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[Cheesemeister]

Rather than have a billion different threads for each media outlet's picks for GOTY, I'll post the top picks in the OP for each site/newspaper/magazine with links and quotes for each list. If you find a new one, just post here in this thread.

The 2007 GOTY media picks are here.

Current standings...

Grand Theft Auto IV - 11
Fallout 3 - 9
LittleBigPlanet - 6
Fable II - 4
Gears of War 2 - 2
Left 4 Dead - 2
Metal Gear Solid 4 - 2
Far Cry 2 - 1

[360] Fable II

Digital Home

Fable 2 is, if you ask me, the best game of 2008. The title featured a real, living world, and the gameplay was outstanding.

G4 TV

It warmed our bitter hearts, gave us a new appreciation for canine companions, and actually it worked for sex and marriage.

Joy stiq

Fable 2 has not only refined Molyneux's original promise but, in doing so, has even surpassed many of our earlier, admittedly inflated, expectations for that game. Much like Molyneux, Fable 2 is the comeback kid, knocked down in the first round, but with too much ambition – too much heart, like they say in boxing – to stay down.

Telegraph

The themes of choice and consequence ran deep through Fable II’s magical world of Albion. This action-roleplay game allows you to weave your own tale of heroic endeavour or dastardly deeds. Good or evil, fat or thin, pure, corrupt and all the things in between, your hero was always who you wanted him to be. Amidst it all, of course, was swashbuckling adventure. The terrific combat – all longswords, blunderbusses and magic – was smartly tactical, yet accessible to all. Albion was full of charm and decidedly British humour. However, the real reasons for Fable II’s brilliance are the stories of our own making. Stories of love, money and adventure. And, brilliantly, every hero had their own tale to tell.

[360][PS3][PC] Fallout 3

Associated Press

Set in Washington 200 years after a nuclear holocaust, this epic brings an eerie beauty to a bleak scenario. With its powerful story, memorable characters and morbid comedy, it's a compelling journey that leaves you wanting more even after 100 hours of play.

Crispy Gamer

Rarely does a game get everything right -- from story and dialogue to atmosphere and graphics to action and exploration to sound effects and music. Bethesda's stellar sequel to Fallout 2 is an extraordinarily rich and immersive single-player story with some of the most gratifying combat available, played out real-time or in turns via V.A.T.S. Bullet Time.

Gamasutra

There's just so much to do and see that Fallout 3 becomes that rare game that asks the player to wonder what life would feel like in such ruthless circumstances, offering an impressive level of immersion and placing the burden of careful thought -- and, sometimes, emotion -- behind every tactical selection and progression decision.

Games Radar

It’s simple: Fallout 3 delivers. The story is hearty (but only as prominent as it needs to be), the combat is refreshing and addictive, the character development avoids banality and the air is ripe with a perfect mixture of radiation and gore. It doesn’t rely on the reputation of its predecessors, but it doesn’t deny them. Hell, even its bugs have a sort of charm (the technical ones, not the radscorpions - those bastards can suck it).

When, on more than one occasion, you walk into work looking unhinged and delirious because your consciousness was only just ripped away from the succulent innards of a game (by your damned alarm clock), you know you have a winner.

GameSpy

From the very beginning, the decisions you make in the charming and ultra-flexible character creation system set a direction for a gameplay experience that is custom-tailored to fit you. It even manages to bring the strategic elements of turn-based combat to first-person shooting gameplay with the VATS system, gruesome headshots and all.

IGN

OXM, Feb. 2009, p. 72

No other experience was as deep or varied as Fallout 3's in 2008, and we never got tired of seeing enemies' heads explode in fountains of slow-mo gore with the V.A.T.S. pinpoint-targeting system. Yes, it had an abrupt, definitive end -- unlike Oblivion -- and maybe that's one of the only negative things we call to mind. But the game is relentlessly cheeky, intelligent, and revolting -- in all the best way and all at the same time. The massively single player role playing game belongs to Bethesda alone, and Fallout 3 stands at the top of that and any other genre for 2008.

UGO

Shoulder-mounted nuclear launchers, super mutants with exploding heads and the ability to wipe an entire town from existence. Fallout 3 grabs you by the collar and doesn’t let go for about 50 hours. It is one of the most complete, satisfying and enjoyable games in years.

