As we near the end of December the time to reflect over games we’ve played over the year has arrived. I’ve compiled my list of the best games I’ve played this year along with lots of text explaining why the heck you should care about them. Enjoy!

6. Grand Theft Auto 4
I agonized over including this. GTA4 is fun, but it fails to do anything interesting with the GTA format. I’ve been a fan since the first (top-down view) game, so I was heartbroken to find that GTA4 is essentially The Same Game With Better Graphics^TM. The few tweaks in there are great. Specifically, the wanted system now displays the police patrol radius on your mini-map telling you how far you need to drive to lose your wanted rating. Brilliant! I just wish Rockstar North did more of this sort of thing, i.e.: iterating on the core mechanics of GTA.

Having said that, experiencing Liberty City in its HD glory for the first time is an amazing experience. Never has a city been so well realized in a game before. It’s been said about many an open world game before, but Liberty City really does feel alive. There are approximately a million different little touches you notice over the course of playing the game. How the radio keeps playing when you leave a car. How people stand around and chat about things. How every citizen looks and dresses a little differently. I really could go on forever.

The setting should have been a platform for great storytelling, but GTA4 is very disappointing here. The protagonist, Nico Bellic, is a likable character. The dialogue is excellent: short, to-the-point and very witty. The plot, the tale of an immigrant and the American Dream, is an interesting one. The problem is that it never really materializes. It starts off strong, but ends up getting lost in the endless stream of repetitive missions, most of which are only loosely related to the plot, if at all. Which is a shame, because I think there is a lot of potential, especially in the colourful cast of characters.

After ten years, I think I’m getting a bit tired of the formula. Curiously, I put a ridiculous amount of hours into this game. So for the sole reason of being oddly addictive despite knowing that I’ve done it all before, GTA4 gets included.

5. Everyday Shooter
Everyday Shooter picks up where Rez left off: a beautiful fusion of abstract art and procedural music.

Mechanically, it’s a solid game, but it’s nothing spectacular. Your avatar (a tiny white dot) moves sluggishly and is often difficult to see. You can only shoot in 8 directions even when played with dual analog sticks. It seems to hold little promise, but the level design is where it all comes together. Everyday Shooter uses the concept of an “album game”, where each level/song is a different take on the “explode” mechanic (as made famous by Every Extend). Every level is a new world to explore, each with its own unique mechanics, enemies, music, and art. This works wonders.

It’s not best shooter, but Everyday Shooter is one of those games which are more than the sum of its parts. Playing it in a dark room with loud speakers and a big TV is gaming bliss.

4. Gears of War 2
CHAINSAW GUN! GoW2 is more of the same, but that’s not a bad thing. Epic took GoW and tweaked it into run-and-gun gaming perfection. Satisfying combat, meaty guns, and an excellent cover system contribute toward this. The level design is littered with lots of fun set pieces. Heck, even the laughable storyline adds to the charm. Of course, playing co-op is the only way to go. There’s nothing more fun than making intricate strategies with your co-op buddy followed by attempt after attempt at it going oh-so-horribly wrong. Things go south when the game strays from the excellent run-and-gun formula. The vehicles are mediocre, the bosses needlessly frustrating, and the platforming level is perhaps the most appallingly ill-conceived videogame sequence I’ve experienced in all of 2008. Ultimately, my critical analysis leads me to belie- CHAINSAW GUN! BBBRRRRRRR!!!! *splat* *splat*.

3. World of Goo
World of Goo is one of those games that puts a huge stonkin’ grin on my face every time I boot it up. After a long day of work, I could always rely on World of Goo to cheer me right up. The initial loading screen is filled with little jokes. Then the upbeat (and incredibly catchy) music kicks in. Already I’m grinning, and that’s just the menu! The game itself of course is even better, with great music, quirky characters, cute sound FX, and little gags hidden all over the place. There’s something about a joke hidden away that is inherently funnier than one that is simply presented to you. 2D Boy gets this.

The game itself relies on a bridge-building/physics mechanic which has that Nintendo-esque “quick to pick up, but plenty of depth” quality to it. The mechanics are presented as you go through the levels in a simple, non-intrusive way. This is backed up with levels that constantly challenge and surprise you with their inventiveness. There are plenty of “Aha!” moments to be had.

The best thing I can say about World of Goo is that I couldn’t stop playing the damn thing! I constantly wanted to know, “what are they going to throw at me next?!” So I’d click on the next level and get sucked into the gleeful world of Goo!

2. Mirror’s Edge
Mirror’s Edge comes in a close second. Yes, my experience was also filled with retries and weak gunplay, but that is missing the point entirely. The movement, the speed, and the physicality that Faith displays, that’s the point. Playing Mirror’s Edge is a new experience. You can’t say that about many games.

The fluid player movement is worthless without controls to back them up. Mirror’s Edge delivers with elegantly designed controls. Three buttons (up action, down action, turn) perform all the moves in the game. These aren’t arbitrary combos to memorize, they are logical, context sensitive actions. Push “up action” to jump. Do it while running against a wall will do a wall run. Do it while on a wall run will make you jump off the wall. Push down action when you’re about to land will give you a rolling finish. Simple. Logical. Ingenious.

Mirror’s Edge feels a bit like a good shoot-em-up. It’s part memorization, part improvisation. And lots of trying again and again.

1. Braid
To describe Braid in one word: mind-fuck. And a wonderful one at that. It’s been so long since a game has made me sit down and stare at it for 20 minutes, finally producing an “Aha!” followed by solving a puzzle. I described World of Goo as having plenty of “Aha!” moments. Braid is a series of sixty incredible “Aha!” moments.

Braid is split up into 5 worlds, each with it’s own unique time mechanic. Each puzzle is entirely unique. Puzzles will build upon other puzzles, but you’ll never solve two puzzles in the same manner. As a result, the game is constantly challenging you to experiment and to think differently.

Finally, and I say this without a hint of hyperbole, Braid has an ending sequence that is the greatest meld of story and game mechanism I have ever witnessed. Definitely the best game I’ve played all year.

Closing thoughts
It’s worth noting what a great year it’s been for graphics. I left this out of the individual write ups so I could mention it here. Four of the games on this list feature non-realistic art styles, and remarkably, each of them are unique. Everyday Shooter with it’s abstract weirdness. World of Goo with it’s charming cartoony art. Mirror’s Edge with its stark, flat-shaded, and almost sterile environments. And finally Braid with its beautiful watercoloured backgrounds. Even GTA4 and Gears, while firmly set in reality, have a stylized look to them.

Also, 2008 will definitely be remembered as the year of the indie. Games like Braid, Castle Crashers, Everyday Shooter and World of Goo made their debuts this year. They made it with critical acclaim and commercial success. This is a good sign for things to come.

Finally, I should point out that I haven’t played Fable 2, Dead Space and Far Cry 2 as yet. I suspect at least one (if not all) of them would have made it onto the list had I found the time.