GOTY-2007
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Joystiq's Top 10 of 2007: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
The frustrating thing about trying to write about Call of Duty 4 is that all of the phrases that best describe it have already been applied to and, in turn, drained of their impact by far less deserving games. It's a "non-stop thrill ride," its graphics are "almost photorealistic" and it is, in fact, "so real that you'd almost think you were there." What Call of Duty 4 so authoritatively manages to do is reclaim those action game clichés and, in doing so, infuse them with a new, fresh power. What Call of Duty 4's single player campaign could best be described as though, is a master's class on making good game design choices. From beginning to end, moments last just as long as they need to, difficulty is perfectly balanced and the action ebbs and flows between full-on chaos and chilling silence. From a pulse-pounding start to the final, desperate ending, it's a meticulously crafted experience. We haven't even made mention of the game's multiplayer yet, which mixes the game's explosive presentation with some RPG fundamentals to predictably addictive results. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the game is how few actual revolutionary concepts are contained within. It selects existing game design tools, hones them to practical perfection and creates what is, in our opinion, the military shooter against which all others must be judged.%Gallery-3922% Welcome, new-a entry! ->
Joystiq's Top 10 of 2007: Assassin's Creed
Ubisoft's hugely anticipated bump-off sim created quite the controversy, though oddly not for the stylish and quite visceral violence it so gleefully inflicted upon authority figures. Instead, Assassin's Creed (or Assassin's Crud, depending on who you ask) divided critics, with some being utterly engaged by the game's unique setting and others thinking the same environment to be remarkably empty. Count us among the former, as we've yet to see a bigger, more lavishly detailed and immersive world than the one dashed through, clambered up and vaulted over in Assassin's Creed. The game's greatest design flaw may be that it's a bit too open-ended for its own good, refusing to overtly reward or punish players for behaving in a specific way. If you wish, you can spend a lovely afternoon playing Maniacal Guard Killer's Creed instead, carrying out your missions with all the stealthy maneuvering of a grand piano rolling down an escalator. Would it have been wiser for Ubisoft to beat you over the head every time you set off a medieval alarm and otherwise played the game "wrong?" Perhaps... but isn't the point of open-ended gameplay to let you choose your own path? In many ways, Assassin's Creed is more of a role-playing game than most of the titles officially labeling themselves as such. When you play as Altair -- really play as him, as an assassin -- and measure failure according to your own actions and not what a Fission Mailed screen tells you, the game's intricate world becomes inescapably engaging. Learn about your target, plan your attack and revel in the absolutely thrilling chase that follows your murderous deed. Though the game's overall structure may seem repetitive in the face of such a believable world, the true magic in Assassin's Creed lies not in what you do, but how you do it. %Gallery-12473% Chief among our choices ->
Joystiq's Top 10 of 2007: Mass Effect
If you've ever borrowed a great novel from a library (ask your parents), you would know that all those reams of text can latch on to your thoughts regardless of the tattered, pig-eared and terrifyingly sticky pages they're printed on. Mass Effect is just such an experience, its story spread across technically dubious and slow-turning sheets filled with text that randomly pops in and out of existence. You also have to read several chapters while standing in the world's slowest elevator, for some reason.Still, these are complaints that are best gotten over with in the first paragraph and promptly forgotten, for Mass Effect makes its rich story heard well above the incessant clacking of the Xbox 360's exhausted DVD drive. It may seem strange to place emphasis on the massive universe and nuanced characters over the increasingly vague term of "gameplay," but BioWare's craft has masterfully blurred the lines between plot and play. We can't remember the last time we preferred chatting to aliens as opposed to shooting them in... whatever approximates a face. A laborious inventory system and initially confusing combat certainly detract from the game's (forbidden) planet-hopping journey, but the cinematic ambition on display and tough choices to be made will linger in your memory for much, much longer. In a bountiful year which encouraged us to breathlessly rush from game to epic game, it's remarkable that Mass Effect could make us pause long enough to consider the consequences of our actions.%Gallery-1968% He sounds like a cereal (killer) ->