Yahoo! Games

No other game captured our collective imagination in quite the same way. Anyone who takes a walk through post-apocalyptic D.C. will leave a part of themselves sketched on the desolate landscape. In return, it gave us real comedy, genuine characters, a tight script, and a gripping combat system -- all things we saw in other games this year, but none pulled them together with such panache. We can't wait to see where Bethesda takes the series next.

[360][PS3][PC] Far Cry 2

Fidgit

Of all the places I went this year without leaving my house, Far Cry 2's lush African countryside was my favorite, and not just because these are currently the best graphics I've ever seen. Here is a game that breathes without breathing down my neck. It's not afraid to let me roam without making the gameplay equivalent of idle chit-chat. It does a tremendous job of getting out of my way (in this respect, it is the anti-Fallout 3) and letting me just be here. If Terence Malick were to make a videogame, it would be Far Cry 2. And when things happen, they happen dramatically and dynamically. There's a glorious sense of spontaneity in the way the shooting erupts, unfolds, progresses. I almost never feel that these firefights were built by the developers. In fact, I almost never feel that about any of the moments in Far Cry 2. These moments are mine. Some games unfold. Others are revealed. Some are like thrill rides. Others are like playgrounds. But Far Cry 2 is a beautiful place where things simply happen.

[360] Gears of War 2

Loot Ninja

Gears 2 steps it up in so many ways from the original with an amazing campaign, fun multiplayer gameplay, and Horde mode which will be played for many months to come.

VentureBeat

Epic livened up the dark and gloomy world from the previous game with more vibrant colors, only to plunge much of the action deep underground. But the theme of destroyed beauty — both on the grand planetary scale and on the individual human level of the loss of a wife — runs through this game and really motivates you to strike back at the damned Locust mutants who come from underground. Flamethrowers, chain guns, and the the familiar chain saw bayonets keep this game as bloody as they come. It has a sick sense of humor, like when your squad has to chain saw its way through the bloody belly of a giant worm. This one is worth playing all the way through to the end of the single-player game and then going online with multiplayer play.

[360][PS3][PC] Grand Theft Auto IV

ActionTrip

In May 2008, when Rockstar released Grand Theft Auto IV on the PS3 and Xbox 360, we were completely sucked into the game thanks to the captivating setting, compelling characters and well-written storyline. The developers succeeded in pushing the series forward in terms of realism, vehicle physics and gameplay in general. The added gritty presentation of a realistic open-world, to us, represents a move in the right direction. Considering all the games that have gone by this year, GTA IV stands tall as the best. It symbolizes just how far games evolved and it pushes current game technologies to the limits.

BBC Radio 1, Johnny Minkley (December 16th Jo Whiley show)

GameTrailers

Grand Theft Auto IV does many different things, and does them at an exceptional level.

GiantBomb

Most games are built around in-game action, and the story sort of exists merely to tie the action together. GTA IV has that action, but it also continually drives home a common theme of deciding between loyalty and wealth. Between staying true to yourself or cashing in for a quick slice of what many perceived to be "the American dream." Watching Niko live out the choices we made for him and going on to see the ripple effect that those choices caused is something that few games can accomplish at all. And Grand Theft Auto IV made all that look easy.

Kotaku

What Rockstar has done so well is give us a full vision, one that is more place than game, a playground of opportunities complete with a believable cast of characters and plenty of opportunities for mayhem in a setting so real we forget that it isn't.

Los Angeles Times

The bar-raising open worlds of Grand Theft Auto IV: As previous installments have done, GTA IV showed how open-world gaming should be and succeeded in making the clones that followed pale copies of the original (think Saints Row 2). GTA is the winner and still champion.

New York Times

G.T.A. IV came out in April, and for the rest of the year I kept waiting for some other new game to captivate and refuse to release me the way this masterpiece from Rockstar did. I’m still waiting. Beyond its formidable craft, apart from its well-balanced combat and driving mechanics, what impresses most about G.T.A. IV is its writing. It is one of the few games that even try to take on the real world in any adult way. (Of course, the game’s Liberty City setting is a parody of modern New York.) Penetrating through all the game’s gangster trappings is a hunger to engage with the idiocies, the contradictions and even some of the good things in modern America. After all, someone has to.

play.tm

Quite simply, Rockstar's seminal open-world action title set new benchmarks for story, genre-mixing gameplay, and realistic freedom.

