Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Here we are, several days into the new year and I have been thinking about what games I felt were the best games for each platform as well as several categories for the last year. I have tried to put together as best a list as possible and as always, I have made sure to put on my flak jacket, goalie helmet and other safety gear to prepare for the inevitable flood of “You are so wrong idiot” posts. So let me know what you think as I announce my list of the best and worst of 2007 in gaming.

Game of the Year:

After much back and forth debate, I had to go with Portal on the PC as the best game of 2007. We had a whole podcast about this issue and whether it was worth considering the game due to the fact that it was a short game. But when you factor in the twisted ending, the humor and just sheer originality of the title, it is a no brainer for this game to be the best game of 2007. Bioshock and Call of Duty 4 were a close second and third in my deliberation, but Portal just ripped by them and stole the award with so much originality.

Best FPS Game:

Bioshock was one of those games that I did not really think about as being great. I had high hopes for it considering how great System Shock 2 was, but it just did not seem like the kind of game that all gamers would jump at to play. Millions of copies later, I was proven wrong. And while some may not have totally understood the heady Ayn Rand overtones of the game, it still delivered with top notch visuals, engrossing story and so many different ways to play the game. No matter what your style was, you could tailor the game to fit your play style and go with it. Crysis and Portal were runners up in this category, both equally good titles, but when it comes to having all the elements correct, Bioshock hit every nail on the head.

Best RPG Game:

Going out on a limb, and coming in from left field, The Witcher stole my heart and swept past other great RPGs that came out this year to pull off the upset. Coming from a small Eastern European company and distributed by industry whipping boy Atari, The Witcher delivered top notch visuals, while putting gamers in a very heady, mature story. Every choice is set in shades of grey, rather than hard black and white choices. And no matter how hard you try to run a moral high road, there are going to be some people upset with you at the end of the day. Fast combat, with a unique combo system just adds more to the overall package. Throw in some lustful sorceresses that repay you in a most interesting way, and you have a great RPG that will satisfy anyone that plays it. Mass Effect and Jade Empire on the PC were the runners up in this category.

Best Strategy Game:

With so many great strategy games coming out on all platforms, it was going to take a serious standout to really hit a home run, and that game is World In Conflict. Taking a scenario that is interesting and adding top notch visuals, fast and fun gameplay with a dash of management and you have a game worthy of Strategy game of the year. The culmonation of this choice is when you finally drop your first nuke and see the true glory of the game engine. Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts and Supreme Commander were great games, but just did not match up to the solid package that World In Conflict gives to players.

Best Adventure Game:

While the adventure game genre was light this year, Sam and Max: Ice Station Santa stood head and shoulders with some of the great games that came out this year, due to making the game fun for all players. Telltale Games put together a top notch adventure game that has solid puzzle design that is very logical reducing the amount of times you get stuck in one area. The dialog from the main characters is full of life and will make anyone laugh out loud at times. People would love to see it longer, but that is what the next four episodes are all about. Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle, could of been number one if it had more logical puzzles, and Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened was a little sleepy at times, but any three would be great fun for any player.

Best Action/Platformer Game:

This was a tough category for me as I only had a handful of games that I had really played in this category. And even though I don’t own a PS3, all the time I have spent hands on with Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is one of the finest platformers of the year. Graphically lush and full of non-stop action, the game is a model that other games should focus on when making a platformer. The last time I played a platformer that caught my eye like this was Psychonauts. If only this game could come to the 360, more people could see the greatness of this game. Super Mario Galaxy was a close follow up, but just did not have enough to hold me, and surprisingly, Space Giraffe was third in line for this award, due to its strange, yet addicting gameplay.

Best Sports Game:

Plowing through the endless annual updates, one game in the sports genre really stood out and tried something different this year, and that game is skate. skate. came out using a movement and trick mechanism straight out of Fight Night, and it made the game feel so real. Shot from a ground up angle, when you perform tricks, you no longer feel like you are just button mashing your way through the challenges. Everything takes practice and skill to succeed. Add in the great graphics and solid soundtrack and you have a worthy challenger to the aging Tony Hawk series. Pro Evolution Soccer and All Pro Football 2K8 were distant second and thirds in this category.

Best Driving/Racing Game:

While equally a great and sad year for the franchise, but Colin McRae’s DiRT, was one of the best racers, possessing a great rally racing engine, style and smooth presentation. I spent hours playing through all of the different types of races and vehicles, each feeling unique. While rally racing is not a huge sport in the US, it is a great form of racing and it is difficult to capture correctly. Many have tried to get the formula right, but DiRT really hit it out of the park. Hopefully the series will continue, even without the creator at the helm. Runners up in this category were Sega Rally Revo and Forza Motorsport 2.

Best Xbox 360 Game:

Dropping onto the Xbox 360 like an 800 pound gorilla in a bad joke, Halo 3 easily takes the title as the best Xbox 360 title of the year. Forming the culmonation of a trilogy that started six years ago, Halo 3 gives a performance that was tough to match on the platform. Solid story and play mechanics allow almost anyone to pick up a controller to “Finish the Fight”. From there, you have the brilliant multiplayer design that is the best thing going on the 360 at this time. But the star of the show is still the Forge mode. Redesigning levels and then playing through them was the instant highlight of the game for most players. Other challengers were Rock Band and Mass Effect.

