2007 The Year In Video Games

So this year started with World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and just like this blog I come and go from Outland. I just started playing again yesterday for the first time in four months. I still love it, and it's so much fun. Logging on and knocking out some quests and hanging out with other players is an experience that resonates with me deep in my gaming soul. With the winter/spring being a slow period for games I could see myself playing from January until well into the Summer. So if your looking for me in '08 look to Malfurion.

February brought one of the biggest gaming surprises of the year in Crackdown. Yes admittedly I bought it for the Halo 3 beta test, but in the end I had a lot of fun playing it. I loved the mission structures and the pseudo-leveling up. I don't like vehicle stuff for some reason, but everything else was pretty awesome. I bought the DLC for this game when it came out, but haven't really had time to dive into it. I think another play through of Crackdown is on my early '08 things to do list.

I then seriously...honestly...spent March through May playing World of Warcraft. I did plow through Gears of War in April, and played some Castlevania on my DS, but other than that it was all Warcraft...until.....Late May brought us the Halo 3 beta test. I played the three week test every night for a week. Then dabbled in it on the weekends. It was the perfect blend of Halo and Halo 2's multiplayer.

In August a megaton bomb went off in the form of Bioshock. If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I had no interest in this game despite a year of hype. Once the demo dropped my whole world changed. I couldn't believe how amazing this game was, and spent my days at work wanting to get home to unravel the mystery of rapture.

Of course September brought us Halo 3. It was almost everything I wanted it to be. The multiplayer is great, the single player campaign despite some AI issues was breathtaking, and I know that I will be spending years playing Halo 3's multiplayer offline and on. I also picked up Halo 2 for the PC for a refresher, and this was my 3rd play through of the game and I think it was my favorite. I don't know if it was the better graphics, the achievements, or just some time away from the single player campaign of Halo 2, but it was great to play it again.

October dropped the Orange Box and on a mountain of hype I picked it up. So far I am not a big fan, but honestly I am only a few levels into Half Life 2. I'm not going to judge it until I have played through at least Episode 1 of Half Life 2. It's definitely going to be something I have to get through in '08.

November was Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect two of my most anticipated games of the year. I had been frothing at the mouth for Assassin's Creed, and when in late October they announced the Nov. 13th release date I got super excited. I got nervous when I saw mixed reviews for the game, but then Gabe from Penny Arcade released his review which is a definite must read. I loved the game, even if the gameplay was a little lacking. I didn't mind the repetitiveness it was the controls I had some problems with. Combat could be a little clunky, especially for the final boss battles, everything else especially the story was jaw droppingly great. I am only about 5 and a half hours into Mass Effect, but I find myself with a mix of concern and awe. The graphics leave a lot to be desired with lots of low frame rate, and textures that go missing for quite a bit. The combat can also be a little hard to handle, but so far I am enjoying the story and the massive massive scope. The game feels almost too large to handle. I will write up a whole review when I finish it up.

I think that about does it for a blow by blow, but I also want to give a shout out to the Xbox Live Arcade titles I played this year. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Uno, TMNT Arcade, and of course the amazing Puzzle Quest. Also for a while I was wrapped up in Rainbow Six Vegas I didn't last very long, but I did enjoy my time in online co-op. Vegas 2 is definitely going to be a must buy for '08.

Now finally....just for kicks here is my top 5 games of '07.

5.Rainbow Six Vegas(Xbox 360)
4.Assassin's Creed(Xbox 360)
3.World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade(PC)
2.Halo 3(Xbox 360)
1.Bioshock(Xbox 360)