Spike TV

Team Xbox

The writing was top notch, the character development truly mature and the gameplay nothing short of amazing. Yes, open-world games are supposed to let you do anything you want to do. GTA IV did, while also conducting you along a pathway that led to the ultimate experience the developers wanted you to have. And that experience was one of the finest, most satisfying ones we’ve ever had with a piece of interactive entertainment. GTA IV is our Game of the Year, but it also might be our game of the decade.

Time Magazine

It's ironic that GTA became a football in the debate over sex and violence in video games, because where it belongs is in the debate over whether video games count as art. No game developers are more radical and more passionate about the storytelling power of their medium than folks at Rockstar North, and GTA IV is the company's most ambitious work ever. It's the story of Niko Bellic, an Eastern European soldier-for-hire fighting his way up the organized crime ladder in an archly satirical version of New Yo— I mean, Liberty City. It's a grade-A shoot-'em-up that doubles as an interactive novel and triples as a sly critique of American consumer culture.

[360][PC] Left 4 Dead

Destructoid

What makes Left 4 Dead so amazing, though, is the zombies are only icing on the already incredible cake. Valve’s multiplayer masterpiece truly is a revolution in videogames. In fact, some of the editors here feel it created its own genre, sort of a hybrid between a perfectly paced single-player campaign and an almost flawless, unique co-op experience.

VideoGamer, 28:00

[PS3] LittleBigPlanet

Edge-Online

“Charming” is a word oft used to describe Media Molecule’s debut game, but that attribute is just part of a well-polished sheen atop a trove of innovations that beckons players to express their own creativity. It brings together all types of gamers, even drawing in non-gamers to witness user-generated spectacle. LittleBigPlanet’s target audience is “people,” and it deserves recognition as game of the year.

Eurogamer

God knows why Sony thought an experimental 2D platformer would save the PlayStation 3. It didn't. It did, however, save 2D platformers, which in the long run is probably just as important. It's such a happy little riot, especially in the fantastic four-player co-op. And how nice to have an inherently social game that's neither about discussing character builds on forums, teabagging your rivals, or making an exhibition of yourself with a novelty controller when drunk; a game where other people are just part of the landscape. The editor does too much and tries too hard, but you don't need to use it yourself to feel the benefit. You just need to press play and run and jump. For joy.

Gamepro

Creativity trumps carnage. Despite the deluge of ultra-violent shooters, our favorite game this year was the user-fueled platforming fun of LittleBigPlanet.

Gamereactor

Salt Lake Tribune

Sorry, Mario. This side-scrolling jump-and-run game starring Sony's newest mascot, the fabric-skinned Sackboy, is the best, most innovative and graphically amazing platformer ever made -- end of story. Thanks to an easy-to-use editor, players from around the world have made levels every bit as good as the ones from the game's makers. And with downloadable content -- such as new costumes for Sackboy and new levels -- there's no end to the amount of fun to be had from one disc.

Wired

User-generated content — levels, characters and the like produced by gamers — was perhaps 2008's biggest buzzword, but no game pulled it off as well as LittleBigPlanet.

Thanks to the title's charming design and intuitive interface, PlayStation 3 owners are bending over backward to produce new action-game levels to be enjoyed by the rest of the world. Spore's player-made creatures and Guitar Hero's custom songs aren't nearly as fascinating as LittleBigPlanet's never-ending carnival of amusement.

[PS3] Metal Gear Solid 4

GAF

GameSpot

All of this extraordinary gameplay and storytelling is wrapped in an exceptional technical shell, delivering an immersive experience brimming with heartfelt emotion. If there is one game you will remember in 2008, when the lights are dimmed and the curtains close, it will be Metal Gear Solid 4. Even in one of the greatest years ever for video games, its compelling action, moving story, and stunning visuals bring the series to a haunting close and will rightfully join the ranks of one of the greatest games ever made.

