MONDOvideogames' Top 7 Picks of 2007
Your favourite Xbox 360 owner lets you know what he's been playing on it.
By Alexander B. Huls
Posted December 26th, 2007.
Though technically this game came out in 2006, I didn't play it till 2007, which is why it makes the list now. That fact means the game had the poor fortune to be played by me after a similarly themed aliens take over and/or threaten to take over the world" game was released (Gears of War), and it just doesn't stack up in comparison. That should by no means suggest that this wasn't a great game. Given that Resistance is essentially Call of Duty just with aliens substituted for Nazis (and boy, does that alleviate my only moral conundrum of being a German having to shoot Germans), this game was as welcome to me as a homemade apple pie a la mode. And just like said apple pie, I devoured it greedily and with pleasure, and found myself thoroughly content after.
6. Guitar Hero III (XBOX 360)
Despite the switch in developers, this Guitar Hero has emerged as the best one to date (except for that horrible Battle Mode) not because they changed the game play at all (which is a good thing), but because the leaps and bound the soundtrack has made. In fact, that soundtrack would usually help this game be higher on my list if it weren't for
5. Rock Band (XBOX 360)
Though really Guitar Hero III has by far the more extensive and in many ways the better soundtrack, than Rock Band, there's just no trumping the sheer awesomeness of being able to play guitar, bass, drums, and also sing. The smaller and inferior soundtrack also doesn't really matter in the long run given the promise of frequently added downloadable content. It really comes down a matter of mathematically produced emotions. Guitar Hero + 1 Person = feeling like a guitarist extraordinaire. Rock Band + 2-4 people + being able to play real sets together, like a real band = rock star orgasm.
4. Halo 3 (XBOX 360)
The reason this game is so high on the list is not the single-player which frankly was blah, and just a repetition of the first two games but the multi-player. That's in part because the multi-player is just so damn addictive and fun, but because the game should deserve some recognition for the fact that it got me into online gaming in the first place. A few years back I'd sworn off playing online due to a mixture of reasons (annoying teenagers gay-bashing, and I sucked), but Halo 3 has drawn me back in and shown me the errors of my ways. For that, Master Chief has certainly earned his No. 4 position.
3. Call of Duty 4 (XBOX 360)
At this point I honestly cannot contribute anything to say positively about this game that hasn't been already said a billion times by others. Effectively it boils down to this: Yes, the single player is insanely short, but it is also insanely awesome. The cinematically intense single-player experience which ups the Oh Shit!" moments Call of Duty is known for was one of the most exciting, exhilarating gaming experiences I've had to date. Call of Duty, it seems, should have ditched the Nazis a long time ago.
2. Mass Effect (XBOX 360)
Given my occasional rumblings on this site about single-player experiences this year lacking substantial stories, it should come as no surprise perhaps that my top two titles both have great narratives. Admittedly, RPGs such as Mass Effect are a genre more conducive, and more well-known for stories, but that's no excuse. Mass Effect is everything I have come to expect from one of my favorite developers, BioWare. The thing is, they gave me more than I expected. Taking their well-established strengths from Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, they've blown their own benchmark out of the water. With a story full of high adventure (I dare you not to get excited by the end), a combat system that only gets more fun as the game goes on, and great characters, this game stands out. But what really distinguishes it, and what makes it such a unique, and fascinating game, is the moral dilemmas it presents you, and the subsequent diverging paths your story can take based solely on the decisions you make. When a game presents you with a problem, and you actually find yourself pausing and thinking for a minute what you not only want to do, but should do? That's a classic in the making.
1. BioShock (XBOX 360)
The race between Mass Effect and BioShock was a close one. Really close. I mean, BioWare and Irrational Games made two of my favorite games ever, Knights of the Old Republic, and System Shock 2 respectively. Not only that, both Mass Effect and BioShock are effectively spiritual sequels to those games. The reason the latter ultimately wins out though is deceptively simple: atmosphere. Whether it be the level design, the graphics, or more importantly the mysterious narrative Irrational weaves into the environment around you, you're left constantly on the edge of your nerves, wondering what is going on, and what might pop out at you next. That's nothing more to say about the fact that this game is genuinely scary and disturbed, a bizarre meld of Clive Barker and Ayn Rand, leaving me perhaps more unsettled than any game outside of Condemned. Where Mass Effect immerses you in the pleasures of its high adventure, it remains a distancing immersion. BioShock pulls you right into its world in every sense, never letting you go until it spits you back out when you beat it.