Now that 2008 has closed out (and I'm not too sad to see the end of it), here are some of the games I enjoyed most over these past 12 months. In (almost) no particular order...

Rock Band 2 -- Harmonix has managed to transform it from a game, into a platform. Cross-game DLC compatibility is a stroke of genius. Even if the game itself is only an incremental improvement over RB1, it now completely defines the music genre, and the once-dominant Guitar Hero is reduced (again) to clumsy imitation.

Lego Indiana Jones -- Not to put down Lego Batman, which I also have been quite enjoying, and not to overlook the flaws in the game (which are certainly there). But Lego Indy captures the spirit of an important part of my teenage years in way that resonated with me quite strongly. I would probably happily go play through all the levels in that game yet again, even after almost getting a full Achievement score on it.

Fallout 3 -- While I enjoyed Oblivion, something about it never fully came together for me. Fallout 3 proved to me what a difference that extra something can make. A beautiful destroyed world, tons of clever mechanics, and a great sense of exploration and story. It's minor flaws are easily overlooked in light of all the positives it accomplishes.

and of course...

Grand Theft Auto IV -- While Fallout 3 came close, in the end I think this was my favorite game of the year. A lot of people didn't like it because of preconceptions of what they wanted it to be, and I'll admit that I would love to see the GTA series return more to the gameplay of San Andreas. But what it did deliver was easily the most astonishingly realistic and detailed city environment ever built, with a compelling story and a great sense of style and tone. Nothing else this year could quite compare for me to particular moments in GTA IV's story, as well as the moments of just pure immersion as I looked out across the Liberty City skyline. Rockstar delivered on the emotional promise made with that first Koyannisquatsi trailer for the game, and that's exactly what I was looking for. I don't want to whitewash the faults of the game -- the story definitely goes off course in the last third, multiplayer fell short in a few key ways, and they built way more city than they had game to fill up. But those faults didn't detract from the core experience for me.

I can only hope we have a 2009 with as many awesome gaming experiences as 2008 held, as there were certainly FAR more games in 2008 than just these 4 that I would unhesitatingly recommend.