 

[Cheesemeister]

This post reserved.

 

[Cheesemeister]

This post also reserved.

 

[Tailzo]

How many game media of the year pick will you include?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344974

If you want to include gamereactor, go ahead

 

[Cheesemeister]

How many game media of the year pick will you include?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344974

If you want to include gamereactor, go ahead

All of them that I find or are posted here will be included, just like last year. Thanks for the notice.

EDIT: Got any link?

 

[AniHawk]

Should be a little more interesting than last year's, where it mostly came down to CoD4, SMG, and Bioshock. That said, I still think that GTA IV is going to be (quite undeservedly) the favorite for the majority of the awards.

because where it belongs is in the debate over whether video games count as art.

Art? Really?

It's a grade-A shoot-'em-up

No.

that doubles as an interactive novel

No.

and triples as a sly

No.

critique of American consumer culture.

Yes.

 

[domlolz]

I'm not sure why the Times praises GTAIV's story so much,I thought it was inconsistent and pretty predictable.

The satire was good as you'd expect from Rockstar but the story not so much#

I'm hoping LBP/W:HD gets some love

 

[Iksenpets]

Should be a little more interesting than last year's, where it mostly came down to CoD4, SMG, and Bioshock. That said, I still think that GTA IV is going to be (quite undeservedly) the favorite for the majority of the awards.

Halo, Mass Effect, and Uncharted all picked up a pretty good number, too, though not as much as those three. I think this year will probably end up with GTA and Fallout ending up pretty clearly above the rest.

EDIT: Looking at last year's thread, it appears I completely made up Uncharted's victories and grossly exaggerated the other two. Whoops.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Halo, Mass Effect, and Uncharted all picked up a pretty good number, too, though not as much as those three. I think this year will probably end up with GTA and Fallout ending up pretty clearly above the rest.

EDIT: Looking at last year's thread, it appears I completely made up Uncharted's victories and grossly exaggerated the other two. Whoops.

Yeah, I was gonna say.

Bioshock: 22
Super Mario Galaxy: 15
The Orange Box (Portal): 11
Call of Duty 4: 5
Rock Band: 4
Desktop Tower Defense: 2
Halo 3: 2
Mass Effect: 2
Uncharted: 0

 

[Creamium]

GTA IV's story started out strong, but fizzled out early. After a while it boils down to the 'guy i know has work for you' pattern, repeated a bunch of times.

Overall though I feel the game gets way too much hate over here. This thread will probably be filled with it yet again. The missions really needed some checkpoints, but apart from that I don't have any major complaints. It's not a goty contender for me, but it'll definitely be somewhere in my top 10 list when the gaf thread comes along

 

[Kabouter]

I'm not sure why the Times praises GTAIV's story so much,I thought it was inconsistent and pretty predictable.

I agree, it really bugged me that they started off so well with this guy who is really tired of all the killing and other stuff back home who wanted to start anew and then wrecked it. I mean, it's understandable he does some killing, but that's stuff early on, like when he

Spoiler

shoots Vlad

. But the first moment where it falls apart is when you start killing some guys just because some guy you don't know told you to do so for a tiny paycheck. It doesn't feel at all consistent with how they started out, he becomes so casual about death. Worst moment of this was

Spoiler

delivering Manny's corpse to the illegal organ guy, and his wisecracks there

. The combination of Saints Row style mass murder and the type of story they wanted to go for really doesn't work at all.

What also bugged me is that the story, and in fact the entire game, focuses completely on the characters, which for the most part, really aren't any good. I like Little Jacob and Badman, they're crazy and pretty hilarious. But most of the characters are just plain obnoxious, especially Manny. Quite the change from previous GTA games if you ask me, which usually had great characters. In San Andreas, I only remember being really really really annoyed by Sweet, but the rest of the characters ranged from good to great.

 

[Woo-Fu]

The 2007 GOTY media picks are here.

2007?

Uncharted.

 

[Tailzo]

All of them that I find or are posted here will be included, just like last year. Thanks for the notice.

EDIT: Got any link?

