Best of 2008

As part of our year-end features on IGN Vault, staffers were asked to write up our personal “Best of 2008″ lists of games we played the most for the year. You can find the original article at this link, but here’s what I wrote on my list.

2008 was a great year in gaming for me because I got to meet a lot of the people behind those shiny retail boxes, the ones who put their collective creativity into the games that fill our leisure time. But most of all, I got to play the multitude of new games and expansions that they created this year. For once in a long time, there were more MMOs in the market than I ever had time to play.

Here is my own personal top five list.

1. Pirates of the Burning Sea
   Published by: Sony Online Entertainment
   Developed by: Flying Lab
   Release Date: January 21, 2008
   Genre: Persistent Online RPGPirates was in production for about five years before it finally launched early in 2008. The game wasn’t even on my radar until I read a dev log written by its lead designer Isildur on the game’s player-owned economy. It totally sparked my interest and drew visions of myself creating a trading empire in the Caribbean of the 1700s. Move over, East India Trading Company, here I come! Well, my plans of financial conquest in the burning seas didn’t quite work out but I made a great many lasting friends in the POTBS community and for that alone, the game earns the number one spot in my heart and on my list.
2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
   Published by: Blizzard Entertainment
   Developed by: Blizzard Entertainment
   Release Date: November 13, 2008
   Genre: Persistent Online RPGIt’s no secret – I’m a WoW addict. Those who know me best though, also know that I quit the game soon after Burning Crusade came out last year. To me, BC was just more of the same old formula only with more grinding and less exploration. So I did the MMO-hop for over a year, until Wrath of the Lich King pulled me back into WoW. Since its release, I’ve leveled up a Death Knight to 80 on the Alliance side and am considering doing the same thing on the Horde side once I get through all the PvE (non-dungeon) content. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to do the dungeon and raiding content since my gaming friends have practically abandoned me for WAR and that zombie-killing game.
3. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
   Published by: Electronic Arts
   Developed by: Mythic Entertainment
   Release Date: September 18, 2008
   Genre: Persistent Online RPGWAR is like my secret lover. If there ever were card-carrying carebears, I’d be one of them and yet here I am playing a PvP-centric MMO and loving every minute of it. Okay so my guild hasn’t captured a keep yet and the most I’ve ever done is play in a scenario, but what I love about WAR is that it does not encourage ganking. If your level is too high for an open PvP area, guess what? You get turned into a chicken! The PvE content in WAR is robust enough to keep one entertained but the game really shines in its realm-vs-realm content.
4. Wizard 101
   Published by: KingsIsle Entertainment
   Developed by: KingsIsle Entertainment
   Release Date: September 2, 2008
   Genre: Persistent Online RPGMy adventures in Wizard 101 started out as a writing assignment. Rosethorn wanted someone to write an article on this new MMO aimed at the younger crowd and her eye just happened to fall on me so I did some research, got into the beta and tried it out. To my surprise, I fell in love with the game! I think it was the combination of anime-like graphics and cute pop culture references that bowled me over… Okay I’ll admit it, I got hooked on the minigames and spent hours trying to beat the high score in Sorcery Stones!
5. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (PC)
   Published by: Electronic Arts
   Release Date: August 26, 2008
   Genre: SimulationSo this is the only non-MMO that made it to my top five list. The Sims 2 is one of those games that keeps reeling me back in time and again. This year, I revisited this old flame when Apartment Life was released. The expansion lets you move your sim family into an apartment building where they can walk over to a neighbor’s door and visit if the neighbor likes them enough to let them in. Interesting concept, but the lag caused by all the random people moving in and out of the building, swimming in the public pool, and using the club facilities (notably the karaoke machine) drove my sims nuts and back to their single family homes.