Yes, I’m aware it’s 2009 now. But I still need to cover the games that I played in 2007, before I can move on to the 2008 edition.
The rule is that it has to be a game that I played for the first time in 2007 – not paying too much attention to the original release date.
The finalists are:
* Bioshock
* Mass Effect
* Portal
* Super Mario Galaxy
* Uncharted
* World in Conflict
So, without further ado…
In 6th place is **Mass Effect**. This is a game that I was incredibly excited about, but never got the energy together to play more than about three hours. I’m sure I’ll come back to it some day, but it’s a game where nothing quite comes together properly. Of course, it still beats out lots of games that didn’t make the list at all.
**World in Conflict** takes 5th place. The main reason I didn’t finish this one was that it kept crashing on my MacBook Pro. But it’s a lot of fun – an interesting take on simplifying the real-time strategy genre, with an interesting plotline. Makes good use of high-end PC graphics as well.
For fourth place is **Portal**. It’s a great fun game (which I actually finished, so it’s also pretty short). But I didn’t get as much out of the plot as a lot of reviewers, and the humor was just ‘OK’. But an interesting take on the first-person puzzle game, a genre without a lot of entrants so far.
**Super Mario Galaxy** takes third place. This game is just about the only reason to own a Wii. I haven’t finished it, mainly because I was spending so much time getting each and every star that I hadn’t finished by the time I moved on to the next game. Fantastic, pure platforming fun, with an occasional frustration from an inconsistent difficulty curve.
Second place goes to **Uncharted**. It’s a simple Tomb Raider rip-off, with a little bit of Gears of War thrown in for the combat sequences. But it’s so well done, with a great pulp plot, that it’s one of the most compelling games out there.
And so first place, the inaugural Exasperated Calculator Game of the Year 2007, goes to **Bioshock**. The main attraction is the strength of the story, but the RPG-esque shooter gameplay is a big part of the attraction as well.
I’ll try and get to 2008 before too much of 2009 passes….