You can download the mag in pdf here:
http://gamereactor.no/magasin/pdf/
(It's free)

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

I have so much trouble taking Lev Grossman seriously after hearing Jeff Green's rant about him on the Brodeo. It was about Grossman's GotY last year, where his descriptions of the games included gems like this about Mass Effect. "talk to startlingly realistic aliens."

 

[Son of Godzilla]

I have so much trouble taking Lev Grossman seriously after hearing Jeff Green's rant about him on the Brodeo. It was about Grossman's GotY last year, where his descriptions of the games included gems like this about Mass Effect. "talk to startlingly realistic aliens."

Considering Green didn't even play Mass Effect till this year, he can blow his criticisms out his bum.

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

Considering Green didn't even play Mass Effect till this year, he can blow his criticisms out his bum.

He wasn't criticizing the actually placement of the games, just the ridiculous descriptions that accompanied the games on the list.

 

[Cheesemeister]

I have so much trouble taking Lev Grossman seriously after hearing Jeff Green's rant about him on the Brodeo. It was about Grossman's GotY last year, where his descriptions of the games included gems like this about Mass Effect. "talk to startlingly realistic aliens."

Grossman was one of only two to name Halo 3 as GOTY. To wit:

Like a pebble that has been rounded over the centuries by the gentle splashing of the ocean waves, Halo 3 has become the perfect hardcore first-person combat simulator. By dint of painstaking labor on the part of its developer, Bungie, it has been refined over three installments to the point where it delivers only pure, unadulterated gaming bliss. Every combat is even-sided and complex and can be waged in multiple ways, using an arsenal of long- and short-range weapons, plus grenades and hand-to-hand moves. Every level is perfectly paced and balanced and graced with soaring architectural compositions. Plus it's graphically gorgeous. The epic storyline and the stirring score don't hurt either. In one of the greatest years video gaming has ever seen, Halo 3 is the very best of the bunch.

 

[Bill Squabber]

You should include the Game Critics Awards this year.
The whole Top Ten.

 

[Cheesemeister]

You should include the Game Critics Awards this year.
The whole Top Ten.

Duly bookmarked.

 

[FrankT]

VGAs-GTA IV

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I'm not sure why the Times praises GTAIV's story so much,I thought it was inconsistent and pretty predictable.

The satire was good as you'd expect from Rockstar but the story not so much#

I'm hoping LBP/W:HD gets some love

I don't understand why people don't appreciate that it was one of the only games in the history of the medium to do something as simple as linger on tertiary characters after the main protaganist left a cutscene. That's just as huge an advance in storytelling as the overarching plot of the game. It directly contributed to the verisimilitude of the world and, thus, the player's immersion in it.

 

[Cheesemeister]

VGAs-GTA IV

Updated, thanks!

 

[Cheesemeister]

Updated with two GOTY declarations -- BBC Radio 1 and Edge-Online -- courtesy of Visualante.

 

[GarthVaderUK]

Hurray for UK game developers!

 

[GarthVaderUK]

Telegraph:

1. Fable II
(Xbox 360)

The themes of choice and consequence ran deep through Fable II’s magical world of Albion. This action-roleplay game allows you to weave your own tale of heroic endeavour or dastardly deeds. Good or evil, fat or thin, pure, corrupt and all the things in between, your hero was always who you wanted him to be. Amidst it all, of course, was swashbuckling adventure. The terrific combat – all longswords, blunderbusses and magic – was smartly tactical, yet accessible to all. Albion was full of charm and decidedly British humour. However, the real reasons for Fable II’s brilliance are the stories of our own making. Stories of love, money and adventure. And, brilliantly, every hero had their own tale to tell.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sciencea...es-on-wii-xbox-ps3-psp-pc-and-ds.html?image=9

 

[Cheesemeister]

Telegraph

Much obliged!

 

[Visualante]

the Guardian (UK):

Aleks: Spaceship!
Greg: Fable 2
Keef: Gears of War 2

 

[FrankT]

Gamepro: LBP

http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/208404/the-best-and-worst-of-08-the-gamepro-awards

 

[FrankT]

Yahoo Games: Fallout 3

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/game-of-the-year-2008/best-videogame/1270718/2

 

[FrankT]

Gamespy: Fallout 3

http://goty.gamespy.com/2008/overall/11.html

 

[FrankT]

Gamasutra: Fallout 3

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21377

Needs some updating Cheese.