Best PS3 Game:

Receiving its second award for the night, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, as best PS3 game of the year. While Uncharted looked great, it just did not have the same fun factor that came with Ratchet and Clank. Warhawk was also in there, due to its excellent multiplayer, but it seemed more like a one trip pony.

Best Wii Game:

This was one of the easier categories to pick as Super Mario Galaxy stood head and shoulders above everything else on the platform. The game looks gorgeous on the Nintendo Wii, showing off how good the lesser powered machine can perform when programmed for properly. The game obtains a “one more star and then I will go to bed” feel as you just want to keep playing the game. I was facinated how Mario just felt completely new with this game. And the gravity defying levels are just a blast to play through. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Geometry Wars Galaxies are solid runner ups to our winner.

Best PC Game:

Great visuals, strong storytelling and Big Daddy, advance Bioshock to the head of the class on the PC. Crashing into the middle of the ocean and seeing the carnage of the wreck that surrounds you, Bioshock is a whirlwind of exploration and excitement. Never overwhelming you, but never lacking challenge, Bioshock just shows what can be accomplished on the PC. The system requirements are easy to scale, and it just runs with minimal to no glitches. Crysis was neck and neck, but steep system requirements left it a hair short, while Supreme Commander showed how a hugely scaled RTS game can be created that is still a blast to play.

Best Graphics:

File in the duh bin, but Crysis easily takes everybody’s name in this category. Looking at this game in DirectX9 or DirectX10, the game is a feast for the eyes. Deformable terrain, accurate world physics and one bad ass military suit, Crysis delivers on all the promises of Vista and the new DirectX10. It is easy to see how you can get lost in the moment in this game as you just want to stop and stare at all the highly detailed areas. Little things like turtles that shell up when you get near them to facial detail of your comrades as you discuss the next mission, it is just an amazing piece of work for Crytek. Bioshock just falls short as a second place, while Mass Effect and its cool movie theater look come in third.

Best Soundtrack:

I was a bit shocked when I started to formulate my selection for best soundtrack, but the more I played it, the more that Mass Effect’s music really stuck in my head. Sounding like a 2007 version of the Blade Runner soundtrack, it dazzled me to no end with all of its different tempos and beats. Every track had a unique feel to it that added so much to the story. Halo 3 would have been tops on any other day, but Mass Effect just stuck with me for some reason. Assassins Creed was a well done score by Jesper Kyd, but just fell a little flat when compared to the competition.

Best Multiplayer:

Tons of pack servers and a cartoony style and presentation, Team Fortress 2 is one of the best multiplayer experiences that I have encountered in some time. The first time the Nemesis label slapped onto my screen to the end game antics, Team Fortress 2 just makes you want to play for hours on end. Every map is crafted for a lot of action, while never feeling crowded. It is also a rare feat to create so many classes and still make sure that all of them are fun to play. Halo 3 has great elements on the 360, and Call of Duty 4 has all the different rankings, but Team Fortress 2 just has so many different elements on every platform it is on, it had to be the top choice.

Worst Game of the Year:

Sometimes the best award, because you can really let loose on the horror of a game, this one came down to the wire, but in the end, I relived my nightmares and made Vampire Rain, the worst game of 2007. From deciding sneaking around vampires would be more fun than shooting them, to the indestructible nature of the vampires, this game embodies complete suckage from top to bottom. Easy way to get the argument across: how many times is it people don’t even bother to download new story missions when they are free on Xbox Live. That alone is a testament to the horror that is Vampire Rain. Kane and Lynch was a close second due to the install disaster that I encountered, and Alpha Prime was last on the list but was saved by a decent story and average graphics. A word to Artoon, never put one of your projects on a gaming platform ever again. Think of the children!

Biggest Disappointment of the Year:

Without a doubt, the biggest disappointment of the year had to be Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. With so much advertising and positive buzz from E3 to PAX, it was a complete meltdown at launch. From install issues on the PC to horrible multiplayer support on all platforms, Kane and Lynch fired dud after dud. Compounding the issues was the whole Gamespot affair with Jeff Gerstmann as well as the whole Five Star preview advertising fiasco. Kane and Lynch could of been a great game, but too many flaws and issues just made me upset after all the hype and preview that had come before the launch. Lost Planet’s horrible porting to the PC (3 fps with two 7800GT cards in SLI!) as well as the much hyped Project Gotham Racing 4 round out the list.

Best Downloadable Content:

I criticized both Guitar Hero 2 and 3 for their overpriced soundtracks, but for some reason, Rock Band content seemed to be priced better and had better tracks. Add in the fact that they have new music being added every week instead of the rather sporadic Guitar Hero releases, and you have some of the best downloadable content on any platform this year. Puzzle Quest and Space Giraffe come up as distant runner ups due to the solidness of the top spot’s content.

So there you have it, what I thought was best for the year. Some expected, and some surprises. Did I get it right, wrong or do you even care. I am curious to see where you stand on these picks. Now to start enjoying the games of 2008.