Even though some years during the Noughties have strong gaming line-ups, the quality of 2007 is simply exceptional. You know it's going to be a tough year when classics like Zelda Phantom Hourglass don't even make the list and it's a real duel between Bioshock and Mass Effect to make it to the final five. Still, eventually I applied a mixture of stern logic and tactical violence and here's what I came up with.
The Runners-Up Well, coming up with that final list was tough enough, but how do you decide between five gaming paragons like these? Start at the beginning, I guess and despite its excellence and being the first major Mario title on Wii, Super Mario Galaxy falls at the first for no other reason than I'm no Nintendo gamer. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, a superb title properly showcasing the power and the potential of the PS3, but again, harshly eliminated at fence two. Mass Effect a truly ground-breaking RPG, setting new standards for storyline and characterisation, but unable to clear the third hurdle. Finally, and controversially, the amazing Halo 3, a true blockbuster title which made national headlines and remains a brilliant multiplayer FPS to this very day, but not quite able to dislodge our winner on this occasion.
The Winner: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Modern Warfare: one of the best FPS of all time
Yup in possibly the toughest year of the decade to judge, eventually there could be only one and it's Infinity Ward's superb re-invention of its World War 2 shooter series. It's difficult to overestimate the impact this game made when it was first released.
A revolutionary game engine brought amazing new visuals to the modern era and a whole new previously unexplored arsenal of destruction to the FPS. The superb story-led single-player campaign was a gritty, realistic tour de force of modern combat and who can forget stand-out moments like the nuclear blast which saw you die in the shadow of the mushroom cloud, Ghillies in the Mist or the gripping ending where almost fatally wounded, Price slides you a pistol to exact revenge on Zakhaev?
As if this wasn't enough, Modern Warfare's multiplayer still ranks as one of the finest online experiences available. As well as a highly polished and carnage-filled deathmatch experience, new innovations like Helicopter and recon support added tactical elements, with a well-balanced system of Kill Streak rewards and perks which give Modern Warfare an almost RPG-style feel of progression.
Not only the finest game of 2007, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is quite simply one of the finest first-person shooters ever made and is arguably even more polished and accomplished than this year's sequel.
Your Shout Okay we've told your ours, now you tell us yours! Your top five, overall winner and most importantly, why, in the comments field below please.
Yeah... DAEDALUS79, the third ( by 0.01%) highest rated game of all time shouldn't be included in the best games of 2007........ it doesn't make any sense!!! WHY did they put such a low regarded game with those extremely innovative masterpieces that are gods of the gaming world.
Bioshock>>Halo 3 and I do like MW, Halo and Uncharted, but it's aggravates me that most gamers disregard SMG because it's not a HD GUNATHON running through generic levels mowing down the same soldier again and again!
Halo 3 may not be your cup of tea, but there are millions of people who do love it. A bad game wouldn't be consistently gracing the number 1 and 2 spots of most played on XBL 2 years after release.
This incessant hating (usually by people who haven't given it enough or any time to form a valid opinion) is pointless and pathetic.
Mario Galaxy however...what in gods name is that doing in there.
it has every right to be in there, and maybe even in the final list of the decade. when the lowest review score it got is a 9, you know its at least a good game. it isnt the second highest rated game of all time tho. bioshock definately should have been in here. also note that the orange box was released in 2007 aswell.
Mario Galaxy however...what in gods name is that doing in there.
Despite everyone else flaming you for saying that I'm with you on that one. But then again that is my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own (and personally I think SMG was very overrated).
BioShock should of taken it's place. I can't believe it's not in CVGs top 5 either way.
This is definitely an easy contest for me, Mass Effect takes top spot easily. Halo 3 just about pips MW, due to the crappy spawning in the latter title. My opinion could be changed by Monday, as my copy of Uncharted is waiting my return from Madrid, although I thought the demo was a bit disappointing.
And I agree with some others that Bioshock should be on the list in place of SMG, which was good fun, but never gripped me enough to complete it.
How dumb is this list???? No Bioshock! That's an absolute disgrace. Very few games beat Bioshock in terms of atmosphere and storytelling. Halo 3 should not be on this list!
