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Time reveals top 10 games of 2008 News

News by Robert Purchese

9 December, 2008

Time Magazine has held Grand Theft Auto IV aloft as the best game of 2008.

"It's a grade-A shoot-'em-up that doubles as an interactive novel and triples as a sly critique of American consumer culture," said the influential publication.

Acclaimed Xbox Live Arcade platformer Braid was hailed as the second best game of the year, followed by Sony pin-up LittleBigPlanet.

Rock Band 2 filled fourth in a top 10 devoid of any Guitar Hero whatsoever.

Predictably, and justifiably, Gears of War 2 was there at five, trailed by two controversial inclusions: Dead Space and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Both received 7/10 here on Eurogamer, you may remember.

Flash game Hunted Forever, which we've never heard of, took eight, and Fieldrunners - apparently the best of the iPod and iPhone bunch - was at nine.

The last of the list was Spore, which we'd forgotten about actually. Sorry, Will.

What? No Metal Gear Solid? No Mario Kart? No Wii Fit? No Fable II? No Wrath of the Lich King? No Fallout 3? No Professor Layton? No so on and so forth?

There are plenty that missed the list, which is why we've opened a reader survey to find out what you think are the best games of 2008.

Head over to our big old survey to vote for your favourites; no vote, no voice, or something.

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Comments: 1-50 of 71 in total | next 50 »

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MrED209
09/12/08 @ 15:11
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Fieldrunners is indeed absolutely MINT. Far and away my most played iPhone game. In fact after Safari it's my most used iPhone app full stop.
DFawkes
09/12/08 @ 15:13
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Awful list. Pity, Time is usually such a great gaming publication.
Golgo
09/12/08 @ 15:14
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Well I've just frisbeed GTAIV on PC back to the shop, so fingers crossed for number 2 on the list getting to PC soon.
Santino
09/12/08 @ 15:15
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i would give best game of 08 to Layton personally. GTA 4 was the worst of the 3d ones, Braid was ok but an instantly forgettable play once 'flavor of the month' that cost too many points.
Eraysor
09/12/08 @ 15:17
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I still cannot fathom why everyone thinks Braid is amazing.
ccfb
09/12/08 @ 15:18
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"two controversial inclusions: Dead Space and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Both received 7/10 here on Eurogamer, you may remember."

Yeah, Time magazine. Next time hit the EG reviews database before you start throwing out these crazy-ass lists.

Amateurs.
Dizzy
09/12/08 @ 15:20
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>I still cannot fathom why everyone thinks Braid is amazing.

No worries... you will find out why 2 weeks ago.
muscleblade
09/12/08 @ 15:22
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"two controversial inclusions: Dead Space and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Both received 7/10 here on Eurogamer, you may remember."

I loved both of them. More so than Fable 2 for example.
muscleblade
09/12/08 @ 15:23
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If you didnt find Braid amazing i think you didnt "get it". It is amazing.
Masarin
09/12/08 @ 15:24
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Spore was a chore.
Masarin
09/12/08 @ 15:26
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>> I still cannot fathom why everyone thinks Braid is amazing.
> No worries... you will find out why 2 weeks ago.

Hahaha. Brilliant Dizzy. +1 for best meta-comment of the year. :-D
Edited 1 times, most recently on 09/12/08 @ 15:26
menage
09/12/08 @ 15:26
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Whahahaha TFU, LOLZ. Fallout 3 FTW! (did I get enough abbreviations in there to come of as a raving fanboy)
schnide
09/12/08 @ 15:27
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Isn't Braid a fairly standard platformer with the clever addition of the time mechanism, but most importantly done beautifully?

That's the impression I've got from the demo, and if MS Points didn't seem like such a marketing exercise to steal as much of my money as possible, I'd have the full thing.
LazyDan
09/12/08 @ 15:27
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I've not had time to devote myself to Braid since it was released. Roll on friday & 3 weeks off work for Christmas holiday :D

GTA4 is another game I haven't had time to devote myself to. Unfortunately, I have no plans to rectify that.

For me this has been an amazing year for games. Brawl, Mario Kart, Professor Layton, Braid, Geometry Wars 2, Castle Crashers, Left4Dead, Rock Band 2/GH:WT (and go on then,) Wii Fit... Such a colourful bunch, and no matter who I've got round I've got something to play with them.
metalnut
09/12/08 @ 15:33
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"Isn't Braid a fairly standard platformer with the clever addition of the time mechanism, but most importantly done beautifully?

That's the impression I've got from the demo.."

