The Hogmanay Award

The shortlist:

BioShock for the magnificent underwater city that is Rapture

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the great reinvention of the series

Halo 3 for the multiplayer

Super Mario Galaxy for the mind-bending use of gravity

It was a brave move to take CoD away from the Second World War, but in hindsight it was a much-needed and brilliantly carried out transition from the 1940s to the present day. However, the credit for the move should be given to the developers Infinity Ward, and for that reason CoD 4 comes fourth. This award should be given to something as perfect as can be, and as good as the gravity in Galaxy is, it, coupled with an occasionally dodgy camera can lead to a quick and frustrating fall into a black hole. Becasue of this, Super Mario Galaxy comes third. And so we are left with just two. And what a pair it is. The multiplayer in Halo 3 is as fantastic as ever, and the setting for BioShock is just dripping in atmosphere. But while they are both superb, one is closer to perfect than the other. And that is why I have decided to award the Hogmanay Award to the city where the artist would not fear the censor and where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality. 2K could have gone with any old clicheic setting, but they didn’t. They chose something different. They chose something impossible. They chose Rapture. And that is why I can give the Friday’s Gamer Hogmanay Award 2007 to no game other than BioShock.

Well, 2007 has been a great year for me. I hope it has for you all to. I want to thank you for all the support during theses last months and I promise to be back next year with even more reviews, previews, awards and pithy insight. Happy New Year everybody.

Review: Reviews (Part 4)

Super Mario Galaxy

It’s rare to find a game so consistantly brilliant. One of the greatest games of all time ever. 10BioShock

Just outstanding. Unbelievablely aatmospheric and a superbly quotable plot twist. 10

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

The best CoD ever. In fact, one of the best FPSs ever. 10

Review: Reviews (Part 3)

Forza MotorSport 2

I cant’ choose between them! A superb game. Just awesome. 9.5

Project Gotham Racing 4

I can’t choose between them! A superb game. Just awesome. 9.5

The Orange Box

A bargain David Dickinson would approve of. 5 fantastic games for £40? Get it! NOW! 9.5

Mass Effect

The biggest RPG ever made. Makes Oblivion feel as big as your garden. 9.5

Wii Sports

The perfect introduction to the Wii. Simply genius. 9.5

Halo 3

Partially killed by the hype. Worth the money for the multiplayer alone. Which is good, since the single-player ain’t too impressive. 9.0

Resistance: Fall of Man

A great launch game. Great enemies and fantastic weapons. An almost-superb FPS. 9.0

Assassin’s Creed

Possibly the best looking game ever. It may feel a bit repetetive towards the end. But for sheer scale, you can’t fault it. 9.0

Crysis

A gorgeous, fantastic FPS. Problem is, you need one hell of a PC to run it well. 9.0

Colin Macrae: DiRT

Mud. Mud. Mud. As good as MotorStorm, but less frustrating. 9.0

MotorStorm

Mud. Mud. Mud. But better mud than Sega Rally has. 9.0

Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock

What do you expect? 9.0

Stranglehold

The fancy table-hopping moves may feel very scripted, but for all its technical shortfalls this is very very fun. 9.0

Sega Rally

Mud. Mud. Mud. Not quite as good as MotorStorm though. 9.0

Virtua Tennis 3

The players may noty look like their real life counterparts, but this plays exactly as you’d expect it to. 9.0

Virtua Fighter 5

Looks amazing, plays better. The best beat ‘em up you can buy at the moment. 9.0

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

It’s fun. You can’t help but smile. 9.0

Singstar

Just as fun as ever, but now with downloadable tracks. 9.0

Metroid Prime 3 Corruption

Once and for all proves the Wii can handle proper FPSs. 9.0

Review: Reviews (Part 2)

The Darkness

An entralling and captivating Mafia-style FPS, but with a demonic twist. Bloody (very bloody at times) good. 9.0

FIFA 08

It’s finally done it! The best footie game you’ll play this year. 8.0

Pro Evolution Soccer

SHOCK HORROR! This is not as good as FIFA 08! Still very good, but more arcade-y than previous titles. 8.0

