Perhaps it’s a bit too early in the year to start worrying about what game might actually win GOTY for 2008, seeing as almost all outlets for gaming have a strong holiday lineup on deck.  But I read an article over on DLB-Network, a website run by a buddy of mine, and it got me to thinking - just what games this year are likely to be GOTY?  Which one do I think will nab the title on other websites / magazines?

I decided I’d list all the contenders, give my thoughts and my reasoning, and see what other people think.  Many of these games came from the list proposed at DLB-Network, and some are from my own line of thought.

Grand Theft Auto 4

I believe GTA4 is a strong contender for GOTY 2008.  Some may balk at this, saying that the game wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be, but I beg to differ; the game was solid, fun, and even though it didn’t always live up to the hype, it was unarguably one of the better games released in ‘08.  The game was epic in size, it sold amazingly well, was a multi-platform release, and became a cultural phenomenon in the weeks building up to and following its release.  It pushed the GTA franchise outward in all the right directions and had an interesting message, and it would not surprise me at all if GTA4 piles on the GOTY awards for 2008.

Metal Gear Solid 4

I’ve not played MGS4, but I’ve heard a lot of mixed things about it.  The game upped the bar for graphics in PS3 titles, as well as for (non-)interactive story-telling, possibly to detriment.  Though the game garnered strong ratings across the board, many now complain (much like GTA4) that the game was over-hyped and over-rated.  Another common complaint was that the game bogged down players with too many cut-scenes and not enough actual gameplay.  The final strike against it however, in my opinion, is the PS3 platform exclusivity.  MGS4 had impressive sales numbers, but too few people have played this game for it to be dubbed GOTY 2008, in large part due to its release on a single platform.  In an age where reviewers are too afraid to give the same game on different platforms different scores, I just can’t see a single-platform title earning GOTY, good as the game may be.

Spore

Will Wright’s wet dream, Spore, had always shown promise of being a game-to-end-all-other-games, even from it’s early unveiling at E3 several years ago.  Even a year before its release, I recall talking with people about how great the game would be, and being quite excited about it myself.  Upon its eventual release, the world found that, while it was a decent and fun game, Spore wasn’t exactly all it was cracked up to be.  The game also fell prey to the same DRM woes that have haunted other recent PC releases.  And though many are playing the game now and will be playing it into the distant future, I think that the possibility for achieving any sort of GOTY commendations were dashed long ago when the game became a shallow amalgam of different game genres, and a rich simulator of none.

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As a gamer, I’m not normally the type to look down upon the gaming habits of others.  Sure, I’ll make the odd quip about “freestyle” DDR players now and then, but generally I don’t give my fellow gamers too much grief for doing whatever it is they choose to do.

This stance has lead me to defend Guitar Hero / Rock Band, games which I have played very minimally, whenever someone brings up the “you should just learn a real instrument” argument.  I’ve even argued this point with my dad, who is an actual musician (he plays bass guitar).  I had an epiphany at a GameStop which changed my views on this slightly, and which makes me wonder about how far the rhythm games can go before they’ve gone too far.  It also makes me wonder if I’m the only person who’s ever had an epiphany at GameStop.

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As promised, here’s my take on GTA4. As you’ve probably gleaned from the title, I think GTA4 is pretty damn sexy - but we’ll get to that in a minute or two. In order to set the mood, I thought I’d start with a bit of history on the franchise, and how GTA4 came to be the epic adventure that it is.

When I played Grand Theft Auto for the first time, way back in 1999, I felt like a kid who’d just found his dad’s secret stash of pornography. The game was already garnering negative attention from the media, lending it all the qualities of an exotic forbidden fruit, and once I got it running with hardware acceleration on my 3DFX VooDoo 2, gaming bliss reached epic proportions.

The style of play seemed new at the time. You’re a guy in the middle of a huge city, and you’ve got a bunch of missions to do - but you don’t have to do them if you don’t want to. Instead, you can just run around the city causing as much havoc as possible, or hop online and do the same thing with your friends. ‘Sandbox’ gameplay had finally arrived to the action genre, and the concept was brilliant. If you’re not up on your gaming history, you can play the original GTA and its sequel, the aptly named GTA2, at Rockstar Classics.

