A Decade of Gaming: 2008
By Chris CesaranoThe end of the decade approaches. Many of the games being discussed here will see sequels released this year, or perhaps next. It is suddenly like discussing what came out yesterday. Why are we spilling words about something that just happened?
Yet I will press on. You see, readers, I do it all for you. Desire as I may to write of other games I’ve played or other experiences, I will instead endeavor to this task so that you may feel I completed something instead of dropping out at the last second.
It’s a lot like when VH1 did that whole I Love the 90’s thing at the turn of the millenium. At the start it was all “oh yeah I remember that! It was awesome!”, but then the end came around and you just shrug. “Yeah, I remember that. So what?”.
Yet you must finish what you start, and so we inch closer to the end of the aughts.
No More Heroes
The Wii’s first major M-Rated “hardcore” title released at the start of the year, and already feels as if it has been forgotten to the masses. Following a hilarious tale of an otaku that purchased a lightsaber online, Travis Touchdown seeks to become the world’s number one assassin. Of course, he doesn’t have much reason to do so other than wanting to have sex with some hot blonde. Yet he does it anyway and has fun with it.
However, the game also marked the failure of Nintendo’s motion sensing system. It was the first real hack-and-slash on the system to be enjoyable simply because you button-mashed. The only time you swung the Wiimote was to perform finishing moves. Any game that tried to implement it further wound up with poorly executed moves, lag and frequent misfires. So Nintendo’s great system that was supposedly going to change how everyone played games was…not.
The game was insanely fun and is still one of the more enjoyable titles released this generation, despite the troublesome chores that occur between missions. However, it is sad to think that one of the best games on the Wii barely uses its motion controls at all.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In development for years, Nintendo’s heavily populated brawler finally came to next generation systems only to play best with the GameCube controller. 2008 was already proving to be a demoralizing year for those that purchased the system, making them feel as if they bought into a gimmick rather than a new way to play.
Still, the game itself was a major cornerstone in the franchise. Online play was finally enabled, Sonic and Solid Snake each starred in it, and there was a fully story-mode to help entertain outside of the simple “arcade” mode. While plenty of fans argue over the superiority between the different versions, it is quite clear that real emotion went into this game to make it the best possible.
One can only wonder what is in store for the future of the franchise (hopefully the inclusion of Mega Man).
Penny-Arcade: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness
Until 2008 Xbox Live Arcade titles were just something I dabbled in for a few minutes and rarely went back to. There were two titles released that year that changed everything. Penny Arcade: OtRSPD is one of them.
This has been a huge decade for the founders of a simple webcomic about gaming. First they found a charity, then a whole convention, and finally the release a game of their own imaginations onto the world. While not completely responsible for the gameplay design, they worked with a highly talented team to bring about an excellent role-playing game.
The dialogue is witty and of the unique voice only Tycho is capable of, the art breaths its own creative personality and the gameplay is addictive. The combat pulls from some of the best console JRPG’s of the past, yet evolves them into a more active format that works well in today’s market.
Unfortunately there has been some creative differences between the two members of Penny Arcade, and while an announcement on Episode 3 is forthcoming, no word of the actual fate of the series has been uttered. Hopefully it shall be seen to completion.
Castle Crashers
The second excellent arcade game to release in 2008 was none other than Castle Crashers, the second title by a pair of geeks whose fame was founded in the Newgrounds flash animation community. This game also called from what made past games enjoyable, including a unique art style and a constant sense of humor.
The best way to enjoy the game was playing it side by side with three other friends, as I had gotten to experience it in College. In only a couple nights my friends and I sat down together to play through it in its entirety, and at parties and gatherings after it continued to be a popular attention grabber. The game was without a doubt a major success.
Except the net code didn’t work.
While a patch later on fixed that, it also hurt it’s initial release badly. Many people weren’t in hugely social situations and so playing the entire game by yourself seemed bland. To get the most out of it you must have friends, as enemy numbers increase drastically as does the challenge they present. Otherwise, it’s just a bit…empty feeling.
Too Human
A friend of mine pointed out that I forgot to mention Eternal Darkness in the 2002 retrospective, the Lovecraftian horror that had put Canadian studio Silicon Knights on everyone’s radar. Unfortunately, a series of technical blunders and bad press would stain the studio’s next project, Too Human, into a cursed title.
Which is a damn shame because it really wasn’t as bad as everyone exclaims.
The demo was intended to sell the project, but instead confused and even annoyed. Players didn’t understand how to properly use the analog sticks at first, and even if they did the poor writing and worse dialogue delivery had turned them all off from it. Fans decried its very existence.
The sad thing is that the system feels pretty fluid once you’ve adjusted to it. Sure it had its kinks, but so did Assassin’s Creed. Games pushing new boundaries take time to adjust and find themselves, just as awkward teenagers entering College must do.
Of course, the biggest blunder of all was reducing online co-op to two players. Leaving one or two classes worthless and reducing the anticipated potential, the online multiplayer now feels incomplete without the ability to add two more players.
Just as I had felt with Metal Arms after Swingin’ Ape was swallowed up, I will be left wondering what could have happened to this franchise if gamers and press didn’t suck so hard.
Dead Space
Resident Evil 5 was right around the corner, but Dead Space felt like as much a successor to Resident Evil 4. The story was about as decent as the original Biohazard title and the combat felt like an evolved form of looking over Leon’s shoulder. You could move and shoot at the same time, but movement was altogether slow.
