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Best of 2008 - #1 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

It is so hard to write about a game that has been talked about for so long and about a series as legendary as Metal Gear Solid. It is even harder to explain how MGS4 is an experience that goes beyond any other game I've ever played. There's nothing out there that even compares to this game, the graphics and cutscenes are phenomenal, the soundtrack is an instant clasic (I still have the "old snake theme" carved in my brain), the voice acting is amazing and the story is... well... typical MGS. Kojima has also been able to give Snake's story an ending. Whether you are happy or not, it is over and he managed to tied many loose ends in this game.
If you have a ps3 and haven't tried MGS4, you owe it to yourself. It will be hard for a game to top what this one has accomplished.

Best of 2008 - #2 Burnout Paradise (PS3)

I had always been curious about Burnout before playing Paradise. Ironically this rendition of the franchise is quite different to "traditional" Burnout.
Paradise city is an open world where you need to go around and find the challenges in road intersection. Previously you'd just select them from a menu, which would also allow you to automatically re-try the levels, thing you can't do in Paradise and got harsh criticism for it. The fact that you can fail a mission and that you have to travel back to the original intersection can be annoying, but Paradise is such an awesome game that this little annoyance can be ignored.
The other major accomplishment for the game is the seamless online integration: you press right o the d-pad and you are online. No lobbies, no configuration... just plain simple.
I've put 40+ hours on the game and its expansion packs (which were all free) and can't wait for the next ones. I've never expected to enjoy this game so much, but it does things so well that is no surprise why it gets so much praise.

Best of 2008 - #4 Professor Layton and the Curious Village (NDS)

I have already praised this game on this blog post, which leaves very little to add. I just beg Nintendo to confirm that the other 2 games are being localized.

EGM shuts down, 1UP loses 40 staff

It all started with a tweet from John Davison, founder of What They Play, pointing to a news story in paidcontent.org. Pretty soon it was confirmed by other sources and 1up.com themselves, one of the longest running videogame magazines is now gone. January 2009 was their last issue, so if you happen to find a copy you might want to grab a piece of sad history.
To makes things worse, 1UP.com has been sold to Hearst (owners of UGO.com) and 40 staff are now out of a job. Among the people leaving are Ryan O'Donnell (1UP Show co-creator) and the outspoken Shane Bettenhausen. 1UP yours, 1UP FM, the show and the rest of the podcasts have been cancelled, silencing one of the most professional, hard working and passionate teams in the industry.
With much left to say, everybody wishes all the 1UP crew (those leaving and those staying) the best and let's hope you guys find new ways to confirm weekends.

Best of 2008 - #6 Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii)

I don't think there's much to say about Brawl that hasn't been said before.. It is a game that was unveiled daily by a blog and left almost nothing to surprise, a fighter filled with Nintendo fan service and it even includes a "story/platforming" mode that features all the characters. If you have a Wii and you are a hardcore Nintendo fan, you must own this game.

Best of 2008 - #7 Pxeljunk Eden (PSN)

I've already talked about this game on this post, and I still find it hard to describe. PixelJunk Eden is an amazing platform, like nothing I've played before. All I can do is recommend you to have a look in YouTube to see how amazing this game is.

Best of 2008 - #8 Dead Space (PS3)

Dead Space will remind you of many games: Resident Evil, Half Life, Resistance and list will continue depending on what other games you've played.
You control Isaac Clarke, an engineer member of a spaceship responding to a distress call sent by the USG Ishimura, a massive mining ship (it actually cuts giant chunks of planets to extract its minerals)
Of course, when Isaac and the crew arrive to the Ishimura, they are welcomed by a series of horrible ailen-like monsters that they must defeat.
Where the game shines is in its presentation, the first thing you will notice is that there's no hud. All the information you need will be displayed on Isaac's suit (Energy) and on each one of the guns (Ammo). All the cutscenes are either displayed via the suit's holographic projector or in game as you encounter different characters in the Ishimura. You also collect diferent logs along the game (audio, video and text) which add so much to the game making the experience richer. Even the "weapons" are actually tools that have other pusposes than "killing the monsters". All of them (including your suit) can be upgraded using "Power Nodes", which add an extra level of strategy deciding how are you going to spend them.
The atmosphere is amazing as well: flickering lights, far away noises, dark corridors make this game very scary.
With all these said, I can't recommend this game enough.

Best of 2008 - #9 Fallout 3 (PS3)

I must confess that I've only flirted around with the series in the past and I've never sat down a played any of the previous games before. I haven't played Oblivion either, which is the engine used on Fallout 3. I'm not even a fan of western RPGs, so the fact that I've even tried this game is a huge thing for me.
The second confession I have to make is that I've played less that 10 hours of the game and I've just scratched the surface of what this virtual world has to offer, but I've been so impressed so far that I thought it deserved a spot on the top 10.
I'm not going to make any judgements on the game right now, but if you are considering whether you should play this game or not, remember what I said on this post and get it for your platform of choice.

Best of 2008 - #10 Mirror's Edge (PS3)

There's a saying in the hardcore videogame world: "first person platforming doesn't work". I must say that considering how many times I've complained about jumping in FPSs, this is somewhat true. The difference in Mirror's Edge is that it is not an FPS and it has been designed around the "parkour" mechanic.
The game follows the story of Faith, a "runner" that is investigating a murder blamed on her sister. She navigates through the rooftops, sewers, subway tunnels and other places around the city using different parkour techniques. Controls are unusual but work pretty well: one of the triggers is "Jump/pull up/climb up" and another one is "slide/crouch". As I said before, this is not an FPS. And even though you can disarm enemies and use their guns ths is not recommended. As you use you need your arms to jump/climb around the levels, so having a gun actually cripples you and limits your movements. There's even a trophy for finishing the game without shooting, which is not impossible because I've done it. There's also a "Portal" element to the game. In some situations you'll be in a room trying to figure out how to get out of it, which turns the game into a more puzzle-like one.
The most tedious part of Mirro's Edge is re-trying sections of the levels when you die. You might find yourselft re-playing 10 to 30 seconds of the game trying to succeed at a jump or escape from the enemies. This can become super tedious, but once you pull off that massive jump, you feel overpowered and want to keep playing. This is where the game succeeds: making you feel badass jumping from point a to point b, disarming a couple of enemies and making a massive jump between 2 building.
Without much more to say than how good it looks and sounds, give this game a try because it's 10 hours of awesome that you won't regret. And if you like it enough, you can always play the different time attack modes.

The Nintendo DSi

I'll be very brief about the DSi. I'm not interested a bit about it until there are some games that use the new features of the portable or are online only.
I'm not interested in any of the features (music player, camera, sd card slot) unless there's software that can take advantage of them.