Games of the Year 2007

[Jibar]

Continuing my annoyance with Gametrailers, I find myself unsatisfied with their picks for some of the best games of the year.
So, I propose that we do it ourselves. So...
Welcome to the GiantITP first Games of the Year!
The way this will work is, in true forum spirit, we'll all elect our own favourites for the awards by genre or anything else we can think of and then debate endlessly until there's a general consensus.
In two weeks, I'll count up all the votes and the like and put together
The genres shall be

Action Adventure
Beat 'em ups
Fighting
Platformer
Shooter
Roleplaying
Sim
Sports/Racing
Strategy
Party
Puzzle
Massively Multiplayer


Oh, and two other awards I think I'll put up:

Best Console
Best Game Overall


Now, for my own nominations:

Action Adventure - Assassin's Creed - Though it has it's problems, I don't think there was any adventure game out this year that gave you the same feeling as this does.
Platformer - Super Mario Galaxy - Delivering the same kind of gameplay as Mario 64 and Sunshine, but then bringing all kinds of innovation and some of the best use of the Wii yet.
Shooter - Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition - What's the best way to top yourself when you make one Game of the Year? Do it again, but better. The Wii controls are perferct, and provide more immersion than any shooter yet.
Roleplaying - Mass Effect - Offering a strange blend of shooter and RPG, though much more on the roleplaying side, Mass Effect offered a far deeper amount of choice than any other RPG, and finally, finally, actually let you play your own character, instead of a Good/Evil character going through a pre-planned story.
Puzzle - Portal - Portal. That's all. For now.
Best Console - Wii - Though I am a little bias here, the Wii succeeds on a level of innovation, immersion and sheer fun that the PS3 and 360 just aren't capable of matching.
Best Game Overall - Portal - It's so hard to top this, and I haven't even played it. With a wonderful story, brilliant dialogue, and truly unique gameplay, Portal is Portal, and Portal is easily the best of this years offerings.

[Dragor]

Action Adventure: Zelda Twilight Princess. While not fully utilising the Wiimote as it could've done, the return to a more 'gritty' Hyrule than Wind Waker. Epic in scale and keeping you with many good memories, Twilight Princess is awesome.

Shooter: Halo 3. It may not have changed its tune much, but the Halo magic is still there and better than ever.

Puzzle: Portal. I doubt much can be disputed about it. It is puzzle gaming in glorious new form.

Party: Rock Band. The cost is worth it for the amount of fun you can have.

Best Console: Wii. It just has to be, in my opinion. Yes, I am a Nintendo fan, but I'm not extremely biased. Nintendo have, in my opinion, completely surpassed Microsoft and Sony in terms of innovation and fun. Whilst Nintendo seemed decadent when the PS2 came out, they have turned the tables thoroughly and never cease to amaze with their originality and interactivity.

Best Game: Bioshock. While it doesn't have the best replayability in the world, Bioshock possessed some excellent voice acting, a great storyline, and a proud offspring of the System Shock series. It injected new life into a genre long thought unoriginal and kept me on edge until the very end. Simply brilliant.

(Oh, and aren't 'Fighting' and 'Beat-em-up' exactly the same thing, or is it just me?)

[Pyro]

Gamespot made some odd choses too. I guess they were trying to keep the awards equal between games.

No comment on the games...for now.

[Murongo]

Best Shooter is definitely Bioshock or CoD4, HALO has more powerups and combo moves than Tekken and the reticle practically tracks your enemy- it feels like UT meets Soul Calibur, not a serious shooter. Bioshock for best single player, CoD for best multi. I could see an argument for Team Fortress 2 as best multi or RE4 for best single.

Roleplaying is Mass Effect hands down

Puzzle is Portal, duh, no questions asked.

[Xavios]

Action Adventure - Zelda. Just, plain and simple, back to the basics of Zelda. The gameplay is beautiful, everything about that game brings out the inner nintendo in me.

RPG - Oblivion for PS3, with Attachments. Probably shouldn't be here, but it just deserves another look.

Shooter - Call of Duty 4/Unreal Tournament 3. I've played Halo 3. I've played Crysis. I've played Bioshock. They just don't compare. Call of Duty may not have Crysis' graphics, but it is wonderfully photoreal, and the multiplayer aspect, main as it is, is excellent, and executed perfectly. Unreal Tournament 3. Reminds me of the original 1998/1999 GOTY Unreal Tournament. But prettier. As always, it's just pure fun.

