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I’ve been thinking about this for a while, yeah! I’ve decided to record two lists this year: one, right now, pre-christmas, and one after the Christmas break (in which I do approximately 10% of my gaming for the entire year). I’m curious what the delta will be on some of these. That said, if I don’t play any new games from now until 2009, these are the games of 2008 with which my memories are most fond.

• 10. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion (PC). I lost nearly six months of gaming to WoW this year, most of it preparing characters for this latest expansion. When it finally came out, though I had levelled many characters, I hadn’t gotten any to level 70, and thus have not yet ingested the vast majority of content released this year. With that disclaimer in mind, I would like to point out that what I did play of the expansion (the Death Knight starting area, three times) was incredibly well made. Much better than the rest of the game, and it makes me genuinely excited to reach that content. However, I still have like 12 hours of grinding in Outland before my first characters reach the frozen north, and I really can’t stomach it at this point. I’m sure I’ll be back, and I honestly would be lying if I didn’t include this game on my top 10 of 2008.
• 9. Grand Theft Auto 4 (X360). I spent my first 14 hours with this game without killing a single civilian or stealing a car. Bowling, drinking, going to shows. Take the taxi wherever we need to go. I’ve got money, right? But then something changed. I accidentally killed my girlfriend doing some sweet motorcycle stunts. It’s OK, man, accidents happen, right? Well, a few days later, her ghost starts calling me. I SAW HER DIE. So I went to her apartment and a girl that looked like her came out. I took her for a ride… and blew up the car to be sure. She called again. And then the killing never stopped.
• 8. I Fell In Love With the Majesty of Colors (Flash). You can play this quite beautiful flash game here. This is actually a tie with Gravitation for Most Beautiful Pixels Telling Me Stories Of The Year. Honestly, I love the asthetic, and I love games that try and show me things without needing to rim-light 5,000,000,000 polygons when lightning flashes. A game that can tell me a story in 5 minutes is better than a game that never does. Granted, I wish IFILWMC had some editing on the text, but I really love the game bits so damn much.
• 7. Red Alert 3 (PC). It has giant robots fighting armored bears. Carnival levels. Man-cannons. User-controlled magnets IN SPACE. Live-Action cutscenes with hilarious actors. And an honest to God co-op campaign!
• 6. Braid (X360). A time-traveling love story with wonderful art and a really, really good premise. Some of the most hand-to-face-smacking puzzles and delicious 4D thinking.
• 5. Mega Man 9 (PS3). This game makes me laugh like no game has in years. It kills you constantly, forcing you to memorize patterns or be extremely paranoid. My heart has not pounded this much playing a videogame since I was very young.
• 4. Bangai-O Spirits (NDS). A game where explosions are the only story. You are a giant robot, usually much smaller than the other giant robots you are asked to explode, and you can pick from an impressive arsenal of baseball bats and homing missiles. Sometimes there are soccer balls. With over 100 levels on the cart, and a built-in level editor, this is THE game to be stranded with. Co-op is usually too slow to play because of all the exploding, but that is why you SHOULD play it. This game is a love letter to me and mine.
• 3. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3). SEGA does World War II. It’s a strategy title with a really great battle system, extremely touching and poignant cutscenes (admittedly there is too much filler sometimes, but I swear my wife gasped when she saw a civilian clipped by an opposing soldier), and blue blue skies. The art is great, sure, but expensive videogame rendering isn’t really my thing. Definitely my favorite JRPG since Final Fantasy XII, and one that I’m really looking forward to finishing over Christmas break.
• 2. Gears of War 2 (X360). There is a scene in this game where you have to slice open those arteries or you’re going to drown in all of that blood. Best bro-op experience since Gears of War 1; the rules are constantly changing (now you need to find cover for YOUR HEAD because it’s RAINING GLASS), and if you find the right music (NOTE: all music is the right music for Gears of War a.k.a. Beers of War, but Christmas music is best, with Cat Stevens in second), you will be high-fiving your night away.

And the best game released in 2008 is…
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