The Telegraph’s top fifty games of 2008 list is actually interesting

UK newspaper The Telegraph has listed its top fifty games of 2008, dubbing this the “year we all became gamers.” While one can question that statement, considering some of the “games” these newbies are playing can hardly qualify for the label, The ‘Graph has still provided a fairly interesting and unpredictable list.

Interesting because Lionhead’s Fable 2 has won the crown. While a rather good game and one of the Xbox 360’s premier titles, it’s not one you’d expect to see top a year of blockbusters such as GTA IV, MGS4 and Gears of War 2. In fact, this whole list is not what you’d expect at all from a mainstream British newspaper. It even has No More Heroes in the top ten!

Speaking of top ten, here is The Telegraph‘s for 2008:

1. Fable 2 
2. Fallout 3
3. LittleBigPlanet
4. Rock Band 2
5. Gears of War 2
6. Spore
7. Grand Theft Auto IV
8. No More Heroes
9. Left 4 Dead
10. Professor Layton and the Curious Village

The end of the year is often a hotbed of predictable articles, as people rattle off near-identical lists of games we knew would be there anyway. For The Telegraph, then, to pull a swerve and list games you’d never expect them to have even heard of, is rather refreshing. Enjoy it while you can, it’s not often we read a mainstream press article from someone who’s played Professor Layton, let alone named it as one of the year’s best titles.