Puzzle - Portal. Finished it in 3~ hours. It was the greatest 3~ hours of gaming I've ever done. Plain and simple. Bloxxorz was a close second. Damn that flash game was fun.

____________

Best Console - Playstation 3. I spent 2 weeks playing it at a friends house. It's not the fact that the raw power just spells ruination for the now overpriced ungainly Xbox 360, it's the fact that it's online network is free. No fees, nothing. Take that, Microsoft.

Best Game Overall - While portal should be here, it's not. Unreal Tournament 3. Hands down. I just cannot wait for it's release on PS3, I want to see the difference between it running on my Dual 1.8 w/ 7600GT and a Playstation 3. It looked wonderful on my setup. I can only imagine the possibilities. Also; poor Xbox. I feel genuinely sorry that this game won't run on 360's.

[Oeep Snaec]

WoW is obviously a contender for best MMO; I haven't played for several months and I still have a craving for it.

[Tekar]

Shooter: S.T.AL.K.E.R.
Half Life is getting stale. Don't care for Halo and while Team Fortress 2 is loads of fun I think that the atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was just brilliant.
Roleplaying: NWN 2: Mask of the Betrayer
Not Oblivion, definatly not Oblivion. Witcher might take the spot once I play it.
Strategy: Galactic Civilisations 2: Dark Avatar
I forgot about this one, but it was a very fun game. Luckilly some posters further down reminded me.
Puzzle: Portal
Pure awesomeness, we need more games like this.

Best Game Overall: Portal

EDIT: GalCiv2

[Hawriel]

I hear you on total war. Man I got rome played it for two days then never touched it again. I really really want to plug Mass Effect. Bioware is an amazing group of creative peaple. KOTOR is how star wars should be and jade empire had a very good story. I saw an episode of X play dedicated to the game and I was in awe. I cant nominate it for two reasons; I have not played it, and Its 360 only. Im sorry but that kills it for me. Im not going to spend mony for a console or its 60$ pluss games.


Strategy.

Well one of the only true "strategy" games is Civ4 (with expantions). It has a good deplomacy commands and I like the new options of vassels and colonie nations. Combat is impruving dispite the fact aircraft still cannot sink ships.

[Triaxx]

Action Adventure: Assasin's Creed
Beat 'em ups: Soul Caliber Legends, it's the only one this year.
Fighting: Hard choice, VF5, or MKA.
Platformer: Super Mario Galaxy.
Shooter: Call of Duty 4
Roleplaying: Mass Effect, hands down.
Sim: Did they release any?
Sports/Racing: Mario Kart DS
Strategy: Supreme Commander
Party: None that deserve it.
Puzzle: Portal
Massively Multiplayer: Tabula Rasa/Eve Online
Best Console: Wii
Best Game Overall: Supreme Commander

[Emperor Ing]

Shooter: Halo 3
RPG: Mass Effect. No competition. :smallbiggrin:
:smallconfused: im pretty narrow in my game genres.

[ObadiahtheSlim]

* Shooter - Team Fortress 2 (Great multiplayer and stylized graphics)
* Puzzle - Portal (nuf said)
* Massively Multiplayer: World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade

[Premsyl]

Action-Adventure: Assassin's Creed
Fighting: VF5
RPG: Mass Effect
MMO: LotR:O
Shooter: Bioshock, Bioshock, and Bioshock.
Game of the Year: Bioshock

[warty goblin]

Action/Adventure Overlord
Strategy Galactic Civilizations: Dark Avatar
Shooter Lots of great ones, unfortunately due to financial issues I haven't played any of them.

[Om]

Strategy: Europa Universalis III

The only new game I bought this year and the only one that I'd consider a true strategy game. Actually... I also bought GalCivII (was that 2007) but EUIII is on another level entirely

[Lord_Butters_I]

Action Adventure - Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. Only played the demo, but what I've seens is good.

Beat 'em ups - Virtua Fighter 5 Online by reason of no competition.

Fighting - Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I played Black on the Xbox, and Sigma is that plus a few extras. Ninja Gaiden is straight up the greatest action game ever.

Platformer - Mario Galaxy. I don't even have a wii and this game is crazy good.

Shooter - Halo 3. Some would say CoD4, but the sheer fun of custom games and the inovations of Forge and Theatre are awesome. Oh and the air support and leveling system in CoD both suck. The former is rediculously overpowered and the latter punishes players for not buying it on release day.