Bioshock is a scary game in parts- contrary to the original trailer, this is not mainly because of the Big Daddies who can be defeated with the smallest pistol and wrench and simple dodging. It's because of the jumping, screaming splicers, because of moments when the lights go out or ice clouds your vision and you get attacked on all sides. Or what about when you are watching a public information film and all the splicers start crowding around and you think that they are going to get in the same room as you?
The 'moral choices' may as well have been an afterthought as you end up either a complete saint or a complete sinner (but how could you harvest even one time and feel good about it?).
Bioshock also mainly sticks to being a shooter, with survival horror aspects. So it isn't a shooter puzzle platformer hybrid like Metroid Prime was. But Bioshock concentrates on customised weaponary and abilities instead. Personally speaking, it's not what I like to concentrate on because I can never be sure whether I would be better spending money on guns or other abilities - I'm not of a 'PC gamer' mentality- I like more certainty. which is why Uncharted: Drake's Fotune was so appealing, mixing shooting, platforming and arcade-type vehicle sections, as well as having atmosphere. But Bioshock's atmosphere and art design is so compelling that you are carried along it like a ghost train and you end up wanting to try out things yourself because otherwise things are going to become just too mental to cope with.
I'd definitely put it on the list of games of the year- for some it'll be game of the generation or even decade.
Halo 3 may not be your cup of tea, but there are millions of people who do love it. A bad game wouldn't be consistently gracing the number 1 and 2 spots of most played on XBL 2 years after release.
This incessant hating (usually by people who haven't given it enough or any time to form a valid opinion) is pointless and pathetic.
Yes and the wii outsold everything by a million miles so that means its a million times better then everything else right?
I think there was an interesting convo going on in the thread for 2002 where I have played all of them (ODST is in the post 4 me right now) and I highlighted a few problems which are so apparent it cannot be considered to be in the top tier of shooters. Anyways I was surprised halo won 2002 because I was pretty sure 3 was better by a country mile coupled with CVG's awesome logic shown with the original cod being compared to MW and hence snuffing the older game.
Enough abt halo for now, I think it's just amazing GoW2 never even got a mention and bioshock was not even in the running (I will admit I totally 4got abt this game even though its up there with the best). Mass Effect is a kick ass game with awesome story but I think the thing tht brought tht game down was those terrible mako bits, omg I feel like punching smthg elevators, not so great combat and every planet in the galaxy apparently having the exact same buildings. Uncharted was and still is amazing but Bshock and GoW2 is tough competition and I really couldn't split them.
Orange box came out tht year I think and tht was snubbed (I cant consider tht just 1 game though) but that's probably because valve did nothing different in the Hl games. MW was awesome but they were quite a few other games tht probably should have taken it instead. I cant say I'm surprised though as CVG have botched most of these award thingies.
Halo 3 may not be your cup of tea, but there are millions of people who do love it. A bad game wouldn't be consistently gracing the number 1 and 2 spots of most played on XBL 2 years after release.
This incessant hating (usually by people who haven't given it enough or any time to form a valid opinion) is pointless and pathetic.
Yes and the wii outsold everything by a million miles so that means its a million times better then everything else right?
Sales figures aren't an accurate quantification of quality, there's plenty of evidence for that. What IS an accurate depiction is the number of people returning to play the game, especially after a decent amount of time since release.
And it's not just the MP that Halo 3 excels at and continually draws people back to, Bungie have released very impressive stats on the large number of kills that players of the campaign are continuing to rack up even now (probably due to excellent co-op support).
That was an outstanding year for games, very hard to pick a winner. Uncharted was and still is fantastic to play, and Bioshock should at least be on that list. Still, COD4 is still played by millions including me so it's the right choice.
How Halo ends up above Mass Effect and Mario Galaxy i dont know but whats even more shocking is that Bioshock isent even in the list. Very hard year to judge but ye for what it started COD4 deserves top spot.
Halo 3 may not be your cup of tea, but there are millions of people who do love it. A bad game wouldn't be consistently gracing the number 1 and 2 spots of most played on XBL 2 years after release.
This incessant hating (usually by people who haven't given it enough or any time to form a valid opinion) is pointless and pathetic.
Yes and the wii outsold everything by a million miles so that means its a million times better then everything else right?
