Best of the Rest: Alexander's Picks of 2007
Please, make the addiction stop! Civilization IV: Warlords, the first expansion for Civ IV, made my "Best of the Rest" last year and Beyond the Sword tops this year's list. The funny thing is I'm not a Civ fanboy, nor am I even that great of a player (Full Disclosure: I still play on Noble level), but Civ IV is a game I can come back to over and over again. Beyond the Sword added much-needed mechanics for culture-prone and passive-aggressive players, with enhancements in espionage and other concepts "beyond the sword." Oh, and just to keep last year's tradition going: Firaxis (2K, Take-Two), please get the rights to Alpha Centauri back from EA and give us a sequel!
Is it worth $60? Absolutely not. But if you can find it for $30 or less, Overlord is an overlooked semi-precious gem. The game can be glitchy and has clear design issues, but you can see the vision Triumph Studios had in development, and for the most part the studio accomplished its goals. Overlord is a game that would benefit from a very direct sequel using everything created for the first game and just adding new levels with more polish in concept and execution.
The Halo Beta didn't interest me so I just didn't pay much attention to Crackdown. About a month after The Halo Beta was over I finally got around to playing Crackdown -- and it was awesome. Sure, the narrator spouted lines randomly for no apparent reason, but the game itself was great summer fun. Just like Overlord, Crackdown would benefit from a sequel -- sadly, we may have to wait a while.
As Peggle is to Plinko, Puzzle Quest is to Bejeweled. Finding just the right mix of RPG and addictive puzzle action, Puzzle Quest's missions and ancillary elements create an experience that every person should own on their handheld for trips -- or on a console for 10-minute breaks. The real question: Is Puzzle Quest the beginning of the casual game hybrids, or is it just an anomaly?
Want MOAR! High-quality video game versions of excellent European board games are, well, excellent.
Winks to The Darkness (Xbox 360, PS3), Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3), Lost Planet (Xbox 360, PC).
- Heavenly Sword (PS3): Somewhere under this movie there was a game. Goddess of War this is not ... more like Heavenly Rental.
- Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360): Chopin can take his existential emo-whining and shove it. A fun battle system was met with a game where the developers got lazy halfway through and allowed the writers to commit intellectual self-fornication.
- Project Sylpheed (Xbox 360): Those of us waiting for the successor to Wing Commander are going to have to keep waiting.
Playing the many, many releases from late October through the end of the year.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
thethirdmoose @ Jan 1st 2008 11:48PM
that said, civ4 ftw
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jan 1st 2008 10:39PM
I actually found Heavenly Sword to be better than I expected. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I didn't buy it, given I finished it in 6 hours 56 minutes (I timed it!), but I enjoyed almost all of those 6 hours 56 minutes.
Maybe I just benefited from coming in with low expectations.
hotnutz @ Jan 2nd 2008 10:15AM
Agree with you on HS 100% 7 hours for me but 7 hours of pure enjoyment. This is how games should be made - a nice tough boss battle too.
DaMan09 @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:56AM
finally, some Crackdown recognition.
Senna @ Jan 2nd 2008 10:20AM
My Catan on xbox live doesn't look like that! How do you get that version?
Senna @ Jan 2nd 2008 10:25AM
Nevermind -_-
Angel of Death @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:44PM
Wow, hard to believe that Crackdown was in 2007 - lots of great releases this year.
I really enjoyed Crackdown too. I didn't do much of the driving, found it a lot more fun to run across the rooftops doing superjumps.
I always describe as "Like GTA, except you're a super-powered policeman".
I didn't like the cel-shading, otherwise it was pretty good.
AoD
ogvor @ Jan 5th 2008 4:44PM
Yay for Catan! Seriously one of my favorite games of 2007 (I've played over 150 games) and by far my favorite Xbox Live Arcade game yet (I played Puzzle Quest on DS btw)