Roleplaying - Mass Effect. Beats Oblivion by including real time shooter battles rather than the tabletop-esq Oblivion fights.

Sports/Racing - Madden '08. On the 360 at least, on PS3 it runs at 30fps and you can't play a football game at 30fps.

Strategy - World in Conflict. Any RTS that gets rid of dirt farming in favor of more action instantly wins.

Party- Rock Band. By yourself it's decent, but with friends it's crazy.

Puzzle- Portal. No other puzzle game in all of mankind's history can beat Portal.

Massively Multiplayer- WoW Burning Crusade

Best Console: Xbox 360. The game selection trounces PS3 and Wii, and Xbox Live is infinitly better than PSN.

Best Game Overall: Portal. This game is a contender for best game of all time.

[Mr._Blinky]

RPG: Mass Effect (some things that irritate me, but overall its a solid experience and hugely addictive for my inner completionist)

FPS: Bioshock (I love Halo 3's online and all, but Bioshock is just the better game. Haven't played CoD4 yet, so I can't comment on that)

Action Adventure: Legend of the Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass (only one I've played this year, sadly, but still a very enjoyable game)

Best Console: X-box 360 (the massive selection of excellent games is what does it for me)

Game of the Year: Bioshock (excellent story, immersive atmosphere, creepy score, great gameplay, etc.)


Unfortunately, being under 17 (well, till today, being my birthday and all :smalltongue: ) and having a crappy PC has kind of limited my gaming experiences, since most of the best games that aren't M are for the PC.:smallannoyed:

[Mr.Bookworm]

Action Adventure - Assassin's Creed
Platformer - Super Mario Galaxy
Shooter - Bioshock
Roleplaying - Mass Effect
Strategy - Command & Conquer 3
Puzzle - Portal
Best Console - Xbox 360
Best Game Overall - Bioshock


Bioshock, because, duh, it's Bioshock. I can say that I would've payed 100$ for that game. Best game I own, hands down. The Orange Box takes second place in my book, with Portal getting a particular nod.

[Doglord]

If there was a s-f category, Id say mass effect beats Halo 3 by a large margin.

[Mc. Lovin']

* Action Adventure
* Beat 'em ups
* Fighting
* Platformer
* Shooter - Half life 2 Episode 2. Loved the graphics, brilliant story, a great improvment from episode 1
* Roleplaying - Oblivion (I think it was this year ...) One of the best games I've ever played. The game leaves what you do up to you, for example I have gotton to a very high level and yet have not even begun the main quest
* Sim
* Sports/Racing
* Strategy
* Party - Wario ware Wii, loaved the game, it was pretty quick to complete but the replay value is so good it was worth it, every time I bring it out people enjoy it
* Puzzle - Peggle Extreme, sooo addictive it's unreal. When the orange box came out I actually played this first.
* Massively Multiplayer

* Best Console - My vote here (in my opinion) is Bias, whenever I can I buy games for the PC. However, the PS3 (from what I've heard) doesnt have enough games on it to be worth the money it costs. The Wii I gave up on after most of the good games were basically party games, or at least fun noveltys. Now nintendo are mostly for movie rip offs, or games like "Dogz", and "Hamsterz". 360 I have absolutely no experience with, so wont comment. PC therefor, has been the console I have enjoyed most, so it gets my vote. tl;dr - PC
* Best Game Overall - Team Fortress 2. the game I have played most, well, ever I think. Enjoy it every time I turn it on, with each mach a different and exciting game. 10 years were worth the wait

[RTGoodman]

I haven't played as many as some, but here's what I think.


Action Adventure - Assassin's Creed - some might have thought it repetitive, and it was, but I still loved it.
Shooter - Tie between Halo 3 and CoD4. I've been playing Halo since the first one, and I still love it, but I think I had more fun in career mode in CoD4.
Sports/Racing - NCAA Football '08. I don't even like sports games, but I had fun playing this for a while. Rock Star's Table Tennis was alright, too, but I suck at it.
Party - Mario Party 8 (I guess it's from this year) and Super Monkey Ball, both for the Wii, are great party games, but I've got to give this one to Rock Band.
I only played it for a bit at a friend's house, and I don't know what to call it, but Overlord was silly and fun at the same time.


Best Console - Again, this is a tie - I love the 360, but the Wii has melted a part of my cold robot heart with its jaunty melodies, fun games, and innovative control system.
Best Game Overall - Despite the problems with hardware, I think that Rock Band was probably my favorite. For the best of the year in general, I'm not sure.

