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Welcome to the fourth edition of The Twelve Games of
Christmas; Electronic Theatre’s feature series
highlighting the greatest performers of 2008, one month at a time!
Today,
 we
take a look at April 2008, the games that you liked, loved or missed
altogether – and can probably pick-up for a much more reasonable
price in those January sales!
April was considerably slight in 2008. Typically the
busiest release period of the year behind Christmas, only a handful
of big titles graced store shelves this year. The reason? Well, to
most we’re sure that’ll be quite obvious; Grand Theft Auto IV.
However, with all the immigrants running around on Xbox360 and
PLAYSTATION3’s, it left the door open for Wii in April, which saw
some of systems best releases to date.
Honourable Mention:
Battle of the Bands (Wii)
Okami (Wii)
Runners-Up:
Dark Sector (Xbox360, PLAYSTATION3)
Overlooked by many as simply a “copy-cat” release,
Dark Sector has the ability to surprise even those who were
willing to give it a go without a second-thought. Liberally
borrowing the best bits from then best games, Dark Sector
proves that meshing Gears of War with Resident Evil 4
can provide just an entertaining experience without an enormous
budget, four years of public outings and plastic chainsaws.
Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
A choice that will undoubtedly cause subversion in the
Electronic Theatre populace, Mario Kart Wii was
piped-to-the-post for the “Best of April
2008” due to two incredibly important factors. The first being
online play; while Grand Theft Auto IV’s online gameplay may
not be top-tier, the accessibility and lack of customisation
available considerably hinder Mario Kart Wii’s otherwise
flawless online experience. The second factor is simply that of
Single-Player appeal. Mario Kart Wii – while remaining an
enjoyable experience when flying solo – simply won’t enthral the
player to the same degree as Rockstar Games’ magnum opus. Leaving
you then with the option of Split-Screen, to which many of those who
have stuck with the series throughout the years for some reason have
a quite severe hatred of the revised Battle Mode. Playing a brand
new Mario Kart with only the option of Split-Screen races,
unfortunately, does not make for the best release of April 2008.
Wii Fit (Wii)
Wii Fit is certainly not on top of everyone’s
list.
However, it can easily be recommended for the simple fact that
there’s something here everyone can enjoy; if only in ten minute
doses.
While many have dismissed Wii Fit as a more attractive
equivalence to the Jade’s All New Dance Workout DVD, there is
interesting gameplay in here that belies the silhouetted trainers
and crisp white backgrounds. Skiing, hula-hoop or heading footballs
may well become tedious after ten minutes, however, most seem to
have forgotten somewhere along the way that this was gameplay that
they used to pay £1 a go for a two-minute session in their local
arcade. During the early ‘90s, gamers dreamed to the type of
interaction offered by the Wii Remote and Balance Board combination,
playing on bolted-down skateboards and rocking back-and-forth on
plastic horses, but now its here, it seems that most Hardcore Gamers
aren’t satisfied. We’re a fickle bunch, aren’t we?
Best of April 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox360, PLAYSTATION3)
While Electronic Theatre would be the first to
back the argument that Grand Theft Auto IV is not quite to
the standard Rockstar Games had set themselves, it remains an
undeniably good game. Narrowly surpassing Mario Kart Wii in
April (though long-term
sales figures may well tell a different story), Grand Theft Auto
IV created the sensation everybody expected; queues, sick days
and weekend sales all becoming record breakers. But the story
doesn’t end there.
Not content with providing just enough
bang-for-your-buck on-disc, Rockstar Games are bringing Downloadable
Content by the truckload to Grand Theft Auto IV – with
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned only being the tip of
that iceberg – and have already proved their commitment to their
fanbase with such treats. Grand Theft Auto IV may not be the
pinnacle of Current-Generation gaming, but it’s closer than many
will ever come. |