In the full game, each world has a slightly different twist on the time-manipulation. It's brilliantly inventive, and you've missed out if you haven't played the whole thing. It's still maybe slightly overpriced, compared to the also excellent GW2, but I don't regret buying it for a second.
udat
09/12/08 @ 15:42
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Braid is the best game I played this year.
menage
09/12/08 @ 15:46
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Braid is fantastic. best endrun in a game this year.
peterfll
09/12/08 @ 15:51
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How dare they forget to including Cooking Mama 4 in their top ten!

Pff!
kiroquai
09/12/08 @ 16:00
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Dead Space was great. I'd take a 7/10 game that entertains me for 12 hours over a 10/10 game that cripples itself with a game-breaking bug 20-hours in anytime.
matrim83
09/12/08 @ 16:02
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List immediately fails for putting SW TFU in it.
kinky_mong
09/12/08 @ 16:17
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Still not as terrible a list as the top ten of 2008 that was in the London Paper last Friday. Dead Space No.1?!

To be honest though any list that doesn't have Left 4 Dead firmly at No. 1 can jog the fuck on.
The_Inquisitor
09/12/08 @ 16:26
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Not a bad list by any means, it has variety and diversity at least. You could argue that it says more about what games the person who compiled the list enjoyed this year, but that's kind of the point, since it's a small section of the overall publication and probably only has on gamer on the payroll.
stepneg
09/12/08 @ 16:27
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What a load of cack, no Left 4 Dead and Star Wars Unleashed, WTF????/?

Nithron
09/12/08 @ 16:31
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Nah, not everyone thinks Braid is amazing, it just seems that way. I wasn't particularly enamored with it either - I get that it's trying to make you think in four dimensions(although as it's 2D... would that just make it 3 dimensions?), which is great, but I didn't find it that fun.

HolyJebus
09/12/08 @ 16:31
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Good list imo. Nice wide range of games. Would prob have dropped Star Wars too though.
Graham_Bark
09/12/08 @ 16:34
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The final level of Braid was simply incredibly fantastic and clever, one of the finest moments in gaming as far as I'm concerned. Its easily worthy of 2nd best game of the year, if not first.

GTA IV on the other hand is over rated. Its not bad, its just nothing like the ridiculously high review scores suggested it would be. San Andreas was certainly better.

Not played the others on the list, but I do now feel that Fable II is worthy of a place. When I started playing I felt quite underwhelmed by it, but as the game goes on it has gone from strength to strength and is now utterly superb. Like Mass Effect, its a game that inadvertently had me playing until 4am despite lectures the next morning.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 09/12/08 @ 16:34
miiiguel
09/12/08 @ 16:44
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GTA IV is a very, very good game, IMO. No doubt it suffered from over-exposure to media, and within the more "hardcore circles" it started to be trendy to bash it.
It has a very good plot, quite deep and ilustrative of post-9/11 America, and it's fun to play too, quite balanced, and technically impresse, scope-wise. It's clever gaming.

Well, I love it and I usually miss those trendy waves, though.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 09/12/08 @ 16:44
captainrentboy
09/12/08 @ 16:50
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No Wii 'My Pet Vet Dolphin Zoo Sports Practice 4'? Absolute bullshit.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 09/12/08 @ 16:51
jonsaan
09/12/08 @ 16:50
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interactive novel. Yeah right.
pha
09/12/08 @ 16:52
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paulf
09/12/08 @ 16:55
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I would also put gta4 at the top, it's a game that has stuck with me long after I finished playing it, not because it is fun to play (because it isn't) but because of the way its portrays Niko as an outsider who really has no interest in being a thug, but does it because it is the only thing he knows.

His life of crime is cleverly counterbalanced with the banality of a 'normal life' that he seems to crave for, and somehow they have managed to place this character conflict at the centre of the gaming experience which makes it a tough game to play.

That is the reason its not fun to play, it's not supposed to be - its supposed to be a cold and sombre reflection of the life of a professional killer and as such is genius.

just to add that because it isn't 'fun' doesn't mean its not compelling. For a series the has been criticised for glorifying violence it takes a brave step and makes the violence anything but glamourous. It's not fun to kill people in real life, why does it have to be fun in video games?, why can't games invoke different emotions?
Edited 1 times, most recently on 09/12/08 @ 17:51
kinky_mong
09/12/08 @ 17:21
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That is the reason its not fun to play, it's not supposed to be

Brilliant. Just brilliant.
miiiguel
09/12/08 @ 17:24
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Well, I did have fun. I'm a nihilist though, so I kinda identified myself with Niko.
ronuds
09/12/08 @ 17:34
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I think GTAIV is deserving of praise. It's probably one of the most realistic atmospheres I've ever experience in a game - not to mention the gameplay itself isn't too shabby.

stevetuck
09/12/08 @ 17:51
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GTA Bore.. why did i spend £40 on this game :(
Inquisitor [mod]
09/12/08 @ 17:52
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I hardly think Dead Space is a controversial inclusion. The only controversial thing about Dead Space was the Eurogamer score, criminally low...
:P
bad09
09/12/08 @ 18:41
#37
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GTA top of the pile - and rightly so.

