The mistletoe is pinned to doorframe, or the belt buckle in Lewis' case, and the Christmas cheer is jolly well in. So what better time is there to celebrate the best the festive season has to offer us gaming Santas? From the best titles of last year, to this year's hottest games and next year's sickly sweet candy-coated treats, here's part one of PSW's take on A Christmas Carol...
Ghosts Of Christmas Past Christmas 2007 was a whir of excitement and hype. It was PS3's first Christmas. It turned from 'the best ever!' to a 'mixed bag'. Here are the best releases worth a second gander...
Call Of Duty Modern Warfare Publisher: Activision Developer: Infinity Ward Score: 9/10
Call Of Duty had already overtaken the Medal Of Honor series as our preferred WWII shooter, and then Infinity Ward levelled up... dragging the series kicking into the modern era, fuelled by a game engine dripping with detail and boosted by the best online set-up yet.
The game redefined the console FPS as it stamped one muddy foot on the opposition's efforts. We feared for the future of EA's lacklustre Medal Of Honor series. We frowned on the PS2-ness of Insomniac's Resistance. On PS3, Modern Warfare was the daddy.
Was it the instinctive controls? The rain-soaked, mud-splattered detail of the scenery? The emotional Story mode? The addictive Perks system? The hassle-free online set-up?
In reality it was all of this together with an online mode that welcomed newbies with open arms, encouraging us all to go on ten-hit kill streaks as the 'Woo-ha!' and triumphant music boomed from the TV. Every tour in Modern Warfare was like having a pat on the back as you levelled up. Christmas dinner be damned, there are Perks to earn.
Uncharted Drake's Fortune Publisher: Sony Developer: Naughty Dog Score: 9/10
Adventurer Nathan Drake is on the hunt for the lost treasure of Sir Francis Drake, a double-crossing partner, mercenaries, rival gold diggers, a feisty reporter and something nasty lurking in the shadows all conspire to get in his way. As Nathan would say: "Sweet!"
Something of a sleeper hit this one. While the likes of Heavenly Sword, Lair and Ratchet & Clank soaked up the attention from Sony's admirers, but ultimately failed to deliver, Naughty Dog was hammering away on its sublime Indy-meets-Resi 4 adventure.
Uncharted's lead hero had all the charm of a young Michael Douglas, if a young Michael Douglas looked like Matthew McConaughey with the attitude of Harold and Kumar. The success of this platform romp was myriad, bounding between rocks and leaping waterfalls was easy, the coverfire system enabled you to crack headshots and the game's visuals left onlookers reaching lustily for their credit cards.
Uncharted sold PS3s by the armoured truckload - it had the console flying off the shelves. This isn't conjecture, it's cold hard fact. Trophies were added in August, forcing diehard fans to replay it for extra rewards, and encouraging those that missed out to pick up the game, reminding us all what a jewel in the crown Sony has in Naughty Dog's new franchise.
Assassin's Creed Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Score: 7/10
A stealth adventure set in 1191 at the time of the Third Crusade into the Holy Land. Throw in time travel, a conspiracy and a hunt for a relic imbued with world conquering powers, and you have the makings of a cracking game.
Oops. This free-running assassination romp made one too many slip-ups and failed to live up to its 18 months of hype. Was it when the secret plot twist was revealed in the opening cutscene (hint: it's all about time travel)? Or the repetition of performing the same five missions over and over again?
The upside was it looked amazing, climbing to the highest spire and gazing across your new world is still one of PS3's highlights. Still, you can pick this up on the cheap now, and for less money Assassin's Creed is worth a look. Plus you need to catch up in time for the sequel.
Kane & Lynch Publisher: Eidos Developer: IO Interactive Score: 8/10
Lynch is a psychopath, Kane is a career mercenary with a dark past, together they have to do one last job for underworld organization The7. The lives of Kane's family lay on the line.
When you have the Hitman games on your CV, people expect big things from your first new franchise in five years. Kane & Lynch was billed as a spiritual sequel to IO's Freedom Fighters, because it ditched Hitman's stealth for trigger-happy gunplay and squad commands.
When K&L; is good, it's outstandingly good. The Tokyo bank raid and subsequent Heat-style street shootout must be played. The game lost its way toward the end, before throwing you back into the thick of it with a secret bonus mission. Criminally overlooked on release, of all the Ghosts Of Christmas Past K&L; deserves some festive cheer.
The Orange Box Publisher: EA Developer: Valve Score: 9/10
Five games-in-one collection that brings Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and puzzler Portal to PS3.
At the time, Orange Box hit a wall of controversy as Valve made murky statements to the effect they didn't like working with PS3. It's not surprising then that the games featured a number of bugs. The good news is that a year on, a slew of patches have tided up the package, turning it into a bargain-hunters dream. Of the games here, Portal stands out, it's a puzzle game based around physics, in which you create portals in the environment to overcome energy-sapping obstacles and puzzles.
It's short lived, but innovative. Team Fortress 2 is a Marmite online shooter that failed to launch when placed next to Call Of Duty Modern Warfare. The Half-Life 2 Trilogy are a group of atmospheric, often brilliant story-driven shooters that put technical wizardry ahead of good old-fashioned pacing and excitement. Bargain.
i dont know why k&l was hated so badly the controls were easy maybe i just got mad skills or u just suck ? i loved it online was better then cod4 for me it was lag free and i owned anybody on that game i prob owned all of u 2 :twisted: uncharted was my top game of that year cant wait for uncharted2 and assassins greed was great got abit boring doing the same shiz but im looking forward to part 2 and 3
I was just reading thus and wondered how people can take CVG"s reviews seriously with kane and lynch given an 8 and ratchet and clank "failing to deliver". Sure K&L made you feel like you were in a movie but it was completely broken, and why is AC even in that list???? And I think valve doesnt port games to the ps3 not coz they dont like it but because they can't (no ps3 devs in there team) Anyways i cant tell this to people enough: GET UNCHARTED!!!!!!!
Lol, hypocrites Kane and Lynch had a movie quality story,Gears of war controls, also the characters are anti-heroes, they are supposed to be hateable. ****tard.
ok why K&L sucked the AI was terrible. Most of the times my orders didnt really do anything, they also liked getting mowed down by automatic fire and u would have 2 risk your ass to revive them. Now add unintuitive controls (getting into cover was a hassle most of the time and gun play was underwhelming), horrendous final levels, a story which had potential put together with tape and terrible endings (both of them sucked)and i think you got a less than stellar game. but hey thats just me, if you enjoy the game then thats kl too. I found AC to b a horrible game and i must say am completely surprised that i actually went on to the end but ya ive beaten all 3 halos so i do have patience
