1. Fallout 3 - I’m an absolute sucker for Bethesda RPGs and Fallout 3 delivered in spades. I was thoroughly addicted to the game for 40+ hours and despite the terrible ending, it’s still my clear #1 game of the year.
2. Far Cry 2 - I bought this almost on a whim after reading a lot of impressions on this board. I didn’t expect to love it, but hoped I would like it. At least 20 hours later I’m 75% of the way through the game and still ignoring the rest of my collection in my hunt for the Jackal. I love the shooting, driving, and gun collecting. The story is almost irrelevant except that the game unflinchingly (at least up to the end from what I hear) forces you down the path of a ruthless mercenary. There is no good path. There is no equivocating. Either destroy the medicine factory or cease your progress in the game. I love that this game has the balls to make the player be an absolutely disgusting human being.
3. Dead Space - I wish I was cool enough to say that graphics don’t matter, but in Dead Space’s case, they surely do. The game is absolutely gorgeous from beginning to end, which really sells the atmosphere and the gritty, used up look of the Ishimura. Of course the frosting doesn’t matter if the cake tastes like sewer detritus, and fortunately Dead Space’s mechanics deliver right on par with the subperb graphics. Isaac controls beautifully, and that’s not hyperbole. The control scheme and tuning of the game overall is excellent. Really Dead Space is one of the most strikingly polished games of the year.
4. Rock Band 2/Guitar Hero World Tour - Yeah, I can have both band games as one entry in my top five! Each game does what it does well. GH’s new hardware is phenomenal and the note charts on Medium are far superior to those of Rock Band. Rock Band’s less stringent singing evaluation and massive library of DLC balance out the aspects of GH that I like more. Sundays with friends are just more enjoyable with these two games.
5. Civilization Revolution - I played this game to death, both solo and co-op. The simplistic nature of the AI does not confound or destroy the fun to be had or the rewarding feelings I get by decimating the other civilizations in any of the possible ways. I especially liked how each Civ had unique benefits, giving the player a real reason to try it with all of them. My brother and I whiled away quite a few weekend mornings (and afternoons) playing this.
6. Army of Two - Speaking of my brother, some of the most fun I had this year was playing Army of Two co-op with him. We had an absolute riot taking down the bad guys and gold plating our various firearms. The cover mechanic in this game works surprisingly well, considering that it requires no button presses (unlike Gears’ system). Mindless fun has never been better, especially in co-op.
7. Gears of War 2 - Speaking of co-op, I blew through Gears 2’s campaign with a buddy and was pretty shocked at how good it is. The first Act is pretty meh, but after that the game never lets up. I’ve yet to play it single player as it’s clearly best enjoyed with a friend. Horde mode is brilliant, providing a fun and addictive reason to keep playing after the campaign is through, even for those who, like me, are averse to adversarial multiplayer.
8. Fable 2 - I must admit at the outset that I’ve not finished Fable 2, but I’m well over half way through its story. Speaking of story, Fable 2 actually manages to put forth a decent one, though the real star of the game is building up you character to God-like levels. I love buying property, acquiring weapons and clothes, and being a sickening good two shoes. The addition of the dog works perfectly in creating an emotional attachment to the game world and he is never annoying. I also liked the bread crumb trail, though an including of some kind of functioning map would have been good as well.
9. Lost Odyssey - Again, I admit I never finished this game despite getting to the last disc and spending 40+ hours with it. I was absolutely addicted to it for weeks though and loved the story, both of the game itself and the little short story vignettes. The battle mechanics work very well and crafting and swapping out rings is rewarding without being irritating. I wish I could say I was going back to it, but when the game opened up on the last disc I lost interest quickly. This doesn’t diminish the fun I had while I compulsively played the previous 40+ hours and I still regard it as one of the top ten games I played this year.
10. Buzz Quizz TV - More than a simple quiz game, Buzz throws some unique segments at you. While it’s always about answering questions, the fact that you can accidentally throw a pie in your own face is just one example of how Buzz spices things up. Playing with four people is a riot and I must admit that my pulse has been pounding more than once during the final showdown segment of the game.
