Xboxist

Naquan's Picks Of 2008 On Xbox 360

As we embark upon a new year in 2009, it is a good time to reflect back on all of the great games we played in 2008. Even though we are in the New Year, it does not mean the favorites of last year have become obsolete. If you are anything like us, you may even have a backlog of great titles that you haven’t been able to get around to yet. So my fellow gamers, please take a look at my personal picks on the Xbox 360 for the previous 12 months. You may find something that catches your eye, or that the mainstream gaming press sadly overlooked.

Best Fighting game of 2008
First up on our list is the Fighting Game Genre. There wasn't much to choose from in this area since the fighting games were pretty slim even in the XBOX live arcade area, but among the best were Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit, Mortal Kombat vs. DC and Soul Calibur 4. In my evaluation of these titles, I looked at the overall fun factor, graphics, gameplay and replayability. The pick chosen for 2008 was Soul Calibur 4 and the reasons behind this choice are multiple. First is the fact that the weapon system and customization was done very well; especially when they established custom characters with SC 3 for the PS2. The other great accomplishment is the fact the fighter deals no lag even with all the custom items and fast paced fighting. One can't forget about downloadable characters; also content and then the addition of finishing moves to better a players fighting style. The only downfall with the game is the story mode which seemed like a rush job in the player’s eyes. Another thing is the cheap ending where you get a short text screen, unlike the other games where you get illustrations explaining what will happen next.

Soul Calibur 4 was our resident ninja's pick for best fighting game of 2008.

The next question would be why the other games didn't win. Well that’s because while DBZ Burst Limit did do something great for the next gen systems, the game has been done to death and the people are getting tired of the series. As for MK Vs. DC well the story mode was a bother especially merging the two worlds making a "Dark Kahn"? (Darkside and Shao Kahn merged) and also the fights were one sided. They would have to understand even though superman is weak against magic doesn't mean it makes him less powerful. Not only did the power abilities made no sense not everyone had fatalities but they did have a rage meter. Don't misunderstand the game has it's fun factors but I wouldn't recommend picking it up until the price drops for what it is worth.

Best Action Game of 2008:
The next area that will be tackled is the Action Games and the contestants are Grand Theft Auto 4, Prince of Persia, Ninja Gaiden 2, Saints Row 2 and Naruto: The Broken Bond. The winner is GTA 4 because the game involves the player so much with the character Niko Bellic and all the situations dealing with family, friends and every day living inside of New Liberty City (a.k.a New York). This game gives the user so much choice it will never end even if the story mode is done. If the player gets board doing regular missions there is the option to go to the safe house or on the cell phone and jump right into muliti-player where he/she makes a custom characters and play around doing free roam or death-match. The players even have the option of co-op online modes turning the game into more replay value then never finishes. With the added addition of Downloadable content coming soon the game will expand even more. Rockstar did a great job with this even though there are some annoying factors; which involve dealing with making Niko's family and friends happy.

It was a toss up between Saints Row 2 and GTA, but GTA 4 gave me a warm feeling with the music and the overall game play that made me feel comfortable at home since being a New Yorker. Ninja Gaiden 2 even though has a great story and a lot of action it gets annoying after a while with the camera angles and the difficulty which is not a bad thing. At times I just want to chuck the controller and break the game but I forgive it coming back later to take on those dogs with swords in their mouths. The Naruto Broken Bond would of been the best choice, however it was a fanboy's choice even though it followed the situations of when Orocihimaru attacked the leaf village and the player gets to use the 3rd Hokage in battle was a nice treat however it would go in a fans choice list.

Best Shooter of 2008:
The next batch of nominees are in the Shooter category or FPS genre, which will introduce Left 4 Dead, Gears of War 2, and COD World At War. The masses are going to be shocked because the pick is Left 4 Dead! This game made by valve the same people that did Half Life did an amazing job towards a Zombie survival game. This game would make anybody sissified for five seconds, because which ever character you choose and the player walks around helping out the crew and then all of a sudden something grabs you out of nowhere yanking the player back towards it! The shock alone of startling the witch is just funny enough because the other players will warn the user not to turn on the lights and yet that player will be dumb and boom attacked in the worst way. The co-op is done brilliant since it feels like a movie is being played. Then when the story is done there is only one other option and that's multiplayer vs. mode. The player can choose either to be a zombie or one of the characters. To be honest playing as a zombie is more fun and interesting especially as a Tanker. Honestly play in the dark with 3 other friends and you will not being able to sleep the game is that much fun.

Yes it is a surprised that Gears of War 2 was not chosen but even though it offered the right kind of action and intense story; it still gave that feeling of always going to win. There is no real intense fear of survival and there is always a weapon to take out any foe. Unlike other survival shooters in this futuristic game the player always has a chance to win. Call of Duty World at War could not get the approval because it was a step backwards from Modern Combat and that just does not fly right.

Best Racing Game of 2008:
This year was a good year for racing titles on the 360, with such standout titles as Grid, Need For Speed Undercover, Midnight Club LA, Burnout Paradise, and Pure. A drum roll is needed....and the winner is Grid; all right before the tomatoes are thrown here are the reasons why! Grid did something no other simulator has done which is fun and arcade style of trying while teaching the user how the car really works. This is the Gran Turismo killer, because you have licensed cars that actually feel fast with crash damage that effect the way a player has to drive in order to win. There is so much assistance in this game that any person can get into with awesome graphics and the rewind feature to learn mistakes and re-take that turn the player missed. There is also a crew chief during the races that give you great advice and lets he/she know what to expect from the other A.I racers. The online play is great and nothing changes really when playing online. (There is also a lot of great downloadable content for GRiD)

Now as for the games that did not win here is a brief break down on why! Starting with Burnout Paradise you have a great high speed fantasy oriented game with a lot of crashes and great graphics; however it gets kind of dull when the world has no people at all with only one person speaking from nowhere. Then they added the motorcycles with people on them however the person disappears when a crash happens and that is sad with no crash dummy physics. Online is fun to a certain extent dealing with other players practically feels the same
as playing the regular game. Need For Speed Undercover was kind of a disappointment with some of the races leaving the player at where and what? The game feels too easy at times and eliminating your custom vinyl's during online play was a very weak move on EA. It was done so the online play wouldn't slow down and the plot was a bit of blah which was not that exciting. Midnight Club LA decided to pull a San Andreas making the world huge and giving you a secondary city Tokyo to race in however the cars were slim and so where the bikes which hopefully leaves open to DLC and some of the physics of the cars were a bit off at times. Pure was a toss up because it is a great racing ATV game made by Disney interactive, so please still check that out because it is a resembles SSX tricky but on quad bikes.

Yes all of gamers are expecting a run down on the pick of RPG's, but the pick would not be fair. So this portion is omitted since not all of the RPG's of '08 were played. Apologies to all that were expecting an award in this area. Other then that I hope you enjoyed this segment of Best of 2008 and gives those titles a try even though a lot of
games are coming out early this winter season especially February with Street Fighter 4 and X Blades. Stay frosty gamers and thanks for reading.