Sales figures aren't an accurate quantification of quality, there's plenty of evidence for that. What IS an accurate depiction is the number of people returning to play the game, especially after a decent amount of time since release.
And it's not just the MP that Halo 3 excels at and continually draws people back to, Bungie have released very impressive stats on the large number of kills that players of the campaign are continuing to rack up even now (probably due to excellent co-op support).
that's true but I'm guessing there is also a crazy amount of people who are still returning to wii boxing (or whatever those mini games are called) and the like. I don't think figures are the greatest things to go by for some things.
why the hell is someone that by his own admission is not a nintendo player compiling this list? How can you be so dismissive of a game because of your own ignorance? I can forgive forumites this but you're actually getting paid to dribble this s**te onto a keyboard. Shame on you
makes me laugh when some of you decide its 'cool' to bring down one of the most popular titles of all time....Halo! i aint a halo fan boy but theres no denying its one fantastic series both for single and multiplayer hey i aint into football games but i cant say FIFA is a bad video game as its super popular so you have to respect that!!
I played through Halo 3 on co-op on a friend's xbox and played Bioshock on my pc. Of the two experiences, the one that had the most impact was far and away Bioshock. So I'd like to add my voice to the gasp no Bioshock crowd. What logic did you apply to get this list? I'd be curious to know.
makes me laugh when some of you decide its 'cool' to bring down one of the most popular titles of all time....Halo! i aint a halo fan boy but theres no denying its one fantastic series both for single and multiplayer hey i aint into football games but i cant say FIFA is a bad video game as its super popular so you have to respect that!!
dont player hate people!
well fifa has a hue amount of probs tht hinder its enjoyment but what other football game is there? pro? that's even worse so you play the least crappy out of the 2. On 360 what mp fps's do you have? halo, l4d and MW so that's what you got to play.
Anyways I don't think it's cool and I hate people who just say halo sucks without even finishing each of them. I went in thinkin there must be a reason it's big and came out confuzzled. If it was so great and insane then why did it bomb on PC?
anyways I think I've beaten this horse to death (abt 5 times over) so lets just make fun of CVG picking lbp for its year.
Super Mario Galaxy is one of the most over rated games ever. Keep everything the same but replace mario with another character, dont call it mario, and dont have it associated with Miyamoto and it wouldnt even get a mention.
For some reason having Miyamoto associated to a game totally blinds people. Nintendo have gone steadily downhill since the SNES, which is a shame as they were great in that era.
Halo 3 receives so much undeserved hate. Halo 2 was a massive let down, but 3 was amazing and deserves GOTY.
John, you are a rubbish journalist and should not be writing such articles, as evidenced by the fact that you freely admit to being biased against Nintendo. For shame.
this is silly. he said no to mario galaxy because hes not a nintendo gamer! stupid. as for COD, i think that its basiclly same game all the time. i am with the cod loathers on this one
I played COD4 for two years, I think it's the best game this generation. Modern warfare 2 is ok but feels like RE5 does to RE4. Decent but a let down at the same time. Should have been better. 2007 was the best year for gaming that I can remember. Bioshock and Mass effect were AWESOME. Mario Galaxy didn't click with me for some reason, not a patch on the previous 2-D mario games on SNES.
2009 had some good games but I expect 2010 to blow the **** out of everything that has come before. Already this mionth we've got Bayonetta and Mass effect 2. Off to a flying start.
Oh and all you Nintendo fanboys who can't stop crying like a little bitch, shut the **** up, Nintendo have lost the plot this generation and are lucky they are still in this business with all the **** they have put out.
Oh and all you Nintendo fanboys who can't stop crying like a little bitch, shut the **** up, Nintendo have lost the plot this generation and are lucky they are still in this business with all the **** they have put out.
Wow wow wow!, Nick. Did a Nintendo fan sexually assault you or something?
I can say my stuff about Super Mario Galaxy, but putting it off the list for a reason like that? Thats a little biased.
And one more thing Nick, people complain when something they hold dear are getting squashed down in the mud, thats just the way things are. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have been the image of self-restrainment if he badmouthed a game you held dear.
And as far as i know, Nintendos "plot"(?) have had great sucsess this genaration. And they are still in business because they produce thing with a decent amount of quality. You think every crappy party game on the Wii is made by them?
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