WWE: SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008

It may still have those God-awful analog controls, but this is actually the best WWE game for a couple of years. 8.0

Burnout Dominator

Like a prelude to Paradise, this just shows how good Burnout can be. And it’s portable! 8.0

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2

Yes, it is yet another Wii minigame compilation, but it’s actually good. It’s cute, quirky, and dare I say fun. 8.0

Red Steel

A decent attempt to make a good Wii FPS. Controls can annoy, but you’ve got to respect then for trying. 8.0

Worms: Open Warfare 2 (PSP)

The PSP is the perfect home for Worms. A great title vastly improved on the last one. 8.0

The Simpsons Game

As funny as the TV show. If that’s a good thing for you, you’ll love it. If not, then save your cash. 8.0

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

Great licenses, poor arm-burning gameplay. 7.0

Review: Reviews (Part 1)

 In case I missed anything…

Medal of Honor: Airborne

A standard MoH game, but with a skydiving, paratrooping twist. However, the very thing supposed to give the series new life, ruins the game’s. it makes it very repetetive, very fast. 7.0

NBA 08

A nice surprise. All the great EA presentation and actually quite decent gameplay, graphics and animation. 7.0

Need for Speed: Carbon

Now the last of the ‘proper’ NfSes, this is just very diappointing. 7.0

Need for Speed: Pro Street

A new direction for the series, but a shit one. 7.0

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

Like a big-budget, but albeit crap, Hollywood movie. Great characters, plot, and VOs, but stunted and laboured gameplay. 7.0

Worms: Open Warfare 2 (DS)

The DS screens spoil some of the fun, but this has all the charm you’d expect of Worms and Team 17. 6.5

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

More overrated than Halo. Actually, wait that’s not true. But it is very overrated, and in a similar vein to the two below, that is because of the controls and camera. Also the graphics suck. 6.5

WWE: SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 (Wii)

Just like FIFA below, the controls have ruined an otherwise very good game. Shows potential  though. 6.0

FIFA 08 (Wii)

FIFA was much better this year, but the camera and controls ruined this Wii effort. 5.5

Space Giraffe

A psychadelic, epliepy-inducing, migraine of a game. One of the worst things ever in human history. 1.5

The Friday’s Gamer Awards 2007: The Round-up

Super Mario Galaxy (5)

Best Wii Game
Special Award for Originality
The Gameplay Award
Outstanding Achievement
Game of the Year

BioShock (4)

Best Newcomer
Best Xbox 360 Game
Special Award for Setting
Outstanding Achievement 

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (4)

Best Sequel
Special Award for Atmosphere
Special Award for Best Trailer
Outstanding Achievement

Mass Effect (3)

Special Award for Customisation
Special Award for Freedom
Special Award for Storytelling

Halo 3 (2)

Special Award for Multiplayer
The Lifespan Award 

Resistance: Fall of Man (2)

Best PS3 Game
Special Award for Making the News

Assassin’s Creed (1)

The Lifespan Award

Crackdown (1)

Special Award for Marketing

Crysis (1)

Best PC Game

The Friday’s Gamer Awards 2007

It has been one of the best years ever in the history of the video gaming industry. So before we look forward to 2008’s offerings, let’s look back upon, reminisce about and reward the best of 2007. This is the Friday’s Gamer Video Gaming Awards 2007

BEST NEWCOMER

Easy one, since this got 96.

BioShock

BEST SEQUEL

Really, I should give this to Galaxy, but because it is so different from the others in the series, the winner has to be;

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

BEST DEVELOPER

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, right? Well, clearly these guys didn’t get the memo. They took Call of Duty and moved it forward 60 years. A bold move. A smart move.

Infinity Ward

BEST PUBLISHER

Halo 3. BioShock. Forza 2. PGR4. They published all the good games of 2007.

Microsoft Game Studios

BEST PC GAME

Only one great game. 

Crysis

BEST PS3 GAME

Resistance, MotorStorm or Ratchet & Clank? Tough but…

Resistance: Fall of Man

BEST WII GAME

Just like the two above, this has almost no competition. Has to be that crazy Italian again.

