Sam Hart

The best console games of 2007

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  Assassins' Creed

  
  

  Xbox 360/PS3

  
  Now, I know my saying Assassins' Creed is one of the greatest games of 2007 is a bit controversial. If you look at its Game Rankings page you see that the reviews for the game are all across the board. In fact, if you look, you'll find some pretty scathing reviews of the game. So why am I saying it's one of the top games of 2007? Am I a Ubisoft shill, or some sort of blind fanboy?
  
  Well, if you look in my past SVGAs, you'll see I've only got a handful of Ubisoft titles... and none were in the "Best of the Best" camp. So I'm obviously not a fanboy or a shill.
  
  Still, why do I think this game deserves special mention when so many others don't? Simple, this game is not something you can fairly evaluate under a deadline, which is something that blinded most reviewers to how brilliant this game really is.
  
  I think Mike Krahulik ("Gabe" from Penny Arcade) explained it best:
  

  Imagine what an open ended sandbox title must look like to a reviewer especially right now. How many games do they have piling up on their desks? A game like Assassins creed isn't meant to be played under a deadline. You shouldn't be trying to beat it as fast as you can so you can move on to Mass Effect or Mario Galaxy. As soon as I gave myself a deadline all of a sudden I understood all their complaints. It was like a fucking Escher painting. I had put myself in their shoes and suddenly the landscape flipped and I could see games from their perspective. In the end I wasn't angry at them for their bad reviews. I actually just felt bad for them.

  
  
  This game is very different from other games on the market. The controls take some getting used to (you will likely pick up basic maneuvers quickly, but really mastering the nuances of the controls will take time), the game is huge and sprawling, and it rewards those who are willing to invest in it.
  
  Thus, if you can just allow yourself an indeterminate amount of time to actually play this game, you'll discover one of the most rich and rewarding as well as unusual titles ever to grace the digital screen.
  
  As for me, I was simply blown away by this game. The story is very original and unique, and deals with subject matter that has some fairly controversial overtones given the state of the world today (just wandering around the virtual streets of the cities in this game you will hear phrases like "Curse the Christian King and his army of infidels!" Makes me wonder why people haven't attacked this in the same vein as they have with The Golden Compass.) The graphics are among the best you'll see on the current generation systems. And the gameplay is engrossing and enjoyable. This is the sort of game you simply lose track of time playing.
  
  One caveat I will say is that the 360 version gets my nod for the better version. This is simply because it has a lot of great achievements to unlock. Otherwise, both the PS3 and 360 versions are essentially identical.
  


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  Super Mario Galaxy

  
  

  Nintendo Wii

  
  I'm actually torn about putting Super Mario Galaxy in the top two greatest games of 2007. On the one hand, it is an incredible game. On the other hand, Nintendo fanboys wont shut the fuck up about it and I'm getting insanely sick of hearing about just how fucking great it is. Even still, I can't punish a great game just because of its rabid fanboys.
  
  Put simply, Super Mario Galaxy is the reason to own a Wii. It's the reward for those of us who have owned a Wii while its library sucked ass, and it's the game people without Wiis pine for.
  
  The gameplay of SMG is top-notch, to be sure. Somehow they've managed to give it that old-timey Mario feel while at the same time introduce a lot of new, high concept features. But the gameplay is only part of the story...
  
  The real reason SMG is such an impressive title is the fact that it shows the Wii (with 4+ year old technology powering it) can match, visually, its competitors. Somehow, this game running at 480p is able to look as good as if not better than most of the games you'll find now for the 360 and PS3.
  
  If you have a Wii, you must own this title. If you don't own a Wii, you must buy one in order to own this title. This is the first real killer app for the Wii.
  

Best of the Best

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  Halo 3

  
  

  Xbox 360

  
  Halo 3 really has to be on the list of the best games of 2007. Now, I know there are some idiots out there who, for whatever reason, didn't like Halo 3... but what do we care what the idiots think anyway?
  
