Okay, by reading the headline you should actually know what my personal game of the year is. For those who still have no clue, another hint: It comes in a box, it is some kind of a shooter (more a puzzle game, actually) and there is a Weighted Companion Cube in it. Still no idea? Alright, no more clues. My personal game of the year 2007 is...

Portal



“This was a triumph. I’m making a note here: Huge success. It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction.”
These lines from the Portal credits song pretty much sum up how I feel about this game. Portal is a First Person Shooter but there is actually nobody to shoot. You have a gun in your hand but you kill no one with it. You solve puzzles, you test your skills and you’re accompanied by nothing more than a computer voice and (in one test chamber) the Weighted Companion Cube.
The premise of the game is simple: Get through 19 test chambers and receive your reward, a delicious cake. What I wasn’t expecting was the amount of humor in this game. The way GLaDOS tells you about “enhanced truths” or the safety notes for the “Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device” are just two (lousy) examples of the great humor of Portal.
Then the Portal Gun itself. It is just an awesome device and you can do all kinds of crazy stuff with it. Want to fall down a bottomless pit? You can. Want to chase yourself? Possible. Is there a long jump to manage? No problem. There are so many ways to use the Portal Gun. And this helps keeping up the motivation.
Though the game is not that long. It takes about two to three hours to beat this game. But it is definitely worth the time you’re spending with it. As far as I know the game costs about 20 Dollars at Valve’s online store Steam. But this game is also part of the Orange Box, together with four other games. So if you haven’t picked it up yet (though I think most of you already have), do it as soon as you can. Otherwise you’re missing one of the most intelligent and original games of the year. Portal is, without a doubt, my personal game of the year 2007.

And that's it. These are my favourite games of 2007. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed listing them up. In about 40 minutes, 2008 arrives. Let's wave 2007 good bye and look forward to a new year with new challenges and, of course, new games. See you next year. ;)

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Other personal favourites of this year:
Number 5: Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Number 4: Assassin's Creed
Number 3: Super Mario Galaxy
Number 2: Ōkami