It’s undeniable that this year has been one of the best for the console gaming industry. Many blockbusters were released, many were delayed much to the chagrin of developers and the bemoaning of gamers, and the competitive arena flourished. The year 2007 was a fantastic year but all the while, quite the ugly one as well. Here with a review of 2007, hindsight truly is 20/20 and Evan “remarK-” Markert is here to give presents and lumps of coal alike to the 3 major consoles and the competitive arena.

Microsoft
Probably the star of the three consoles this year (at least, for those of you with short-term memories) because of the star-studded 3rd and 4th quarters, Microsoft had an astounding year with its Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 was coming off of one its better years last year with the last release of Gears of War, Epic’s gore filled romp through a dystopian world of subterranean invaders marauding the planet, and Rainbow Six: Vegas, another Clancy title that actually delivered on the tactical action that served it so well in the past. Really, it’s hard to even remember the beginning of the year, but if we can all stretch back to the glorious springtime, we will remember a sandbox title by the name of Crackdown. An overlooked title mostly due to the fact its main selling point wasn’t even a part of the actual game itself, rather, a beta-key to what was then the most coveted beta in gaming, Halo 3.

Crackdown was a magnificent game that combined the sandbox environment that gamers had come to love in games such as Grand Theft Auto and combined it with a slick gameplay development that dates back to the first video games such as Mario Bros. It challenged gamers to run around the city to collect power ups to garner superhuman strengths and abilities. Eventually, leaping from building to building became to the best aspect of the game and driving was a thing of the past. This unique game brought something different to the table as far as the Xbox was concerned and especially a sort of individuality to sandbox gaming, as Grand Theft Auto, even in all its glory, was becoming too pigeonholed to a sort of “run here, drive here, kill this guy, drive back, do it again”.

While the Halo 3 Beta was able to assuage the incessant whining and the all-too-familiar shaking of withdrawal for a brief while, it wasn’t until the final release of Halo 3 in September that they were finally cured permanently. The final installment in the trilogy capped the story of Master Chief and the Covenant invasion of Earth (where we were so brutally left hanging after the penultimate Halo 2) and helped to ignite what would be the biggest few months in Microsoft history. Halo garnered a massive launch and as such, what can only be described as monstrous profits. Deservedly so, Halo 3 was not only the bread and butter from Halo 2 with its revolutionary matchmaking system and brilliant multiplayer gameplay, rather, the additions of community downloadable content and the ability to create the wildest custom games using the innovative Forge tool, Bungie really delivered with Halo 3.

Near the end of this year, who can argue with a line-up that includes Halo 3, Bioshock, The Orange Box, Call of Duty 4, and Mass Effect. While some other games are surely worthy of mention, they were also launched on multiple platforms or these games had their most significant launches on the Xbox platform. Call of Duty 4 is slowly becoming the FPS of choice given its striking graphics and addictive gameplay. Multiplayer options in so much as weapons, map design, and stunning gameplay additions such as airstrikes and helicopter support in multiplayer are really beginning to win the hearts of the coveted, and fickle, first-person shooter demographic. Bioshock also entered the realm of premier gaming with the stunning graphics and exhaustive and breathtaking story. The underwater Rapture was surely a haunting environment that gamers could spend hours and hours in due to the massive amount of detail put into the game and the eerie sounds and visuals that awaited the player around every turn. Mass Effect rounded out the year for the Xbox 360 with its expansive story and captivating RPG gameplay. Finally a worthy RPG had been developed for the Microsoft machine and it had been done beautifully by the BioWare Corp. team.

But the year was not without its disappointments for the 360. Franchise games were delayed unexpectedly and unexpectedly often. Grand Theft Auto IV was delayed out of the 2007 calendar and is bordering on a 2nd quarter release in 2008, a true letdown for any gamer. However, the biggest disappointment of the year was the dreaded Red Ring of Death. Many a gamer met this unfortunate fate and often at the most inopportune times. Yours truly met this terrible fate the moment he placed the Halo 3 disc into the drive. If there is a silver lining to this tragedy, it is the extension of the warranty of the Xbox 360 from 1 year to a 3 years should it produce the flashing three red lights of terror. Even with this appeasement, however, Microsoft should have foreseen these terrible happenings upon stress testing the Xbox or even testing the subpar equipment used to build the machines.

The Good: Brilliant 3rd and 4th quarter line-ups
The Bad: GTA IV delays
The Ugly: The RRoD