[Drascin]

Let's give this a shot while I wait for dinner to start...

Action Adventure I'll have to go with Phantom Hourglass. The stylus was a bit annoying after all these years of button conditioning, and navigation sucked (I wanna control my ship, dammit! WW had the right idea!) but the game is extremely cool nonetheless.
Beat 'em ups Has there even been any of these released?
Platformer Mario Galaxy, no question, and I refuse to believe that anyone would put something else in this category. This game might very well be the best platformer ever, not just this year.
Shooter I'll go with Bioshock too. The gameplay was average-to-good, and the characterization was very good and genuinely creepy, which is more than enough to put it as a good game in my book. If Corruption had been as good as Echoes, it'd take the spot, but alas...
Roleplaying Nothing I have played this year really qualifies for such a status. NWN2 expansion was good, but nothing more, and that was probably the best CRPG I played. It's been a dry year.
Sports/Racing Sorry, don't really play these.
Strategy Civ4. Why are we even asking?
Puzzle Split between Portal (for sheer awesomeness) and Puzzle Quest (for sickening addictiveness). Since there's so many Portal votes, I guess I'll say Puzzle Quest. Yes, I'm contrarian :smalltongue:


Best Console Wii. It's finally starting to take off, and so it's starting to see awesome releases, plus an exponential growth in VC titles. I have always thought it good, but it has been recently that I have been able to say outloud - it's good to own a Wii.

Best Game Overall Super Mario Galaxy. Portal is awesome, true, but Super Mario Galaxy tickles every single fancy bone in my body - the nostalgic grognard, the hardcore gamer, the kiddy enthusiast, the experimentative whirlwind, all of my gaming personalities unite to say with a single voice: Super Mario Galaxy frigging owns.

[The Orange Zergling]

Shooter: Bioshock. Creepy, nice plot, nice characters, the Big Daddies still genuinely scare me halfway through the game. Only bad thing is guns take a bit too long to switch ammo/reload.
Puzzle: Portal. Do I need to give an explanation?
Best Console: Nintendo Wii. A truely innovative console, despite what PS3/360 die-hards say. Despite it's general in-availability, it's still worth every penny. The games aren't bad either.
Best Game: Tie between Bioshock and Portal. But if I must choose, it'll go to Portal.

[Premier]

I propose starting an alternative awards list as well, for non-mainstream, non-hyped entities that nevertheless attain a high standard of excellence. I'll kick it off, but feel free to add more categories.

Best alternative strategy: Dwarf Fortress
Best alternative action adventure (2D): Aquaria
Best alternative total conversion: ASCII Sector
Best alternative platformer: Art of Theft
Best fan-made level or mission: The Seven Sisters (for Thief 2)
Best freelance game: Mount & Blade

Admittedly, some of these are still in development but commercially/freely available and playable.

[Triaxx]

I don't get how you can even call some of those strategy games.:smallbiggrin: Civ4 is more like a Diplomacy sim.

[factotum]

Action Adventure
Hellgate: London for me. (It's more of an Action Adventure than it is an RPG, IMHO).

Shooter
Crysis. Despite the duff ending, loved the game while it lasted.

Roleplaying
Haven't really played any decent RPGs all year!

Sim
X3: Reunion for the PC. (This is the best category I could think of for it--doesn't really fit any of the others). And note this is nothing to do with X-Men, before somebody asks!

Strategy
Galactic Civilisations 2.

[Walrus]

I cut out all of the categories that I either don't care about or just didn't have a strong opinion on.

Action Adventure - Crackdown. Despite shooting being a primary aspect of the game I'd classify it as an action-adventure due to the levelling elements and open ended gameplay. This game is just unbelievably fun. Assassin's Creed is tremendous as well, but I haven't played it enough to give it a fair shot against Crackdown.

Platformer - Super Mario Galaxy

Shooter - Bioshock. Call of Duty 4 made a strong push for this slot because of the combination of an intense campaign and great online play, but Bioshock's atmosphere and ability to grip me gave it the edge.

Puzzle - Portal. Easily.

Best Console - Xbox 360. The Wii is innovative, but the game library of the 360 and Xbox Live overpower it in my mind. When the Wii starts coming out with more third party games that don't suck it will probably take over.

Best Overall - Bioshock. Call of Duty 4 again makes a strong case for itself, though.