blending so many genres into one beautiful WRPG. The game has completely raised the bar for all games. Can’t wait for the DLC
And their you have it, 2008 was a legendary year for not only the Xbox 360, but for all the systems out there. Yeah shocking that priase was used at an end of the year awards, you heard it here on Monstervine first! I apologize for the lack of structure in this, but I had to rewrite this three horrible times. I honestly want to stab the creator of IE, but we’ll save that for a podcast! Either way, 2009 looks to be even better if the big three can keep all their promises. To get a preview of 2009, check out my preview to be posted on New Years Day…. However if you are curious now, maybe he can tell you something.
hmmmmmm……
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