Metacritic might have made headlines this year for the ridiculous fanboy turf wars that have gone on with user reviews, but I find the site to be a generally useful resource when charting how well a game is doing with the press. At least, it’s good to see how much the press likes to overrate things based on hype more than a game’s merit.
Using Metacritic, we can essentially find out what the entire gaming media’s top ten picks for best and worst games of the year were. So that’s what we’re going to do.
On the highly rated side, it should come as no surprise that Grand “apparently it’s better than Ocarina of Time” Theft Auto IV came out on top, boasting a score of 98 for both its PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. LittleBigPlanet may have failed to make quite the dent in sales charts that Sony had hoped for, but it was the second highest rated game of the year, followed closely by Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
PlayStation had a great year for reviews overall, with the PS3 version of BioShock getting into the top ten, along with Persona 4 on the PS2. Even a PSP game is in the high rollers, with God of War: Chains of Olympus sharing a joint position with Wrath of the Lich King. This year’s big Xbox 360 exclusives failed to get into the top ten, although Braid got to share a place with the DS’ Chrono Trigger.
As for the worst rated games of 2008, can you guess which consoles had the most shovelware? Yep, the Wii, PC and PS2 were home to nearly all the mass produced crap this year, which should hardly come as a surprise. Two Wii games share the joint “honor” of being this year’s worst game, with SPOGS Racing and Pong Toss: Frat Party Games “earning” a Metacritic score of just 18. I’ve never even heard of those games.
Hit the jump for the full lists to see what the gaming press loved and hated this year.
Metacritic’s Best Games Of 2008
1. Grand Theft Auto IV (98 — 360, 98 — PS3)
2. LittleBigPlanet (95 — PS3)
3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (94 — PS3)
4. BioShock (94 — PS3) and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (94 — PS2)
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (93 — Wii) and Gears of War 2 (93 — 360)
6. Chrono Trigger (93 — DS) and Braid (93 — 360)
7. World of Goo (94 — Wii, 91 — PC / AVERAGE: 92.5)
8. Fallout 3 (93 — 360, 92 — PS3, 92 — PC / AVERAGE: 92) and Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Armor (92 — PC)
9. Rock Band 2 (92 — 360, 91 — PS3 / AVERAGE: 91.5)
10. God of War: Chains of Olympus (91 — PSP) and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (91 — PC)Metacritic’s Worst Games of 2008
1. SPOGS Racing (18 — Wii) and Pong Toss: Frat Party Games (18 — Wii)
2. Beauty Factory (22 — PC)
3. Homie Rollerz (23 — DS)
4. Jumper: Griffin’s Story (28 — Wii) and Racing Team Manager (28 — PC)
5. Jumper: Griffin’s Story (29 — 360) and Game Party 2 (29 — Wii), Beat’n Groovy (29 — 360)
6. George and the Jungle and the Search for the Secret (30 — PS2), Woman’s Volleyball Championship (30 — PS2), Vampire Rain: Altered Species (30 — PS3), Ford Racing Off Road (30 — Wii) and Crazy Mouse (30 — 360),
7. Toy Shop (31 — DS) and Rapala Fishing Freanzy 2009 (31 — PS2)
8. Falling Stars (32 — PS2), Best of Tests DS (32 — PS2), Iron Man (32 — PC) and Code of Honor 2: Conspiracy Island (32 — PC)
9. Target: Terror (33 — Wii) and The Incredible Hulk (33 — PC)
10. Jackass: The Game (34 — PC) and King of Clubs (34 — Wii)
