Gamespy's Picks for X-mas Gifts

As X-mas is almost upon us, Gamespy has compiled a "Holiday Buyer's Guide 2008" to help give advice to those of us who aren't so savvy when it comes to good games out there. There's actually quite a few games on the list I already have (in bold font) but I thought I'd go through their picks for the PC platform one by one (ones that I'm interested in are in italics):

1) Fallout 3 (Haven't got this one yet, hoping to get it for X-mas though :D - otherwise I'll probably purchase it a bit later)

2) Spore (Already got this one. As you can tell by my review, it's a reasonably good creative tool but might not be for one who is into a more challenging experience - unless you consider challenging your patience as one)

3) World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Not so keen on this. Never got into WoW and MMORPGs in general)

4) Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (Again, not really into MMORPGs, but with a focus on PvP, this'd probably be one of the more appealing ones to me)

5) Call of Duty: World at War (Hoping to get a copy of this too at some time. I haven't played Call of Duty since the very first one and the co-op feature should be a blast!)

6) Grand Theft Auto IV (Not such a big fan of the GTA series - the concept of stealing cars and all is kind of cool but the gratuitous violence for the sake of it isn't too my liking)

7) Left 4 Dead (Thanks to the generosity of a friend at work, I now have a copy of this game that could prove to be the best co-operative experience of the year - this game was built around co-op and not helping teammates could result in you being, "Left 4 Dead"! :P)

8) Mass Effect (Purchased this earlier in the year and it's looking to be the best game of 2008 for me, if the review scores are any indication. Besides a few flaws in game design and a nasty DRM scheme - *cough* SecuROM *cough* - it's an awesome sci-fi epic.

9) Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (Playing through this game at the moment and so far the single player campaign is hilarious thanks to ridiculous units and the funny remarks you get from troops in the field. Have yet to test the multiplayer and co-op yet but looking forward to it)

10) Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization (It's great that Sid Meier revisited this classic game after 14 years. While the game retains some of the classic gameplay, some of it has changed quite dramatically too, so much so that it is almost nothing more than a glorified Civ IV mod... almost. Check out the review for more of my thoughts)

11) Dead Space (Read a PC Powerplay review on this and it highlighted the fact the game had a lot of gore and violence - probably too much. Because I'm not really a fan of games that are violent for violence's sake, I'll probably give this one a miss. However, the game has been getting good reviews so don't let me discourage you from checking it out! :))

12) Mirror's Edge (An interesting concept from the developer of the Battlefield series. Although the game looks impressive and kudos should go to DICE for trying out a parkour game, initial reviews appear mixed so I may give this one a miss too)

13) Prince of Persia (I used to be a big fan of the original Prince of Persia games but as soon as they went into 3D I think the game lost some of its simplicity which made it great. Although I think that Prince of Persia is a great console game, it's going to sink or swim with PC players)

14) Sins of a Solar Empire (Now this is probably one of the only games that I don't currently have which appeals to me. It seems to be a game similar to Master of Orion in some respect - one of my favourite games of all time - except with an RTS slant to it. Might not get it anytime soon but if there's a sale on I might grab myself a copy)

15) Crysis Warhead (I used to be a big fan of the original Prince of Persia games but as soon as they went into 3D I think the game lost some of its simplicity which made it great. Although I think that Prince of Persia is a great console game, it's going to sink or swim with PC players)

16) Far Cry 2 (This game was given a 10/10 from PC Powerplay and good reviews from several online magazines. There are some flaws with it but apparently it's still a pretty good open-ended game. One I'm hoping to get)

17) Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria (As mentioned before, not a fan of MMORPGs)

18) Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (see comment above)

19) King's Bounty: The Legend (This sounds like quite an interesting game. Apparently it's a remake of a tactical fantasy strategy game. Although I like tactical strategy games I may wait until this one is on sale before I decide to get it)

20) Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor (This is another game that appeals to me, mainly since Stardock has got a good rep in my books and I liked the initial Galactic Civilizations. Still, I may want to wait until this is on sale to get it and it'll be competing with Sins of a Solar Empire for my hard-earned cash :))

21) LEGO: Indiana Jones (While the LEGO: games are fun, I found that my interest in them waned rather quickly - especially when you're playing it with a stubborn 8-year old who doesn't know how to co-operate! While the cut-scenes are fun this won't be a game I'll be getting)

22) World of Goo (I've heard good words about this game and it's apparently a 21st Century version of Lemmings - Lemmings being an old favourite of mine. Since my girlfriend is also into puzzle-like games, this one may be one to get)

23) Sam & Max: Season Two (I do want to get this, but I'm still stuck on the original Sam & Max: Hit the Road! I haven't even touched Season One yet! So I'd better get a move on...)

So what do people think about the picks? Any games you're planning to get from here or any they disagree with in terms of being listed?

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