Super Mario Galaxy

BEST XBOX 360 GAME

All of the (very many) 360 exclusives have faults, but this has only one. No multiplayer. You guessed yet? 

BioShock

SPECIAL AWARD FOR ATMOSPHERE

I so almost gave this to BioShock, but for the incessant, pulsating, frantic action, it has to be… 

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

SPECIAL AWARD FOR BEST TRAILER

This game gets this award for its “Wars change. Weapons change. Soldiers don’t” trailer.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

SPECIAL AWARD FOR CUSTOMISATION

Customising a car or a name is usually the limit for most games, but not BioWare’s new game. It lets you customise almost everything about your character. An easy decision.

Mass Effect

SPECIAL AWARD FOR FREEDOM

Most games give you no option for exploration. Some give you a big city or 3. Some give you a whole world. This year, however there have been two which have let you explore the final frontier. Mass Effect and Super Mario Galaxy. But since Mario Galaxy only lets you go between a certain few directly (i.e. not via the Observatory), Mass Effect scores two in a row. 

Mass Effect

SPECIAL AWARD FOR MARKETING

Selling a game with an invite to the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta was a stroke of genius.

Crackdown

SPECIAL AWARD FOR MAKING THE NEWS

Making the news for the wrong reasons could be bad publicity, but if the game is praised highly, or is made to be cool, it’s all good. Because of that, it should be Manhunt 2, because only the cool stuff get banned, but to be eligible for an award, a game must have been released between January 1st and December 31st. And since it was banned, Manhunt 2 wasn’t. With Rockstar’s latest cotroversial game out of the running, I have to give the award to the game which almost got it’s publisher, Sony, sued by the Church of England. Now that is cool.

Resistance: Fall of Man

SPECIAL AWARD FOR MULTIPLAYER

No comment needed. 

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

SPECIAL AWARD FOR ORIGINALITY

Just like any Mario game except Sunshine, Galaxy is like nothing that’s ever come before. And that, surely, is the whole point of this award.

Super Mario Galaxy

SPECIAL AWARD FOR SETTING

Rapture. No question. 

BioShock

SPECIAL AWARD FOR STORYTELLING

It’s like a really good movie, like The Departed, which keeps you glued to the story from beginning to end. An easy one, this.

Mass Effect

THE GRAPHICS AWARD

I could have given this to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. I could have given it to BioShock. I almost did give it to Call of Duty for the detail and onscreen action, but for its scale and majesty, I have to give it to the epic Assassin’s Creed.

Assassin’s Creed

THE GAMEPLAY AWARD

It’s the most groundbreaking Mario game in a decade, and the unique use of gravity is not only enough to make Sir Isaac Newton turn in his grave, but it’s enough to net Galaxy another award.

Super Mario Galaxy

THE LIFESPAN AWARD

Single player: awesome. Multiplayer: awesome. You’ll be playing this until CoD 5 comes out.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT

The three games which scored 95 points or more in 2007 are;

BioShock

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Super Mario Galaxy

CONSOLE OF THE YEAR

It has all the good multiformat games but in addition has almost every great exclusive (BioShock, Forza 2, PGR4, Halo 3, Mass Effect), and so there can be no doubt about this one. 

Xbox 360

GAME OF THE YEAR

This was easily the most difficult decision to make. Naturally it was going to be one of the games which scored 95+, but that only narrows it down to three. And what a three it is. 2K’s amazing shooter BioShock, the latest instalment of Infinity Ward’s newly reinvented FPS series Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Nintendo’s mascot’s new game Super Mario Galaxy. It was incredibly difficult to choose, but I had to make a decision. And so I reasoned that although it’s less atmospheric than the other two, this game would put a bigger smile on more people’s faces than any of the others would. And that’s why I’m proud to say that the Friday’s Gamer Game of the Year for 2007 is…

Super Mario Galaxy!

Don’t forget The Hogmanay Award on Monday. Merry Christmas everyone!