In 2002, Grand Theft Auto 3 was finally released for the PC (I’ve never owned a PlayStation, so it was my only option). I pre-ordered the game and received it on the day it came out, but wasn’t able to play it for a week… It turned out that my clunky old 3DFX VooDoo 3 video card just wouldn’t cut it. After a minor hardware upgrade, I was jacking cars in full 3D, and loving every second of it. GTA3 was to GTA as Super Mario 64 was to Super Mario Bros. The action was successfully ported to 3D, and it was amazingly fun. GTA3 was the second coming of the sandbox game.

Subsequent releases in the GTA franchise were similarly excellent. Vice City and San Andreas were both beautiful, worthy successors to GTA3, with each game taking the good concepts from the last, and leaving the rest behind. Despite how great these two sequels were however, the RenderWare engine Rockstar had been using since GTA3 was starting to show it’s age. It was obvious (to me, at least), that Grand Theft Auto needed something new. It needed a new engine, which would take advantage of current-gen hardware. It needed a face lift.

Enter Grand Theft Auto 4.

Grand Theft Auto 4 is a masterpiece. Almost every aspect of the Grand Theft Auto gameplay has been revamped, each with the skill, style, and expertise that only a veteran of the genre like Rockstar could deliver. If you’ve been looking for a reason to pick up a “next-gen” video game system, GTA4 is probably the best excuse you’ll get.

At this point I should probably mention that at the time of this writing, I’m only about 20% through the game. This is both a testament to how large the game is, and a warning that I’m not anywhere near finishing the game. Judging from the quality of my first 10 hours of play though, I think it’s safe to say that my opinions won’t change too much.

The first thing everyone inevitably notices about GTA4 (and rightfully so) is the graphics. Gone are the boxy cars, cartoon people, and goofy animations of the past. In their place is a re-imagination of Liberty City, modeled from the real-world city of New York, and complete with realistic physics, incredibly detailed vehicles, and more life-like people. Everything casts a shadow, cars rock and bounce as if they have a real suspension system, trees sway in the wind, the ocean ripples gently, the weather / atmospheric effects are practically photo-realistic… The number of graphical improvements between GTA4 and GTA: San Andreas is so great that it would be impossible to mention them all here; I’ll let the game’s screenshots speak for themselves. And through all the changes (in graphics and beyond) however, you’ll notice that Rockstar has still managed to retain their usual style, so while you’re busy exploring the new world, you’ll often have a nice feeling of familiarity, no matter how lost you might get.

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Well, it’s done. I got my copy of GTA4 reserved at the local Gamestop a day ago. This will actually be my first GTA game that I haven’t waited for the PC release, but I think my 360 should handle the job nicely for now. If not, I’ll just wait a year and pick up the PC version, which I am sure will run better, play better, and look better than either the 360 or the PS3. Ah, but who cares about that - if this game is half as fun as it looks, I don’t think I’ll even be thinking about all that once I start playing!

To be honest, I’ve been purposefully avoiding reading too much about the game, so that I can head on in with no expectations. Rockstar has blown the dust off the hype machine, and has been releasing lots of new information on their site over the last few days, and there was even a big photo of the game’s city map floating around on the game news blogs a few days ago. I’ve yet to visit the site though, and I only took a brief look at the map (to see if it looked real, of course). Other than that, I just know a few odds and ends of technical information about the game (check out the Euphoria physics technology they’re using… just turn down the crummy music), and not much else.

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The trend is annoying. It’s deceptive. It’s insulting to my intelligence. And sadly, it shows no signs of ever coming to an end. I am speaking, of course, about the video game industry’s constant use of CGI (computer generated imagery) trailers.

My disgust for this practice has been sloshing around inside my head for a while now, but the issue really peaked for me back in 2006, when Sony unveiled supposed in-game footage of Killzone 2, which later turned out to be a CGI trailer. There was a lot of backlash over this, and I agree with all of it - it pointed out both how tempting it can be for game companies to deceive the public with CGI, and how easy it can actually be when our game systems are almost capable of producing such visuals anyway.

Imagine you’re putting together an awesome movie. It finally comes time in production to get the word out and get people excited for the upcoming film. Your press agent asks for some promotional materials to show people… what would you give them? Would you create a video of animated characters and special effects, completely unlike the visual style of your film?

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