Gaming Like It's 2008

[noiseredux]

To use the simple "ten years rule," then games from 2008 are now considered 'retro,' causing a choir of "damn, I'm getting old" inner monologues. With that in mind, I thought it might be interesting to start a thread for talk of games released in 2008. I wish I had thought of this much sooner in the year, but oh well. We'll see what kind of interesting discussion can come out of this, and set the tone for a 2009 thread next year.

So reminisce, sure. But also use this thread as an excuse to go back and actually play (or replay) some games that were ORIGINALLY released in 2008 and see what your thoughts are on them a decade later. How are they aging? What did they do right or wrong. Do they feel more in line with games from 2018, or 1998? Talk it up!


To get the ball rolling, here's a list of the best selling games of 2008:


1 Wii Play Wii
2 Mario Kart Wii Wii
3 Wii Fit Wii
4 Super Smash Bros. Brawl Wii
5 Grand Theft Auto IV X360
6 Call of Duty: World at War X360
7 Gears of War 2 X360
8 Grand Theft Auto IV PS3
9 Madden NFL 09 X360
10 Mario Kart DS NDS

[fastbilly1]

I still use Wiifit when I go on my exercise benders.

[guitalele81]

Cool idea!

I didn't really get back into gaming until around 2010, but I did play some games at friend's houses. Looking back at some of the top releases from 2008, it's interesting that three of the top games from that year (GTA4, Fallout 3 and MGS4) have since had sequels. I have and really love GTA5, Fallout 4, and MGS5. This also reminded me that I still have never played MGS4! To anyone who has played MGS4, how does it hold up?

[noiseredux]

I'm tempted to play GTA IV for the benefit of this thread, as I do own a copy and have only put maybe an hour or two into it. But I beat GTA5 earlier this year, and have been playing Red Dead Redemption lately so I'm cautious about burning out on Rockstar open world games. I'll take a look thru my collection for 2008 games later tonight though and see what I may want to explore. Then again, I could boot up GTA4 and just ignore the story and go look for comedy clubs and stuff like that instead haha.

[guitalele81]

I'm tempted to play GTA IV for the benefit of this thread, as I do own a copy and have only put maybe an hour or two into it. But I beat GTA5 earlier this year, and have been playing Red Dead Redemption lately so I'm cautious about burning out on Rockstar open world games. I'll take a look thru my collection for 2008 games later tonight though and see what I may want to explore. Then again, I could boot up GTA4 and just ignore the story and go look for comedy clubs and stuff like that instead haha.

Same here! I had GTA4 for Windows years ago but my PC at the time wasn't beefy enough to run it without significant stuttering. I wonder how small the world would seem after playing GTA5.

[noiseredux]

Yes! I totally think about that too now, too. In that sense, it might be interesting to compare/contrast with GTA5 so fresh in my mind.

[dunpeal2064]

Dead Space was released in 2008, and I only got around to playing it last year. Its really, really damn good, more than holds up.

Persona 4 also came out (On the ps2, even!) in 2008, and is fantastic. Still well worth visiting.

Animal Crossing: City Folk came out that year, too, and I'd say it's been outdone to the point of not being worth playing at this point.

Devil May Cry 4 is a bit divisive, but I thought it was still a good romp. It's since received a Special Edition release on the ps4, though, which would be the version to play. Curious how you'd want to consider non-remake up-ports of these games?

I haven't played Mario Kart DS since it was relatively new, but it was so good that I can't imagine it aged too terribly.

I think, for the most part, these games feel much more in line with current-gen stuff than with stuff released in '98. Progress was so rapid back then, but imo has slowed down drastically in the past 10 years or so.

[noiseredux]

Curious how you'd want to consider non-remake up-ports of these games?

Oh, go for it. To me it's more about an excuse to go back to individual GAMES. Which format or version you want to check out is up to you. It's just about considering the games, and re-evaluating. Or I suppose just evaluating if it's a game you've been meaning to play for a decade but never got around to.

[nullPointer]

Another good game that came out in 2008 was LittleBigPlanet for PS3. I have fond memories of this one, and still break it out from time to time. Mechanically speaking it's always felt ridiculously 'loose' to me as 2D platformers go, but it does have a number of things going for it. The audio-visual components are well executed and on-point. It's a nice game for the senses. It was the first 'narrated' game I ever played, by which I mean there's voice-over narration throughout the game describing and reacting to onscreen events and actions. When I first popped the game in, I thought it might be John Cleese doing the narration, but it's actually Stephen Fry. The narration never quite reaches a level of 'interactivity' of something like Bastion, but it's well done for what it is and adds a nice touch of humor to an already whimsical game.

The other factor that made LittleBigPlanet stand out was its focus on user-generated content. It was the first console game I ever played to feature such a large volume of easily accessible user-genrated content in a prominent way. This type of thing was pretty much old hat to PC gamers even in 2008, but the way it was executed within LBP felt fresh and innovative to me at the time in terms of console gaming.

[isiolia]

I have and really love GTA5, Fallout 4, and MGS5. This also reminded me that I still have never played MGS4! To anyone who has played MGS4, how does it hold up?

To a point, I think that depends on just how familiar you are with the series. As you may know, the release order of the games does not correspond to the in-game timeline, which is MGS3 -> Portable Ops (if you count it) -> Peace Walker -> Ground Zeroes -> Phantom Pain -> Metal Gear -> Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake / Ghost Babel (non-canon) -> MGS -> MGS2 -> MGS4 -> Rising (technically, though it's really more a spinoff). Which is to illustrate that MGS4 is basically the finale for the series, with a whole lot of characters and events to try and give closure to. If you go into it without really knowing what's up...it's probably going to come across as even more of a mess than it already is. As a fan of the series though, there's a lot to like.
The actual gameplay segments are fun, keeping a few of the MGS3 additions, but giving back the more advanced gadgets and simpler item use from MGS2. I think it's well worth playing, but best if left until you've played the rest of the series first.

If your primary experience with the series is MGSV, then most of the older games are structurally different and may not be as appealing as a result. The PSP entries (Portable Ops and Peace Walker) laid the groundwork for the more open base/army building with repeatable missions type setup, and may be worth checking out if you dig that part. They're 2008-ish (well, 2007 and 2010).

MGS4 was definitely part of my 2008 gaming, since I bought the PS3 bundle with the game. I remember going into Gamestop hoping to get one with tax return money, and being told nobody had them...and proceeding to go across the and buying one at Target.

2008 really had a ton of other good releases. I also know I played Mass Effect then, since that's when the Windows version came out, but there were others that I didn't get to until later, like Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.