The year of living dangerously, at least if it wasnt for quick save/load.

So as john posted his thoughts on the past and future years in gaming its my turn now.

I will be spreading my post across three days, the first will be my coverage of the year that just passed, and my second post in a few days will be my look forward to 2009 games, and finally day 3, a look at my wildcards of 2008.

So lets see how last years list worked out.
1.super smash brothers brawl – can it be as good as its fans think? (wii) So it was the best selling of all the smash bros. games and garnered the best reviews, in fact the only thing to fault about it was the roster could have included more non Nintendo characters (sonic and co were a good start) and the online play left a little to be desired, but this is a Nintendo title of course the online wasn't perfect. Rating: Hit!
2.Alan wake – Providing remedy can make a game that lives up to the tech, this could be something special (pc/360) I suppose 2008 was a bit optimistic, but this game still looks quite cool, if you don't think so go and watch a few trailers. Rating: still asleep.
3.sonic chronicles: the dark brotherhood – the bioware + the blue hedgehog + rpg, nuff said (ds) Well it seems a not quite perfect battle system and, dare I say it, poor dialogue and party interaction caused this game to be simply ok ;(. Rating : Miss.
4.Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates/Crystal Bearers – hopefully more emphasis on gameplay rather then a still-born tech demo.(ds, wii) Rings of fate was released, to middling reviews, the main problem being the games damn near impossible in single player and a pain in multiplayer, as for Crystal Bearers, still in development so who knows. Rating : Miss, for now.
5.Fable 2 – All dog kicking aside this could be something special, just keep Molyneux away from journalists. (360, pc) Finally a good one, not just good, but my tip for game of the year. Rating : Hit!
6.No more heroes – If people can get past the obvious GTA – Jedi Stories similarities this might just be one of the best wii games yet (wii) A contender for best game no-one played, good reviews but failed to sell even half a million world wide. Rating : Hit! not that anybody noticed.
7.Too Human – Eternal Darkness was great, and assuming they can stop suing people for long enough too human maybe one day. (playstation 1, gc, 360, ocoma game sphere) With Dennis Dyack's "interesting" approach to PR, including mocking the guys at Penny Arcade, and starting a flamewar on various forums, he is a shoe in for the Peter Molyneux "don't let him near the journalists" Award, sadly the only award this decidedly average game is likely to win. Rating : Miss.
8.sins of a solar empire – Stardock don't just make blinds, they also make and publish blindingly good games now and again, particularly in the space based rts 4x genre. (pc) I played the heck outta this game in the first half of the year, nice work Ironclad games, I look forward to more sins. Rating : Hit.
9.Borderlands – Brothers in arms, halo, opposing force, will borderlands avoid being a mongrel? (pc/360/ps3) Not released but the more I read the more interested I get. Rating : Let sleeping dogs lie, for now.
10.Far cry 2 – no. mutants. Please. (pc/ps3/360) A good game, but was it really far cry 2? at least there was no mutants. Rating: Hit.

So that was 2008, next up, what does 2009 promise?
T/K