Where the game really makes its mark is in the most simple of areas. Killing enemies. Instead of focusing on head shots to conserve ammunition, the idea was to blast off limbs. Shooting off the head could actually result in more powerful creatures. As a result, the design team was able to work different strategies and different weakpoints into each of the foes. The weapon design worked hand-in-hand, with most guns having some sort of special gimmick to set them apart from any other weapon. Each tool would come in handy under certain situations against certain types of foes, but no matter what the first weapon you get hold of never ceases to be useful.
The game’s level design was also phenomenal, taking big advantage of being on a desolate space ship. Several areas would lack oxygen and require you to hurry or know where the oxygen tanks were kept. Others would have you bouncing from wall to wall in zero gravity. Throughout the ship you’d use kinesis and stasis to pull objects toward you or slow them down, respectively. These abilities could also prove useful in combat.
In truth, the game felt like a better successor than Resident Evil 5 had managed. The developers pulled no punches with this title, and with luck the sequel will only push the boundaries even further (despite the original creators leaving the studio).
Fallout 3
While I may have a lot of problems with Bethesda, I cannot deny the positive impact that Fallout 3 had on gamers everywhere. Die hard fans were terrified of what would happen to their beloved franchise. However, it turned out it was in good hands.
I guess.
The one thing I cannot deny is that the opening of the game was incredibly fun. In fact, I’d say it’s the best part of it. Going through the different stages of your life until you finally escape from the Vault was an emotional experience. Unfortunately, the second you step out the game loses any real drive. It’s just one big empty world to wander aimlessly about in.
There is definitely something to say for V.A.T.S., though. An excellent way to bring guns into an RPG, it became the definitive form of combat with manual fire simply being used to buy some time. Of course, this also came with the issue of sniper rifles and headshots not instantly killing someone, or having someone’s head right in your crosshairs missing mysteriously, but it’s an RPG. We can forgive them of that.
Mirror’s Edge
Similarly to Portal, Mirror’s Edge started to transform everyone’s assumption of a first-person shooter. In fact, just because a game is in first-person doesn’t make it a shooter at all. It is possible to get through Mirror’s Edge without pulling a single trigger.
The name of the game is parkour (well, Mirror’s Edge, but let’s run with it). Using the environment to bound from one object to another, sliding, leaping and dashing between rooftops and scaffolding. The game is an exhilarating rush which makes you feel as if you’ve wasted your life somehow not learning this from the day you could walk.
The plot is…there, and reaction to your choices isn’t as smooth as in Assassin’s Creed, but the game has definitely proven to be replayable. Most interesting is the visual design of it, where all objects that you cannot interact with are in white and blue hues while everything you touch is in red. It is an excellent art choice that allows interactive objects to easily stand out, but also provides a unique visual look to the game.
Left 4 Dead
There are some people that aren’t impressed with Left 4 Dead, and then others that are completely floored by it. I wasn’t floored by it, but I’m still with all the players that thought the game was great. Zombies have become a sudden fad that everyone loves for no real reason at all, sure, but that doesn’t stop the game from being insanely fun.
The key is to have a group of players you know you’ll like playing with. That way you’ll actually stand a chance of completing the different chapters. This is a game that forces players into teamwork like few things out there are capable of. Not even sports teach kids to work together like Left 4 Dead will force you to. Go off on your own? You’re bound to get pounced, outnumbered or ensnared. Leave all of your friends to die? Well, you’ll be on your own at some point yourself.
While the A.I. director was a super hyped technology that really isn’t all that special, it certainly has a bit of an impact on gameplay. The only truly dynamic change in difficulty is when you have fewer human allies, being an easier game overall (until you run into the finales). Still, the fluctuation is enough to keep the game at least slightly dynamic. Since the fun is from the suspense and fear, it doesn’t matter that you explore the same maps repeatedly.
In addition is a pretty nifty competitive multiplayer that allows similar levels of teamwork on each side…that is, if you can get eight friends together to play. Otherwise you’ll barely ever get through even half of a proper round before the other team quits out altogether.
Still, at the end of the day the game is a good one, and it has pushed expectations of what co-op play means just a bit further.
Other noteworthy titles of 2008:
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Disgaea 3, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, Devil May Cry 4, Turok, The Club, Space Invaders Extreme, Frontlines: Fuel of War, Army of Two, Silent Hill: Origins, Condemned 2: Bloodshot, House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Dark Sector, Ninja Gaiden 2, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Baroque, Mario Kart Wii, Valkyria Chronicles, Grand Theft Auto 4, Age of Conan, Haze, Lego Indiana Jones, Metal Gear Solid 4, Alone in the Dark, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Battlefield: Bad Company, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of a New World, Civilization Revolution, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2, Wario Land, Dragon Quest V, Soul Calibur 4, Fatal Frame 4, Afrika, Infinite Undiscovery, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Crysis Warhead, Rock Band 2, Warhammer Online, DeBlob, Lego Batman, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Fracture, Saint’s Row 2, FarCry 2, Fable 2, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, Resistance 2, Gears of War 2, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, Call of Duty: World at War, FaceBreaker, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Sonic Unleashed, The Last Remnant, Prince of Persia, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Mushroom Men, Dissidia: Final Fantasy
2008 in video gaming on Wikipedia
What do you remember from 2008?
Share