 

[Creamium]

From here on out I love: Gamespy, Gamasutra, Yahoo games

 

[FrankT]

UGO: Fallout 3

http://gamesblog.ugo.com/index.php/gamesblog/more/ugos_game_of_the_year_awards_2008/

TXB: GTA IV

http://features.teamxbox.com/xbox/2356/TeamXbox-Game-of-the-Year-Awards-2008/p5/

 

[Cheesemeister]

Sorry, no Internet service for a couple weeks yet. I'll post the rest in a bit...

 

[Keikoku]

I really don't get the enjoyment of the US media for Fallout 3...

 

[ElyrionX]

Wow, Bioshock really ran away last year huh?

Looks like the same thing is going to happen to Fallout 3.

 

[FrankT]

Wow, Bioshock really ran away last year huh?

Looks like the same thing is going to happen to Fallout 3.

Deserved on both accounts iho.

 

[Davidion]

Go Fallout 3!

 

[NintendoTogepi]

Yeah, I was gonna say.

Bioshock: 22
Super Mario Galaxy: 15
The Orange Box (Portal): 11
Call of Duty 4: 5
Rock Band: 4
Desktop Tower Defense: 2
Halo 3: 2
Mass Effect: 2
Uncharted: 0

Everyone knows SMG was the 2007 GOTY...

 

[grandjedi6]

Wow, Bioshock really ran away last year huh?

Looks like the same thing is going to happen to Fallout 3.

Alot of Bioshock's wins were from mainstream sites like a newspaper or playboy (heh) though. Not to say it didn't deserve the recognition. Last year was pretty much a 3 way tie between Orange Box, Mario Galaxy and Bioshock.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Should be all updated now!

 

[FrankT]

Play: GTA IV

http://play.tm/article/22743/the-2008-top-ten/2/

New York Times: GTA IV

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/television/21schie.html?_r=4&ref=arts

Salt Lake Tribune: LPB

http://www.sltrib.com/entertainment/ci_11297202

Looks like it could be a real race this year.

 

[Cheesemeister]

New York Times: GTA IV

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/television/21schie.html?_r=4&ref=arts

Is there a non-blocked link?

 

[DuckRacer]

Is there a non-blocked link?

He edited his post to provide the correct link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/television/21schie.html?_r=4&ref=arts

edit: actually, it seems like if you click the link once and get the ad, the link works fine every other time.

GAME OF THE YEAR: GRAND THEFT AUTO IV G.T.A. IV came out in April, and for the rest of the year I kept waiting for some other new game to captivate and refuse to release me the way this masterpiece from Rockstar did. I’m still waiting. Beyond its formidable craft, apart from its well-balanced combat and driving mechanics, what impresses most about G.T.A. IV is its writing. It is one of the few games that even try to take on the real world in any adult way. (Of course, the game’s Liberty City setting is a parody of modern New York.) Penetrating through all the game’s gangster trappings is a hunger to engage with the idiocies, the contradictions and even some of the good things in modern America. After all, someone has to. (For Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.)

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Really Vince Horiuchi?

Really?

 

[DogWelder]

Sci-fi: Far Cry 2
http://fidgit.com/archives/2008/12/the-top-10-games-of-2008.php

Interesting list overall.

 

[Cheesemeister]

He edited his post to provide the correct link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/television/21schie.html?_r=4&ref=arts

edit: actually, it seems like if you click the link once and get the ad, the link works fine every other time.

It keeps on wanting me to login. Who's the author on it?

 

[Guled]

the overall GOTY award is a waste in my eyes, unlike movies, there probably wasn't a person who played all the games that could win the award. It always boils down to the most hyped games and the ones with the biggest marketing budget that win. Sure the games in the OP are good, but like I said they are other games that totally deserve to stand with them but most likely won't even get nominated

 

[RadarScope1]

So glad to know that even amid all the praise for gta4 that plenty of other people see a lot the same faults that I did. They aren't minor shortcomings.

 

[DemonSwordsman]

GTA4 should be disqualified because everyone that reviewed it only played the start.