/ pokes tongue out at the haters

Dead Space isn't controversial EG, it's amazing and should be in there I really don't get your review of it TBH. I'm surprised SW:FU is in there though, it's pretty bad, from what I've played so far.

Also, Rockband over the likes of MK Wii, MGS4, WIpEout HD, Siren, Fallout 3? REALLY?? I guess gamers are all wannabe rockstars these days :)
Tweakmonkey
09/12/08 @ 18:45
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RB should be on the 2007 list instead.
Crofto
09/12/08 @ 18:52
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An anticipated awful list brought up by 'people' rather than gamers who know what good gaming design is (and, for clarification, GTAIV isn't an example of good gaming design), I expect an equally awful list when this site gets round to doing its so called "Game of the Year" list.
Super_Zee
09/12/08 @ 19:40
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Heh, awful list. Terrible.
spudsbuckley
09/12/08 @ 19:53
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Saints Row 2 was better than GTA 4 for a start, MGS 4 should have been there, as well as GoW2, Left 4 Dead, Fable 2, WAR and WoTLK to name a few.

This list is aimed and the trendy-Mypace-'The' band listening-too cool for the room-types who are a relatively new section of gaming.

Most actual gamers would have a very different list.

/is actual gamer-too uncool for the room-type
Barry619
09/12/08 @ 20:11
#42
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Any Top 10 list that doesn't firmly state 1) Fallout 3 at the top doesn't deserve to be read any futher.
Vortex808
09/12/08 @ 20:15
#43
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No Fallout3??? No Left4Dead? Those are glaring ommissions. When was this list compiled? Although Gears2 and LBP made it, so it can't have been that early.
seamonsterneil
09/12/08 @ 20:36
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I think LBP is waaaaaaay too high, I just can't seem to get into it despite loving its style, artwork and cuteness. That game has more issues than people like to admit.

GTAIV is the only GTA game I have ever liked and deserves its entry just for the amazing city they crafted... the game however should never be considered the best game of the year. Metal gear is hands down a better game even without the cutscenes.

Braid is awesome but seriously people should stop with that "you just dont get it shit" when someone says they didnt find it all that interesting.

Dead space is more amazing that I think a lot of people expected it to be. Its full of "WOW" moments and really tight in everything it does from the hudlessness to the satisfying dismemberment.
David_Snakes
09/12/08 @ 21:36
#45
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That's an interesting viewpoint, paulf. Movies like The Godfather and Taxi Driver aren't necessarily "fun" to watch, why are they so highly acclaimed? Games can do more than entertain; a pity the masses of fucking morons can't see that.
GiarcYekrub
09/12/08 @ 22:21
#46
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I'd agree with GTA4 being top if it wasn't for the fooking annoying way multiplayer Races are selected... leaving it to the legions of 12 year old host who wants to play Stars In Your Eyes in supercars constantly is NOT a good idea let me wait for people who want to free race/cannon ball run/one of the other 28 races they don't pick to play
DjWhizzkidd
09/12/08 @ 22:44
#47
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Dead Space getting 7 out of 10 is a war crime in my books. Its worst than genocide. Especially considering Fable 2 got 10 out of 10. That's like saying Hitler is nice because he didn't kill as many as Stalin. Or was it the other way round? Oh I don't know. Stop asking me questions.
WillyWanka
09/12/08 @ 23:02
#48
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"Isn't Braid a fairly standard platformer with the clever addition of the time mechanism, but most importantly done beautifully? "

Yes that's part of the appeal. But for me the greatest part of the game is it's story: the melancholy atmosphere went down well for me and after the amazing end I felt genuinely moved. This, coupled with the ingenious puzzling, make this my GOTY

/edit: to reduce the pretentious fuckwittery as much as possible
Edited 1 times, most recently on 09/12/08 @ 23:04
butler`
10/12/08 @ 00:53
#49
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Awful mainstream drivel.

I'm surprised they even NOTICED Braid tbh...
disc
10/12/08 @ 02:07
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Thanks for letting us know.

Comments: 1-50 of 71 in total | next 50 »

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