  At the end of the day, Halo 3 was a very gratifying conclusion to the Halo saga. It was filled to the brim with intense action, a pretty good story, great graphics, and some exquisite gameplay. All of this is topped off with one of the most amazing online multiplayer experiences.
  
  It's not without problems, of course. It still has the trademark Bungie floaty controls, some repetitive level design elements, and the single player campaign ultimately is fairly short. But the game's nearly infinite replayability (*drool*.. metagame... *drool*) and enjoyable gameplay easily make up for its short comings.[1]
  


• 
  

  Bioshock

  
  

  Xbox 360

  
  What can I say about Bioshock that hasn't been said already? Here you have a game with an incredible story that is filled with moral and ethical overtones, that is powered by the sublime Unreal engine, and has an exceptionally well thought out world.
  
  I think the one thing that stands out the most about Bioshock is the fact that it has so many diverse elements in it that were a) so well thought out, b) assembled so nicely, and c) fit together as part of a more cohesive whole. I mean, every aspect of this game felt right, and that's a rare thing in today's games.[1]
  


• 
  

  Mass Effect

  
  

  Xbox 360

  
  BioWare's latest action RPG really is a great one. I've certainly raved about it, and I know many others have as well. In a nutshell, BioWare has done some incredible fan-service in this game as it's really everything that any action RPG fan could want.
  
  The only problem with it is that it's more for the hardcore gamer. The fact that you really only get a fraction of the total available game on your first time through and that you really have to play it multiple times make it hard to recommend to the casual gamer. That being said, this is still one of the best games of the year.
  


• 
  

  Pokemon Diamond & Pearl

  
  

  Nintendo DS

  
  Holy crap! A Pokemon game on this list? Have I gone mad?!
  
  You see, Pokemon came out after I was already an adult, and it was something I could never get into. I could look past the lame-ass cartoons, the idiotic movies, and the boring games and see it for what it was: A gimmicky marketing juggernaut hell bent on getting every last red cent from the parents of obsessive children. Everything about Pokemon pissed me off. However, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl really surprised me.
  
  Here we had a couple of games that were actually very good. They had solid gameplay, some clever graphics (not too glitzy, not too basic, just well done and enjoyable), addicting exploration, and a ton of replayability. Basically, we had games that stood on their own regardless of what crappy brand you affixed to them.
  
  Even though I resisted including a Pokeproduct on my list, I ultimately had to add Diamond/Pearl to my SVGAs. Any game that I can lose 200+ hours in without realizing has to be a good game.
  


• 
  

  The Orange Box

  
  

  Xbox 360

  
  Any "Best of 2007" games list that doesn't include The Orange Box is a games list you shouldn't trust.
  
  For those who don't know, The Orange Box is a collection of 5 games. You have Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode One, Half Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal.
  
  The three Half Life games represent some of the best single-player FPS action on the market. HL2 was (and is) and exquisite game. At 15-20 hours of gameplay, this game would be reason enough to own this collection. Episode One is moderately weak, weighing in at around 5 hours and restricting itself to some of the more tedious areas from HL2, but it's not a terrible game. Episode Two, however, is the proverbial "money shot" of the HL2 franchise thus far. At 10-15 hours it's a decent entry in the series, and it has some highly impressive areas in it.
  
  Team Fortress 2 is a class-based multiplayer FPS. It's the long overdue sequel to the original Team Fortress and features some spectacular gameplay and graphics. The only problem with it is the fact that it only has 6 maps and is saddled with some unfortunate load times.
  
  Surprisingly, Portal winds up being the best part of this package. Portal is a game that can be beaten in less than two hours, but it has some of the greatest gameplay ever. Plus, it has an incredibly clever, funny and slightly disturbing story. Honestly, if The Orange Box just included Portal, it would still be in this list.
  
  Taken as a whole, The Orange Box is an impressive collection. You have easily 30 hours of single player gameplay and many more hours of rich multiplayer. In fact, this collection is so good that I would have included it in the "Best of the Best" had it not been for Episode One and Team Fortress subtly bringing the rest of the package down.