OXCGN Readers Game Of The Year

Results Revealed

Your 2008 GOTY Choices Tallied!

by dkpatriarch:

© 2008 David Hilton:

Well if your choices are anything to go by, either the best Xbox 360 titles are usually released at the end of the year, or the freshest titles on your mind tend to get your vote. In any case the OXCGN readers have spoken!

Games like Guitar Hero, Brothers In Arms, Devil May Cry 4, and Battlefield: Bad Company barely rate a mention, while innovative XBLA games like Braid and Castle Crashers also aren’t considered in the Big League. Strategy games like Civilization Revolution and EndWar aren’t even close. Movie-linked games like Star Wars: Force Unleashed or Lego Batman aren’t good enough, and latecomers like Tomb Raider: Underworld and Prince of Persia were…well…too late, it seems.

So who were the winners?

Counting down from 10 to 1 here are your choices for Game of the Year 2008:

10. Too Human

Perhaps a bit of a surprise, the much maligned Too Human by Silicon Knights rounds off your top 10 in the final spot. It may not have met the expectations of most, but it seems to have gained a fan-base that may sustain it into its second part in the planned trilogy.

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9. Far Cry 2

It’s no surprise to find the rejuvenated Far Cry 2, with its open gameplay and excellent map editor, in the top 10. What perhaps is a surprise is that this fantastic shooter scored so low in your votes. This just goes to show what amazing games we’ve had this year to choose from I guess. (Number 9? Really?)

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8. Burnout Paradise

Well apparently the high number of open-world street racers out there (with the Need For Speed franchise recently being killed off) hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of gamers for Burnout’s new approach. Paradise is different to previous Burnout titles but has obviously got some hardcore fans of its new style. It is also the only racing game in the top 10, beating GRID and PURE.

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7. Dead Space

With new Intellectual Properties (IPs) being released at the end of the year struggling in sales (except for Left 4 Dead) due either to the huge number of quality games or the recession, depending on your view, Dead Space has done well to make the top 10 GOTY contenders. It may not have sold as well as EA would have liked but the game rated well with reviewers and anyone who has played the game seems pretty impressed. The quality of this shooter has helped it reach number 7, despite the low sales.

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6. Call Of Duty: World At War

Ha ha! All those who thought Treyarch couldn’t make a Call Of Duty game as good as Infinity Ward, or who thought World War 2 shooters were dead are clearly eating humble pie now as reviewers and gamers alike have rated this game highly. Is it better than COD4? That’s a debate for sure, but it is a good enough game to make your top 6, with a hot multiplayer to go with the single-player play.

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5. Fable 2

Did Fable 2 live up to expectations after Fable, though still a good game, seemed to miss the impossibly high goals it set out for? For most the answer is yes. Our readers seem to agree as well, with the fantasy RPG that allows you to affect the game around you with the cute canine side-kick in tow making your top 5.

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4. Left 4 Dead

Gamers are a co-operative bunch, or at least that is what is implied by the success of this co-op focused shooter, the only top 5 game that isn’t a sequel. Or maybe gamers just love zombie hordes to shoot at and weren’t going to wait for Resident Evil 5.

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3. Grand Theft Auto IV

Now we get to your big boys, the top 3, and Grand Theft Auto, always a vote magnet, scores 10% of your votes. The leap into the new generation didn’t slow the franchise down and was a big seller out of the usual AAA game release schedule, showing that the Christmas season isn’t the only time you need to release big titles to be a success. Fans still remembered it come vote time too.

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2. Fallout 3

Bethesda did it a couple of years ago with Oblivion, and they’ve done it again. They’ve made an RPG game that appeals to other genre players too and that gets them into the second position in your top 10 with 21% of the vote. This time the gamer is treated to a post apocalyptic wasteland, but story is still important and gameplay fun. Freedom still allows the gamer to chose what they want to do and there is hours of gaming to keep fans busy. A worthy GOTY that just missed out.

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And Your Readers Game Of The Year 2008 is:

1. Gears Of War 2

With 25% of your vote, Gears of War 2, Epic’s big Xbox 360 console exclusive, is also epic with the voters making it this year’s top game for the Xbox 360. Linear it may be, but the shooting never stops and the multiplayer has been boosted by the addition of new modes and (thank you Epic) bots. The top run, cover, and shoot third person perspective game has taken the 360 by storm and next to Halo stands as the console’s biggest draw-card. It is your top 2008 game.

Thank you everyone for your votes this year and we look forward to seeing what you pick next year!

© 2008 David Hilton

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